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TWENTY-SEVEN
“WE SHOULD HEADinto the office,” Deckard said to Harper. “Run the case with Greyson.”
“Sure, but who’s Greyson?”
“He’s our Alfred,” Deckard said. “And our Lucius.”
A smile curled on Harper’s lips. “So runs everything to support you guys and is brilliant?”
“Yeah,” he said, surprised and impressed she’d gotten the Batman reference. But it still wasn’t enough to describe the pivotal role Greyson played daily. The man had taken him under his wing when he was a young kid in Tucson, trained him to be a PI, then sold the company to him after moving it to Santa Fe, but thankfully remained on to help in a supporting role. It was odd and awkward having him in that role, but that’s the life Greyson wanted. Said he’d been in the field too long; he was getting jaded. He wanted to work on the backend, and, of course, he did an amazing job of it. They would struggle to function without him and his expertise that ranged from knowledge of exquisite wines to being able to recall case details at a moment’s notice. Something called hyperthymesia, he’d explained. So rare less than one hundred people in the world had it, but it made Greyson’s gift nearly unmatchable.
“Shall we go?” Harper asked, standing.
“Just a sec.” He looked at Christian and Andi sitting leg-to-leg cozy on the love seat. “I’d like an update on their case.”
Christian looked at Deckard and then to Andi. “Where to begin?”
“Starting at the top usually helps,” Deckard offered, sitting back and linking his fingers on his lap. He wanted a better read on the two. If they were beginning to exist as atwo. Would they finish each other’s sentences, pick up on each other’s cues?
“All right,” Andi said. “So we started at Tad’s Jeopardy Falls gallery....”
A half hour later, Andi and Christian wrapped up.
Deckard sat forward. “Sounds like Tad might be involved,” he said, having learned the fact and gained confirmation that his brother and Andi were working very in sync with each other. Until he finished investigating her claim, he feared for his brother. He didn’t fall easy, normally, but the way Christian looked at Andi ... it concerned him.
“That’s what we’re thinking,” Christian said, pulling him back to the conversation, “but surprisingly, he didn’t crack.”
Deckard dipped his chin, intertwining his fingers together. “Maybe you have to push harder.”
Christian exhaled. “You’re probably right.”
“Or...” Deckard said, looking at Andi. “You could outsmart him.” She had that in her. Hopefully only for good, but it was there all the same.
“I’ve been thinking of ways to do that,” she said, then looked at Christian. “We’vebeen thinking.”
There was another use of the wordwewith the deepened inflection in her voice. “Any other suspects stand out?” he asked.
“Tad’s ex, Veronica, and Brad Melling. Either could want revenge. Veronica for him cheating on her. A woman scorned and all that,” Christian said.
“And this Brad guy?” Harper asked.
“His ex-business partner,” Riley said, speaking for the first time in the last hour. She’d just sat back and taken it all in. She liked to observe. It was her gift. That and her ability to find anyone anywhere. Or help someone get lost—particularly abused women, but she’d also worked with eyewitnesses to crimes who weren’t put inWITSEC for one reason or another. Thus far, all she’d hidden had remained safely so.
“Oh,” Harper said, crossing her legs.
“After we get some shut-eye,” Christian said, indicating himself and Andi, “we plan on starting our interviews.”
“You think they’ll hit again?” Deckard asked, fearing he already knew the answer.
Christian stretched out his legs and rested his arm on the side of the outdoor sofa. “Unfortunately, my gut says this is far from over.”
“Agreed,” Andi said.
“They’re very brash to pull off multiple heists,” he said, intentionally not looking at Christian. His comment wasn’t about Christian or his past. It was simply about the thieves they were after.
“It’s not easily done,” Christian said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his thighs. “They’re really good, whoever they are.”
“Catchable?” Deckard asked as Christian’s cell rang.
