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Tucker had no right to delete my message to Ophelia. I don’t remember replying to Ophelia’s message to me.
Slade’s hand is on my leg, and he’s snoring softly next to me, so I put my earbuds in then call Tucker’s number, listening to it ring with barely contained impatience.
Dammit! Tucker’s phone rings out. No voicemail. He knew I would call him for tampering with my phone.
Only one way to get me some answers is to call the office.
“Heeey, Phoenix. How are you feeling, honey?” Trinny is always bubbly and sweet.
I keep my voice pitch low. “I’m doing great.”Liar.“Look, I just thought I would see if Tucker has made contact with you.” Because I am nosy.
“Sure has.”And Ophelia?I want to ask. “What a nice guy,” she sighs.
“What the hell, Trinny? Are you swooning?”
“Maybe a little. It’s the pregnancy hormones. I love my husband, but I’m not blind.” She lets out a girlish giggle.
“Where’s Ophelia?”
“Well, as the story goes, Tucker ended up joining in on the job, apprehending two women who were fleeing the scene after stealing a bag of money because Mack got held up for a bit due to his clients crashing the party. Then Tucker pretended to be Ophelia’s baby daddy, kissing her passionate—”
“Is Ophelia alright?” I cut Trinny off. I am not sure if I am asking about my friend’s welfare or Tucker kissing her. And why the hell did he get involved? Mack explained the job he is sharing with Ophelia in detail, so I am already clued up on the client: Mrs. Diamond, and the job concerning Mario Diego, her daughter’s fiancé.
“She is perfect—now—but they both took taser probes to their bodies and—”
“Whoa!That would have been painful. How the hell did that come to pass?” I whisper-hiss, trying to avoid waking Slade.
“Well, the job took a bit of a turn, with the FBI involved, but Mack will fill you in on all the details that went down today. I’ll get him to give you a call when he is free. But I can tell you there was an undercover agent already in place. The FBI wasn’t aware that a private investigating company was, well, investigating infidelity on behalf of Mrs. Diamond, which crossed over into what they were working on, which went much higher than Mack & Cooper Investigation’s pay grade, and we won’t be getting any information on their case.
“Mack had to hand over the client file and all the surveillance footage to the FBI, so Ophelia is now in the clear to go back to Temecula because it is all now in the FBI’s hands. The client, Mrs. Diamond, got the proof she needed, and her daughter gave birth to a healthy girl. Sadly, the Diamond ladies have a hard road ahead of them dealing with Mario.
“Ophelia can explain to you that having Tucker there was an asset. He is so sweet, bringing me flowers today. Such a nice guy,” she gushes. “Just like when he brought us free tickets—well, he paid for them, and they weren’t cheap—for the charity dinner before Christmas.”
“Trinny, what charity dinner?” Bless her, but she doesn’t come up for air once she gets started; you have to make her an air pocket.
“You were away on the private job by then. The three of us went—”
“Three?” I blurt out.
“Well, Tucker originally had two tickets, but you were away, so after talking to Mack in his office, he came back with a third ticket. That way, hubby, Mack, and I could all go together, but he was originally coming to give you a ticket. It was an amazing night, raising money for the new Center for Hope. Tucker sat with us when he wasn’t playing with Hudson Raine. Oh, my goodness! The drummer, Shamus, the Scottish guy, the one who wears the kilt is… well, I love my husband, but I’m not blind,” she says dreamily.
“Jesus, Trinny.” She’s been not blind about both men.
“Oh, I nearly forgot, while you were erm… sleeping, we sent over some get-well gifts for you. Slade will probably have them in the kitchen, so enjoy.”
“Thank you, that’s very nice of you all.”
“You’re welcome. Now there was something else I had to remember. What was it?” she mumbles, “darn pregnancy brain, let me think… Oh, yeah, I have it now. Tucker told me to tell you ‘The Duke is back safe without a scratch where you like him parked’ and ‘the keys to The Duke are in a lockbox attached to The Duke’ and ‘the code is 7429.’ A couple of the men from Ocean Beach, your crew, organized the drop-off but were expressly told not to disturb you because you were in bed with Slade. Tucker had great joy in announcing that bit of information. He said you were being very naughty to Slade.”
“He saidwhat?” I try to keep my voice down, but Tucker is testing me. He’s giving the guys the impression we are sleeping together, whichugh… would seem not a lie, but a gross misrepresentation of what is going on. I will not hear the end of it from Keanu and the guys.
My silence has Trinny getting her nervous babble powering up. “Not that it is my business. I mean, Slade is another one. If I wasn’t so in love with my husband…wow!The man is all kinds of growly and just…wowwhen I’ve spoken to him in the past.”
I massage my temple with one hand. “Okay, thank you for letting me know, Trinny.”Grrr.Tucker will keep.
“He also wants you to know right about now he is shacking up in a five-star hotel—paid for by Mrs. Diamond for the tasering incident—with Ophelia having lots of sex, and he won’t be home tonight. He will call you soon to check in with how you are doing.”
What the hell? The man moves fast.
