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“What do we have here?” Scotty had moved on to searching through the dresser drawers—and he pulled a manila folder out from beneath some lacy lingerie. “Hello there.”
“I’ll take that.” Hayley snatched the file from his hand and hurried over to the bed before he could protest. “Maybe this will tell me where she is.”
“Or maybe“—he reached over her shoulder and snatched it back—“it will tellmewhat really happened to my friend.”
“Give that back,” she demanded, trying to grab it from him, but he easily held it out of her reach.
“Make me.”
She wanted to kick him in the nuts. She wanted to tell him off up one side and down the other. She wanted to nibble on those firm lips until he was as turned on as she was.
Dammit.
Hayley clenched her jaw and went over to search through the rest of the dresser while he took a seat on the bed.Screw him and that file. It’s probably nothing important anyway.Nothing worth anything would just be lying around like that. From everything she’d seen, Natalie Matthews was too intelligent to make a mistake like that. Especially with her past...
“Dammit.” Scotty’s harsh curse echoed in the quiet space.
“What?” She looked over her shoulder, a wad of undies in her fist. “What’s in there?”
“You’re not going to like this.”
“I already don’t like this.” She dropped the clothes in her hand and swiveled to face him, sliding the drawer shut with her back, then waggling her fingers. “Let me see.”
His face looked ashen beneath his golden tan. “I don’t think—”
Whatever was in the file couldn’t bethatbad. “Give it here.” Impatient, she yanked it from his hand and stared at the receipt inside.
ROSELAWN CEMETERY. PLOT NUMBER 157. PAID IN FULL.
Hayley frowned. Okay. Natalie’s husband had died not long ago. It stood to reason that she would have had to buy a cemetery plot. But then she flipped to the newspaper clipping beneath and stared in shock at the headline.
SEAL’S WIFE FOUND DEAD IN HOME.
There’d been no reports of Natalie’s death in the Bureau’s files. The clipping was from two weeks ago—more than enough time for those records to have been updated. So what on earth was going on? Was Natalie really dead, or was this some kind of misunderstanding? Or maybe even a deliberate hoax?
And either way, who had put this file in the drawer? It couldn’t have been Natalie—not when it had clearly been placed here long after she was gone. Which meant someone else had planted it there. Hayley slumped down onto the edge of the bed beside Scotty and checked her watch. She was due back in the office in a few hours. She’d thought this would be a quick in and out, grab whatever electronics she could find and go. Instead, she had no digital files and a ton more questions. This had been her one shot, her one chance at making a name for herself.
Scotty apparently took her reaction as grief, because he put his arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side. “I can’t believe she’s gone too,” he said, his tone cracking a bit.
Wait, was heactuallya friend of Natalie’s? He seemed genuinely upset. It made her lean in a little closer to him, feeling the need to provide what comfort she could…but that was a mistake.
His scent—spice and sandalwood and clean, warm male—begged Hayley to close her eyes and savor his strength while she could. It had been so long, too long since anyone had held her like this. His warm, minty breath stirred the hair near her temple, and her pulse kicked up a notch. “We should, um, probably visit the grave site,” he said.
Hayley’s analytical brain slammed the brakes on her libido. Visiting that cemetery without gathering all the intel first would be a colossal mistake. “No. We should wait until we have all the facts.”
“Oh, damn.” He shook his head in mock disgust. “You’re one of those details gals, huh?” He straightened and stared down at her. “Details take too long.”
“Not with me they won’t.”
Scotty wrinkled his nose. “Why is that?”
“Because I graduated top of my class at Quantico in both cybersecurity and emerging malware threats.” The words spilled out before her brain kicked in. She’d meant to be discreet and act like a concerned family member with no other motive for looking into Natalie’s disappearance. But something about this man challenged her in a way she wasn’t used to. It made her want to push back, show him how smart and capable she was in turn. Dammit, she wanted toimpresshim, and wasn’t that a ridiculous idea? She didn’t know a thing about him, didn’t know why she felt so sure she could trust him. Revealing too much could be disastrous…and yet now that she’d started to tell him the truth of herself, she couldn’t bring herself to stop. “I’m one of the world’s leading experts in emerging tech viruses, and there isn’t an encryption in existence that I can’t crack. Any other questions?”
She crossed her arms, expecting the same reaction she’d always gotten from her ex. He’d always wanted her to bury her intelligence beneath layers of makeup and short skirts and push-up bras.
“FBI, huh?” Scotty’s gaze narrowed and a slow smile spread across his face. “I’m impressed, Red. So, instead of Superman, you’re like Superhacker?”
Adorable.That was the first word that sprang to her mind.Dangerouswas the second. She’d have to watch herself around him if she intended to find what she needed and still keep her cool. Hayley pushed out of his arms and headed toward the door, winking at him over her shoulder. “Something like that.”
