Page 28 of Wyoming Bodyguard
Lily couldn’t help but laugh imagining Eve wiggling her eyebrows and smirking. “Not a good idea. Besides, he jumped up like he’d been bit by a rattlesnake and ran out of the room. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to him about it before Reid showed up and Madden decided to get out of Dodge.”
“Men. I swear they’re always making things worse by being idiots. So you didn’t get a chance to say anything about the kiss?”
She brought back the moment, replayed it in her head for the hundredth time. She’d been so flustered, she couldn’t remember the words that had poured from her mouth. “I…said something but can’t recall exactly what.”
Eve chuckled. “Sounds like you two have a lot to talk about. I may not be the best person to offer advice on relationships, but the one thing I learned from my parents is don’t gloss over a conversation just because it might be uncomfortable. Those are usually the most important ones.”
“That’s good advice, even if I’m cringing on the inside just thinking about it.”
The sound of the front door opening followed by heavy footsteps reached her ears. She hated the fear that hitched high in her throat.
“Hey, Lily,” Madden called out. “It’s me and Reid. We’ll be in the kitchen.”
Her muscles instantly relaxed. “He’s back. Guess I better work up the nerve to have a fun talk. Thanks for listening.”
“Anytime.”
Lily disconnected and placed her phone beside the keyboard. The paper she’d discovered sat on the other side. She picked it up and read through the numbers then flicked her glance at the computer screen.
Her pulse quickened. The spreadsheet on the screen consisted of dates, months and years, followed by a number that corresponded with ones listed on the page from her father’s book. Maybe the other figures her father had written down were dates, not just random amounts.
Holding the paper up to the monitor, she gasped. She added one more thing to discuss with Madden. Even though she needed to address the elephant in the room, their kiss had just dropped to the bottom of her list.
Chapter 11
Numbers ran on repeat in Madden’s brain twenty minutes later as he and Lily rode four-wheelers back out to the shed on the edge of her property. After he and Reid popped inside for a quick drink of water, Lily had called him into the office to show him what she’d found. He might not have figured out exactly what Kevin Tremont was tracking, but it couldn’t be good.
Lily swung off her ride and removed the dark blue helmet. Dust and wind had created a beautiful mess of her hair and face. “What’s the plan?”
He averted his gaze and bit back a groan. Just when he thought she couldn’t get sexier, she had to do something so simple and natural that made her look like she’d walked off a movie set. He wanted nothing more than to comb his fingers through those long, tangled tresses and finish what they’d started earlier.
No, it couldn’t happen. Her reaction after they’d kissed had made her feelings clear. The wordshouldn’tfrom her mouth had been like a bucket of icy water. He’d never pursue a woman after she’d told him no. No matter how badly his body craved her.
Hopping down, he shrugged the backpack off his shoulders and dug inside. “I just need to install a camera on the shed. Somewhere a little hidden.”
After working off his initial burst of irritation and confusion, he’d changed his mind about coming so far out on the property without Lily. He’d sent Reid back to the office to grab more floodlights and investigate any drug-related crimes in the area then he’d asked Lily to help him with the equipment.
He didn’t really need the help, but she’d agreed quickly enough to tell him he’d made the right call.
“Do you think my dad is involved with selling drugs?” She stared at the old shed as if afraid of the secrets the shingles could tell. Thin, white clouds padded the sky, casting her in shadows.
The tortured tone of her voice gutted him. He couldn’t say he understood what she was going through, but he had lived with a father who’d kept a big secret. A secret that had changed the trajectory of their entire family.
But he couldn’t get caught up in emotions—hers or his own. Doing so before had proven disastrous. Digging into his bag, he grabbed his equipment and scanned the limited nooks and crannies.
“Hard to say. The deposit amounts you found were large and frequent, but we couldn’t track down a bank account. If those amounts were tied to selling drugs, there’d have to be a lot more than what we found. The house has been searched, and unless whoever broke in stole his stash, there’d have to either be more drugs somewhere or another place your dad’s hiding them. Not to mention a connection to the supplier.”
She stayed rooted to the spot, the long blades of grass and weeds brushing against her legs. “I spend too much time with him for something so major to go unnoticed. I mean, this isn’t a scene fromBreaking Bad. This is my life. My dad’s life. No way he’s sneaking around, dealing drugs. And to what end? If he was using, that would have been evident in his blood work at the hospital. If he was bringing in tons of money, the ranch wouldn’t be limping along so badly.”
“Could he be spending the money on something else?” Kevin Tremont might not be Madden’s favorite person, but he hated the idea that the man could be using drug money for some other purpose than lessening the burden heaped on his daughter’s shoulders.
Lily stiffened, her mouth pressed in a hard line and eyes narrowed. “Like what?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m just throwing out any and all options right now. I’m sure the sheriff’s department has some ideas. We should sit down with Deputy Hill and Deputy Silver. See if they’ll offer some insight.”
Spotting the best place for the camera, Madden unhooked the stepladder he’d brought along from the back of the four-wheeler and set it on the uneven ground. Thank God he didn’t need to reach any higher. Judging by the look on her face, she might shove the ladder out from underneath him.
“Can they do that? I mean, legally, are they supposed to spill secrets to an open case?”
