Page 18 of No Good Deed

She shook her head. “Never. That’s against company policy.”

“Anything else?”

“Nothing else.” Because that was enough for anyone.

When he spoke, Troy’s voice held a note of disbelief. “After all these incidents, your company laid you off?”

She nodded. “Me and a junior planner. They said between the cost of repairs after the break-in and the crash, they needed to cut costs.”

But had they just wanted to get rid of her? She couldn’t stop the shiver running through her. Was the person now here in Phail and what did he plan to do?

CHAPTER 7

Whatcha Got?

Troy could tell answering the questions stressed Piper out. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes no longer sparkled. Recounting the incidents she’d lived through in the past few weeks had to be difficult.

Something about this woman kicked his protective instincts into high gear, right along with his lust. He really needed to get a grip.

Marcus probed gently with more questions, but Piper didn’t have any answers, and he left to do some investigating.

After his buddy left, Troy continued to sit with his arm around Piper. She held her hot cocoa cup, but she’d barely drunk more than a sip. “How are you doing?”

She shrugged. “A little freaked out. A lot embarrassed.”

That had him sitting forward and turning to face her. “Embarrassed? Why are you feeling embarrassed?”

She shot him an incredulous look and rolled her eyes. “Seriously? It looks like I’ve brought trouble to your town. If it’s nothing but a string of unconnected rotten incidents that have turned my once boring but comfortable life into a disaster, then we just wasted everyone’s time. So I’m either trouble or a fool.”

Oreo roused from his nap and Piper put her mug down to soothe the dog. “Sorry, buddy. Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Troy leaned in. “You’re neither trouble nor a disaster, Piper. It sounds to me like you’ve got something somebody wants.”

She snorted out a laugh with no humor. “I don’t have much. I gave up my apartment, and everything I own is in my car. There’s nothing of value to anyone else.”

“Family jewelry? Company secrets? Innovative advances in the urban planning area?”

She finally raised her eyes to his with a smile. Progress.

“None of the above. I don’t have any family left, and the most precious thing I own is a photo album. I was a mid-level planner with a specialty in sustainable development and recreational areas.”

“I’m hoping those specialties can help our town.”

She tilted her head and studied him. “You still want to hire me? I won’t argue if you want to back out of the deal.”

Troy shook his head. “I’m not backing out. I want your help.” And he wanted to keep her safe.

Her smile looked relieved. “Thank you. I’m going to work hard to see how I can help.”

“I know.”

Piper blew out a breath. “Thanks for that. I’ll do my best not to let you down. If you’d like, we can start brainstorming right now. I just need to grab my laptop.”

“You don’t need to start tonight. We can talk about things in the morning.”

She scrunched up her nose and petted the dog. “Whatever works best for you.”

Oreo suddenly jumped off Piper’s lap and trotted across to the kitchen. “Either he’s hungry again, or he needs to go out.”

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