Noah grabbed an empty plastic bag by his feet and crumpled it into a small ball. “I see you went shopping again.”
“I needed a few things.”
Noah looked poised to crack a joke, but then his lips fell. He chucked the bag into the garbage and kept his mouth closed.
Something about her face convinced him to shut up. Lexy just wished she knew what caused her to have that sort of power over Noah. If she could harness that gift of silence, they might have a shot at putting their relationship back together.
“Good to see you, sis.” Gray dodged a pile of clothes with an exaggerated step and wrapped her in a tight bear hug. “You okay?”
“Except for the part where the police think I killed a guy, yeah.” She hated to give up the security and step out of Gray’s embrace, but she did.
Gray winked at her right before he massaged her shoulder. “I heard.”
“If it’s any consolation, I’m a suspect, too. Want to rub my shoulders?” Noah asked in a mocking voice.
“Never.”
“Good choice.”
“So, what’s the supposed motive for you?” Gray asked Noah.
Noah picked up some of the items she discarded earlier and put them on a folded pile on her bed. “Jealousy. The detective thinks your sister was cheating on me.”
Since Lexy would never be unfaithful, would never even think to be, and would have killed Noah if he had strayed while they were dating, the suggestion grated on her nerves. “Hard to sleep around on you since we’re not together.”
Gray made a hissing noise through his teeth. “Ouch.”
“She’s testing me,” Noah said.
“I wouldn’t joke about that one, sis. Engaged or not, I can’t imagine what Noah would do to the poor sucker who tried to climb into your bed.”
“Listen to your brother. The man talks sense.” Noah wound the T-shirt he was holding into a tight ball.
Lexy considered pointing out how Noah had believed she was sleeping with someone else, namely William, but abandoned the idea when she saw a black haze move behind Noah’s eyes.
Still, for some reason, she felt the need to explain and defend herself. “I’m just saying that we would have to be a couple for me to be unfaithful.”
“We felt pretty coupled last night in that bed.”
Gray stopped in the middle of sitting down on the bed in question and shot back up to a standing position again. “Aw, shit.”
“Noah!”
“What?” Noah held his hands up with her blue dress hanging off his fingertips.
Memories of him stripping the dress off her assailed her. From the fake innocent expression on Noah’s face, she knew he was doing some remembering of his own.
“You’re being rude just to be rude,” she said.
He folded the dress with a reverence that made her internal temperature spike. “Honey, as far as I’m concerned we are back together.”
“Since I get a say about our relationship, we’re not.”
A huge grin lit up his face. “At least you finally admit we have a relationship again.”
The man made her want to hit something.
“This sounds like a familiar argument.” Gray pulled out the desk chair and pointed down at the seat. “Anything I should know before I use this?”
Was nothing private anymore? “No.”
“Well, not from us,” Noah said at the same time.
Gray’s mouth twisted in distaste. Probably had something to do with his exaggerated fear of germs. “I’m beginning to hate Utah.”
“Join the club.” Noah motioned for Gray to take the chair while Noah sat on the edge of the bed. “At least there aren’t a bunch of reporters at the gate anymore. Tate or the police must have chased them off.”
“If a murder happened here, and reporters are here, tell me again why you two are still here.”
“The police want us to stay in Utah.” Lexy did not move from her position resting against the desk as she stared at Gray.
Instead of his usual dark suit, he wore khakis and a polo. But the only thing casual about him was his wardrobe choice. He joked with Noah as usual, but the deep lines around his mouth spoke of the tension running through him.
“But why this resort? Why not one without a murder rate?” Gray asked.
“Look around the area. There aren’t many hotels here.” Noah’s voice grew rougher. “Besides that, I’m not leaving here until I know why someone chose to kill a guy on Lexy’s floor.”
Yeah, they all wanted to figure out that part. Lexy kept hoping for a logical explanation. One that did not involve Noah or the family company.
“Why are you here?” she asked Gray.
“A guy can’t visit his sister?”
“Miles from home on a workday? No. What’s going on?”
Gray glanced at Noah before answering. When Noah gave a small, almost imperceptible nod, Gray fessed up. “Noah called and told me about Henderson and his connection to the firm. I grabbed some paperwork, what little I could find, which is a topic I intend to discuss with you, and caught the first plane out this morning.”
So this was business. Lexy could not help but smile. That was Gray. Always ready to step in and resolve a work crisis. “Worried about the business PR angle? That’s supposed to be my job.”
Gray frowned at her joke. “More like I’m worried my baby sister walked into something dangerous. I’m not a complete jackass, you know.”
Noah nodded with mock seriousness. “Yeah, not complete.”
“If I had known Utah was so dangerous…” Gray let his voice trail off.
The overprotective angle was sweet, but annoying. “What? You’d ground me?”
“The idea has some merit,” Noah said, then tried act innocent when she scowled at him. “What did I say?”
“I’m not sure we can blame the entire state for the death of one guy,” Lexy pointed out.
“And where the hell were you when all of this happened?” Gray leveled the question at Noah. “I thought you were the big, protective fiancé in this scenario. What were you doing?”
“Dancing with Lexy.”
Enough people knew the intimate details of her love life. “That’s not really relevant to anything.”
Gray shook his head as if trying to believe what he was hearing. “A guy got killed and you went dancing?”
Noah nodded. “You’re confused on the timing, but yeah.”
“Unbelievable.”
Lexy understood Gray’s sentiment. The whole situation bordered on impossible. It was as if the world tilted and everything went off center for twenty-four hours.
“Isn’t that why you sent me to find her, Gray? You wanted me to win Lexy back.”
“Later,” Gray muttered under his breath.
“Wasn’t that the point of telling me you didn’t know why Lexy changed the computer access and took my files? Of this entire travel exercise to Utah?” Noah asked the questions in a deceptively quiet voice, but the impact landed like a bomb in the middle of the room.
The words registered in Lexy’s brain a half second before Gray reacted. “What?”
Gray’s shoulders collapsed. “Damn it, Noah. I expected you to keep information to yourself.”
Noah shrugged. “I tried. Your sister’s not stupid.”
“Wait a second.” She yelled to get their attention. Once she had it, she unleashed her pent-up anger on her brother. “You sent Noah after me like some lame bodyguard?”
Noah made a face. “Lame?”
Lexy ignored Noah. “One idiot at a time” was her motto of the moment. “Is that what happened, Gray?”
All six feet of her brother squirmed in his chair. “Not exactly.”
“That’s exactly how it was.” Noah leaned back with his palms against the bed.
Gray’s face turned red. “Would you shut up before she kills me?”
Detective Sommerville was right. The two men in her life spent a lot of time trying to protect
her from imaginary insults and threats. Shame they didn’t know that most of the time what she needed help with was them.
“Don’t blame Noah for this mess, Gray.”
Noah beamed at her. “Thanks, honey.”
“Don’t you start. I’m dealing with Gray right now. Your turn will come.” She glared the smile right off Noah’s face then went back to mentally planning Gray’s painful death. “I’m still waiting for an explanation from you.”
Gray took a deep breath and visibly calmed down. “Look, Alexa. It isn’t what you think.”
“That you got Noah all fired up?”
Noah scoffed. “Oh, that part’s true.”
“I should kick your ass,” Gray mumbled.
Noah’s shoulders tensed. “You can try.”
She knew the boasts amounted to nothing more than empty talk. Gray and Noah had a near-sibling relationship. Sometimes that included a strange male-bonding ritual where they threatened to beat the crap out of each other. Some days she was tempted to let them. Not today. Not when she had so many questions that needed answering.
“I came here to help with the Henderson situation,” Gray said.
Noah nodded in agreement. “And I figured if we told her that we knew about her office games, then she’d tell us why she’s really here.”
That brought the fighting to a close. The men stopping sniping at each other and stared at her. Confusion knotted Gray’s forehead. Satisfaction pounded off Noah.
The weight of the silence nearly knocked her over.
“Why are you here?” Gray asked.
A double team. She should have seen it coming. Noah rarely did anything without a backup plan. “Don’t change the subject.”
“That is the subject, Lexy.” Something behind Noah’s eyes softened.
The sweet, honest look of interest was enough to reel her in. Almost.
“Gray’s interference is the subject,” she insisted in a stall for time.
“Fine. Let’s get that out of the way.” Noah leaned down with his elbows against his knees. “Gray?”
Gray focused his attention on his friend and partner. “She’s being stubborn about you and cutting off your access to get back at you.”
“That’s not true,” she said but neither of them noticed.
“I thought if I made it sound as if I couldn’t help and that you had to find her and figure it out for yourself, that you’d have an excuse to talk with her and, maybe, she’d stop being so damn stubborn.”
“Excuse me?” Sounded like more heavy-handed male bullshit to her.
Noah saw it differently, since he nodded his head. “I can understand that.”
“That makes one of us.” What she saw was men-gone-nuts.
Gray reached out and took her hand. “Alexa, you love this idiot. I thought if I made you deal with each other, you might stop all of this insane and unnecessary worrying. It was as much for you two as it was for the business. I can’t have you seeking revenge by cutting Noah off without explanation.”
Gray had the entire scenario all wrong. She really could not blame him, since she never shared the problem with him. She believed she could resolve it and present it to Gray as a done deal. That doing so might make it easier to accept his best friend’s criminal role.
“Only a guy could think something so lame could work,” she said.
Noah shrugged. “It did work.”
“It did not.” Taking on one of them was bad enough. Two was proving impossible, so she centered her attention on the idiot who was biologically related to her. “And why do you think I’m worrying?”
Noah and Gray shared a she’s-lost-her-mind-so-tread-carefully glance before Gray finally answered her. “Because you gave back the ring. If you’re not worried, what’s the problem?”
Noah rubbed his hands together. “Good question. Care to answer that, Lexy?”
“According to you, we still are getting married.”
A smile broke across Noah’s face. “Then we don’t have a problem. We’re in agreement and can set a date.”
“In your dreams.”
“Actually, yes.”
The firm tone of his voice stopped her for a second. Noah never doubted her or them. Despite the arguments, the differences in their backgrounds, and the baggage she dragged behind her into a relationship, he did not waver. He was rock solid in that respect. If he hadn’t been, she would have left the relationship long before she did.
Gray squeezed her hand. “Noah took off work, which is a miracle, and came here to find you. You’re sharing a room—one that could use a round or two of maid service, by the way—and you obviously still love him. What’s the problem?”
Obviously? She would trade her soul for the ability to act aloof and feel nothing for Noah.
“We’re sleeping together. That’s it.”
Noah coughed over whatever he said next and Lexy did not ask for a repeat.
“I thought you were here on vacation,” Gray said.
“I was. Am…”
“No, she’s not. She’s snooping and hiding something. She brought my stolen papers along for a reason.”
“Stolen?” She let go of Gray’s hand. “It’s clear the sun has scorched Noah’s brain.”
“That’s possible, but I’m still right about this.” Noah got up and walked over to the open closet.
Gray watched with a blank look on his face. “What’s he doing?”
“Who knows?” But she had an idea. She saw the room safe earlier. Even tried to pry the thing open with one of those free resort pens after several tries at guessing at the combination failed.
Noah faced them with a fistful of papers. “Want to talk now?”
Lexy made a grab for the stack of papers she knew were hers, but Noah held them out of her reach. “Not gonna happen, sunshine.”
“What are those?” Gray asked.
“Private. Noah, hand them over.”
Gray threw his hands up in the air. “I’m lost.”
“Lexy came here on a project of her own. Something to do with Henderson.” Noah never broke eye contact with her. “Am I right?”
“Why ask me when you think you know everything?”
“She made some connection between our business and Henderson. She thinks there’s a connection with me as well.” Noah talked over her when she tried to object.
“There is no way you and Henderson being here at the same time is a coincidence.”
Gray’s eyebrow lifted in question. “Is that true?”
“Ask your best friend here. He’s the one with the papers.”
“I haven’t read them.” Noah glanced down at the papers. “But I do wonder what we’ll learn when we do.”
There was no ability to hide anymore. Henderson was dead and she was no closer to figuring out Noah’s role in the theft. And from the determined looks on Noah and Gray’s faces, she knew they were not going to let the subject drop.
“Alexa?”
“I came here to investigate Noah.”
Shock registered on Noah’s face. “Me?”
“You’re on the verge of being arrested.” She sat on the desk this time. “Or, should I say, arrested again?”
Chapter Fifteen
N oah stood there, papers in hand, with his mind wiped clean of any rational comeback. He waited for Lexy’s comment to make sense. When that failed, he tried yelling. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Do not speak to me like that.”
So that didn’t work. Noah got the message. Hard not to, since the fury thrummed off her, and she was not making any attempt to hide it. Never did.
He inhaled, using all of his strength to grab on to his last strings of patience, and tried again. This time he aimed for a softer tone. One less likely to incur her wrath. “Tell me what you’re saying.”
“You’ve either done a very bad thing, or you’re being framed. A few days ago I thought it was the former.”
“Now?”
H
er gaze darted around the room. Everywhere but at him. “I’m not so sure.”
Her sudden turn threw him off stride. The explanation raised more questions and did not provide a single answer.
Noah glanced at Gray. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”
“Is it because he has a near-perfect shot and a history of hitting his targets?” Gray asked. “If so, I’d think someone would have come looking for him years ago.”
“Can we get back to the subject?” Noah asked because he honestly did not know what else to say to usher in a moment of rational thinking.
Lexy rolled her eyes. “Noah’s big gun is not the issue.”
“Back up and explain why you think I have anything to do with Henderson’s murder,” Noah said.
She frowned. “I never said that.”
“You did.” Noah looked to Gray for confirmation. “Didn’t she? Isn’t that what we’re talking about?”
Lexy answered before Gray could jump in. “This isn’t about Henderson.”
“Hell. Is someone else dead?” Gray shook his head.
“This isn’t about murder. This is about stolen information and a security system that failed when it shouldn’t have. I’ll show you.” She grabbed the papers out of Noah’s hand.
Easy to do since he was stuck in a comatose state. Nothing she said made any sense. Stolen information. A dead guy. He knew the definitions of all of those words, but he could not make any of them fit together in a logical way.
“Look, here.” She pointed at an e-mail message. “Our client, Scanlon Industries, was a victim of a break-in. A physical one, followed by a cyber one. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing.”
Noah knew the name without being told. Scanlon was not just a client. It was one of the firm’s biggest clients. Lots of money. Lots of prestige. All sorts of government contracts for mechanical parts needed by the military with security provided by Noah and his team.
“What does any of this have to do with Noah?” Gray asked.
Noah did not need a road map. He saw the answer right in front of him. “Someone set me up as the thief.”
Lexy threw him a satisfied smile. “Or you are the thief.”
“Why would I hurt a company of which I already own a substantial percentage?”
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