Page 19 of Barbed Wire and Burglary
Maybe it’s my age.
Aaron cleared his throat. “Launching a search for the dog was a cool move.”
“Just doing my job,” A.J. returned lightly. He wasn’t accustomed to Aaron being nice to him and wasn’t quite sure how to take it.
“Do you want to know what else is cool?” Aurora playfully pinched her nostrils closed as she gave A.J. another kiss. “While everyone else was dog hunting, my favorite soldier was dumpster diving, and this is what he recovered.” She spun away from the two men to point out the pile of olive green porcelain shards. “I have no idea what any of this is about since A.J. refuses to tell me. All I know is the broken pieces of porcelain belong to something green and ugly with eyes that’ll haunt me in my dreams tonight.”
Aaron’s gaze followed where she was pointing. “You found it!” Suspicion clouded his expression. “It’s almost like you’re trying to make me look bad, Pike.” The way he said A.J.’s last name made it sound like an insult.
“Aaron!” Aurora’s gasp of disappointment sliced through the air. “What’s gotten into you? You should be thanking him,” she scolded. “Technically, you should be thanking both of us since I helped.” The bragging note returned to her voice.
Aaron’s scowl deepened, telling A.J. their short-lived truce was over. Their joint investigation was also nearing its end, leaving A.J. no closer to explaining how Aaron couldafford to rent a lakefront home in the most expensive part of town. Or why Aaron had chosen to move to Heart Lake in the first place. Or if the diamond ring Bandit had found was related to the case.
It didn’t feel like a coincidence, though, that Aaron was present at yet another crime scene, bending over the shards of green porcelain to examine them more closely.
Unless…
The thought that had been nagging A.J. for the past hour continued to take shape. Someone had stolen a seemingly worthless item from Mr. Peters, left an ambiguous-looking crime scene that felt staged, then destroyed the stolen item.
The details of the burglary were starting to feel eerily similar to the case in Pinetop, where the authorities had determined that stolen gems were being transported inside wooden figurines. Was it possible that something valuable had been hidden inside the green frog? Something that a dirty deputy like Aaron Cannon might have wanted to get his hands on?
More questions.
Still no answers.
I’m getting good at that.
* * *
“Well, well, well!” Decker Kingston leaned forward in the leather chair on wheels in front of Modello’s security monitor. He placed his elbows on the desk to peer more closely at the two bristling lawmen across the street. He’d watched the video clip half a dozen times already. “I think it’s safe to say our two newest arrivals in town despise each other. Pretty inconvenient, if you ask me, since one of them is dating the other guy’s sister.”
“Nobody asked you,” his wife reminded in a teasingvoice. Chanel pushed his elbows off the desk and draped herself across his lap, hooking an arm around his neck and claiming his full attention for herself. “What I will ask is this: Why are you spying on your newest employee and the town’s newest deputy on your own time and dime?”
His gaze dropped to her lips. “Ourtime andourdime,” he corrected, “since we’re sitting in your office.” She was wearing his favorite strawberry lip gloss, looking like a queen with the diamond earrings he’d given her for Christmas dangling enticingly against her neck. She was wearing a navy pantsuit of her own design—centerfold material from the glossy white-blonde hair she’d twisted on top of her head to the toes of her high-heeled pumps. He was the luckiest guy on the planet, something he didn’t take for granted.
“True.” She snuggled closer, pressing his large hands against her blooming belly. “Do you want to tell me what this is really about?”
“I’m not sure.” Their unborn child kicked his hand, filling him with awe. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” He had every right and every reason to ensure that the streets of Heart Lake remained safe. This was his home—the place he was raising his family.
She smiled dreamily. “Let me get this straight. You went and hired the guy you’re suspicious about. Actuallyhiredhim.”
He pondered her statement. “Suspicious might not be the right word. He seems solid, and his background certainly checks out. From everything I can gather, he’s a real American hero.”
“But…?” She nuzzled his stubbly jawline.
He found it difficult to continue thinking straight. “But there’s more going on than what he’s telling us. Mark mywords. And whatever it is, it’s serious.” He captured her lips in a soul-searing kiss. There was only so much teasing a guy could take, especially from a wife as beautiful and pregnant as she was.
“I love you, Deck,” she sighed when he lifted his head from hers. “So much that I’m begging you to be careful.”
“You know I will.” He could give her that assurance.
She smoothed a hand over the side of his head. “Maybe we don’t need to get involved in this one.”
“Too late,” he reminded. They were already under contract with Diamondback Corporation to have Aurora Cannon put Modello’s new security system through every hoop imaginable. They needed to know why the boutique’s alarm had been triggered. Was it a weakness in the hardware, a flaw in the software, or something more ominous?
Chanel kissed his nose. “I agree we have to work with them, but we don’t need to get involved in their personal issues. That’s all I meant.”
“Okay.” He turned his face to kiss her fingers.
