Finding Everleigh Emerson attractive was a nuisance, but not the end of the world. It didn’t even mean the end of his ability to do a great job for her without putting her in any kind of a compromising situation.
What was just...unnerving...was the protective instincts the woman was raising in him. He’d had protection jobs before. He’d never felt so...personally invested as he did with this one.
He wanted to ask what else his sister had said, but she had her phone to her ear, saving him from making that mistake into an inappropriate personal foray. “My mom left a voice mail,” she said, standing there in front of his desk, owning the room, as far as he was concerned.
When he saw her expression falter, her features falling into a state of nothingness, everything about and within him sharpened. She’d barely ended the call before he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Falling back into the chair she’d vacated, she said, “My mom’s throwing a big party for me tomorrow night,” she said, her tone filled with doom and gloom. “She’s invited everyone who’s ever been close to me...and everyone who’s ever been close to Gram. It’s to welcome me, which I could easily miss if it were up to me...” She winced, her voice carrying a note of hurt, but before he could commiserate, let her know he understood how her mother’s mistrust must have pained her, she continued with, “But it’s also to gather to show support for Gram, kind of in line with the protests... I can’t miss that.”
He agreed, but not necessarily for the same reasons. “You don’t want to go,” he said, homed in on what he was gleaning the most.
“Would you? My family, my own parents, yeah, they came to my defense when I was first arrested, but when the evidence showed that I’d killed Fritz, they all believed it. Every single one of them jumped ship, except for Gram. Not one of them was even swayed by Gram’s continued and quite vocal belief in me. None of them helped her get anyone to take another look at my case. If they’d gathered together then, perhaps your sister or another detective would have bothered to take a second look at things. Instead, with even my own parents thinking I did it, Gram had to resort to kidnapping to get anyone to take her seriously...”
He’d worked hard to earn back his family’s trust after years of putting them on edge by living by his own set of rules
—going out most nights and having fun, skating on the edge of the law when solving cases, seeking out dangerous adventures rather than settling down. Only the fact that he’d had a decent code of ethics had prevented him from losing them more completely...
“Still, for Gram, I have to go...”
“You also need to go so that we can see who’s there. In the first place, it seems likely that you know whoever it is who’s after you, and so it stands to reason that the person will be there. Or, on the other hand, if someone key is missing, that’s who I’ll want to look at. So often, though, perpetrators insinuate themselves into crime scenes and situations. They have to see what effect they’re having, keep tabs on what everyone is saying and doing.”
“But...how am I going to...? I think it’s pretty clear by now that I’m not the greatest at choosing who to trust...”
He wanted to point out that she’d trusted him...but she was right... Until he’d had her call Melissa, she’d taken him at his word for every aspect of their plan. Even moving into his home with him without consulting anyone else.
Yes, he was related to law enforcement. And, yes, he was the one responsible for finding the evidence that won her her freedom...but still...he was also a man who hadn’t always followed every letter of the law when conducting his investigations. Results mattered most, he found.
And it made him feel...more...like a better man. Pleased that she’d trusted him enough to move into his home. More of a trustworthy individual. More of a decent human being.
Both little pieces of the self-respect he’d been eroding over the years of balking at societal constraints.
“I have a plan,” he said, things occurring to him on the fly, but with that sense of rightness he got when he was on track with an investigation. “You’re going to need to trust me on it, though.”
“Of course. I’m here, aren’t I?” Her expression was completely without guile. She saw him as a means to her safety. Not as a single man, despite her probing questions earlier.
The realization left a sting of disappointment in its wake. But he saw the usefulness of her perspective, too.
Especially considering what he was about to propose.
“I’ll accompany you to your party, posing as your new boyfriend. We can say we met because I was the one who exonerated you and it went from there.” He spoke the words with a slight sense of anticipation, capped with guilt. It was a solid plan. All bodies of law enforcement used undercover ops because they worked. “That way I can move about freely, asking questions, getting to know people, without tipping anyone off to the fact that I’m investigating them. The ruse is believable in that we can say we met during your time in prison, with the crown jewel being the truth that I’m the one who won you your freedom. We can say that we’ve spent most of the past two days together.”
“If we do that, people will figure out that I’m staying with you.”
It wasn’t ideal. But... “They don’t have to know you’re here. You could be in a safe house that I have access to. And, just to reassure you, this place has security at the ground floor, no one can get in the building without a pass, and there are monitored security cameras on every elevator, so anyone attempting to get to you would be seen getting up to my door, which is a hell of a lot safer than your place. And you won’t ever be here alone. If I have to go out, someone else will come over to guard the door.”
He added, “It’s important that you don’t go to that party alone. And I don’t want to miss this golden opportunity to get a look at everyone in your sphere all at once.”
She hadn’t balked about the boyfriend part yet. He sat ready to defend the cover.
“Okay.” She took the wind out of his sails. But she didn’t seem happy about the idea.
“What’s bothering you?” He’d been ready to go to bat for his plan. He could still do so. He knew it was the right thing to do. Professionally, anyway. His instincts in that arena rarely steered him wrong.
“Fritz claimed that I was unfaithful to him, and now, two days out of prison, which I went into even before his funeral, I’m showing up with a new boyfriend?”
Maybe he hadn’t considered every avenue...having missed one he wouldn’t have considered even if he’d had a week to work on the plan. Everleigh’s sensibilities. Her reputation...
“We can say that I’ve insisted that you stay someplace safe, and you aren’t telling anyone where it is, if they ask, because the GGPD chose the place and asked you not to disclose it.”