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Okay, now she was making him mad. “You have yourself, Harper. Your beauty, inside and out. Your sweet kindness. And don’t sit there and pretend you don’t feel anything for me.” He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’ve kissed you. Twice.”
Her gaze landed on his mouth. He smiled and leaned forward, capturing her lips with his. She melted against him, and he gathered her as close as he could in their awkward position.
“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat loudly from the doorway. Inwardly railing at the rotten timing, he lifted his head to scowl at Rhy.
“Go away.”
“We have the vase.” Rhy, of course, ignored him. Joe stepped over the threshold behind him, carrying the large blue vase. “We thought you’d want to be a part of finding out what’s inside.”
He did, but they could have given him another five minutes. Or ten. Or twenty.
With a sigh, he rose to his feet. “Of course, I want to find out what is inside.”
“Me too,” Harper chimed in.
“To be fair, we haven’t found anything yet,” Joe said, setting it on the table. “Our arms aren’t skinny enough to reach the bottom. Rather than smash it into pieces we thought you might want to try, Harper.”
She rose and stuck her hand into the vase. “The bottom feels smooth. I’m worried that whatever is down there has been ruined by water.”
“Check along the edges,” Steele said. “It’s a vase. Starkey may have wrapped something in plastic beneath it.”
“Hang on.” She twisted her arm one way, then another. “I think I have it.” She slowly pulled her hand from the vase, holding what appeared to be a false bottom.
“Is there something else in there?” Rhy asked.
“Yes, but I needed to get this out of the way.” Harper slid her arm back into the vase and brought out a small plastic bag. “Look! There’s a small USB drive inside.”
“Joe, grab the computer from the SUV.” Rhy grinned. “Good work, Harper.”
Steele wrapped his arm around Harper’s waist. Rhy arched a brow but didn’t say anything. When Joe returned with the computer, they inserted the drive and opened the file.
“Jackpot,” Rhy said with satisfaction. “Dates, names, amounts of money that exchanged hands. And we even have information here on the contacts in Detroit and Chicago.”
“By the way, Banner admitted to killing Waylon Brooks,” he said.
“That would explain why we haven’t found him yet. And that’s why the FBI is taking over the investigation,” Rhy said. “The ATF is tainted by Banner’s involvement. I’m sure the FBI offices in both Detroit and Chicago will dig into the gunrunning on their turf.”
Steele nodded. It was the absolute best outcome they could have asked for. Short of getting everyone arrested in one fell swoop. He tapped the screen. “I don’t see Perkins listed in here.”
“No, but I won’t release him from custody until we dig further.” A shadow crossed Rhy’s features. “I feel terrible about all this. Flynn shouldn’t have revealed the location of the safe house, much less the code to get in. He feels awful about the role he inadvertently played. He offered to resign from the team.”
“It’s not his fault.” Steele frowned. “Don’t let him resign. He’s a good cop. I’m sure his view of Banner was tainted because the guy saved his life.”
“Flynn owns that too. And it’s a tough lesson for all of us. I hope to convince Flynn to stay.” Rhy gestured to the laptop. “We have enough evidence here that I’m not so sure we need Feldman’s testimony.”
“The feds made a deal, though,” Steele pointed out. “I doubt they can back out of it.”
“That depends. We now know Banner is dirty. Maybe his involvement in all of this will negate part of the deal. And there’s always the possibility Feldman was holding back on us. That could make the deal null and void too.” Rhy removed the USB drive and closed the laptop. “Either way, we’ll make sure Feldman doesn’t cause any trouble for Harper.”
“Thank you.” Harper smiled. “I appreciate that.”
Rhy and Joe turned away. Harper was about to follow, but he caught her hand in his. “Harper? Will you at least consider coming to my place for a few days?”
She turned to face him. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.” He hesitated, then drew her into his arms. “Give me a chance to prove how much I love you.”
“Oh, Steele.” She shook her head, but a smile kicked up the corner of her mouth. “I’ve made bad decisions in the past. I’m worried that you’ll regret this, and I’ll end up hurt.”
