Now she had his full attention. “You’re sure?”
She turned the screen so he could see the words the highlighted code provided.
Newkirk tomorrow.
She scrolled down so he could see the other one:Anders ASAP.
Tanner let out a low curse. “Who did those messages go to? Is there any way of finding that out?”
“The proxy is anonymous, so I can’t get much more information without significantly more illegal effort, and even then it’s iffy. It’s an anonymous, encrypted email that uses a VPN to reroute and hide the IP address. Sites like these are utilized when people are trying to be...covert.”
He collapsed down in the chair next to her, still staring at the screen. “Covert. In other words, illegal.”
“Not always. Maybe they’re cheating on a spouse or something. But yeah, illegal in this case. I know the words themselves don’t prove anything...”
“But the fact that they were sent within hours of both men being killed, and that Carrico knew both of them, is significant. More damning than what they have on me.”
She smiled. “That’s what I thought, too. That’s good, right?”
“It’s definitely a start.” His eyes narrowed as he looked at her more closely. “You said we can’t get theother email without you beingmoreillegal? That means even getting this much was illegal.”
She shrugged. “Yeah. But just a little. And if it leads us to the real killer then who cares, right?”
“A judge is going to care.”
She cringed. She wasn’t used to thinking about things like judges. “You don’t have to give the sheriff’s department specifics, just point them in the right direction. Even Whitaker couldn’t be dumb enough to miss this if it’s staring him in the face.”
He laughed, and it sounded more carefree and Tanner-like than she’d heard most of the week. Her heart did another tumble.
He brushed a finger down her cheek. “Damn it, woman. What am I going to do with you?”
His hand reached into the hair at her nape, and he pulled her into his lap with a quick tug. She hardly let out a little laugh of her own before his mouth was on hers.
The kiss started out light, playful, with Bree draped over the back of one of his arms and the other moving in gentle circles on her hip. But before long the kiss turned much hotter and demanding.
The needs in her body were hot and demanding, too.
She wanted Tanner.
She hooked an arm around his neck, pulling him closer, deepening the kiss herself, not that he seemed to mind. When his lips moved down her jaw to her neck, she couldn’t stop the moan that fell from her lips.
She hadn’t even known it was possible to feel this way. Like everything was on fire and burning and there was nothing more she wanted than to be consumed by the flame.
Tanner wrapped one of his big arms around her waistand stood, raising them both easily with his strength, and took a step toward the bedroom.
Finally.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms clasped tightly around his neck as his lips moved back to hers. Keeping her pressed against him as he walked.
He slowed momentarily as he moved them through the bedroom door, and she tensed. She didn’t want him to stop. She felt like she’d been waiting for this her entire life.
She brought her lips back to his, kissing him deeper. It was the only way she could think of to let him know without words how much she wanted this. She threaded her fingers into his thick dark hair and kept their mouths fused.
Whatever it was she was trying to communicate, Tanner understood. His fingers on her hips gripped her closer—strong, secure, confident.
She knew he would take her wherever she wanted to go.
AFEWHOURSLATER, Bree woke up. She stretched, not even for one second trying to keep the smile off her face.
