Page 23 of Matthew
He nodded once, jaw tight. “Overseas. Different context. Same rules. One bad delivery. One offhand comment. Next thing you know, everything’s under suspicion.”
And everyone.
Callie’s expression shifted, softening. “What happened?”
Matthew didn’t answer right away. He didn’t usually talk about it. Not the details. Not the fallout. But something about the way she asked made it feel less like a demand and more like an opening.
“I got cleared,” he said finally. “Eventually. But the damage was done.”
And the disillusionment remained.
“And now?”
He looked at her, really looked. “Now I pay attention to people who try to hide behind no labels. No names.”
She nodded slowly, lips pressed together. “Glad you’re here, then.”
Matthew didn’t say it, but he was glad too. And not just because of the mystery bins. He nodded toward the buildings. “Mind if I look at the footage now? We left ESI before Carter had a chance to review it.”
“Help yourself,” she said. “It’s in the office.”
They walked back toward the main building with the dog happily trotting between them.
Whatever this was, it wasn’t over. And as long as he was breathing, Callie Morgan wouldn’t be facing it on her own.
A few minutes later, after watching the feed, she sighed, and Sammy echoed it as he curled up by her feet. “I stopped him before he pulled the containers out. He looked annoyed but not surprised. Like he expected to get caught.”
Or like it didn’t matter, Matthew thought. Because the message wasn’t in the delivery, it was in the reaction.
“Guy didn’t argue,” she went on. “Didn’t ask me to sign anything. Just backed off and drove away.”
“That’s what bothers me,” Matthew said. “If it was a real screw-up, most delivery guys would scramble to cover their ass. This one didn’t even flinch.”
Callie crossed her arms, brow furrowed. “So, what does that mean?”
He looked out the window and across the lot, narrowing his eyes against the sun. “He wasn’t delivering product. He was testing your response. Seeing if this place would work.”
They stood in silence for a beat, each lost in their own thought.
Callie finally exhaled and headed for the door. Sammy immediately jumped to his feet and yawned. “Whatever this is, I don’t want it bleeding into my crew or my business.”
“It won’t,” he said, following her back outside. The words came low and sure, not a promise he tossed around lightly. “We’re going to find out who sent that truck. And why.”
She nodded once, her jaw tight. But her shoulders eased enough to let him know she believed him.
Matthew glanced toward the main building where he spotted Caspian still talking with the crew. “I want to walk the perimeter. You mind showing me how far your property line runs?”
She didn’t answer right away. Her gaze lingered on the fence line, then flicked back to his face. A faint smile tugged at her mouth, dry and knowing. “You offering to do recon, Walker?”
He shrugged, letting enough of a grin slip through to meet hers. “Let’s call it…getting the lay of the land.”
Callie gave a short nod and turned down a side path lined with potted sage and creeping thyme. “Fair enough, but try to keep up. Some of us do this kind of work every day.”
He fell into step behind her, boots crunching in rhythm with hers as they moved along the edge of the property. The air smelled of sun-warmed earth and rosemary, and for the first time in a long while, Matthew didn’t feel like he was chasing ghosts.
He was walking a line with a woman who made the ground feel solid.
Sammy trotted ahead, nose down and tail flicking as he followed the edge of the grass as if it were his personal patrol route. He didn’t bark, but every so often he paused to sniff something longer than usual.
