by Layne, Ivy
“I'm not going anywhere until Lily asks me to,” I said.
Deputy Dave's chest puffed up like a rooster. “Then start packing. I'm going in to talk to her.”
I thought for a minute, weighing the inconvenience of having Deputy Dave on the scene with the benefit of more time to figure out what the hell he was up to. I already knew he wanted to fuck Lily, but something about him felt off. There was more to his hovering than a simple desire to nail his buddy's widow.
Decision made, I gave him my fakest friendly smile. “Great. I'll walk you in.”
“That's not necessary—”
I ignored the deputy and strode ahead of him to the front door, rapping twice before turning the handle and calling out, “Lily? The deputy is here.”
A pause, almost uncomfortably long. Deputy Dave shifted from one foot to the other, waiting for Lily to welcome him. There was a rustle of sound, and both Lily and Adam appeared.
Lily's face was arranged in a carefully friendly smile. Adam's expression wasn't friendly or careful.
He arranged himself beside me, crossing his arms over his chest, and glared at the deputy in irritation, muttering, “We were playing a game.”
I murmured, “Were you winning?”
Adam poked the side of my thigh with his little elbow. “I was kicking her butt.”
“Good job.” The pleasure that flashed across his small face stabbed straight through my chest. Fuck. I kinda got why Lily said she'd do anything for the kid.
I'd heard him bitching at her at bedtime and when he didn't like his dinner. I knew he wasn't perfect. Half the time he was a royal pain in the ass. From what I've seen of kids, that's pretty much how they all are. With Adam, so far, the good far outweighed the bad.
Fuck, that grin. I couldn't wait to see what he'd do when he won the game. If he won. Lily was no stranger to kid's games. She might have a comeback planned.
Lily was still giving Deputy Dave her careful, polite smile that was a facsimile of friendliness. He seemed to buy it. I didn't. Lily hadn't said anything negative about the Deputy, but in my gut, I knew she didn't like him.
“Is everything okay, Dave?”
“Oh yeah, everything's fine. I was over here checking in with the Millers. The dog got out again. Went after Mabel's chickens, scared a renter.”
Lily shook her head in resignation. “That dog. No matter what fence they get, he finds a way. He's sweet but full of trouble.”
“Don't I know it,” Dave agreed. “I thought I'd stop by, see if you're free for dinner.” Lily's eyes flashed to mine, alarm, guilt, and something else I couldn't read flickering through them before she recovered her fake smile.
“Oh, that's so nice of you. I, um, I would, but I have Adam and—”
Deputy Dave shot me a look. “Sinclair here can watch him for an hour or two, can't he?”
“Oh, well, no. Knox isn't a babysitter, Dave,” Lily said, confusion clouding her face.
We both stared at Deputy Dave as if he'd grown an extra head. Not that I would mind watching the kid, but as far as Dave knew I was here upgrading the specs on the security system. I was as good as a stranger.
Did he really think Lily was going to leave Adam with a man she barely knew? If he did, he didn't know Lily. I'd been here a few days, and I could've told him that wasn't going to happen.
Either Deputy Dave was an idiot—always a possibility—or he already knew Lily was going to turn him down. I was betting on the latter.
He proved me right when he let the silence stretch an uncomfortable length until Lily stepped in and said, “Would you like to stay for dinner tonight instead? I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I was going to put it on the table in a half an hour or so. Do you want to come in, have a beer and eat with us?”
A wide, almost smug smile spread across Deputy Dave's mouth. Yeah, he knew Lily wouldn't leave Adam. He was angling for the invite. Why? To make another run at getting into Lily's panties? Maybe.
Knowing it would drive him nuts, I said, “Meatloaf sounds great. I'll be over as soon as I wrap up my work.”
Deputy Dave's eyes narrowed on me. He turned to Lily and said, “He eats dinner with you?”
Lily gave him another strained look. “Of course,” she said. “Why wouldn't he?”
“I can think of a lot of reasons,” Dave grumbled under his breath. Turning to give me his back, he said to Lily, “I'll take you up on that beer if you're ready.”
“Sure.” She held out a hand for Adam, who hung back.
“I want to stay with Mr. Knox.”
I recognized that tone of voice. It was the same one he used when he didn’t like his oatmeal or the sneakers Lily had put out for him.
I couldn’t blame the kid. I’d rather hang with me than Deputy Dave, too. Considering I planned to spend the next fifteen minutes spying on Lily and the deputy, I couldn’t have Adam in the cottage. I reached down to squeeze his shoulder.
“Another time, bud, okay? It’s going to take all my attention to get this work done. I’ll get to it as fast as I can and meet you in the kitchen. Deal?”
Adam’s eyes narrowed on me in consideration. Just as Lily stepped forward to intercede, Adam lifted his chin at me, the gesture so adult it took me back for a moment. “K. Fifteen minutes.”
I nodded. Adam raced ahead of Lily and Dave, ignoring Lily’s call of, “Wash your hands and clean up the game.”
I watched them walk into the kitchen, not liking the way Dave crowded Lily or the tense set of her shoulders. I didn’t like the idea of leaving them alone.
I’d be watching over the cameras. If he did anything out of line, I could be there in no time.
Lily was safe and only a little uncomfortable. She could handle it. I knew all of that, and I still didn't want to leave her with him.
“Get your fucking head together,” I muttered to myself as I sat at my desk and pulled up the cameras in the kitchen. Lily was the client and she was safe. I was doing my job.
She was also a potential target. I had to do that job, too.
If I had any hope of untangling the mess my father and Trey Spencer had left behind, I had to find out what the hell was going on. I couldn't turn down the chance to eavesdrop on Lily and her dead husband's best friend. Especially when I was convinced that friend had an agenda all his own.
“Fucking better keep his hands to himself,” I mumbled as I zeroed in on the kitchen camera. If he put a single finger on her…
I shook my head. Focus. So what if he did? As long as he didn't hurt her, everything was fine. The thought of his skin touching hers made my stomach twist. I wasn't going to examine why.
I turned up the volume and waited. Lily bustled around the kitchen, pulling potatoes out of a steaming pot of water and putting them in a bowl to mash. The deputy helped himself to a beer from the fridge and leaned against the counter.
He didn't offer to help, and Lily didn't ask. They talked about town gossip, the increase in tourists for the season. I was starting to wonder if I'd been imagining things when the deputy said, “Why is Knox Sinclair still here, Lily? Shouldn't he be done with the alarm by now?”
Lily shrugged a shoulder. “He's working on a few things. He had to upgrade some wiring,” she improvised.
I knew the Deputy made her nervous, but she hadn't denied he was a friend of the family. Not enough of a friend that she told him the truth. She didn't mention the intruder, the new perimeter alarm, or any of the cameras I'd added on the outside of the house.
“I don't like him hanging around.”
“Why not?” Lily asked baldly, turning from the bowl of potatoes long enough to spear him with a look.
Deputy Dave shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “I don't trust him.”
Lily gave him a gentle smile and shook her head. “Trey must have trusted Sinclair Security. They
did all the work on the house. He told me to call them if I ever needed anything. Are you saying Trey didn't know what he was doing?”
Dave cleared his throat and took a sip of his beer.
Nice job, Lily. Back him into a corner, so if he insults me, he's insulting his dead best friend.
Dave put the beer down. “I don't think you need him hanging around, that's all. Couldn't he stay in town?”
At this Lily laughed, and the sound was almost her normal, musical laugh. Almost. I wanted to hear that laugh again. The real thing. Maybe if I got rid of Deputy Dave, I would.
“Stay in town? In July? You know there's not a room to be had anywhere within a half-hour of the lake this time of year. And the cost? I don't know who would pay, him or me, but either way—” Lily shook her head again. “Why bother when the cottage is right there?”
“You shouldn't have a stranger staying this close.”
“Dave, he's a security expert who's working on the alarm. The security expert recommended by Trey. If I can't trust him, who can I trust?”
Dave let it drop, changing the subject to the arts fair coming up. He never asked about Adam. Bad move. I'd only known Lily a few days and I could have told him the way to that woman's heart was through her son.
Deputy Dave would've bought himself a lot of goodwill if he'd shown the slightest interest in Adam. He wasn't that smart.
I was almost ready to shut down the laptop and join them in the kitchen when Dave tossed his empty beer into the recycling bin and excused himself.
I followed him on the cameras as he walked down the hall, expecting him to stop at the powder room. He did and came out a few minutes later drying his hands on the sides of his pants, but instead of turning and heading back to the kitchen, he ducked into Trey's office.
Now things were getting interesting. What the hell did the deputy want in Trey's office? Did he know something Lily and I didn't? He answered that quickly enough when he opened and shut the desk drawers, randomly and carelessly.
Whatever he was looking for, he didn't know where to start. But, like Lily, he was definitely looking for something.
I sat back in my chair and watched the deputy's sloppy search move to the closet. He ignored the files in favor of the woven baskets. He and Lily weren't searching for the same thing. Unless he'd already been through the files.
The gears in my mind spun. Andrei Tsepov had threatened our mother, saying our father took something that was his, and he would hurt her if he didn't get it back.
Andrei was the nephew of the former head of the Tsepov crime family. We'd dealt with his uncle more than a few times before my brother's wife shot him to save Axel. The younger Tsepov had inherited his uncle's position, and he was significantly less intelligent.
Case in point, he threatened to hurt our mother if we didn't give him back what our father stole, but he never bothered to tell us exactly what that was.
Andrei Tsepov was looking for something he claimed my father took.
My father had been working with Trey Spencer.
Both Lily and Trey's best friend were also looking for something.
Wouldn't it be interesting if that something was the same something?
It couldn't be that easy. Not that there was anything easy about this, considering I had no idea what Lily and Dave were looking for. I tucked that thought away for later, watching as Dave finished his fruitless search, attempted to straighten the blotter and pens on the desk—doing a crap job—and strode out of the office.
I'd left them alone for almost twenty minutes. Time to horn in on dinner and see what else I could learn.
Chapter Twelve
Knox
Iknocked twice on the door before letting myself in. I couldn't miss Lily's smile of relief when I walked into the kitchen. Deputy Dave's scowl of aggravation was almost as satisfying.
Busy pouring cream into the potatoes, Lily tipped her head in the direction of the fridge. “There's beer if you want one. Dinner is almost ready.”
I looked over to the table, bare except for the placemats. “Need help setting the table?” The deputy shot me a dirty look as Lily graced me with a warm smile.
“If you don't mind, that would be great. Dishes are up there—” she nodded to a cupboard not far from the table. “Silverware is in the drawer next to the dishwasher.”
I kept my smug smile on the inside as I set the table. Deputy Dave had been standing there with his thumb up his ass for half an hour while Lily worked on dinner. I would have bet he had no plans to clear the table or put the dishes in the dishwasher either.
I was guessing, from the surprise in Lily's appreciative smile, that her husband hadn't been one to help either. Dumbasses. I was eating the food too, wasn't I?
I found paper napkins in the pantry. I didn't think Lily would want me to use cloth with a five-year-old at the table. Lily pulled the meatloaf out of the oven as I finished setting the table. However bad she was with baked goods, so far, her cooking was fucking spectacular.
The meatloaf smelled so good my mouth watered. She set the bowl of mashed potatoes in the middle of the table and went back to cut the meatloaf. Deputy Dave and I both had beers, but Lily didn't have anything.
“What do you and Adam want to drink with dinner?” I asked.
Again, the look of pleased surprise. “Hmm, I'm going to get myself a beer. Adam would love some apple juice.”
It was easy to tell which cups were his, lined up on the first shelf of the cabinet, all plastic and featuring brightly-colored cartoon characters. I poured Adam's apple juice, grabbed a beer for Lily, popped the top and put them on the table.
The whole time Deputy Dave stood there nursing his beer, his eyes narrowed on the two of us. I wasn't offering to help Lily with the table to piss him off, that was just a side benefit. The nights I'd eaten dinner here the table had already been set, but I'd helped her clean up.
Unlike Dave, I wasn't the kind of asshole who was going to sit around letting her wait on me hand and foot. “Want me to get Adam?”
Busy slicing the meatloaf, Lily said, “Please.”
I took a few steps down the hall and called his name. He must have been hungry because he barreled down the stairs a second later in that reckless way children had. I watched his feet fly down each step, ready to catch him when they tangled. He made the descent unscathed and skidded to a stop in front of me.
“That was longer than fifteen minutes,” he said with an accusing glare.
The kid didn't miss much. “I know, bud. I'm sorry. Sometimes work is like that.”
Adam nodded sagely as if he knew exactly what I meant. He joined us at the table, sitting beside me. Deputy Dave took the seat beside Lily. I didn't miss the subtle way she inched her chair further from his side.
Why didn't she tell him to get lost? It was obvious she didn't like him. She didn't need him for anything, so why was he still hanging around?
Conversation was sparse as we dug in. Adam told a story about a Lego fight at preschool I couldn't quite follow. Dave wasn't getting it either, but Lily was completely clued in and nodded along, asking all the right questions.
Dave told a funny story about the neighbor's dog, the same one that had drawn him to this side of town a few hours before. Lily was starting to relax when he said, “Have you had any more trouble with teenagers? Vandalism, anything like that?”
It would have been more natural for him to address the question to me considering that I was the security expert on site. Lily, focused on her meatloaf, flicked a glance up at me. I gave an almost imperceptible shake of my head.
Picking up my cue, she lifted her eyes to Dave and said, “Nope, everything's been quiet.”
“Good to hear. I was worried about you there for a while.” He raised his hand to pat her shoulder, his fingers curving around to squeeze tight. My chest burned at the
sight of his hand on her, at the line between her eyebrows, her tight lips.
Where did he get off touching her? Didn't he see he was making her uncomfortable?
I couldn't decide if the deputy was oblivious or enjoying the way he pushed Lily's buttons, using her innate politeness to subtly bully her.
Not for the first time, I wished I wasn't here because of my father. Wished I was only here for Lily, so I could forget all this bullshit and ask her what was wrong. Offer to help without the risk of betraying my family. I wanted to erase the worry from her eyes. To find out why she was putting up with Deputy Dave so I could get rid of him.
Lily pushed her chair back from the table, shaking off Dave's grip on her shoulder. “Dessert anyone? I made chocolate chip cookies.”
Adam kicked me under the table, a smirk on his face. I kicked him back and shook my head. I was actually looking forward to trying Lily's cookies. It had become a game to figure out how she could fuck up her newest baking project.
“Sounds great,” Dave said heartily. Lily returned with a stoneware plate piled high with cookies, thick and generously spotted with chocolate chips. They looked good, but they didn't smell like anything, not a good sign for freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.
Adam eyed the cookies dubiously. Lily didn't look so certain herself. Dave snagged one and took a big bite, saying with a full mouth, “You seem like you're doing a lot better lately. But if you're not worried about vandalism, why did you call Sinclair to have the alarm beefed up?”
Lily shrugged a shoulder. “Oh, peace of mind, I guess.”
Dave sent a pointed glance at Adam, then to Lily. “You're under too much stress. I know it's hard with Trey gone, being a single mom. No one was surprised you started imagining things. It's normal to want attention when you're lonely—”
“That's not what—” Lily's eyes flared with anger, and for once, her good manners stripped away to reveal the frustration brewing beneath. As much as I wanted the deputy gone, until I knew what he was up to, I didn't want Lily to alienate him.
