Page 24 of Wyoming Bodyguard
She grinned. “Kind of. My mom was the one who always had a book in her hand. He used to tell her to get her nose out of the pages and enjoy the real world. The last year or so he’s started reading more. I’d like to think it makes him feel closer to my mom.” She picked up the book, and a piece of paper fluttered from the pages and onto the floor.
“You better not lose his place.” Madden scooped the paper and frowned.
“What is it?” she asked, glancing at the makeshift bookmark.
He lifted the sheet for her to see. “Looks like he was taking notes that had nothing to do with the book. Mostly numbers. Big numbers. But that’s not all.”
She read the scribbled words written in her father’s familiar hand and gasped.
Need to pay or else.
* * *
Madden disconnected his call with Reid and stared down at Lily, who sat in the middle of the floor of her father’s office. A pile of papers surrounded her, and a pronounced frown pulled down her pouty lips.
He hated that look. Hated the aura of sadness and desperation that clung to her like a second skin. He wanted the Lily he’d seen while she rode Queenie. Carefree and laughing. Hair blowing all around her and no thought to anything beyond the simple pleasure of riding her horse.
Glancing up, she hoisted her hands filled with paperwork in the air. “This is going to take forever. There’s so much information in these pages. I need to file everything back in its place, but I can’t leave one sheet unturned. Who knows what kind of information might be on it?” She tossed the paper back on the floor and sighed. “How was your call?”
“Reid’s on his way. He’ll install the cameras so I can help you.” He waded through the mess and perched on the edge of the desk. “Talked to dispatch at the sheriff’s department. They’re sending out a deputy to look at the shed.”
“Did you tell them what we found in his book?”
He nodded.
“Nothing makes sense anymore. This is all so overwhelming.” She dropped her chin, and a defeated air wrapped around her like a cloak.
He clapped his hands, the sound loud and a bit abrasive in the confined room, then rubbed his palms together. “Let’s see how we can lighten the load a little.”
She offered him a small, sad smile. “I don’t see how that’s even possible.”
“We’ll take things one task at a time, starting here.” He reached for her with an outstretched arm. She nestled her palm in his, and an intense heat shot up his arm and settled in his core. Tingles of excitement battled against the voice of logic telling him to keep his distance.
Clearing his throat, he tugged her to her feet and severed the connection. Time to focus solely on the problems at hand and not the way his body reacted to her simplest touch. “You’re right. We do want to look at everything in the office, but we don’t have to read every single printout right away.”
Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, her lips slightly parted, and all he could wonder was what she would taste like.
“But we might miss something,” she said, snapping him back to the moment. “Hell, you saw how close I was to missing the message my dad left in his book.”
“True, but someone already went through all this.” He flicked his wrist to indicate the mess waiting for them on the floor. “If the person who broke into your house found anything useful, they probably would have taken it with them. Not left it on the floor. We can glance at everything as we replace it, but no need to scrutinize it too closely. If we miss something, we can always comb back through.”
“That’s actually brilliant.”
He grinned. “I have my moments.”
She rolled her eyes. “Even a broken clock’s right twice a day.”
Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. “All right, Grandma. Where do you want everything?”
“Most of this needs to be filed in the cabinet. Each drawer is labeled, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find the right spot. I’ll sift through the paperwork and put it in piles, then you can find the right folder. Sound good?”
“Absolutely.”
He stayed glued to his spot on the desk as she shuffled through the mess, making orderly piles.
Concentration made a tiny crease between her eyebrows. She scanned every item before finding the right place for it. “Nothing of interest so far.”
“Not surprised. My guess is we’ll find more information on the computer. It’s a good thing your father still has such an old one. The burglar probably expected a laptop, something smaller they could take with them. A giant monitor and tower from the 1980s probably weren’t expected.”
