“Me?”
Dalton grasped his hands, tight between them and pleading. “I need your help, your expertise, but I also think it would be great to get insight from Dad. Imagine how unstoppable the two of you would be working together?”
“I don’t think—”
“Please,” Dalton implored. “It would mean so much to have both of you on this. Besides, once this thief realizes they’re missing necessary components, they are going to come back.”
Andrew opened his mouth to counter when it dawned on him how right Dalton was. “Your dad wouldn’t want you at risk like that. He’ll probably freak when he hears about this.” And there was a thought—Isaac Ford freaking out about anything, yet Andrew could somehow imagine it perfectly if it involved Dalton, even after only seeing them together once.
“So, you’ll work with him?” Dalton beamed.
Andrew was so in over his head, but he couldn’t see a better option. “Okay, but you’re buying lunch.”
ISAAC
Isaacgapedatthespot where the invoices had been sitting on his desk that Kathleen had long since taken away to file—along with the newest death threats he received at least once a week, originally once a day since his firm first opened its doors. He’d frozen in the wake of Dalton telling him about his day.
Dalton, who wasn’t supposed to be at the office during business hours ever, but he’d burst in with news that couldn’t wait until later before Isaac could tell him to go.
“Dad, did you hear me?”
Glancing up at Dalton in the chair in front of his desk, Isaac willed himself to not give away any of the tension roiling through him. Someone had broken into Avalon. Stolen Dalton’s research. Ruffed up his workspace. Effectively put a bullseye on Isaac’sson, which was already past tense, making him helpless to do anything about it.
“I said Andrew’s helping with the case. I met his brother today, the detective? Or other detective, I should say, since Andrew and his dad were both detectives too.”
“That sounds complicated,” Kathleen said from the filing cabinet.
Isaac didn’t mind her knowing about his son, or Luke, who stood vigil by the door. They’d taken to Dalton like a real aunt and uncle, and Luke didn’t warm to anyone. But their presence also reminded Isaac how quickly this could spiral.
“Who’s Andrew?” Kathleen continued.
Likethat.
“A friend of mine Dad dated before his arrest.”
“Excuse me?” Kathleen put her full attention on Isaac. “Why didn’t I hear about this? I thought you were hung up on—”
“I’m not hung up on anyone.”
“Unless this is AndrewWen?”
Urg.
“Since when did you date our biggest competitor? Especially since he—”
“Not your business.” Isaac stared her down, trying to hint that she better not go down that path. The last thing he needed was for Dalton to find out the truth now.
“I guess Andrew didn’t know Dad was a thief until he went to prison,” Dalton dove them right back into the deep end, though at least the others had looks of recognition now, since they knew that couldn’t be true. “You’re hung up on him, huh?”
“No.”
Luke remained by the door, betraying no more than an irritated eyebrow raise.
Kathleen was less easily silenced. “Cradle robbing and pilfering from the boys in blue. You naughty boy.”
“It was short-lived, nothing to write home about, and doesn’t bear repeating now.”
“Calm down, Dad,” Dalton said. “I’m not trying to pry about your relationship. I want to talk about the case.”
