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Gently rubbing away the persistent ache in her shoulder, she flexed her fingers over her keyboard and resumed her background check on a potential client.
She needed a case she could sink her teeth into. Her boss, Ross Carpenter, was borderline paranoid since getting duped by a client and nearly getting a few people killed last month. She fully supported his vigilance, considering the dup-er had gotten the drop on her, used her as bait, and eventually put a hole in her shoulder while trying to make his escape.
She did not, however, support her boss’s decision to tuck her away in this little corner of nowhere running background searches and looking pretty.
Looking pretty damn annoyed.
Haleswood, South Carolina was a fine town. If you liked a friendly place that didn’t push the needle much beyond sedate on the excitement scale. She even understood the basic logic of having a Cypress Security satellite office here, since Ross was finally living in the gorgeous home he’d built just outside of town a few years back.
The only consolation was being tucked away in an office inside the court house. It was small, and she knew her perspective was warped, but staying close to even the minimal activity of the sheriff’s office took some of the sting out of being stuck here on the sidelines.
She wanted a real case. Her own case. Something more involved than the typical adultery and divorce nonsense. She knew she was ready, but her boss—in another fit of paranoia and overprotectiveness—disagreed.
Her arm had healed just fine. Mostly. True, she still couldn’t quite hold her weapon steady enough to fire accurately. She glanced at the calendar. A month already. Hadn’t she carried her own plate at the Haleswood Thanksgiving feast? Yet, that stunning physical performance wasn’t enough to convince Ross. She’d given him a note from the doctor in Columbia, but he’d only spouted nonsense about how the team needed her superior IT and tech support skills.
As if she didn’t know her capabilities.
They both knew she could run the Cypress Security office from her laptop in any location sporting a decent internet connection. But the guys had been having all the fun lately. In more ways than one.
Both Ross and Rick, men she’d served with in the Army, had not only solved recent CS cases, they’d found their soulmates in the process. The thought made her antsy. She was genuinely happy for them both and already considered the women they’d chosen as friends, but it seemed so…
Out of reach, she decided on a heavy sigh.
Love was everywhere in Haleswood these past weeks. So much so, she would think there was something in the water, except Rick had been in Virginia when he’d fallen for Nicole.
Something in the jet stream? She clicked away to another window before she could do a search on weather patterns. High pressure systems didn’t carry love viruses and the last thing she needed was one more man in her life.
Aggravated and restless, she pushed back from the desk and turned up the volume on the ever-quiet emergency scanner. Staring out the wide window onto Main Street, she watched people going about their day. Even from here, she could recognize a few of them.
“Any minute now we’ll have ourselves a full blown jay-walking epidemic.”
“That would be chaos.”
She whirled around; irritated all over again that someone could sneak up on her. Maybe Ross was right about her not being ready for something more intense. “Deputy Morris.”
He dipped his chin. “Eva.”Was he laughing at her?
Of all the people in the building, why did Sheriff Cochran always send this man to beg favors? “What do you need?” she managed to close her mouth before adding ‘now’.
“Mrs. Jackson’s computer is locked up.”
“Can’t have that.” She rolled her eyes as she crossed back to her desk to secure her computer. This kind of thing happened often enough she suspected Ross had negotiated her tech skills for a discount on the rent for the office space.
“It would delay our response to a jay-walking emergency.”
Eva laughed. She couldn’t help it. Which only emphasized why she didn’t care for Deputy Morris. His friendliness was sneakier than most in this town. At first glance, he was a quiet, normal guy full of manners she was learning were an expected sort of local chivalry. The thoughtful details like holding a door she considered outdated, but Haleswood residents classified that kind of thing as required. And every so often he’d toss out a zinger or self-deprecating comment that made her smile or laugh. She reminded herself it was nice.Hewas nice.
“Do you do that with everyone?”
He shrugged a shoulder, but as a trained observer, she already knew the answer was no—at least as far as everyone at work. She hadn’t found a good reason to investigate his home life yet.
Yet?
That kind of thinking only proved her overwhelming boredom. Unhappy with herself and her thoughts, she motioned him out of the office and locked up behind them.
“You take security pretty seriously.”
“Habit. It’s been my job for a long time.” And just because she was learning to be friendly within the context of Haleswood and the personnel around the court house didn’t mean she was going stupid. CS clients expected—and received—the utmost discretion.
