AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Once again, they were stuck in a holding position, and he hated it. But there was no sense driving randomly up and down the coast until they had at least some confidence in where they were headed.If they chose the wrong yacht, they could be hours away from the right one. Over seven hundred miles stretched between San Diego and Rosewood. They had to hold firm until they figured out the target, and then they’d have to pray they made it in time.
The hall exited into a wide room with rows of white chairs lined up to face a stage with a podium. His gaze fixed on the wooden door with crime-scene tape across it, then to a distraught woman who stood talking with a man. Definitely FBI.
“We should talk with her.” He inclined his head. “When she’s done with the agent.”
“That won’t be happening,” a man behind him said.
A man whose voice he knew all too well. He closed his eyes on a breath, then turned to face his past. “Agent Hopkins,” he said.
“Christian O’Brady,” Hopkins said, looking past his shoulder at Andi. “And who is this?”
“Andi Forester,” she said, fishing a card from her bag and handing it to Hopkins.
“An insurance investigator.” His black brows arched. “We’ve already worked with one. He left maybe twenty minutes ago.”
“My company doesn’t insure Christie’s.”
He handed her card back to her. “Then what are you doing here?” He looked between the two of them and laughed. “I see. You’ve hooked up with an insurance investigator. All part of the con, O’Brady?”
His jaw tensed. “I’m not pulling a con.” And he wasn’t “hooking up.”
“So I suppose you had nothing to do with this.” Hopkins indicated the area with the crime-scene tape with a sweep of his arm.
“I told you, that’s not me anymore.”
“In my experience, people don’t change, which is why I wasn’t surprised to find this here.” Hopkins pulled an evidence bag from his jacket pocket with a cream envelope like all the rest. This one with his name scrolled across. “Looks like your partner left you a message.”
“He’s not my partner, and I’m not involved.”
“Then what are you doing here, and why was this”—he wagged the envelope—“left for you?”
“I’m working the case.”
Hopkins chuckled, hard. “Ah, that’s rich. Working the heist investigation.” After a moment, he stilled. “Oh, you’re serious.”
“Yes. I’m a PI.” He showed his badge. “Miss Forester and I have been investigating the robberies from the start—in New Mexico. That’s why we’re here.”
“Sure you are.”
Christian took a steadying breath and prayed for composure. “Can we see what’s in the envelope?”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary.” Hopkins slid it back into his pocket.
“He’s been leaving us clues,” Andi said. “We need to see the next one.”
“So you’re saying your partner is leaving you breadcrumbs?” Hopkins rocked back on his heels.
Christian pumped his hands in and out of fists, then shook his fingers out. He would not lose his temper, no matter how obtuse Agent Hopkins chose to be.
“So far he has been,” Andi said.
“If you call Sheriff Brunswick of the Jeopardy Falls, New Mexico, sheriff’s department, he can vouch for us on this.”
“I’ll do just that. You two take a seat while I make the call.” Hopkins gestured to the rows of chairs already set up for the auction that was to take place tonight.
Ten minutes later, he returned. “All right. I’ll read the note to you, and you let me know where we”—he indicated his teammates with a sweep of his hand—“need to go next.”
“It’s not always about a place,” Christian said. “Sometimes it’s a more general message.”
