Page 49 of Maverick Detective Dad
Noah must have come to the same conclusion because he eased away from her. He also kissed her before she could say anything.
Not that Everly had a clue what to say.
He was well aware that their being together like this wasn’t a wise decision, but both also knew it hadn’t been a decision at all. The heat had taken over, and they’d both needed—yes, needed—the comfort of being with each other in this most intimate way.
“Let’s go ahead and get dressed,” Noah muttered, brushing one last kiss on her mouth. “And then I’ll check in with the reserve deputies to make sure all is well. Do you think you’re up to taking another look at the financials on our suspects?” he tacked on to that.
She nodded because she was more than up to it. Everly wanted something to cause her to focus on the investigation and get her mind off Noah and what had just happened.
After picking up her dress and underwear, she went back into her room to put on her clothes. Of course, that was probably silly since Noah and she had just had sex, but Everly had wanted a moment to gather herself. Noah obviously needed a little time, too, because he stayed in the bathroom. Neither of them took long, and as he’d said, he sent messages to the deputies as soon as he came into the bedroom. The replies were fast, within seconds.
“They’re both good. They haven’t seen anything suspicious,” Noah relayed to her. “Let me get the computer. You want to work in here?”
She tipped her head to the seating area but then realized the two chairs were directly in front of a large bay window. It would have been a good place to work if there hadn’t been a killer out willing to shoot through the glass.
Noah obviously saw the position of the chairs as a problem, too, because he dragged them to the other side of the room next to the bathroom door. “I’ll get the laptops,” he said, heading toward the living room.
Everly went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water and two cans of Coke. Even though she wasn’t anywhere near being sleepy, she figured they could use the jolt of caffeine because it was going to be a long night.
Maybe a night that would lead to nothing.
Well, nothing to do with catching a killer anyway. Noah and she had definitely crossed some personal lines, and sooner or later, they’d have to deal with the consequences of that.
He came back with the laptops, handed her one and thanked her for the drinks. They sat, both of them pulling up the files on the financials. She’d study those, but first she had another look at the list of explosives experts that they’d gotten from Hudson. Everly had barely started on that when Noah’s phone rang.
“It’s the Silver Creek dispatcher,” he explained, “and I’m putting the call on Speaker.”
“Detective Ryland, this is Carlene Banks at Dispatch. I have a woman, Helen Fleming, on the line, and she wants to talk to you. Should I put the call through or do you want me to take a message?”
“Put it through,” Noah instructed.
“Have you seen Bobby?” Helen asked the moment she was connected to Noah. Everly had no trouble hearing the desperation in the woman’s voice, and she knew something bad must have happened.
Judging from Noah’s sudden scowl, he was no doubt bracing for bad news as well. “Not since he came to the hospital. Why?”
“Because he called me. At least I think it was him. It was his number, but he wouldn’t talk to me when I asked what was wrong. He just stayed on the line, and after what felt like an eternity, he whispered that I should leave if I wanted to stay alive. Detective Ryland, I’m not sure it was actually Bobby. I think it was someone pretending to be him.”
“And why would someone do that?” Noah pressed.
“Maybe to scare me,” Helen readily provided. “Maybe to make me think Bobby had killed those people. I don’t believe he did. I think someone is trying to set him up for the murders.”
That was possible, of course, and Everly found it interesting that of their three suspects, Bobby was the only one who had had no suspicious withdrawals from his account. It was possible he was just more careful in covering his tracks than the others, but Everly couldn’t dismiss the idea that Jared or River would indeed do something to set Bobby up.
“Where are you?” Noah asked, and Everly knew the reason for his urgent question. In the background, Everly could hear what she thought were the slap of windshield wipers and a car engine.
“I’m driving around, looking for Bobby,” Helen admitted.
That caused Noah to groan. “You shouldn’t be out in this storm. Go back to the inn and lock the door.”
“I can’t do that. I have to find Bobby. If he’s in danger from someone pretending to be him, I have to try to save him. I can’t just abandon him again.”
Noah cursed under his breath. “You can work that out with him after we’ve arrested the vigilante killer. You’re in danger just by being on the road. Do you want to cause an accident?”
Everly figured Noah had worded his question that way to make the woman stop the search and get back indoors. And it seemed to work. Helen made a hoarse sob.
“I need to make Bobby understand,” Helen said through those sobs. “I need him to forgive me.”
“Then go back to the inn so you’ll live long enough to try to repair things with him,” Noah insisted.
