I walked down the stairs toward the utility room. The two men were talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Just as I approached the door, Mo let out a cry. The two men turned, looking at me in surprise.
One of the men looked at the other with an oh-shit expression while the other forced a smile.
"We’re finished here. Everything looks fine." They each tucked their tools into their tool belts and brushed past me out of the utility room.
I followed them up the stairs to the front door. “If I look up Cruz and Langmore on the Internet, I'm gonna find it's a legit company, aren’t I?"
A part of me wondered if I looked up Cruz and Langmore that it would be a subsidiary or some other business that Bran owned.
"Of course. Why would we pretend to be otherwise?"
The answer didn't alleviate my concern, but they were out the door before I could respond.
Once I got Mo to sleep, I called Archer. "Hey Archer, I was hoping you could do me a favor and come over here with a signal detector."
"Signal detector? You think someone bugged your house?"
"I don't know but better safe than sorry, right? Can you do it?"
"Yes, of course. I can be there in about 45 minutes."
I would have asked Dax to come, but I’d already sent him off looking for information on Lupe in Mexico. I was sort of surprised Archer hadn't called me and asked about it, but I suppose Archer knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t have sent Dax off on a mission if it wasn't important.
By the time Archer's car pulled through the gate and up the drive. Mo was up again. The only thing that kept him from crying was when I strapped him to my chest in the baby carrier. When I opened the door to Archer's gaze immediately went to Mo.
"Have you taken up babysitting in your retirement?"
"Actually, he's mine."
Archer's brows shot to his hairline. "You're a father? When did this happen?"
I held the door open so he could enter the house. I wasn't too interested in telling him the whole convoluted story of Lupe and Mo, but at the same time, I felt an obligation to tell him something since he was here to help me.
"It's a long story, but suffice it to say his mother dropped him off and disappeared."
"What?"
"It's been a month or two. To be honest, taking care of him is all-consuming. I've kind of lost track of time."
Archer laughed. “I've heard that about babies. I'm looking forward to discovering that myself when Lane has our next child."
I had a moment to envy him that he had a partner, not just in raising his children, but in life. Reminding myself that I didn't need a partner I pushed the envy away.
His brow furrowed. "Is there a reason this is a secret?" There was no mistaking the hurt in his tone that I was hiding things, not just from him but from the people that worked for us. When it came to security work, trust was the foundation of successful teams. Without it, danger increased.
I shrugged. "Like I said, caring for him is all-consuming and it's taking every brain cell I have to stay on top of it and figure this father thing out."
He nodded, but I could tell he wasn't buying it.
Deciding it was time to move on to the issue at hand, I said, "Earlier today, two guys from Cruz and Langmore stopped by saying they'd been contracted by the city to check natural gas meters in the area."
"And you don't think they're who they said they were?"
"I don't know. They both were the size of bouncers, but they had the company uniform on. They did something outside of the house and then came down into the utility room, which is where the meter is."
"Does this have anything to do with those cameras you sent and to be examined?" Again, his tone held censure. He wasn't wrong to feel betrayed. I was using Saint Security resources without telling my partner.
"Yes." While he deserved me to tell him more, I didn't.