Page 46 of Night Watch
“It’s worth a try.”
“I’ll do it right now.” She picked up her phone, hoping this time she would actually be able to help move their investigation forward.
Kennedy was on hold for far longer than it took to make her request and get off the phone. By the time she finished the call, Erik had his face buried in his computer.
“The lady didn’t even ask why I wanted the information,” Kennedy said. “She can’t do anything without talking to her manager.”
He frowned. “That’s a start.”
She nodded at his computer. “Since I can’t work at the lab, I’d like to help review the videos.”
He took a long swig from his mug and grimaced. “Cold coffee. Yuk. I have hours of footage to go through, so that would be a big help.”
She got her iPad out of her bag. “This is the only device I have with me. Will it work?”
“We could make it work, but I have a few machines sitting around that would do a better job.”
“Just a few?” She grinned at him.
He smiled broadly, and her pulse responded with a jump. “Okay, maybe a dozen or so in various forms and ages.”
She worked hard not to keep up the flirtatious tone that had surfaced again. “You never did like to part with a computer, even after you upgraded to a newer one.”
“What can I say?” He eyed her, his light mood completely gone. “I believe in long-term commitments.”
She didn’t miss his double meaning but wouldn’t bite and move to anything personal. “Seems like you do the computer work for the team.”
“For the most part, but the others know their way around a computer for basic research purposes. And speaking of that, my plate is full, so Aiden is running a background check on Nora. Since Harper’s off training, he’s fine with long hours right now.”
“Being an Olympic downhill skier sounds like an interesting career.”
“She loves it. I think you’d like her.”
Didn’t matter. Kennedy wouldn’t be around long enough to meet Harper. “And your other brothers? Married? Single.”
“Brendan is married. His wife, Jenna, is a stay-at-home mother. She has a five-year-old, Karlie, who Brendan adopted right after he married Jenna. Clay’s getting married in less than two weeks to Toni. She’s an FBI agent, and Drake’s seriously dating Natalie, a social worker. And you know Sierra’s married with a baby.”
Kennedy remembered the large Sunday family dinners with his parents. How did so many fit in their dining room now? But it was just what his mom had always wanted and not so subtly hinted at. “Your mom’s dreams are coming true.”
He chuckled. “I’m her only holdout. Means she’s focusing a lot of attention my way. When she isn’t spoiling the baby or Karlie or the three kids she and Dad are fostering.”
“Three more kids?” Kennedy couldn’t even fathom it. “Even more people for Sunday dinner. If you all still do that.”
“We do,” he said, his tone reserved now.
Maybe he thought she was going to ask for an invite. Not a chance. She wouldn’t want to insert herself into his family any more than she already had.
He lurched to his feet. “Let me grab a computer you can use.”
Yeah. He was acting strangely, all right. Gone was the earlier companionship.
He headed for the doorway to his second bedroom that he’d set up as an office. Or more like computer central. If not for eating breakfast out here, she suspected he would be tucked in there working and not come out until he found something or lunchtime, whichever came first. She’d often had to pull him away from his computers in college, but the nice thing was that once she broke through, he gave her his full attention.
Not something she wanted now, thank you very much. She focused on finishing her bagel, barely tasting the strawberry cream cheese. She was swallowing the last bite when he returned with a laptop.
He plugged it in but set the machine in front of his spot at the table. “I’ll get you logged into our network and queue up the next video for you.”
She watched him for a moment, loving the sideways quirk of his mouth. She’d seen it more times than she could count when he was working on computers or homework. She’d often wondered why he didn’t go into computers as a professional, but he said it would no longer be fun for him. Plus, he loved law enforcement even more. He claimed it ran in his blood.
