Page 37 of Twin Threats In Austin
“Good idea,” he said. “I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that while we were still with Millie.”
“I was distracted too,” she said. “There’s something about that photo that just keeps eating away at me.”
“Same here,” he said.
She blew up the photo on the screen. The faces were so similar it was like Kage was looking into a mirror. Therefore, the reflection theory made sense. However, what she hadn’t noticed before was that Kage’s dark gray T-shirt looked black in his reflection. A trick of the fluorescent lights?
“Hey, did you notice this before?” she asked Camden as she outstretched her hand so he could get a better look at the screen.
“I knew something was bothering me,” he said. Then he took the phone and studied it intensely for a few long moments. “The shirts. Aside from the color variance, Kage is wearing a V-neck. The reflection is more of a scoop neck.”
Rochelle leaned over the console. This close, Camden’s spicy male scent filled her senses. Under any other circumstance, she would find it sexy. But right now, she couldn’t allow herself to focus on anything but Kage and that shirt. Camden was right. “I see what you’re saying.”
“The devil is in the details,” he said.
That expression had never applied to any situation more than it did this one in this moment. From the corner of her eye, she saw movement in Kage’s apartment complex. “Hey, look there.” She pointed toward a woman who walked slowly and seemed to check over her shoulder nervously a little too much for this to be random, unless the woman was selling drugs or something else Rochelle didn’t want to think about.
“Who are you?” Camden said out loud, but the question was obviously rhetorical.
Rochelle’s muscles tensed as she watched the woman stop in front of Kage’s door. The female with shoulder-length black hair glanced around a few more times before knocking. From this distance, it was impossible to tell if she had a secret knock or, honestly, if she even knew him. The man was attractive and would have his fair share of female fans. Most women would agree with that assessment.
The secrecy and carefulness with this woman made all of Rochelle’s tingly Spidey senses come to life. The answer was as plain as the nose on Rochelle’s face. This woman knew Kage’s apartment was being watched.
Black Hair put her hand on the doorknob. Froze. And then she hastily pulled a piece of paper from her pocketbook and slid it into the door, closing it so just an edge of paper was visible.
Did this person have prior knowledge that Kage wasn’t home?
Why wouldn’t she just go inside to leave the note in a secure place?
Because the answer was simple. Rochelle suspected the black-haired woman knew Kage wasn’t going to answer the door because of the cops, or she must have expected the possibility of him not being home. Otherwise, why have a note ready?
“Do you think we should go ask her about her relationship with Kage?” Rochelle asked.
“I have a better idea,” Camden said. “Let’s follow her.”
Rochelle was out of the car in two seconds flat. She met Camden at the front of his truck, where he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “Follow my lead. Okay?”
“Alright,” she said, ignoring the way her heart raced the second he touched her.
“Is it okay if I touch you like we’re a couple?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she answered, hearing the frog in her own throat. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she tried to convince herself the excitement had more to do with finally getting a small break in this case and not with the fact that her attraction to Camden was getting ahead of her. She had the discipline to keep it at bay. She had the professional sense to know what a disaster it would be for her career and therefore her life if she gave in to a momentary distraction like Camden.
The knowledge didn’t exactly make the attraction go away, but she could deal with it. All she had to do was remind herself of how easy it was for him to shut down anytime they had a breakthrough or started getting closer to fully opening up to each other. His instincts shut it down before anything could transpire, which was probably for the best even though her heart wanted to argue otherwise.
Black Hair hadn’t driven unless she parked her car a block away, which would be smart so anyone watching the apartment wouldn’t be able to get her license plate.
If that was the case, this woman was either a criminal herself and knew exactly what she was doing to avoid capture, or an expert at making certain she wasn’t tied to a current case. There was another possibility and that was that Kage had told her to stop by and had warned her that someone might be watching his apartment, in which case surely he would have given her a reason. No guy was gorgeous enough to risk a felony just to go see him at his apartment.Right?
Then again, having a twisted set of morals was exactly the type of people Rochelle came across on a daily basis in her work.
Black Hair slipped around behind the complex in a surprise move and then cut left, disappearing from view. She must have, in fact, stashed a car behind the building. Was it a getaway car?
“Should we grab the note before we do anything else?” Rochelle asked.
“I had the same thought,” Camden admitted. “We can split up. I’ll follow her while you go check the note.”
“Deal.” Rochelle banked a right while Camden disappeared around the side of the apartment complex. The second his arm left her shoulder, she noticed his absence. But she couldn’t think about that right now.
