Page 39 of Condemned By Secrets

Someone in the department had made an effort to bury the Suspicious Activity Reports. Luther knew it wasn’t the sarge, but that’s where his confidence ended when it came to the rest of the men and women he worked with. His gut told him Haines was involved, but if that was the case, he didn’t want to tip his hand by asking questions . . . yet.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Luther started his cruiser. He wasn’t going to find the answers he needed staring at empty buildings. Not about this investigation or the question Sarge had asked him that morning. He didn’t have an answer in either case. Or did he? Luther’s chest tightened at the thought.

The last girl he’d loved had thrown his heart away, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to offer it up for the same kind of treatment. After he’d graduated from the police academy, he’d come home prepared to propose to his high school sweetheart only to find she’d already moved on . . . and into bed with another guy.

Luther rubbed at his chest as the pain of the memory coursed through him. He wasn’t ready for the “L” word. At least not the one involving his heart. But hewaslooking forward to seeing Anna again. With a grin, he gunned it out of the parking lot.

CHAPTER 16

Anna bit into a carrot and watched Luther and Shane grimace under the weight of the latest crate they’d hauled up the stairs to her apartment. There were a lot of grunts and curse words involved, so it had to be one of the heavier ones. When she’d left D.C., she’d had all her belongings packed and stored in a container. Once she’d agreed to take over Cassie’s rental, Anna had contacted the storage company and set up the delivery. After working for the last two hours, the four of them had nearly emptied it.

Smiling when Luther and Shane set the crate down exactly where she’d instructed them to, Anna reached for a cucumber slice from the crudités she’d thrown together to go with the pizza and beer she’d promised. Cassie sat on a box next to her, nibbling on a slice of pepperoni. They’d made themselves comfortable as soon as the pizza showed up, but the men were determined to finish moving the heavy stuff in before they enjoyed any of it.

“I feel a little guilty we’re not helping,” Anna confessed to Cassie, but she wasn’t only feeling guilty about that.

Despite how often Anna reminded herself not to get tangled up with Luther, she couldn’t stop looking at him. He was wearing a tank top that left his arms bare, and they were corded with muscles. Earlier, he’d lifted up his shirt to wipe at the sweat on his forehead, and she’d gotten a peek at the six-pack beneath. Her pulse jumped whenever she thought about what he looked like with his shirt off.

Cassie shook her head, and the motion made her blonde hair swing against her shoulders, drawing Anna’s attention away from Luther’s muscles. She focused on the woman she was starting to call a friend.

Cassie swallowed the bite of pizza she’d been working on and spoke. “Don’t feel guilty. We’d just be in the way right now.” She smiled and her blue eyes twinkled. “Besides, we offered them some. They’ll take a break when they’re ready.”

Anna returned the smile. The tension she carried in her shoulders loosened in Cassie’s company. She was grateful the blonde had come with Shane after Luther had roped him into helping move her stuff in. He’d told her it was quid pro quo after he’d helped Cassie move her thingsouta few days before. “All of you must be tired after moving twice in the same week.”

Cassie chuckled. “I don’t know about them, but I’m too excited to be tired. I can’t believe I’m living with Shane now. It’s a big step for us.” She was staring at Shane’s back as he bent over to shove a box out of the walkway.

When he turned around, Anna saw his shaggy black hair was matted to his forehead from sweat, but it didn’t detract from his looks. He was handsome in a rugged sort of way, and his light green eyes lit up whenever they landed on Cassie.

Anna noticed Cassie’s cheeks had turned pink under Shane’s scrutiny. Placing her hand over Cassie’s, she gave it a quick squeeze. “You two seem really happy together.”

Cassie nodded as Luther and Shane disappeared through the front door. “I don’t have the best track record, which Luther can attest to, but with Shane . . .” Her eyes got a faraway look before she blinked and focused on Anna. “I knew things would be different, you know?”

Anna was struggling to keep her smile in place. Why would Luther know about Cassie’s relationship history? Had they been a couple? She cleared her throat around the lump that had lodged itself there. “You and Luther are close?”

“Yes. We’ve been like brother and sister since kindergarten. Growing up, people always thought we were siblings since our coloring is so similar.” She chuckled. “We definitely fought like we were. But he’s always been there for me. And then when his dad passed . . .” She took a deep breath. “I’d lost my mom a few years before, so I understood what he was going through.”

“I’m sorry, Cassie.” Anna didn’t know what else to say. She wasn’t close with her parents these days, but she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose them as a child.

“Thanks. It was a long time ago now.”

Anna wanted to pry about Luther’s past, but it wasn’t any of her business. She was also enjoying Cassie’s company and didn’t want to stir up bad memories for her new friend.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Anna stood. “I think it’s happy hour. What about you?”

Cassie chuckled. “Thanks, I’ll have a beer.”

Anna’s eyebrows hiked up at that. “Really? I have rosé.”

Cassie smiled but shook her head. “I’m not much of a wine drinker. The beer is fine for me.”

Anna’s eyes widened before she hid her shock. How anyone preferred beer over wine was beyond her, especially rosé. But knowing her duties as hostess, she offered Cassie a smile. “All right. Would you like a glass? I’m going to have to find one for the wine anyway.”

“I’ll drink it from the bottle. No point in making more dishes for you.” Cassie stood and followed Anna into the kitchen as she’d yet to retrieve the beer from the refrigerator.

They’d just returned to the living room and the makeshift dining set they’d made out of crates and boxes when Luther and Shane came through the front door.

They were breathing heavily, and Luther shouted with his back to her. “This is the last big item. Anna, where do you want it?”

They paused in the middle of the living room, and she rushed forward to read the label. When she understood what it was, Anna gestured to a spot under the window. “Right there, against the wall.”

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