AllFreeNovel
Share Us
10
Cora parked her car alongside Liam’s at the precinct on Thursday morning. It figured he’d arrive before her. From what she’d seen, he had a lead foot, speeding whenever he got the chance. She’d tried to warn him to slow down, telling him he was setting a bad example for civilians, but he’d just given her that wicked smile—the one Suzette swooned over. And Cora had to admit, Liam could charm his way into a locked bank vault with that smile. In the past four days since he’d moved in, he’d even managed to charm old Mrs. Gilmore, her grumpy neighbor, into baking him a pie. If that wasn’t some kind of dark magic, Cora didn’t know what was.
Even she wasn’t immune. She was still a little embarrassed that she’d thrown herself at him when he’d found her necklace. What had gotten into her? She never impulsively embraced people she’d just met, but it had felt like the most natural thing in the world. It wouldn’t have been so embarrassing if he hadn’t reacted the way he had. Cora cringed, remembering how he’d shoved her away. I don’t want to give you the wrong idea. God, she’d felt like such a fool. He’d made it very clear he wasn’t into her, and that was all fine and good. She wasn’t into him, either! It’s not like she’d deliberately meant to plaster her body against his rock-hard chest. Feel his powerful arms embracing her. His large, warm hands gripping her lower back. Who wanted that? Not her.
Cora shoved the humiliating memory aside as she slid past Liam’s car in the lot. He’d asked her to carpool with him to work, but she’d declined. Even though they were now officially roommates, she still wanted—needed—her freedom. Something about his presence in her life confused her, and it wasn’t just because of that odd sense of familiarity. It was something more. She had the strangest feeling he wasn’t what he seemed. Normally, Cora trusted her instincts one hundred percent. They’d always served her well. But this time, she had no idea what to think. One minute, she thought Liam was a decent guy because he offered to mow the lawn, and the next minute, he annoyed her because he forgot to mow it and started watching TV instead. He also left dirty dishes around the house and propped his boot-clad feet on her coffee table. No amount of charm was going to make that okay. And always, always, he seemed to be hiding something. Waiting for something. But, what?
Cora made her way to her office desk and was just settling into her chair when Captain Thompson poked his head out of his office.
“Cora, Liam. A moment.”
Liam looked up from whatever he was doing on his computer. He had a pile of paperwork on his desk that seemed to be growing every day. She wondered when he was going to get to it. If he was as lazy with his work as he was at keeping house, it was going to be a while.
“Everything good with you two?” The captain asked as they entered his office. He took a seat at his desk. Stacks of paper were scattered across the scarred mahogany top, along with a bottle of Tums, a Diet Coke and a half-eaten Egg McMuffin. Breakfast of champions.
“Yes,” Liam said before Cora could answer. “Things are going great.”
Captain Thompson forged ahead, barely waiting for Liam to finish his sentence. “A call just came in. The mini-mart on First got robbed sometime in the middle of the night.”
“Do you think it’s related to the incident at the Gas n’ Go?” Cora asked. They still hadn’t caught the thief, and the mini-mart was in the same neighborhood.
Thompson leaned back in his chair, linking his hands behind his head. “Could be. The owner at the mini-mart got a partial look at the guy on his camera feed, but it’s not much to go on. Appears to be male, about six feet tall, possibly dark hair. You two check it out, then head down and ask around. There’s an apartment building near the mini-mart. Maybe someone saw something.”
“Knock-knock,” someone sang out from the doorway.
Captain Thompson glanced at the door and sat up straighter. “Alice. I wasn’t expecting you this morning.”
His wife, a pretty blonde woman with heavy makeup and lethal stiletto heels, floated into the room on a river of Chanel No. 5. A designer bag was slung fashionably over her shoulder, and she was wearing a silk shift dress that screamed, “Dry Clean Only.” Alice Thompson was one of those women who looked high-maintenance, with the long acrylic nails, the out-to-there lash extensions, and highlights too perfectly spaced to ever be natural. She had bleached-white Hollywood teeth, a salon tan and an impressive chest that Cora suspected Mother Nature hadn’t given her. But none of that mattered because Alice looked good, and she knew it. And more power to her, Cora figured. When you work that hard at something, you might as well be proud of it.
Alice strolled in with her megawatt smile on full blast. “Sorry to interrupt, hon. I was just heading to the mall and had a quick question.”
The captain jerked his chin at Cora and Liam. “That will be all.”
They started to leave when Alice placed a hand on Liam’s arm. Was she squeezing his biceps? “You must be the new officer from Raleigh.”
“Aye,” Liam said carefully, glancing at the captain. Liam seemed uncomfortable with Alice’s attention.
“Liam O’Connor,” Thompson told her. “I mentioned him to you last week.”
“Of course.” Alice slid her hand from Liam’s arm a little too slowly. Her gaze flicked over his body lightning quick. If Cora hadn’t been standing right there, she’d have missed it. Poor Captain Thompson. No wonder he kept antacids on his desk the way the receptionist Mavis kept M&M’s. Maybe his marriage wasn’t as seamless at it appeared. Then again, maybe Alice was just one of those flirty-by-nature types. Did she treat all men this way?
Otto ambled past the office window, his paunchy belly looking larger than usual. He grinned and waved at Alice, but she didn’t respond. Otto wasn’t even a blip on her radar. So, that answered that.
“You and Boyd grew up together in Ireland?” Alice asked Liam. “He told me you two used to get into all kinds of trouble when you were kids.”
“That we did.” Liam shifted closer to Cora. “But it was a long time ago.” Cora wondered if he even realized his Irish accent had grown thicker. He’d said it popped up once in a while, and she wondered if it happened during moments of strong emotion. Maybe Alice’s covert attention bothered him more than he was letting on.
“Well, we all must have drinks one of these nights,” Alice said smoothly, batting her eyelashes. “So you guys can tell me all about the good old days.”
Liam murmured some kind of agreement, then took off down the hall.
Cora followed him back to his desk. “You got out of there fast. Is something wrong?”
“Nothing,” he grumbled, shuffling the papers on his desk without appearing to read them.
Cora cocked her head, eyeing him thoughtfully. “Do you know Captain Thompson’s wife, Alice?”
He didn’t meet her eyes. “Why do you ask?”
