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Mark wouldn’t know what hit him when she showed up with the full force of Vanguard behind her.
“Want some lunch?” Jasper glanced around. “You guys could pull up a table.”
Peter started to talk, but she cut him off. “I’m not hungry, and there’s work to do.”
She stepped back. Being here was far too exposing when Liam sat at a booth with a gorgeous and much younger woman. What did Roxie care? His personal life didn’t have anything to do with her, and it never would.
If he’d wanted there to be something between them, then he’d have come and found her. He’d have reached out and asked.
Instead, he’d ghosted her and stayed away.
She took another step back.
Peter held out a hand. “Don’t walk into the table behind us.”
She glanced at him, no clue what expression she had on her face. Something in the domain of crazy skittish. Fortunately, he’d stopped her from getting hurt and making even more of a scene in front of a bunch of people.
Jasper took a sip of what looked like iced tea. “What case are y’all working?”
As far as she could gather, cops didn’t much like private investigators looking into their cases and double-checking their work—finding mistakes. Bob had also explained why a lot of the cops didn’t want to contend with him since he represented all the bad eggs in the department. The fact his daughter was an FBI agent in Benson and married to a PD detective did help, though.
The whole community was a sticky web of loyalty and appreciation.
If she had lunch with these guys, got to know them and became friends, she would get stuck in that web. Destiny was the only exception. The one person who saw through all the walls Roxie put up like it was no big deal to connect that deeply after knowing someone such a short time.
As if God wanted her to have a person in her life that she couldn’t keep anything from.
Maybe it was true. Destiny seemed to think so. She went to church twice a week, so she should know.
Roxie realized Blake sat there studying her. She glanced at Peter and tuned back into what he was telling Jasper about the homeless guy and the string of deaths. Then Peter said, “We were gonna call Liam since it’s connected to his father’s death in the line of duty.”
Blake straightened. Jasper immediately shook his head. “Don’t talk to him about that.” He spread both hands and waved, flat palms and fingers straight. “No go.”
Right. That made sense. “I was there when his mom called to tell him what happened.”
All three guys turned to look at her.
Ack.“So, I can imagine it’s still a painful subject.”
They’d ended up in a hug on the floor of the common room. He’d been crying, holding on to her so tight she could barely breathe. They’d sat like that awhile until the squad hauled them both up so they could hug him as well. Get him squared away and back to the US so he could take care of his family.
The skin around Jasper’s eyes flexed.
“And I should get a to-go order and get back to work.” She made a beeline to the end of the bar, which Destiny wasn’t allowed behind because she wasn’t twenty-one and couldn’t serve alcohol. Her roommate exited the kitchen and met her there.
A handsome man in a Backdraft T-shirt with similar coloring to Liam wandered by. In fact, there were more physical similarities than that.
“Liam’s brother, Conrad,” Destiny offered. “He and Rory, the other brother, are—what’s it called? Irish twins. They were in the same grade, but they’re ten months apart in age. Rory runs another Backdraft Bar and Grill in Alaska.”
Not that Roxie had asked.
“And that woman Liam is eating with? She’s the sister of a confidential informant of his that was killed. He met them both when they were in high school. Arrested their brother for drug dealing, so they went to foster care, and he kept an eye on them. The whole thing is real tragic.”
Roxie nodded.
“But you don’t need to worry about her. She’s not competition.” Destiny squeezed her arm.
Roxie frowned. “I’m not worried.”
