by Addison Fox
Once again, those sly fingers of need wove around her spine, gripping hard. “Why do you think that?”
“You’re an attractive woman. Presumably unattached right now?”
She ignored the sting of the presumption and gave him a quietly muttered “Yes.”
“I’m equally unattached. We’ve seen each other around town and decided we each liked what we saw. We got to talking and quietly began dating. I’ve been so wrapped in the case, I haven’t had a chance to take you out good and proper. So, now that it’s the month of love, I’ve resolved to change that.”
The month of love?
Was it possible she’d been so head down for the past few months she hadn’t even realized it was almost Valentine’s Day?
Even as Darby asked herself the question she knew the answer was a resounding yes. Not only had she forgotten it was nearly Valentine’s Day, but she’d long stopped looking for a valentine. Or even a man to enjoy an occasional date. When had she stopped trying?
Or worse, stopped expecting that she could be part of another relationship?
For the longest time she’d convinced herself that she was well rid of Bo Gage. And while it pained her that he was dead, on a very real level, she was better off since their divorce. But had she somehow closed her heart off to believing that she could love again?
Even before the reading of Bo’s will and the revelation of her inheritance, she’d been busy working. She’d had the occasional date or two but when they hadn’t turned into anything more, she hadn’t worried about it. Instead she’d focused on keeping her head down and her meager bank account growing.
Funny how little she had to show for it.
Maybe it was that little spark of defiance. Or maybe it was simply the idea of going out for an evening with an attractive man, no matter the pretense. Whatever the cause, Darby found herself warming to the idea of fake dating Finn, even with the warning bells that jangled like sirens in her mind.
“You want to take me out?”
“Every night, and I want to be as public about it as possible. Dates in the front windows of all the restaurants on Main Street. Walks in Red Ridge park, snuggling with each other for warmth.” He leaned in, his gaze direct. “We’re going to make everyone in town think we’re deeply in love and anxious to get married.”
“No one’s going to believe that.”
“Why not?”
“Because—” Darby scrambled to find some answer but came up empty. “We’re not in love. People can see the real thing.”
“Bo certainly made people think the real thing. He had a string of girlfriends, an ex-wife and a soon-to-be wife, and everyone believed he was as deeply in love with the next woman as the one before.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Bo was...Bo. He was charming and a sweet talker. But none of it was real. There wasn’t any substance beneath the veneer.”
“Yet people believed it. Ate it up hook, line and sinker, best I can tell.”
Finn made a convincing argument—people did see what they wanted to see—but could the two of them really pull it off? And while it was fine for him to brush off the danger of the situation, it was dangerous. He might be a big, bad cop, but he was also as vulnerable to a bullet as the next person.
“You really think this is a good idea?”
“I do.”
“With me?” She pressed the point, unwilling to think too hard about the steady hum of desire that tightened her skin and tingled her nerve endings.
“Absolutely.” That gaze never wavered, but Darby didn’t miss the subtle calculation he couldn’t fully bury. “But I’ll do you one better.”
His gaze shifted then, focusing on Penny before roaming over the kitchen. When he finally looked at her again, all hint of calculation was gone. “You help me with this and I’ll pay off all your debts.”
“You’ll what?”
“Pay it off. All of them. I’ve got solid savings and I’m always open to an investment. You help me with this and I’ll see to it that you’re out from underneath whatever debt Bo Gage managed to run up in his twenty-nine years of living and then inconveniently deposited into your lap.”
It wasn’t possible. Whatever emotions had carried her to this moment, from anger to sadness to frustration, none of them compared to the sheer disbelief at his words.
“Why would you do that?”
“I consider it a fair exchange.”
“But you can’t pay for all of it. The house. The breeding business. I need a new dog because Penny can’t breed another litter.”
“Then I’ll pay for a new dog. I’ll pay for three of them if you want. Tell me what you need to get set up and I’ll do it.”
Three dogs? Not just fixing the business but an expansion, too? A real opportunity to go for it and make something of the business Bo had loved but clearly hadn’t had a head for.
“But why?”
“Why not? It’s my money. More, it’s my town and I want to invest in it. You help me catch a killer and I’ll help ensure Bo’s business continues on under your ownership and management.”
“But—”
“Consider it an offer you can’t refuse.”
That cocky smile was back, along with something warm and endearing that made her think of naughty little boys who swiped extra chocolate-chip cookies then tried to hide the chocolate stains on their fingers.
Only, Finn Colton wasn’t a little boy.
And the stakes were far higher than a possible tummy ache from overeating sweets.
“You want to catch a killer so badly you’ll put yourself in their sights?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the only reason?”
The smile faded, all trace of humor gone. In its place was a sincerity that nearly took her breath away.
“There is another reason. If I’m as wrong about you as you say—” He held up a hand before she could even protest her innocence. “Give me a chance to finish.”
She nodded, willing him to continue. It hurt to hear how little he still thought of her, but she was willing to give him his due. “Okay.”
“If I am wrong about you, and I’m perfectly willing to accept that truth, I’d like to see you end up in a better place. I’ve come to understand Bo Gage a bit better since his murder. It’s abundantly clear he made life easy for one person. Bo.”
It seemed mean to speak that ill of the dead but Darby could hardly argue with Finn’s assessment. Bo had lived life for himself, the rest of the world be damned.
“But the one other thing I’ve learned is that Bo loved his dogs more than anything else in his life. He loved Penny and he loved the litters he ultimately sold to the K-9 unit and beyond. More than once he’d head over to the training center, catching up on how a pup was doing and seeing that he or she performed to their utmost potential.”
“He did love the business. And Penny was as important to him as anyone in his life.”
“Maybe he saddled you with all this because he believed you’d take care of it. That you’d handle it and make something of it all.”
Darby’s gaze drifted to Penny. The dog had eventually lost interest in their conversation and had stretched out near Lotte, her head on her paws and her eyes closed.
“You have no reason to take care of her,” Finn continued. “Yet you’re caring for that dog as if she were your own.”
The compliment—and the glowing kindness—had caught her off guard. Where she’d come to accept the grudging acknowledgment that Finn believed her guilty, it was something else for him to extend such a kindhearted thought.
“She is now.”
“Can you honestly tell me Hayley Patton would have done the same?”
“I try hard not to compare myself to her.”
“That’s wi
se.” Even though he kept a straight face, there were distinct notes of humor lilting his voice. “You also know I’m right.”
“Maybe I do.”
“So, what do you say? Are you in? Are you willing to help me catch a killer?”
Darby had long known that choices made in desperation usually came out poorly. She needed Finn Colton’s help and she was hardly in a position to say no him.
She should feel trapped. Caged. And thoroughly out of options.
So why was it that she couldn’t feel anything but a clamoring sense of excitement?
“I’m in.”
* * *
Finn took his first deep breath in a month as he walked to his SUV, Lotte at his side. It had taken some convincing, but Darby had agreed with his ploy.
The idea had seemed so right at the time, but now that he considered his actions in the bright winter sunlight, they struck him as reckless and stupid. He’d always prided himself on being neither, so it was a bit of a head slap to realize he might have misstepped.
His conversation with Darby replayed in his mind. He did his level best to recall when he’d suddenly veered off into the realm of stupid romantic comedy movies and TV shows that had been on for too many seasons.
A fake relationship and engagement.
Was he insane?
Putting aside his doubts about Darby—and the bleach bottle he’d just stuffed in the back of his SUV offered up a big one—he had no business dragging a civilian into a police investigation. Yes, the Groom Killer had targeted men so far, but who knew if the perp would add brides into the mix?
Was Finn putting Darby in danger, inadvertently making her a target?
Their county profiler had indicated the targets seemed deliberately male, with the method of death cold, impersonal and somehow masculine. But that didn’t mean anything. Or it wouldn’t mean anything if something happened to Darby under his watch...
Finn squelched the thought. Nothing was going to happen to her. He’d protect her and see to it that he caught a killer in the meantime.
The drive to the precinct was quick and he detoured through the lab with the bleach before heading toward his desk. The squad room was humming, his staff all in full swing with a busy start to their week. He was pleased to see Detective Gage at his desk, focused on his computer screen.
Carson had taken Bo’s death hard. Despite the half brothers not being close, Carson had found Bo’s body and was determined to see his killer behind bars. He’d worked so hard for the past month to uncover who was responsible. He was also on the way to becoming family, since he and Finn’s younger half sister Serena, were a serious couple—on the down low.
He’d always enjoyed working with Carson, but their camaraderie was even stronger now and Finn wanted to update him on the latest. The work he’d managed over the weekend, his morning visit to Darby and the plan he’d hatched on the fly to bring out a killer. Shrugging out of his coat, he headed for his desk to drop it off when he saw the bouquet of roses laid over top of his piles.
A card, propped on the flowers, had his name written in bold scrawl on the envelope.
“You’ve been holding out on us, Chief!” another of Finn’s cousins, Blake, ribbed him, his voice carrying across the sea of desks in the squad room. “Looks like you’ve got yourself a valentine.”
An image of Darby filled his thoughts before he quickly brushed it off. She wasn’t his valentine or anything else that suggested permanent girlfriend. She was a means to an end, nothing more.
Even as more tempted him with thoughts of heated kisses and even more heated moments wrapped up in each other.
He had no business thinking of her that way.
No business at all, Colton.
Which made it that much more unbelievable to realize that somewhere in the back of his mind, he had been thinking of her in that way.
Finn shot back a good-natured and off-color remark in Blake’s general direction before picking up the card. The scent of the roses—expensive ones for the middle of winter in South Dakota—filled his nose and he fought the rising sense of unease that crept up his spine.
The card offered less-than-helpful details about the sender, simply reading, “For a special cop, with love.”
Unwilling to interrupt the laughter that still rumbled through the squad room at his exchange with Blake, Finn dropped the card into his top desk drawer and left the flowers where they lay. He needed to talk to Carson, anyway, and he didn’t have time to deal with the mystery of who had suddenly developed a tendresse for the chief of police. He’d have Lorelei take them home if she really wanted them. Or, like the chocolates, he’d toss them.
The anonymous angle hadn’t sat well the other day and he wasn’t feeling any more comfortable with the increasing expense of the gifts. While he knew the flowers were pricey, he didn’t feel honor bound to keep them if the sender couldn’t be bothered to make a personal appearance.
Loping toward Carson’s desk, Finn thought through his plan, the bouquet quickly forgotten. While it still nagged at him like a dull tooth ache that he might be putting Darby in danger, talking it all through with Carson should help to set his mind at ease. This was an op, nothing more. If they planned it well and put all the proper safety measures in place, including backup in shouting distance and advance recon of each of his proposed date sights, things would be fine.
She’d be safe.
“Who’s the secret admirer, big guy?” Carson’s grin was infectious as he stared up over the top of his computer monitor.
“Someone’s just deeply grateful for the Red Ridge PD.”
“Sure.” Carson nodded. Finn didn’t miss the clear skepticism in his gaze or the quirk of his lips, but it vanished without Carson saying anything. “What can I do for you?”
“I’ve got an idea cooking and I want to talk it through with you.”
“What sort of idea?”
“We’re going to smoke out a killer.”
Carson’s smile faded in full as he sat straighter. “You have a new lead?”
“Not much more than we’ve been going off of, but I have an idea and a plan I think might work.”
He walked Carson through the specifics. How he was going to put himself in the line of fire, pretending to be Red Ridge’s latest, most smitten suitor. A date every night, public displays of affection, even a showy romantic dinner for Valentine’s Day.
“Who’d you convince here to go in on this with you? You’ve got way too many cousins in this department not to make it seriously creepy, Colton.”
While Carson spoke the truth—nearly half the department was a relative, including several of his female cousins—that was the exact reason he’d gone outside the precinct.
“Darby Gage has agreed to be my date for the month.”
“Darby? My sister-in-law, Darby? You can’t be serious.”
Where Finn had expected support, or at least basic agreement, the immediate shuttering of Carson’s gaze as he rose to his full height was a clear sign of his displeasure. It also had Finn forcing his point, unwilling to stand down. “Of course, I’m serious. And, last time I checked, she’s your ex-sister-in-law.”
“She’s also one of the chief suspects in my brother’s murder.”
“Which makes this the perfect plan. She claims she’s innocent, but I can keep a close watch on her. She can hardly act again if I’m glued to her side.”
“This is insanity.”
Carson wasn’t convinced of the brilliance of Finn’s plan and Finn was just stubborn enough to hold his ground on principle. He had a good relationship with all his cops and he had no interest in changing that, but he was also the boss and the weight of the department rested on his shoulders. He’d be damned if he’d sit around and let problems happen in his town when he could be out there doing something about it.
“Think o
f it as an undercover op.”
“With one of the chief suspects on a damned short list.”
An image of a nearly empty bottle of bleach flitted through his mind before Finn pushed it away. Carson was one of his lead detectives and he was good at his job, but the bleach was a line Finn was tugging on his own, nothing more. There was no need to poison the well against Darby any further in her former brother-in-law’s mind, but the coincidence between her having a nearly empty bottle and the bleach that had been laid down to get him off the trail of Michael Hayden’s killer was too timely for him to let it go.
But even if he chose to keep a few suspicions to himself, Finn wanted to better understand his detective’s reservations. “What do you have against Darby?”
“Nothing until my brother’s will said she got everything he had. That spells motive to me.”
“What about Demi? Bo dumped her for Hayley and Demi’s name was written in blood next to Bo’s body. Bo pissed off a lot of people over the years.”
At the mention of his cousin Demi and her connection to Bo, something flickered clearly in Carson’s gaze. The words were nearly out of Finn’s mouth to question the response when Carson pushed forward on his own. “You have other leads? Someone my brother pissed off?”
“Nothing concrete, but you know Bo wasn’t a saint. I know he was your brother, and I’m not trying to speak ill of the dead, but we have to look at all the angles.”
The comment about Bo—and it was speaking ill of the dead, no matter how Finn wanted to couch it—took the wind out of Carson’s bluster. He dropped back into his seat, his dark eyes clouding with trouble. Finn had seen that look more than a few times over the past month and was glad that Carson now had a family to go home to.
Carson had made no secret of how unexpected his romance with Finn’s half sister Serena had been. Her vulnerability—having had another man’s child and navigating the waters of single parenthood—hadn’t been easy, but they’d found their way. And now Carson had Serena and her daughter, Lora, to go home to.
The fact that Carson had found a way to chase those shadows with Finn’s younger half sister and her baby girl had shifted the dynamic between the two men. He and his lead detective were still navigating all the nuances. Being on opposite sides of the issue when it came to Darby Gage looked like it was going to be one of those nuances.
