by Jen Talty
“Not a problem,” Brodie said behind gritted teeth. Five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough.
Chapter 8
“I’m glad you’re here,” Harper said as she sat down on her porch steps next to Brodie. The sun hit the horizon with a glow of orange and pink streaks reaching like fingers across the sky. The crickets had begun their evening song, and an owl hooted in the background.
“I thought we should talk.” He twisted open a beer and handed it to her.
She gladly took a long swig. The cold bubbles hit her throat in a refreshing waterfall of flavor. “You could have told Edwin that I was the neighbor you were spending time with.”
“First, it’s not his business, so for as long as I don’t need you for some sort of alibi, he can go fuck himself.”
“I’m his superior, so you’re telling that to me too,” she said with twinge of sarcasm.
“Not you, but your office.” He twirled his thumb over her knee. “Second, I like to keep my private life just that and honestly, we don’t even know what this is.”
“Thank you, but next time, don’t lie, especially not if you’re trying to protect my honor. I’m a big girl.”
“I didn’t lie.”
She took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. “You omitted the truth, which isn’t much different. What would you have done if he pushed?”
“I have no idea,” Brodie admitted. His bourbon eyes captured her gaze. Behind the intensity of his stare lingered a fusion of anger and sadness. Underneath that, she could see his kind soul. Brodie was the type of man that people flocked to. He was cool under pressure and offered comfort in times of need.
Silence filled the night air. A few minutes ticked by as they sipped their beers and held hands. They had already slid into a level of comfort that came from years of knowing the other person and how they responded to life-changing events.
Yet, there was an awkwardness that still had yet to be addressed. The kind of unease that came with keeping something from the one you loved.
Only she didn’t love him.
Heavy like, she’d admit to.
“You know I can’t talk about the case with you,” she said.
“Which is why I’m not asking anything. I wouldn’t do that to you. I care about you too much.”
“Yeah, and we’re back to that,” she whispered. Leave it to him to address the one elephant that sat between them.
“So, you think this is all going too fast?”
“I don’t know what I think,” she said, staring at a little girl riding her bike down the street in front of her parents. Her little legs pumped, and she waved enthusiastically. “But I do know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t want to sleep alone tonight, and I suspect you don’t either. You lost one of your own today.”
He nodded, rubbing his free hand across his face, his index finger and thumb meeting in the middle of his chin. “Jax called and said Jonathon’s body was burned so badly, they still have to make a positive ID.”
“We’ll know for sure by morning, if not sooner. When I left, the medical examiner had just gotten the rest of Jonathon’s records.” She thought it strange that Jonathon used mostly doctors outside of the military, except for the required physicals.
“You’re talking about the case,” he said.
“Nothing that you couldn’t find out on the base by asking around, so not really.” It would be difficult to hold back, considering she wanted to bounce things off Brodie. His deduction skills were sharp, and he’d be an asset to the team from an arson standpoint. But mostly, she just wanted to be able to curl up in his arms and let the intense emotions she coiled behind her heart a chance to rear their heads so she could stay focused.
“Staying with you tonight would compromise the case.”
“As of this moment in time? No, it won’t.”
“I’m a person of interest. I probably shouldn’t even be here right now.”
She swallowed. Both Brodie and Declan had been named in the case, but neither one was a suspect. However, as a seasoned investigator, she knew how quickly cases like this could take the most unexpected twist. “You didn’t kill Jonathon.” She had to believe that. Trust that this investigation would prove that the killer had simply snagged the gas can from the back of Brodie’s truck.
“No, I didn’t,” Brodie said. His words lingered like a thick cloud ready to dump large rain pellets to the ground.
“I’m sorry we had to put you through that today.”
“You’re just doing your job.” He rubbed his thumb across her lower lip. “I wish I could get my hands dirty on this case. I didn’t like Jonathon, and I’ve never apologized for that, but no one deserves to die like that. I was in that house. Even though I was pulled out quickly, I know that fire started right there in that bed where Jonathon had been found.”
Harper wanted to stop Brodie, but a liquid glaze coated his eyes. He needed to talk, and she could listen.
“I can’t help but think someone doused him, and the house, with gasoline and lit a match. That would explain a lot,” he said, his voice thick with grief.
“I’m going to find out what happened, and I’m going to nail the bastard,” she said.
A slight smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “That I believe without a shadow of a doubt.”
“Come on, let’s go inside.” She stood, tugging at his arms.
“Are you sure? Because I won’t say no, but I came over because I thought we needed to clear one thing up. Since we’ve done that, I still don’t want to put you in a bad spot.”
“You’re not. Come on. I’ll order a pizza.”
He nodded, then followed her into the house. Once inside, he leaned against the doorjamb, letting out a long, audible sigh.
“What is it?”
“I just can’t believe he’s gone. I mean, holy fuck, I think I’m going to miss the asshole, and it really sucks that the last encounter I had with him had been a fist fight.” He covered his eyes with his forearm as the back of his head hit the wood.
She hadn’t known him long but she knew him well enough that rushing to his side to comfort him would be the last thing he wanted. She understood that.
“Jonathon had made a nasty sexual comment about Becca. I was glad he hadn’t said it front of Declan. He would have gone off and whaled on him long before I did.”
“Are Declan and Becca an item?”
“No. Declan was hurt real bad, and I guess so was she. He’s being gun-shy and a moron, if you ask me, but maybe they both need a little time to heal.” He lowered his arm. “What do you like on your pizza?”
“Meat,” she said with a smile, knowing the mood needed to be lighter. Brodie had said what he needed to. He would work through his emotions one step at a time. She admired his ability to stay levelheaded through all of this when someone half the man he was would have gone off half-cocked.
“There is a great place a few blocks from here, but they don’t deliver.”
“Are you talking about Michael’s Little Shop on the corner of third?” she asked.
“That’s the one.” He took the few bottles of beer left in the six-pack and placed them in her fridge. “It’s a nice night for a walk.”
“It sure is.”
They ordered a large pizza, joking that what they didn’t finish tonight, they’d have for breakfast. Harper picked at the crust on her third slice, sitting on the back patio of Michael’s. It was bigger than she had thought, and the outdoor seating area faced the west, showing off changing colors of the sunset. During dinner, it had gone from pink to a reddish purple before turning the night sky blue-black, speckled with bright stars.
Throughout dinner, the conversation remained light, mostly discussing the songs that played in the background and favorite concerts they had attended over the years. A few military men and women and came went, all stopping to stay hello to Brodie, and ask him what had happened to Jonathon. Thank God
, Brodie told everyone he didn’t know much, making sure everyone left her alone.
“Wow. This has to be the best pizza I’ve ever had and that includes my grandmother’s. She’s rolling over in her grave as we speak.” Growing up, Harper practically lived on pizza. Her grandmother worked two jobs, one of which was making her special pizza sauce for a local restaurant. Harper’s first job at sixteen had been in that same establishment, working side by side with the woman who raised her.
Brodie tossed his napkin to his paper plate. “People drive from over an hour away, just to grab a slice.”
“I’m not surprised. The atmosphere, for essentially a fast food place, is great too.”
“I could think of better places to take you on a date,” he said as he leaned back in his chair. “There is this place called The Canal House across the bridge. I’ve never been there, but I’m told the steaks are out of this world, and it’s right on the water.”
“Is it fancy?” Not that Harper didn’t enjoy dressing up occasionally, but she much preferred a pair of jeans with a stylish shirt.
Brodie shook his head. “Not from what I’ve been told. They also have some kind of band playing every night. We should definitely check it out.”
“I’d like that.”
Her pulse kicked up when the corners of Brodie’s mouth curved into a seductive smile. She couldn’t think of one thing she didn’t like about this man, which also made her a tad nervous. Every man, even the good ones, had a flaw.
“We’ll save for when this case is over.”
He had to go and remind her of all the paperwork sitting on her desk. All the interviews that had already been conducted that she needed to review and potentially assign new interviews.
The patio door swung open and caught her attention. “Shit,” she muttered, eyeing Edwin walking through the door. His timing couldn’t be any worse, or any more on cue based on the direction of the conversation.
“What’s the matter?” Brodie asked.
“Don’t look now, but Edwin just walked in.”
Brodie didn’t take heed as he glanced over his shoulder. “Who’s the chick on his arm?”
“No idea.”
Edwin pulled back a chair for the blond woman in four-inch heels, tight shorts, a sleeveless tank top, and a cowboy hat. If her over-the-top make-up, including blue eye shadow, didn’t draw all eyes in her direction, then that hat certainly would.
“She’s…interesting,” Brodie said.
“Yes. Everyone can see her ass cheeks falling out of those shorts.”
Brodie turned his head, lowering his chin. “I wasn’t looking at her ass.”
“I was,” Harper said with a smile and a short laugh as she leaned across the table. “She doesn’t seem to be his type.” She’d met Edwin a dozen times before her transfer to Patrick Air Force Base and each time, Edwin came off a little left of kilter. In their first meeting, he tried too hard to impress her, which made him appear insecure. The second meeting, he came across arrogant when discussing one of his current cases, which happened to have been a minor incident where Jonathon had disregarded protocol. At the time, Edwin had not been brought in the loop about the other investigation.
Edwin’s personality seemed to waffle between socially awkward to socially annoying, but thus far, his investigative skills, and professionalism, were admirable.
“Opposites attract?”
“Ya think? I mean, he’s nerdy and she’s…she’s…”
“Not?” Brodie questioned with a daring smile and slight twinkle in his mocha eyes.
“Shit,” she whispered. “Here he comes.” She shoved one last bite of crust into her mouth, wishing it were a shot of Fireball.
“Hello, Major Dawson. I see you found the hot spot in town,” Edwin said, towering over them like a skyscraper with his hands on his hips. “Captain.”
“I think off base you can call me Brodie.”
Harper stifled a laugh. She had forgotten that technically, Brodie outranked Edwin. Though, kudos to Edwin for doing the respectful thing.
“All right, Brodie it is,” Edwin said. “Harper, can I have a word with you?”
“Sure.” Harper stood and followed Edwin to the far east side of the patio. No wonder his date wore fuck-me heels. His damned head reached the stars. “What’s up?”
“I put this on your desk, but since you’re out with him tonight, I think I should tell you what we uncovered.”
“If this was urgent, you should have paged me,” she said, not hiding her annoyance.
“I don’t have all the information yet, but we found a sealed record on Brodie. I’ve gone through the proper channels to find out the nature of the record.”
“Did the military purge the record, or locals?” she asked as she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She shouldn’t be concerned about this at all. It wasn’t uncommon for minor juvenile offenses to be buried upon entering the military.
“We don’t know yet.”
“How is that possible?” During an investigation of a capital crime, her office should be able to gain any information about a person of interest without a large number of hoops to jump through.
“It appears it was actually supposed to be expunged, so whatever the offense, it could be off the books by now,” Edwin said.
“No expunged record is ever untraceable,” she muttered. She once had a case where the suspect’s criminal behavior as a child had been erased from all databases.
Except the military’s.
Of course, it had been the military who concealed the information, which in turn bit them in the ass since he had turned out to be a serial rapist.
She glanced over her shoulder. Whatever Brodie had done as a teenager, it had to be something stupid, like streaking. Or maybe drunken behavior at the prom. Something that almost every idiot teenager had done, only he had been the unlucky bastard that got caught.
“The only thing we have been able to find is a case number. Everything else has up and disappeared.”
“How did you find that if there isn’t a paper trail?” she asked.
Edwin pursed his lips, and she knew she wasn’t going to like his answer. He’d done that once before today, when he’d gone and done something without her approval. Not that he needed her to sign off on everything, but as lead, and his superior, she needed to know everything. In a case like this, she couldn’t afford to be blindsided.
“I got a tip to check into his background.”
“What!?” She cocked her head, glaring at Edwin. “When?”
“Right after you left the office,” Edwin said with a scowl as he scratched the side of his neck. “We got a phone call from someone who wouldn’t leave their name, so I checked it out, thinking it would lead to nothing, only it led to something and now I’m waiting.”
“Goddamn it, you should have called me the second that call came in. Was it a male or female?”
“Woman. We couldn’t get a trace.”
“What number did she call?”
“That’s the odd part. She called my private office.”
“That means she didn’t go through the switchboard and has access to direct lines. Not many civilians know those numbers,” she said softly as her mind turned over a million possibilities. “You said the information is on my desk?”
He nodded, holding up his phone. “Legal is supposed to call me as soon as they find anything.”
“You make sure you call me before you take your next breath, got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, ma’am.”
“All right. I’ll see you in the morning, if not before.” She turned on her heels, sucking in a deep breath and putting on her best smile. She’d wait until they were in her living room before she let the questioning begin, and she prayed that Brodie would have answers that didn’t make matters worse.
Chapter 9
One didn’t have to be a Sherlock Holmes
to deduce that someone had put a nasty bug in Harper’s ear.
That someone had to have been Edwin.
Ever since Brodie and Harper had left Michael’s, she’d been distant. Cold, actually. On the walk home, she’d kept her arms folded and when he looped his arm around her waist, she tensed. He remained silent until they reached the steps to her front porch.
“Want to tell me what is bothering you?” He didn’t see the point in beating around the bush.
“I need to ask you a couple questions, but since I don’t have all the information, I’m not sure where to start.”
“Let me guess. Your lacky there found out about my arrest record.” Even if that wasn’t the case, he figured it could become a sticky situation, and he might as well get it out there, even though everyone that mattered already knew.
Everyone but Harper.
And she mattered more than he cared to let on.
“He found a sealed record.”
“Come on.” He took her by the hand. “This conversation is going to require a glass of wine and a couple of chocolate chip cookies.”
“This isn’t a light-hearted conversation. Edwin is pushing you to be more than—”
He pressed his finger over her pink, plump lips. “Let me tell the story and if you want, I’ll call the legal department myself and see if they can get the documentation.”
“Edwin is under the impression it was supposed to be expunged.”
“It had been.” Brodie hadn’t thought he’d ever have to tell this story again and technically, when he entered the Air Force as well as Fire Protection Training, he was not obligated to inform the military of his crime. However, his father recommended he come clean with the senator who made the recommendation for him to attend the Air Force Academy. Telling the truth made all the difference in the world then; he hoped it did the same in the eyes of Harper. “However, before the paper trail had been completely destroyed, I opted to inform the military.”
“Smart move, since they would have found something anyway.”
He nodded as he uncorked a bottle of wine and poured two generous glasses. Harper eased into the sofa, tucking her feet under her butt.
