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Hallie: Yes, but let’s stay in. Maybe pizza and a movie?
Caden: My place?
Hallie: Sounds good.
Chapter 23
“Where are you with Blake’s case?” Avery stood in the doorway of Caden’s office, a place he’d come to enjoy hovering from lately.
Caden looked up from his computer screen. He’d spent the better part of the afternoon meticulously looking through Ethan’s file trying to see what they’d missed that Jorge was alluding to.
When he didn’t find anything he hadn’t already seen a thousand times before, he shoved the file into his desk drawer and turned his attention to Blake’s case - specifically trying to figure out a way to extricate Hallie’s involvement from it. “We have the shooter in custody, and I’ve ironed out his phony technicality claim, so it won’t be an issue. All the witnesses have been questioned and instructed to remain in the area in case of additional questioning.”
Avery leveled a stare at him. “What about the woman?”
Caden didn’t even try to play dumb. He knew the woman Avery was referring to was Hallie, and the truth of it was, Caden didn’t have an update on her, at least not one he was willing to share with his boss. “She’s not a witness and I don’t believe she had anything to do with the shooting, so I’m inclined -”
“That’s not what I asked you.” Avery pursed his lips and tightened his jawline. “We have her on record, as well as her tip, and her work computer that it came from, along with her search history. There’s no doubt she sent that tip over twenty-four hours before Blake O’Connell was shot. I want to know why and more importantly, how she knew about it before it happened, and why the hell she was researching one of our agents right before he was nearly killed.”
Caden took in a silent deep breath and braced his hands on the edge of his desk in an attempt to hide his frustration with the man in front of him. Caden couldn’t tell Avery about Hallie’s gift and even if he could, he simply didn’t want to. He hadn’t even told Blake or any of his other friends about it yet. Besides, Hallie was so adamant about no one finding out about it, he just couldn’t break her trust like that. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
Avery sighed and Caden was sure the man was about to leave, but he lingered, making the hairs on the back of Caden’s neck rise. What did the guy want? “Was there something else?”
Avery glanced behind him into the empty corridor, then turned back to Caden. “You’re not involved with a person of interest, are you?”
Caden swallowed, considering his answer. He’d asked Avery to reassign her case, then had himself placed back on it with no explanation. He was riding a fine line, and they both knew it. There was the truth and then there was the right answer. Caden decided to go with something in between. “No more than I was the last time we spoke on the matter.” He couldn’t risk lying to his boss about spending time with Hallie since he could easily be followed. But no one except Hallie and his closest friends needed to know his true intentions regarding the woman that had burrowed her way so deeply into his heart he doubted he’d ever be able to extricate himself from her.
“Good. I want something on her soon.” And with that parting shot, Avery finally left. As soon as his footsteps receded down the hall, Caden drew in a breath like the man had been preventing air flow into the room.
Caden picked up a pizza on his way home and was relieved to see Hallie pull up beside him as he parked outside his apartment building. He got out of his car and practically raced to her, needing to touch her, kiss her, feel her next to him. She hadn’t wanted him to spend the night at her place last night after her girls’ night out and he’d missed her. He was sure something happened besides Kenny showing up, but he didn’t want to pry or push her to open up if she didn’t want to.
He just wanted to be there for her, and he hoped she knew he’d always listen whenever she was ready to talk. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her close, before kissing her lips reverently, like a sweet dessert he’d been craving all day. “How was the store?” He knew the glass company was installing new windows at The Mystic Cow, and Hallie had been there all day with them.
“Okay, I guess. The new windows look good.”
There was a melancholy tone to her voice that bothered him. She’d briefly mentioned her shop had been struggling lately, but he hoped once the windows were replaced and Hallie implemented her new marketing ideas that things would improve. He was eager to hear about what she had in mind and if there was anything he could do to help.
“That’s great,” he said, keeping his tone light. He opened his door on the passenger side and took out the pizza box. “Ready for pizza and a movie?” He asked with a slightly teasing undertone. “I got stuffed crust and extra cheese. I hope that’s okay.”
“Perfect. I’m starved.” She smiled, her eyes lighting up, and in that moment, it felt like something settled inside him. Like Avery wasn’t on his back about her and she wasn’t worried about her livelihood. It was silly, but her smile just did that for him.
They walked arm in arm into his freshly cleaned apartment. He’d made sure to do his laundry last night and put all the dirty dishes that had collected in the sink into the dishwasher before leaving this morning. The place was by no means perfect, but at least it wasn’t gross.
He opened the door and let her go in ahead of him. His place could be considered stark as far as decorations were concerned in comparison to her cozy apartment, but he still hoped she liked it. “You have a nice place,” she said with a soft, genuine smile. “Movies are probably awesome on your big flat screen.”
He let out a laugh. “It’s not much larger than yours, but I did splurge on a 4K, so yeah, movies are definitely great.” He placed the pizza box down on his coffee table, making sure to use a few coasters so the heat from the box didn’t ruin the stained wood. “Come on, I’ll give you a quick tour and then we can eat and talk, or watch a movie, or whatever you want.”
“Okay,” she said. She wore jeans and a floral lacy flowing blouse today with a little bow tied at the front. Caden could barely keep from staring at it, wanting so badly to pull on the strings and see just how far it would open for him. He’d told her he wanted to wait and he meant it,but it was so much easier in theory than in practice.
He led her down a short hallway, and opened the first door on the right. “Bathroom,” he said unceremoniously, as he flicked on the light. Then continued to the next open door on the right. “Guest room,” he said and proceeded to the only door on the left, “master.”He looked down at her, as he said the last word and caught a flicker of something cross her eyes, as if they were on the same wavelength. He loved that about her.
“It’s nice,” she finally said. “Do you mind if I use the bathroom and wash my hands first?”
Caden nudged toward the bathroom door. “Of course not. Take your time. What would you like to drink? I have bottled water, soda and orange juice.”
“What kind of soda?” She asked.
“Cherry Coke.”
