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Her eyebrow lifted. “Or we could just ask Tyler.”
For whatever reason, Shane knew that was the wrong answer. “No.”
Footsteps thudded on the stairs. The box appeared first, a good-size one that covered most of Tyler’s body. He peeked around it as he walked into the room. “This is all yours. Everything I have on the men uncovered since Makena started working with me, including information on Frank and Jeff.”
He dropped the box with a thud. Makena immediately went to it and started paging through the files. Shane took a break from the mental analysis for just a second and watched her. As she scanned every page, looked inside and touched each one, excitement lit her gaze. The work touched off something inside her.
He hated to hear her talk about herself as if her life hadn’t amounted to anything or lacked some level of excitement, since neither point was correct. She had people who loved her. She held down a job and made a difference through her work on the site. She gave back by ensuring that only those who deserved to be were called heroes.
He admired everything about her. That drive she thought didn’t exist, her compassion and charm. She looked like that and acted with integrity. He’d fought off his feelings for so long, pushed them back and hid behind a crappy marriage that never should have happened. He’d found excuse after excuse. Even made bets with the team and insisted anything other than sex was off the table.
He wanted all of it to be true. He hated the idea of being sucked in and having someone depend on him, only to leave her as he walked into danger. That was who he was, and that wouldn’t change. It made relationships impossible. Apparently it didn’t make falling in love impossible, because he had fallen. With her.
It couldn’t happen and the odds made it impossible, but there it was. He loved her. Maybe he always had. He sat down hard on the kitchen table.
She rushed to his side. “Shane? All the color just left your face. Are you okay?”
No, he was very far from okay. “Sure.”
“I don’t—”
Time to dodge the question and get some answers. Shane looked at Tyler. “Who do you think is behind all this?”
“Jeff.” Tyler shook his head as he grabbed the back of one of the other chairs. “You said he showed up while you guys were eating in that diner. He was at the park just now. I don’t even know what to say about this loop with the other men that he told you about. That’s news to me, but the lengths they’ll go to sound pretty scary.”
Clearly Makena had been busy filling her boss in. Shane understood why she thought that was okay, but he had a strange feeling it wasn’t. Something about the guy didn’t sit right.
Shane wasn’t alone. No one on the team thought this was a straightforward case. Their collective experience and wisdom pointed to more than one person. Last thing Shane wanted was an entire group of liars with gun habits to battle, but the theory made sense.
Connor hadn’t reached out to Holt to fill him in, but Shane knew their time was running out. That meant his time in bed with Makena likely was running out as well. If this couldn’t go anywhere, they had to be realistic. Having fun when it was just them was one thing. They could keep that private. Rubbing Holt’s nose in it once he got back did not sit well with Shane.
“What chatter are you picking up now?” Shane asked.
Tyler’s grip tightened on the chair. “Chatter?”
“Reports about new cases.” Makena smiled. “I think he’s kind of asking how the work gets to us.”
Shane did love her smarts. Tyler’s blank stare was not a favorite. “You get leads all the time, right?”
“Yes.”
“Are those drying up? Where is the business right now?” Shane knew most of this information from Tyler’s financial records. The same ones that showed a sizable inheritance, which allowed him to spend his life chasing the liars on his site.
The questions weren’t about scaring Tyler. Shane needed to assess the guy’s truthfulness. Would he embellish or underplay? Would he even admit to knowing anything? Shane could get the information he needed or run into a wall that raised a red flag. For whatever reason, he sensed one of those outcomes was on the near horizon.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this line of questions.” The chair creaked as Tyler released the back and walked into the kitchen.
“He’s asking for the case.” Makena turned around in her chair. “This is all about the attacks. He’s not going to steal your bank-account information.”
“That’s just the thing.” Tyler walked back into the room with a water bottle in his hand. “We’re assuming this is about you and this website, but from what I’ve seen of Shane I’m thinking he has some contacts that might be a problem for you.”
