Page 13 of Wine and Research
Feeling slightly better, he walked across the room to set the folders on his desk. He already had updated images of the men on his phone. With luck, the victims would ID one of the guys, and this case would be solved in record time.
He held back a grin. No case was ever that easy, but he still had to check out this possibility.
His gaze shifted to the door opening in the far corner, and he watched Elle reappear and head straight for him. Less than two minutes ago, he’d berated himself for staring at her, but here he was, standing in front of his desk feeling…alive.
“I’m all set,” she said, snapping his brain back into work mode.
Jeremy nodded, and they headed outside to the car in silence. He used the time to give his damn body a pep talk and brace himself for enduring close quarters with the tempting woman. Memories of last year’s ordeals came flooding back.
Turned on. Turned off. Turned inside out.
It was a constant cycle on the days he’d driven her around. Looked like he had a few more sleepless nights ahead of him.
Whatever. He’d survived before. He could do it again.
Jeremy hit the button on his key fob to unlock the doors as they approached his assigned vehicle. He quelled the unexpected urge to rush over and open Elle’s door for her.
What the hell?
This wasn’t a date. In fact, it wasn’t social at all. It was work. He sure as hell wouldn’t open a door for Nealy. He’d take a lot of shit if he used the manners his mother had instilled in him toward a female co-worker.
Elle wasn’t a co-worker, his mind insisted. But she was here for work, so he needed to treat her like one of the guys.
Jeremy was still fighting the inner battle when he pulled up outside Stan’s Sporting Goods, near the outskirts of Main Street. But when they went inside, and he showed Stan the photos, Elle stayed out of the way, silently jotting in her notebook. She didn’t interfere. Didn’t ask questions as he’d feared she might.
Soon, he began to relax and within two hours, he’d finished questioning the other victim, as well as all the shop owners on that side of the street.
Unfortunately, no one recognized the men in the photos.
Once they returned to the car, she twisted to face him. “So, what’s our next move?”
He raised a brow. “Our? There is noour. You’re not a cop.”
She rolled her eyes. “Never tried to be. And you know what I mean. What’syournext move?”
Maybe this time, give her what she wants…
The lieutenant’s words resounded in Jeremy’s head.
It wasn’t like she was going to use the specifics in her book. The legal department had her sign a non-disclosure, so Jeremy didn’t need to keep silent.
Still, once burned…always careful.
He blew out a breath and answered, “I’ll go through all the footage I collected from both locations, as well as what I got from any cameras facing them.”
“Do you think they were lying about seeing those men?” she asked.
“Not intentionally,” he replied. “It’s possible they did see one of them but didn’t recognize them.”
She nodded, wrote something in her notebook, then set it down and met his gaze. “Thank you.”
He frowned. “For what?”
“For answering me. For letting me tag along. For not giving me a hard time.” She smiled. “Take your pick.”
His stomach rippled. Now he felt like an ass. “I should apologize for not doing it last year.”
Surprise widened her eyes, and a shaft of warmth appeared. “Yeah, you should have.”
