CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Finn
I think the thing that pissed me off most — even more than the fact that I'd fallen for his wide-eyed, aw-shucks-boss routine and hired a goddamned thief in the first place — was that Kyle was still acting like his normal, weaselly self. Still wide-eyed. Still calling me boss, even as he was getting the handcuffs slapped on his skinny wrists. Like the fact that he'd stolen thousands of dollars from us was just a silly misunderstanding between friends and he'd be back at work in the morning.
Small towns are weird sometimes.
But at least they didn't have that much crime, because it seemed like every single cop in Reckless Falls showed up for the bust. Even if he had acted guilty and made a run for it, Kyle would have been surrounded on all sides. So maybe it was good that he was still smiling while they cuffed him.
Jackson stood on the sidewalk, giving his statement to Officer Abbott, who couldn't seem to stop chuckling about the whole thing. "You three sure have had an eventful few weeks," he observed.
Jackson rubbed the back of his neck. "You don't even know the half of it." He smirked.
At that I craned my neck, searching through the crowd. I spotted Kyle sitting dejectedly on the curb, his hands cuffed behind his back, looking like maybe he was just starting to realize how badly he'd screwed up. He turned to me with big, wounded, puppy dog eyes.
I turned away angrily and searched some more, but Bee was nowhere to be seen. And I really needed to kiss her. Bad.
Her little seduction act had kept Kyle interested, and distracted enough to keep him from running when he knew we suspected him. I owed her a kiss... and a lot more.
"Now," Officer Abbott was saying. He looked around and lowered his voice. "You should know something here. Kyle Foster's brother is on the force."
I turned back to him, sputtering angrily. "Are you kidding?" I barked. "We caught him red-handed. There's no way he's not guilty."
Office Abbott held up his hands. "Now I'm not saying justice won't be served. I'm just trying to let you know that we've got a situation here."
Hot blood boiled up to my face and I opened my mouth to let him know just what I thought of his situation. When all at once, the front door of the bakery burst open and out came Bee.
She hip-checked the door open wider, and swung in a tight pirouette, her arms laden down with trays of goodies. "Hi there!" she trilled. "You all looked so hungry standing out here, so I thought you might need some fortification!"
I watched openmouthed as she started passing out cupcakes and pastries to the assembled police officers. "Thank you so much for you help!" she sang out with a smile. "We're so grateful."
"Damn," one of the cops remarked as he stuffed a honey bun in his mouth. "That's good."
"Have another!" Bee said encouragingly. "You can't work on an empty stomach, and we sure want you doing a good job!"
"What are you doing?" I asked, baffled, when she drew closer to me, her arms still laden with half empty trays.
"Helping you," she hissed through her smile. "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." Her eyes flashed and she laughed a little. "My mom always said that and you know what? She's right." She grimaced. "That's about the only thing she's right about. That and nothing else."
"You're amazing," I told her fervently. Then I grabbed a tray and joined her in passing out the baked goods.
"Does this count as bribery?" Jackson whispered to me as he took a tray out of my arms to pass out himself.
I shrugged. "Officer Abbott sure looks like he's taking it more seriously," I hissed back. I glanced behind my shoulder to see Bee chatting him up while he wiped the crumbs off the front of his uniform. He was nodding with a very serious expression on his face.
I shook my head with a smile. "I was about to start ripping him a new one. Bee saved the day."
Jackson looked over at her with undisguised awe on his face. "She's a keeper," he remarked.
"You got that right."
By the time they'd hauled Kyle away, I felt like I'd run a marathon. The delivery slips I'd supplied to the detective were the main evidence against him. Kyle had been forging them almost since the day we'd hired him. He'd funneled thousands of dollars worth of wine from our store. To where and for what reason I still didn't know. That was for the detectives to find out. I was too goddamn tired to worry about it anymore.
"Hey!" one of the cops called as he climbed back into his cruiser. "My wife wants me to take her to a fancy restaurant for our anniversary. When are you guys opening up?"
I lifted my chin and gave him a confident smile. "Less than two weeks!"
He nodded and climbed in. Then I let out my breath in a panicky rush. "Well," I observed drily as the police car sped away with Kyle in the back. "I'm opening a restaurant in less than two weeks, and my general manager just got hauled away in handcuffs." I pressed two fingers to the bridge of my nose. "Where the hell am I going to find someone on such short notice?"
Bee came dancing over to my side and nudged me with her shoulder, grinned widely. "I have an idea."
"You're going to find me a new general manager?"
She nodded. "I was trying to ask you about this before, when we were down by the lake, but then," she waved her hands around to indicate the whole arrest of my GM.
I turned and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Are you serious?"
She nodded with a grin. "I've got the perfect person."
"Don't you ever get tired of being amazing?" Jackson murmured.
"What?" she asked petulantly, letting her lush lower lip quiver a little. "I'm helping."
"Yes you are," I promised her. "And we're grateful."
Jackson nodded. "Mmm hmm. So grateful."
"In fact," I told her, reaching out to brush her hair back from her shoulder. "Let us show you just how grateful we are."