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“Five-nine, five-ten at the most, a hundred sixty, maybe a hundred seventy pounds. Why?”
Callahan smiled coldly. “Steve Tressler was a big teddy bear of a guy—six-two, easily two hundred pounds. No way Danvers could have roughed him up on his own. If Danvers is the one who shot him, he wasn’t alone. He had help.”
“Let’s make sure,” Cody said. “Want to take a ride?”
“You read my mind.” Callahan dug his hand into his pocket for keys.
Cody turned to Keira and McKinnon. “While we check it out, why don’t you see if you can uncover anything on Ted Danvers? And while you’re at it, call the agency, bring Baker Street up to speed, set things in motion.” He knew he didn’t need to be more specific.
* * *
Keira started digging even before Cody and Callahan left. She heard Trace on the phone with D’Arcy, but she wasn’t really listening. She dragged her laptop out of the spare bedroom, hooked it up to the internet connection and accessed the agency’s secure website via its virtual private network.
She blocked Trace’s voice out as she concentrated on her assignment—learn everything she could about Ted Danvers before Cody returned. “It’s too bad I can’t access the FBI’s files from here,” she muttered to herself, but she didn’t waste any time bemoaning that fact.
Fifteen minutes later she realized Trace was standing next to her, looking over her shoulder. She glanced up and saw he had two plates in his hands, one with a single sandwich and the other with two. He tried to hand her the single sandwich plate. “Eat,” he said.
Her fingers kept flying over the keyboard, and her eyes returned to the monitor. “Not hungry.”
He put the plate down on the keyboard, forcing her to stop. “You always say that,” he said. “But we didn’t have breakfast, and one cup of coffee won’t cut it.” He wolfed down half a sandwich in two bites, and Keira grinned up at him before taking a bite of her sandwich.
“Mmm, ham and cheese,” she mumbled, realizing suddenly that she was hungry after all. “Thanks.”
“What are partners for?” Trace said as he sat on the sofa. They ate in silence for a minute, then Trace said, “So, are you going to tell me? Or leave me to guess?”
“Tell you what?” She gave him an innocent look she knew didn’t fool him.
“Walker was the one who rescued you before, right?”
Keira thought about it, then realized there was no reason not to tell him, and nodded.
A muscle twitched in Trace’s jaw, but all he said was, “I’m glad he was there. I would have hated losing the best partner I ever had.”
Keira felt a lump in her throat and a prickling at the back of her eyes. She waited until both subsided before saying, “I’ve only had one partner, so saying you’re the best partner I ever had doesn’t say much.” She blinked rapidly as the prickling at the back of her eyes returned. “But I hope you know how I feel about you—I couldn’t have had a better partner...or teacher. I owe you a lot, more than I can ever tell you.”
“Thanks.” He polished off the last of his sandwiches, then took her empty plate with his into the kitchen. He came back with a couple of freshly washed apples and handed one to her. “So, are you in love with him?”
“What?” she gasped.
Trace’s teeth bit into his apple with a crunching sound. “You heard me,” he said. “So, are you in love with Walker?”
Keira looked at her apple, then at Trace. “Yes,” she said in a breath of a whisper.
“Well that’s good, since the poor guy is hopelessly in love with you.”
“How do you know that?”
Trace chuckled. “I’ve got eyes in my head. I don’t need any special training to see it, either. He tries to hide it, just as you do, but...”
“Does everyone know?” she asked in dismay.
“Callahan knows, if that’s who you mean. And Baker Street. I’ve known Nick D’Arcy a long time, and I’m sure he knows. But if you’re worried about office gossip, forget it. Only people who know the two of you, who have seen you together, would ever figure it out.” He finished the apple, then contemplated the apple core and asked casually, “So, are you sleeping with him?”
