Page 23 of Hawkeye

Two more families in one evening was not a coincidence. It was more proof that Chet was dealing in stolen goods, but we needed evidence that wasn’t circumstantial if we wanted to take down the whole business and stop the burglary ring once and for all.

“Can you update the records?” Mr. Smythe requested.

“Of course.”

Calder followed me into the records room where I took the chair at the side table, opened my cross-reference, and started adding what we uncovered tonight. Memorial and funeral dates, house addresses from the police files, auction lot numbers, and the estate-company job reference numbers.

Calder stood at my shoulder and read while I typed. When I finished the last code, he pulled out his phone.

“Hey, Cipher. Two more stolen lots have been connected to Tippon. Need you to dig into public memorial notices and the estate company’s known activity. There’s gotta be more.”

When he ended the call, I asked, “Can he really get to that kind of stuff?”

“He earned his road name, just like me.” He winked, and I giggled. “Just don’t ever call him a hacker. Cipher hates that term.”

“Thanks for the warning.” I saved the file. “This is all just so frustrating because the job numbers don’t mean anything until we have the files that match them.”

“We’ll get there,” he assured me. “Black Castle always comes out on top when we tackle shit like this.”

I closed the laptop and looked at Calder. “Then I guess I should focus on my area of expertise. I want to look at the other items we confirmed were stolen.”

He followed me out of records to where the archived lot was being stored. I pulled the items and brought them into an examination room, my shoulders slumping when I noticed the sleeve around the service letters was damp.

“Oh no,” I gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Calder asked.

“The documents weren’t stored properly,” I muttered. “Thank goodness we got these back now, while I might still be able to correct any damage from the moisture.”

“If anyone can do it, that’d be you.”

My shoulders straightened at his faith in me. I photographed the packet first, then pulled on a pair of gloves before sliding the pages out in the order they had been filed. The paper had taken on a wave along one edge. “At least you’re still all together. That helps.”

When I realized I was talking to the letters while Calder was right behind me, I glanced over my shoulder. But his focus was on the paper rather than on me.

“Can I borrow your hands for a little bit?”

He settled his palm against my lower back. “My hands are yours whenever and wherever you want them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for a time when we won’t be interrupted. Again.” I fanned myself. “For now, I could use your help holding this support board while I work.”

He held the board exactly where I put his hands and did not move them. I asked for blotters, and he passed them. When I needed the narrow weights, those came next. The whole time, he was careful not to touch the letters themselves.

Since they were only damp, I didn’t need to use the vacuum freeze dryer. Instead, I just placed them between clean blotter sheets and pressed them gently under heavy, flat weights to eliminate the wavy edges. Then I moved them into the chamber with desiccant dehumidifiers to help remove the moisture more quickly.

“There, now we wait.” I flashed him a grateful smile. “Thank you for being careful with them.”

He shrugged. “You’re the one who knew what they needed. I just kept up.”

He’d done a whole lot more than that over the past five days. Somehow, he’d already been in every part of my personal and professional life. But I hadn’t gotten a similar glimpse into him outside of Black Castle and the Black Crowns.

“I still haven’t seen where you go when nobody needs anything from you.”

His gaze locked on me. “You asking to come home with me?”

I considered the question before answering, “I think I am.”

“Then say it like you mean it, baby doll.”