Page 27 of Flynn

His jaw dropped. “I never said brainless.”

“No, but you can’t deny you viewed my job as easy and not very challenging.” She arched a brow. “I could read your thoughts clearly on your face.”

“I shouldn’t have said that.” He reached over to take her hand. “Forgive me. The truth was that I didn’t trust you back then. Zeke and I were focused on keeping Sienna and Bailey safe. It was never personal.”

“I know.” She shrugged. “I can understand why you were suspicious of me.”

“Because I didn’t know you the way I do now.” He hesitated, tempted to say more, but then held back. The best way to protect her was to keep their relationship professional. He saw what had happened to Zeke who had fallen for Sienna while he was taking on the role of bodyguard. He couldn’t afford to be distracted. Besides, someone as pretty as Taylor wouldn’t be interested in him. “I think we should say grace. We have much to be thankful for.”

She nodded, then dropped her gaze to her lap. He wasn’t used to saying grace, but it was so common a practice with the tactical team that it felt wrong not to give thanks prior to eating a meal.

He cleared his throat. “Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food we are about to eat. We ask that You please keep Taylor’s family safe in Your care, and we humbly that You provide the strength and wisdom the police need to bring this ruthless killer to justice. Amen.”

“Amen,” she echoed.

Was it his imagination, or did her fingers cling to his for a long moment before she released his hand? He glanced over at her, but she appeared to be focused on her meal.

He made quick work of his cheeseburger and fries. Eating fast was common for most cops. Lunch and dinner had to be consumed quickly in case a call came through.

“I guess I should finish going through the mug shots.” Taylor’s tone lacked enthusiasm. “At least once that’s finished, I can move on to something else.”

“Yes, I would appreciate that. I’m not sure there’s much else we can do other than wait to hear what the Brookland PD uncovers.”

She frowned. “I can’t just sit around doing nothing. There must be something else I can do to help find this guy.”

He thought about Roman Paulson being shot twice in the chest. “We can try going through social media. But I’m not sure that will help now that Roman is dead. I doubt the killer is on any of the platforms.”

“I still can’t believe it,” she murmured, half to herself. “I didn’t know Roman very well, but it’s weird to know a member of your family was shot to death.”

He couldn’t think of anything to say to make her feel better. Maybe Roman had gotten in over his head, gambling debts or something like that, which had led to his involvement in the scheme. Even though he didn’t have a lot of experience in doing detective work or running investigations, he kept coming back to the possibility of money laundering.

Organized crime wasn’t run by the old Mafia bosses like they were back in his grandfather’s day, but the concept still existed. Using computers made the transactions even more impersonal.

When they’d finished eating, he took a moment to power up the disposable phones. Then he called Gabe to give him their new numbers.

“Oh hey, Flynn, Rhy was looking for you. Hang on.” Before he could say anything, Gabe put him on hold.

Rhy picked up the call. “I just heard from Cam. He’s gone past the Templeton house and found nothing suspicious. However, one of the neighbors called earlier this morning to complain they saw someone peeking into the windows at the home. The guy wore a hoodie, and the hour was such that we don’t for sure it was the killer. Cam thinks it was likely kids looking for an easy mark for a robbery.”

“Okay, thanks for the update.” He gave Taylor a reassuring smile so she wouldn’t be alarmed. “Let us know if anything changes. I’m glad Cam is keeping an eye on the place.”

“Yep. Stay in touch.” Rhy ended the call.

“You’ve been great through all of this.” Taylor rose to clear the table. “I feel guilty for putting you in danger, but I wouldn’t be here if not for your expertise.”

“I told you my job as a cop is to protect the public.” Her gratitude grated on him. “Stop worrying about me.”

She tossed their garbage into the container, then swung toward him. She looked exasperated, but he must have read her wrong because she abruptly reached up to pull his head down and kissed him.

ChapterSeven

Wrong move, Taylor thought seconds before getting swept away in Flynn’s kiss. The way he cradled her close sent her heart soaring. But as wonderful as the kiss was, it ended quickly, with Flynn disentangling himself and stepping back. She swallowed a wave of regret for giving in to her impulse to kiss him.

“We, uh, I shouldn’t have done that.” He looked a bit shell-shocked as he glanced around the small lake house at everything but her. “I need to stay focused.”

She was the one who’d kissed him, not the other way around. But he clearly wasn’t interested in repeating the experiment. And why was that so depressing? She and Flynn were friends. They wouldn’t be together at all if not for the gunman.

“I apologize,” she said, owning the situation.

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