By the time Steele arrived, she’d explained to Ethan the difference between MLS and her listings and how it was all set up in her offices. Each of the agents had their logins to specific options, but only she and Jenny had access to everything—and Tag—but she doubted he’d be able to login even if he tried. She’d set him up with access since he was part owner of the business whether he wanted it or not, and she needed a backup person just in case. After what happened with Ryan she learned life was way too short.
Which of course made her feel even more stupid for pushing Ethan away for so long. Why did she think protecting her heart from hurt was better than living again? Sometimes she wondered at her own logic. Adria would tell her it was the pain talking. Since she still hadn’t gone on even one date yet after being widowed over four years ago, she’d probably know all too well. Her usual excuse was Scotty, but it was just that—an excuse.
Anna showered and got dressed leaving Ethan to look through the listings for the seven houses that were hers. It wasn’t long after she was done when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” he said, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before heading to greet his partner. She’d only met Steele once, but he seemed okay. Ethan warned her he could come off rude and crude, but not to take anything he said personally. She wasn’t worried; she’d been dealing with Tag and all his shit for the last two years, so she was more than used to obnoxious males.
When they came into the kitchen, Anna was a little surprised. Seeing the two of them in the enclosed space took her breath away. They could have been cover models, but where Ethan was light, Steele was dark, foreboding, but hot damn he was hot. Her cheeks heated, and she was glad mind reading wasn’t one of Ethan’s many talents. It would have been just plain mortifying.
“Close your mouth, sweetheart. You might drool on the keyboard.” Okay, maybe mind reading was one of his talents. Her cheeks had to be flaming now since her face was burning up.
Steele saved her, as he stepped forward to shake her hand. “Hi Anna, nice to see you again.”
“Same here. Sorry to ruin your Sunday.”
“Nah. I was bored anyway. Besides, I heard you had Ethan leftovers.”
She laughed. “Hey, I thought you said you’d never cooked for anyone else.”
“I said no other woman besides my mother and grandmother. You need to listen better, and you talk about me.” He softened his words with a huge toothy grin.
“Whatever.”
“Uh oh, bro, you’re fucked now. She said that word,” Steele said with a smirk.
“What word?”
“Whatever. Don’t you go on Facebook? It’s in one of these meme things, one of the four deadly words in a relationship. You need to pay more attention.”
Anna couldn’t stop laughing. She liked Steele better with every word he said and the more confused Ethan looked. It was hysterical, and she needed to remember to tell Adria about it when they were in the office tomorrow. Thinking of Adria made her wonder if Steele was single. She could picture the two of them together, and having someone like Steele around, even with his cursing, would be good for Scotty, her son.
“I may be slow on Facebook, but I know that look when I see it. She’s setting you up with one of her girlfriends. Look out, bud,” Ethan said as he elbowed his partner in the side. Now they were both staring at her with scared expressions, and it was classic. Oh yeah, she had to figure out if he was single and then set him up with Adria. They’d be a great couple.
“I don’t know what you two are talking about. But I thought we had work to do.” Her comment had the anticipated effect, and they both sobered and got down to business. Steele pulled the files out his backpack and spread them over the top of the island. One by one they went over the information she had for each house that was one of her listings, marking off every possible combination of information from the date first listed, the home value and who initially listed the home.
After going through the seven listings that were hers, she brought up the MLS website and pulled the same information on the other two properties. Other than the MO they couldn’t figure out the connection between the other two break-ins and her listings. What they finally discovered upset Anna, since they’d all been listed by Hugh Johnson and Adria Harrison.
Ethan and Steele were convinced it had to be Hugh since there was no way they could talk her into thinking Adria was involved. Hugh being involved didn’t make sense to her either. He’d worked for them since her parents ran the company, and he had to be close to retirement age. A cranky old man? For sure. A criminal mastermind? No way. It surprised her that he’d been able to still get listings or even make sales, and she’d figured he must be more pleasant to the customers than his co-workers. Over the years, she’d had several complaints about his rudeness, mostly with the women in the office, but that was the extent of it. So again, none of this made sense.
It took them about three hours to go through everything while they debated back and forth about each and every piece of information. Anna wondered if this was how they always worked their cases and if so how they ever solved anything. But then again Willow Haven wasn’t a hotbed of crime, at least until now. Ethan had told her that he’d decided to stay after his discharge because it was so quiet.
The guys went outside to the patio to come up with their plan of action while she heated dinner. Microwaving she usually could handle. But that was the extent of her prowess in the kitchen. No one could be good at everything, and growing up with a cook meant her mother never taught her the basics. Once she was older, she was too busy doing everything else and learning to cook was low on her priority list. But having a man who could cook was like a dream come true. There were only so many salads a girl could eat.
***
“You were right, she’s a keeper. After listening to you bitch about how hard it was to get close to her, I wondered if it was really worth the effort, but yup. You got lucky. Now don’t fuck it up and lose her.” Steele imparted his sage advice as he paced the patio.
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve almost fucked it up. But she’s amazing, and I think my perseverance finally paid off.”
“What are you persevering at?” Anna asked as she opened the French doors while juggling the platter of chicken.
“The case,” Steele answered, and Ethan was grateful. He’d probably have put his foot in his mouth—again.
“Good because I really want you to find out who’s behind it, and I know it’s not Hugh. The sooner you get over that, the better.”
“I think we should call Chase.”
“Who’s Chase?”
“My brother, he runs the Eagle Security and Protection Agency. Basically, a fancy name for a private security company.”
“Why would we need private security?” Anna asked as she looked between the two of them. Steele might have a point. He could run things that they couldn’t without a warrant.
“Because he doesn’t have his hands tied while he waits for enough proof to get a warrant. Go ahead, give him a call, but I don’t think we should tell the LT until we have something concrete because he’s going to have our ass for this.”
“No shit. But Chase is family, and an ex-SEAL if he’s not trustworthy then who is?”
“He’s an ex-SEAL?”
“Yeah. And before you decide to start matchmaking again, don’t. He’s had his panties in a twist for years for a woman he left behind in San Diego,” Steele added.
“I don’t think she’s going to try matchmaking, you can relax, right, Anna?”
“Umm, sure, yup, right. I wouldn’t dream of it.” His woman had a very wicked gleam in her eyes, and if he didn’t think it was so funny, he’d have to warn Steele to be on the lookout for women in his path.
While Steele went off to call Chase and see what he could dig up on her employees, Ethan had to propose their plan. She was going to hate it, of that he had no doubt. She protected her employees like a mother hen, which wasn’t a bad thing, but in this case, it might mean she was assisting a felon.
“So, as far as Hugh is concerned, you have to at least admit that it’s too much of a coincidence. I do agree about Adria. There’s no way she’s involved.”
Steele was back before she had a chance to respond. “I told Chase to start with Hugh and Adria to be on the safe side. He’ll call as soon as he has something. He has a computer guy who can find a flea in on a sheepdog.”
Ethan didn’t like the clouds building in Anna’s eyes as Steele kept talking. He needed to get a handle on this, knowing how close Anna and Adria were, but surprisingly she agreed. What was up with that?
“Just don’t do anything stupid, Steele. She’s my best friend and has already been through seven levels of hell. I don’t want her hurt.”
“Chase is going to look into her financials and background. I’m not checking her out to marry the woman. Fuck.”
“Yeah, you say that now. Anyway, who’s going to help me bring out the rest of the food?”
They followed her into the house, then grabbed a dish and brought it out to the patio.
“Does Ethan cook for you?”
“Nope, but he has brought food into the station. Not often. I think he’s worried they’ll make him cook all the time.”
“I wouldn’t blame them, either.”
“Cut it out. It’s just food. It’s not like I’m a Cordon Bleu Chef or anything.”
Anna looked like she was considering it as she chewed. “How come you aren’t? What made you go into the Air Force?”
“Eh, it’s not worth telling.”
“Why not?” Anna and Steele asked in unison. The last thing he wanted to do was share why he’d decided to get into the U.S. Air Force Academy instead of just going to a regular college like his parents wanted.
“Let’s just say it was a lifelong fascination with flying and leave it at that.” He thought Anna was going to press him further, but thankfully she dropped it. Maybe her intuition told her it wasn’t a subject he wanted to discuss, at least not right then. Steele was staring at him, and he hated when his friend got that look, it meant he would find out no matter what. It was great when dealing with suspects but sucked donkey balls when it was directed toward him.
“What’s our plan of action?” Anna looked so innocent, but he knew better. The wheels were turning in that beautiful mind. But she’d helped enough. Some things were better left to the professionals.
“Our plan will be handled by professionals. You’ve been a huge help today.” The pout started as soon as the words left his mouth, but he wasn’t buying it, he knew her too well. One look at Steele said otherwise. He was like putty in her hands, and Ethan couldn’t wait to see how this played out. Especially since they’d already discussed keeping her out of it.
“Aww, c’mon. They’re my people. If you’re going to be setting them up, I should know about it.” Yup, trap set. Would Steele fall in the gaping hole she’d just dug?
“We’re not going to set them up. You’ve been watching too many crime shows. Besides this is a small town, word tends to get around. You should know that.”
“Oh, I do. Which is why I don’t believe my people are involved.”
“But what we discovered today says differently.” Steele was earnestly trying to convince her they were the good guys. He was so focused he didn’t see how well she’d played him. Maybe she should have been a cop, her analytical skills were top notch. Leaning back in his chair and taking a swig of beer, he hid his grin behind the bottle.
“What? That they were our properties? That two of my agents listed all of them? As you just said, this is a small town, there are only a couple of small independents and my company. I still don’t see how it proves either one is involved.”
“It doesn’t. But hopefully, if we get the warrant, a phone tap will.” And there it was. He’d just dropped the whole enchilada right in her lap. He hadn’t even seen it coming.
“Way to go, bro. So much for keeping her out of it?” Ethan couldn’t keep the gloating out of his voice. He’d fallen for her tactics too many times not to appreciate how she’d led him right where she wanted him. Hell, it only took about ten minutes too. That might be a record.
“Aww, fuck. Well played, Anna. I blame your big beautiful eyes.” Steele didn’t even look sorry, but he had to know Ethan was going to give him hell later, and the LT would be even more pissed when he found out. Although Ethan doubted that Anna would do anything to sabotage their investigation, there was always the chance she’d say something without thinking about it. Just like Steele.
Anna grinned, but it was obvious she was upset about the whole idea. He knew she was more worried about her friend than the old dude, and it’s exactly why he hadn’t wanted her to know. He didn’t want to invade Adria’s privacy but if the judge gave them the warrant they’d tap both her and Johnson’s phones. It might be the only break they’d get on this case.
“Baby, you know you can’t tell anyone about this, right?”
“Yeah, I know, but it doesn’t mean I’m happy.”
“I know, but we have to do what we can. You need to look at it this way, a tap could just as easily prove their innocence as their guilt. Right?”
“True. But how am I going to look at either of them in the office tomorrow? I’m not going to want to talk to Adria on the phone. Our girl talk is none of the Willow Haven Police Department’s business.”
Steele finally had the grace to look embarrassed, and Ethan gave him a look that said, “nice one, dude.”
“I know. But you can do it. You’re smart and stubborn as hell, it’s part of what I love about you.” He saw Steele’s eyebrow arch out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t care if he knew or not. Ethan would be happy to yell it from the roof, or even put it on Facebook if Anna wanted.
“I’ll try. But I’m going on record here that I think it’s a mistake.”
“Noted. And as soon as we have information we need one way or the other we’ll take off the tap. That’s my promise to you.”
“You know, Anna, if you’re going to be in a relationship with a cop, it’s part of the deal. Shit hits the fan on a regular basis, even in a small town like this. If you want to be included in their lives, it’s inevitable you’re going to hear things you aren’t going to like, or maybe shouldn’t even know. Holding it in and shutting out their wives or husbands is what destroys a relationship.”
Ethan really wished Steele would shut the fuck up and go home. Or just go home. He was right in what he’d said, but he didn’t know Anna’s history and reminding her that their job could be dangerous wasn’t exactly going to help the situation. He dreaded Anna’s reaction. He was more than relieved when she absorbed the information and didn’t freak out. She was smart, beautiful and everything he never dreamed he’d find in a woman, but he also knew how skittish she was about getting hurt in love again. This was all so new, he didn’t want to send her running.
Nodding as she stood up to clear away the dinner dishes, she was quiet at first. “I know, and up until now, we’ve had a kind of unspoken understanding that we didn’t bring work home. But I guess that’s all about to change. Actually, I guess it already has.” Then without another word or waiting for one of them to respond she turned and went inside.
“Mother fucker. You just couldn’t keep your big mouth shut, could you?”
“Fuck, bro. I know better, you know I do. But she’s good. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“You interrogate people all the time, how the hell didn’t you see what she was doing? She pegged you dead-on, it’s like she had a handbook or something.”
“Maybe she watches a lot of cop shows?”
Ethan rolled his eyes, but that was better than punching Steele. He didn’t even realize he was opening and closing his fist until he looked down, and that wasn’t a good sign. “You just made this a thousand times harder for her. You do realize that, right?”
“Yeah, I’m starting to.”
“Adria is her best friend, maybe her only friend. All she does is work. Besides Tag, his girlfriend, Mac, and his wife, Adria is it. And you just made it, so she’s going to have trouble looking her in the face.”
“Well, she’s got you too. But I get it. So why didn’t you stop me?”
“Would it have done any good? Other than me telling you to shut the fuck up, which would have made it even worse, what the hell was I supposed to do. Deck you?”
“You didn’t look too upset at the time.”
“True, I was enjoying it—maybe too much. But of all things, Mr. King of Interrogation, you just walked into a big ass sink hole. Amateur, dude.”
Steele ran his hand through his hair making it stand on end, a sure sign he was as agitated as Ethan. “What if you lie and tell her we can’t get the warrant?”
“Lie to me? Are you serious? And I was starting to like you.” Anna stood in the open doorway and looked like she was about to explode. The storm clouds in her eyes caught Steele by surprise. Damn, he was getting the full Anna, but he had no one to blame but himself.
“He didn’t mean it, baby. Besides, I wouldn’t lie to you. You should know me better.” His words seemed to defuse some of her irritation, but if looks could kill, Steele would be in need of an ambulance right about then.
“I’m sorry, Anna. It was only a suggestion to make it easier. But you’re right it was stupid. On that note, I think I’m going to go home before I make things any worse. Thank you for dinner and the company. I had a great time until I stuck my size thirteens in my mouth.”
“Probably a good idea. I’ll see you at the station in the morning.”
“I really am sorry, Anna.”
To her credit, she didn’t throw anything at Steele. “It’s okay. I’m on edge too. I probably shouldn’t have worked you so hard for information I didn’t want or need to know. I’ll take half the blame.”
Steele smiled in relief and bravely gave her a hug as he made his way into the house. “Next time will be better, I promise.”
“I’m sure it will. No work next time at all.”
“Deal.”
“I’ll walk you out.” Ethan grabbed her hand and squeezed it as he followed Steele into the house, and she gave him a half smile.