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When I’d finally mustered up the nerve to ask him if he wanted to “hang out,” he’d let me down easy. So easy that it made me like him more than I already did. But my pride had been sorely wounded, and that was something I’d never forget. Nor would I make that mistake again. Guys like Cope—and Buck—were trained to make those around them feel comfortable. They were experts at winning people’s trust, whether it was to get information out of them or to get them to do their bidding.
The day I realized Cope’s flirting was nothing more than that, my heart broke a little, but more importantly, I learned my lesson. I could still talk big, tell myself Buck was different, even fantasize that he and I might’ve shared sheets a time or two, but in my heart—and my head—I knew better than to take the cowboy’s flirtation seriously.
“Yeah?” I said when I heard a knock at the door. Buck eased it open. “Heard from Rock.”
“And?”
“He found the key.”
“Thank God.” However, this meant I couldn’t go to Colorado with him. Didn’t it? On the other hand, all I had was the key. I had to figure out which bank the safe box was located in, and I needed the death certificate along with a copy of her will before any bank would let me access it.
Buck came inside the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He leaned up against the wall. “Wish you were thinking out loud.”
I looked up at him. “Did he find a laptop?”
“Not that he said, although if one was found, it was probably taken into evidence.”
That made sense. “I need to contact Barb’s attorney. He’s in Manhattan. I can take care of that in the morning.”
He nodded but made no move to leave.
I propped myself up on my elbows. “Was there anything else?”
“Yeah.” He looked down at the floor. “Jinx is here.”
I sat up and ran my hand over my hair. “Oh.”
“You wanna see him?”
“I should.”
Buck raised his head. “I could tell him you’re already in bed.”
“That’s okay. I need to talk to him.”
He put his hand on the doorknob but looked like he was waiting for something.
“What?” I asked.
“You comin’?”
“Please just send him back here to the bedroom.”
Buck’s nostrils flared, and his eyes scrunched. He opened his mouth as though he was about to say something. Instead, he opened the door and walked out.
So much time passed before I heard another knock at the door, I decided Jinx must have left. I was about to turn off the light and close my eyes when the door opened.
“Hey, TJ.” Jinx walked over to the side of the bed I was stretched out on. “How are you doing?”
Let’s see…my aunt was murdered, I was the one who found her, she was probably killed because of a story I was pursuing—what did he expect me to say? That I was fine? God, how had I forgotten how much Jinx annoyed me? “Not great, Jinx. Was that all you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Who’s the guy with the ponytail?”
Now I wished I would’ve followed Buck out to the main room instead of asking him to send Jinx to the bedroom. At least then I could’ve walked away. “You know who he is.”
“I don’t.”
“Buck Wheaton. He works with Ashford and the Invincibles. He was on Ali’s detail.”
