Page 62 of Locked In Ice

“There are no innocents.”Her father’s gaze dropped to something behind Lane.

Lane turned his head to follow that gaze.What was her dad frowning at so hard?

Oh, shit.

“Son, those sweatpants on the floor look way too big to be my daughter’s.”

Fuck.He’d left the sweats down there last night after, after—Screw it.He peered back at her father.Squared his shoulders and got ready to take a hit.“You probably deserve to punch me.”

Her father drew back his hand.

“Dad!”Ophelia’s delighted voice.She rushed between them and grabbed her father in a tight hug as she bounced.

He patted her shoulder.And over that shoulder, her father glared at Lane.

I am fucked.

She stepped away from her father.Glanced toward Lane.Then back at her dad.“Dad, have you met my new partner, Lane?”she asked brightly.She flashed her killer smile.

That smile was not going to work on the man who appeared to eat granite—and not chocolate chip pancakes—for breakfast.

“Why the hell is he in your house at 7 a.m.?”her father thundered.

Her smile stretched a bit more.“Because he slept in the guest room upstairs?”

“And why are his sweats in your hallway?”

She craned.Looked over at the sweats.“Oh, simple.I stripped them off him last night.”She gave a pat to her father’s shoulder.“Breakfast is ready.”And, humming, she headed for the kitchen.

Lane didn’t move.

Neither did her father.

The cat hissed…and chased after Ophelia.

“You and I are going to have a problem,” her father said very, very softly.

“Figured we were,” Lane agreed.

Chapter Thirteen

The house seemed normal.Tidy yard.Flowers blooming.A slightly faded picket fence.Two swings on the porch.Could have been any house on any street, yet the sight of it made Ophelia tense.

Pain lived in that house.Heartbreak.

“Your father seemed…nice.”

She killed the engine and kept her eyes on the house.They hadn’t talked much during the drive.“He’s not.Don’t believe it for a second.”She pocketed the keys.“He’s former military intelligence and knows about a thousand ways to kill a man without leaving evidence behind.”

“Wonderful.”

“While you were walking my dad out, I texted a contact at the FBI.”Now she sent him a quick glance.“Even though I clearly don’t have mad love for the Bureau…”Understatement.“I had to tell him what I’d found on Thomas’s body.If Shay wasn’t going to take me seriously, I had to go above her.”So she’d gone straight to the top.Or, at least close to the top.The FBI’s Executive Assistant Director.Why waste time with flunkies?She’d wanted action so she’d gone to the man with power.Mostly because she was convinced this was going to go from bad to worse.Every instinct screamed that there would be another attack.

She even had an idea of who the next victim might be and thus… “I also texted Detective O’Brien.”Shay hadn’t replied to the text, though.

Shocking.Nah.She hates me.

Lane unhooked his seatbelt.“Pretty sure the detective said she didn’t want to hear from you again.You know, when she was giving us the escort out of town.”

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