Page 27 of Gentle Fox

My friends were too nosy for their own good.

"Well, that won't be the case for long. Gracie has decided to move to Willow Creek and asked to stay with me until she can find a place."

And based on Annalee's search, that would take a while. Gracie would be living with me for the unforeseeable future.Knowing my sister, it was probably what she needed considering her decision to up and move was suspect to begin with.

"Wait, Gracie's coming here? Since when?"

"Since I got the call while I was driving back with Annalee. She said her lease is up this month, but knowing how impulsive my sister can be, she could show up at any moment."

All of my friends knew about Gracie. They were around when she was born. I might've been deployed but each of them was with me during that time. They watched her grow up as much as I did. There was no one who visited me as much as Gracie did, so really it shouldn't have been a surprise that given the opportunity, she wanted to move to where I was.

"Huh." There was something about Nolen's response, or lack thereof, that set me on edge.

"Why do you ask?"

Nolen suddenly busied himself with papers on his desk. "No reason. Just surprised, I guess. I'm going to run out for a coffee. Want anything?"

"No, I'm good, but make sure to ask Annalee if she wants anything."

"Will do." Nolen rushed out of the office like the dogs of hell were nipping at his heels. It was a strange sight, that was for sure.

I pulled the computer back in front of me and continued digging through Annalee's stepmother’s and stepbrother's financials. There were plenty of discrepancies, and from what I could tell, it didn't just start after Theodore's death. Some started as early as five years before that, but nothing major. Small withdrawals here or there that wouldn't add up to much independently but together were suspicious.

Theodore was a stickler about his finances. Everything was recorded. Even the cash he withdrew was marked with notes as to the purpose. But it was the random question marks over thattime that stuck out. Again, nothing Theodore couldn't afford. A thousand here, two thousand there every few months. A total of twenty-eight thousand dollars over five consecutive years that Annalee's father had questioned. It made me wonder if Theodore finally confronted Seraphina about it and that led to his death. I would be checking into it more.

"How's the investigation into the finances going?" Maverick slid up next to me. He wasn't the type of boss who micromanaged his employees. Truthfully, if he could've convinced all of us to buy the business together, he probably would've. But that wasn't Maverick's style. He knew at least one of us wouldn't have been able to afford it, not with some of the responsibilities we had, so it was easier for him to start it up and essentially allow us to police ourselves.

"It's going. A few red flags that I want to check out." I gestured to the computer where Theodore's banking information was pulled up but Mav didn't bother to look. "Why, what's up? Checking in isn't your style."

"You're right, it's not. I was going to try for some small talk before I made a suggestion, but we both know I hate small talk."

I chuckled. This was the Maverick I'd known forever. He didn't pull any punches. "You're right, you don't. So again, what's up?"

Maverick looked unsure of himself and that alone made me suspicious. Maverick was never unsure of anything. He was the most confident person I knew.

Finally, he sighed. "You know I don't like to get into the middle of your personal lives. I don't give a shit what you do outside of work except as a friend. If you're happy, I'm happy."

"But?" There was definitely abutafter a statement like that and something told me I wasn't going to like it. I considered Maverick a brother, and since I had all sisters, that was pretty damn special to me.

"But make sure you know what you're doing when it comes to her." Maverick nodded behind me and I didn't have to turn around to know who he was talking about. There was only oneherwhen it came to me.

"You know it's none of your business, but have you ever known me to do something stupid?"

Maverick sighed. "No, I haven't."

“Damn right,” I bit out maybe a little too harshly. Because I wasn't impulsive. I didn't do something unless I fully thought it through. And on the rare occasion I did something out of the ordinary, I fixed it quick. My life was meticulously organized just how I liked it.

"Well." Maverick cleared his throat. "Good talk." He started to walk away but paused and said over his shoulder, "You might want to convince Annalee it's time to finish for the day. Her shoulders have been drooping more and more the last half hour."

I snapped my attention around and sure enough Mav was right. Annalee was hunched in on herself and who could blame her. Other than the brief break she took to go to the bakery, she had spent the entire day in the same spot. That took its toll on a person.

I slapped my own laptop shut and pushed the chair away from the desk. It was time to get the hell out of here and take Annalee with me. Maybe we could do something besides just sitting at the house.

Maverick was right, I needed to be sure about what I wanted with Annalee. I couldn't do that if we didn’t spend time alone together doing everyday things. Plus having her sleep in my bed every night was destroying my control, but not enough to change the circumstances.

Not yet, at least.

I needed more time before that could happen.

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