CHAPTER SIX
The kiss had been a mistake.
One hell of a mistake. The last thing he needed to do was get involved with someone, especially his boss’ sister-in-law. Certainly not a high-maintenance lawyer like Chloe Roberts. Definitely not someone who might have a stalker.
But the moment she’d opened her mouth to argue with him, he’d reacted out of instinct to stop her before she could get started. And it worked. Right now she sat quietly in the chair next to his desk in a state of shock. She wasn’t the only one feeling dazed. Now that he had the taste of her on his lips, he wanted more. He might’ve been a fool to kiss her, but he wasn’t fool enough to repeat it.
Forcing himself to concentrate, he unlocked the bottom of his desk drawer and pulled out his laptop, at the same time pushing Gage’s number into his phone.
“You ready?” his boss asked without preamble.
“It’ll take a minute. I have to go through a few back channels,” he said as he typed in the first password.
“Let me know when you’re ready. Is Cleetus still in the office? He’s supposed to be playing Santa over at the nursing home.”
“He left just as we came in. Said something about picking up his little elf.”
“I imagine that’s Sylvie,” Gage said.
“Where are you?” he asked, going into the second protocol that would bounce his request over several satellites. For the past three years he’d used this method to access the highly secure databases without leaving a signature, or at least a signature few people could follow.
“Leaving the bakery and on our way to the office. Here’s the number of the bakery’s phone,” Gage said, reading off the digits. “It’s the last incoming call, according to Willie Mae.”
He plugged the number into the system, waited for the list of calls to come up, found the last one and sent it into another program to trace the location. “More than likely, if our prankster doesn’t want to be found, it’s going to be a burner phone they’ve already tossed, or they at least pulled the battery, so the GPS is no longer working.”
“Can we find out where it was when it made the call?”
“That I can do within a few miles. Nothing pinpoint if it’s still off.”
Chloe leaned in on the desk and pointed at the phone. “Bobby?”
Apparently the superpower of his kiss had worn off. “Chloe wants to know how her sister’s doing.”
“A little shaken and a whole lot pissed off,” Gage said, his voice resonating with the same anger. “We’re pulling up outside.”
The call ended and a few moments later the pair strode in hand-in-hand.
“Got anything?” Gage asked, releasing his hold on his fiancée and jerking off his coat.
“Not yet. It has to reroute the information to me over almost every continent.” Wes focused on watching the program for any information.
Chloe jumped from her chair and went to pull her sister into a hug. “You okay?”
Bobby returned the hug with a nod then began removing her winter jacket, too. “Yes. I just wish we knew why someone would do this. If it’s a prank, it’s not very funny.”
“Sweetheart, this isn’t a joke. Someone is intentionally targeting the wedding and thereby us,” Gage said, sinking into his desk and pulling out his cellphone. He pushed a few buttons. “Littleton, it’s Gage. Yeah, man. Been a while. No. Not back in Columbus. Yeah, I’m still out in farm country. You should try it, might make you less cynical.”
There were a few minutes of good-natured ribbing between the two then Gage got serious. “You know my old cases? Yeah. Any rumblings that some of those guys got out early? Maybe looking for a little payback?”
Another pause, and the deep voice on the other end rumbled through the phone.
“No one. Not even Ramirez?” Gage’s eyes met Bobby’s and she sat on the edge of his desk, taking his hand in hers.
Wes knew what Gage was thinking. Ramirez was the one responsible for the shooting that nearly killed Gage when his ex-wife blew his cover. Shooting a cop should’ve gotten the guy life in prison without a chance of parole, but the rest of his gang? They might have some revenge motives of their own.
“Falling apart, huh? Nothing about me? Good.” Gage gave Bobby a nod and her shoulders slumped. “No, thanks for that information. Keep in touch. Yeah, you ought to try out the fishing up here next summer. Got a camping site just out of town.”
Gage finally hung up. “As you heard, there’s no chatter on the streets about me or anyone looking for revenge at the moment.”
“Who was that?” Bobby asked.
“Jeff Littleton. He was my handler when I was undercover. He still works the narcotics division.”
“Was he there when you were shot?” she asked, anger in her voice.
Gage pulled her hand up and kissed her fingers. “Was he in on the raid that blew my cover? No, that was straight through the DEA and my ex. Littleton got there as fast as he could. I probably would’ve died if he hadn’t been suspicious of Moira and showed up for the raid with some of his own men. He’s the one who actually caught Ramirez and then stopped my bleeding as best he could until the ambulances arrived.”
“This Ramirez is a man?” Chloe asked, from the spot where she was once more watching the street outside.
Gage and Bobby exchanged curious looks before he answered. “Yes. Why?”
Slowly she turned and fixed her gaze on her sister. “Because this doesn’t feel like some kind of revenge move a male would take on, especially against another man.”
“What do you mean?” Wes asked, leaning back in his chair to watch the lovely lawyer’s brain work.
Chloe strode over to stand between his desk and the bridal couple, just like she was addressing a jury. “Think about it. Who does the wedding usually center around?”
“The bride and groom,” Wes said, being vague on purpose.
She gave him a duh look. “Well, yes, but mostly you guys have a big party the night before, show up, say some vows, then party through to the honeymoon.”
“Sounds good to me,” Gage said with a grin. Bobby laughed.
It was nice to see some of the tension leave the pair’s faces. People should be happy going into their wedding.
And didn’t he sound like a sappy poet?
“My point is that the bride is the center of the attention and usually makes most of the plans,” Chloe continued with a whisper of a smile on her face.
She should smile more.
Dammit. It wasn’t his business what the woman did or when she smiled. What the hell had gotten into him? That kiss.
He shook off the memory of that and concentrated on what she was trying to say. “So you think whoever is doing this is a woman?”
“Yes,” she said. “Someone who either has something against Bobby or has a thing for Gage, or both. And whoever it is wants to ruin your wedding.”
* * * * *
Bobby sat stunned for a moment, then a small flame lit up. “Moira.”
“It can’t be her,” Gage said.
That little flame shot up into anger. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight at him. “Why not? She’s your ex-wife. She doesn’t like me after I put her in her place last spring. Then she lost her job because of her actions. Oh, and don’t forget she tried to get you killed when you were undercover.”
“Sweetheart, I’m not arguing with you about that. I know better than anyone what devious things she’s capable of doing.” Gage laid one hand on her thigh. The man always seemed to want to touch her, even when she was angry with him. “I’m saying it isn’t her for other reasons. First, when she lost her position in the DA’s office, she moved out of the state. She’s been in New York, living near her sister since last June. Secondly, she has no motive to hurt you or to stop the wedding, because she has nothing to gain from it. Everything Moira’s ever done has been to boost her career and gain her notoriety. And lastly, if Moira were in Westen, we’d all know it.”
“Why?” Chloe asked.
Bobby pushed herself off his desk and stalked to her own, resisting the urge to slump down in her chair. Instead, she leaned back against it and crossed her arms over her chest. “Because Moira Dunson is tall, red-headed, gorgeous and attracts men like flies.”
“She also drives an ice-blue Audi convertible. The woman has always driven an Audi of some kind or other,” Gage said when Bobby gave him her you-seriously-know-what-kind-of-car-your-ex-drives look. “Since no one or thing matching either of those descriptions has set foot in town recently, I think we can rule my ex-wife out of this scenario.”
“You can rule her out,” Bobby muttered.
“Excuse me? I didn’t quite hear that,” Gage said, the corners of his mouth turning up into that shit-eating-grin of his. Oh, he’d heard all right.
“So, if it’s not the dragon-woman,” Bobby said, ignoring Gage’s teasing look, “what other old girlfriends do you have in town who might want to derail our wedding?”
The grin disappeared off Gage’s face as he gave serious thought to his past. “I dated a few girls in high school. Most went away to college and started their lives elsewhere. Mary Jean over at the Gold’s Foodmart is the only one still in town.”
“You should check her out,” Chloe said.
“Um, I don’t think so,” Bobby said, trying not to grin.
“I’m telling you it’s a woman who would be jealous of you,” her sister said, then realized all three of them had the same half-strangled expression. “What?”
“Mary Jean has been having a thing with Jo, the owner of the foodmart, for nearly two decades,” Gage said.
“So? That doesn’t mean she isn’t hiding some unrequited feelings for Gage.”
“It’s more likely she’d have feelings for your sister.” Gage tilted his head in a knowing gesture.
Chloe looked at him, then at Bobby. “You mean…?”
“Jo is a woman,” Bobby said. “They’re the only openly gay couple in town.”
“Great. So who have you dated since coming back to town?” Chloe asked.
“Your sister.” Gage’s gaze settled on Bobby and as always, heat surged through her. From the moment they’d met, he’d made her feel as if no other woman existed in his world.
“Where exactly did you say your ex moved to?” Wes asked, his fingers flying over the keyboard of his computer.
“Upstate New York,” Gage said. “Why?”
“Because the number that called the Yeast & West Bakery came from a burner phone. While I can’t trace where it’s located, I can tell you that the phone was purchased near Rochester.” Wes turned to face them. “Could your ex be here, somewhere? Hiding?”
“Or,” Chloe stood and pointed at Wes. “Maybe hiding—”
“—in plain sight?” he said.
Bobby watched the pair finish each other’s sentences. Now that was interesting? If she weren’t so worried that someone was trying to ruin her wedding, or worse, hurt her or Gage, she’d find it quite amusing.
“What did you see? Or should I ask who did you see?” Wes asked, coming around his desk to stand right in front of Chloe.
Chloe swung around to Gage. “How tall is your ex?”
“Tall. About your height.”
“So, five-feet ten inches and she has red hair, so probably pale skin.”
“Yeah. She used to complain about burning if she was out in the sun for even a little time,” Gage said. “But I’m telling you that there isn’t anyone who fits that description.”
“I understand that. What if she disguised herself? Colored her hair a dark brown, wore makeup to make her skin appear a darker shade? She might forget to put the makeup on her hands, so they were lighter than her face.” Chloe slowly slumped her body, curving it just like she’d see someone do earlier that day.
“Oh, my God.” Bobby couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“Damn, you’re right,” Wes said with admiration in his voice.
“Penny over at the florists,” Gage growled, coming out of his chair and heading for the door.
Bobby rushed to get between him and the door, stopping him with both arms in front of her. “Gage, wait a minute.”
“Get out of my way, Roberta.”
Roberta? The man never used her first name. Ever. This was a man planning to wreak havoc on someone threatening her. Not just her, but her and their baby. His family. While she might agree with him, she couldn’t let him do something potentially dangerous.
“I know you want to stalk over there and go all I’m-large-and-in-charge on her scrawny butt, but you have to think for a moment.” She focused on his forest-green eyes, now hot with anger. For a moment, she thought he was going to lift her up and out of his way. “Please?”
With a huge, huffing sigh, he took a step back. “You want to give me one reason why I shouldn’t march over there and arrest her? It’s more than likely she’s the one behind Mags’ accident just so she could insinuate herself into the florist shop. For that alone she’s guilty of reckless endangerment.”
“I know, and she’ll pay for that. But she’s unhinged. That means she’s capable of anything. What if she’s in the shop with Henry? She could hurt him.”
“Dammit. You’re right.” He turned to Wes, who already had his phone out.
“Hey, Henry, it’s Wes Strong over at the sheriff’s office,” he said, hitting the speakerphone button so they could all hear the conversation. “Any chance your assistant could deliver some poinsettias over here to decorate the office for me?”
“I can get your order together, Wes, but Penny hasn’t returned from delivering arrangements out to the seniors’ center yet.” There was a pause. “In fact, I’m getting a bit worried. It’s almost time to close up for the evening. I could deliver them on my way home if she isn’t here soon. You know I like to get home before dark.”
“Hold on a moment, Henry.” Wes hit the mute button, locking gazes with Gage. “What do you want to do?”
Gage tapped his finger on the desk a moment. “Don’t alarm him. Tell him you’ll come over and get the poinsettias yourself. You can wait until he’s ready to leave for the night in case she comes back there.”
Wes hit the button and told Henry he’d be right over. “What are you going to do?” he asked Gage once he hung up.
Gage grabbed his coat. “Bobby and I’ll head over to the nursing home, see if she’s still there.”
“If she even went to the nursing home,” Bobby said, grabbing her jacket at the same time Chloe reached for hers.
“I think I’ll go along with Deputy Strong,” her sister said, daring her to comment. “If Gage’s ex shows up, I can get Henry out of the way.”
Wes held the door for her with a shrug as if saying, she has a point.
“Just stay safe,” Bobby called after them as she and Gage headed for his truck.