15. Antonio
Chapter 15
Antonio
G etting to the office early wasn’t something I did regularly, mostly because I didn’t want Tyson to start to expect it, but today I wanted to get a jump start on some paperwork so I could make it to Elka’s as close to six as possible. The last thing I needed was to piss her off again, especially after that kiss. It was hot, sexy as hell, and thinking about the way she came apart so easily was enough to have me hard under my desk. Even thinking about the way she smacked my face and immediately apologized had me smiling. Elka was a walking contradiction, one I was determined to figure out.
Starting tonight.
Ty knocked on the door and when I looked at him, his expression was serious. “Come with me.”
I cocked a brow. “Not another moving trip, is it?”
“Nope,” he answered and turned on his heel, giving me no choice but to follow.
Which I did. Inside his office sat a man who was at least fifty years old with salt-and-pepper hair that hadn’t seen a comb in at least a week. He wore faded blue jeans, a plain black T- shirt with a navy-blue blazer on top, all of it cheap except his expensive, designer shoes. The shoes gave him away as a private investigator. They all had a certain stink about them, which, unlike most in my field, I didn’t mind all that much. PIs were a good resource to have because they could go places we couldn’t and because they weren’t bound by the same constraints as traditional law enforcement. “What’s going on?”
The man stood, wearing a greasy smile that instantly put me on edge. “Reece Wilson, private detective.”
“Deputy Vargas. What do you need?”
“Information.” He smiled again and shoved his hands into his pocket in an effort to appear unassuming. Non-threatening. “I was hired by the Nyland family after their daughter disappeared. She just up and left,” he said and snapped his fingers for emphasis. “Her brother died and a couple months later, she split. I have reason to believe she’s here.”
My gut clenched at his words because I knew Elka was hiding something, but so far, he’d given no real information other than an adult chose to leave and didn’t tell anyone where she was going. It was odd and maybe callous, but not illegal. “No one in town by that name, I’m afraid.” I didn’t bother looking at Ty because I knew his face would show shock that I was protecting Elka.
“I know she’s here, deputy. This little town has fallen for her act and it seems you have too.” The guy was so damn smarmy it took everything I had not to punch him in the fucking face. “I came here as a courtesy to law enforcement, but I can keep snooping around on my own, find out about that life insurance claim she cashed in.” His words were meant to scare us into giving him information he wasn’t privy to and the bastard knew it. Probably thought he was dealing with a bunch of small-town hicks.
“Do what you have to, just remember that this is Texas. We shoot trespassers and ask for ID later.”
“Suit yourself.” He shrugged like it didn’t matter, but we both knew it did. He wouldn’t have come to the sheriff’s department if he’d been able to get the info on his own, but Tulip protected their own, and they had already adopted Elka.
After Reece left, I could feel the weight of Ty’s stare. “What?”
“Why did you cover for her? This guy gave you the opportunity you’ve been looking for and you blew it.”
He was right and I couldn’t explain it. “Hell if I know. Something about that guy rubs me the wrong way.” But I couldn’t deny that his words only enhanced my doubts about Elka. What kind of woman just up and left her parents after they’d already lost one child?
“Bullshit,” Ty said. “What’s the deal with you and Elka? I’m not judging, and I won’t give you any shit. I just want the truth.”
“There is no deal , Ty. I don’t trust her, haven’t since I spotted her on the side of the road when she blew into town.” I knew it sounded irrational, but it was the truth. “Think about it: she’s too young to move to a small town for no reason unless she’s hiding. She works for herself but somehow has money to rent that cottage. It doesn’t make sense.” And until it did, I knew I needed to keep my distance.
“Bullshit,” he said again. “There are all kinds of reasons she could have left that aren’t bad. Maybe she was escaping an abusive relationship or maybe she only stuck around her parents because of her brother. Maybe it was too painful to stick around after he was gone.” He raked a hand through his hair and blew out a breath, leveling me with a sympathetic look. “I know I didn’t do big-city homicide like you did, Antonio, but I’m good at reading people and Elka is good people. She’s kind and she’s sweet, and yeah, a little on the hippy-dippy side for Texas, but I like her.”
That was exactly the problem. I liked her too. Everyone did. Because that’s how good manipulators were. They snowed you so completely that it was difficult to tell up from down. “I still want to run background on her. That guy just gave us probably cause.” It was a weak excuse but one that would be overlooked if something came up.
Ty shrugged and took a seat behind his desk. “If that’s what you want, go ahead. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Me too,” I told him honestly and made my way back to my own shoebox office. Nothing about the PI’s story felt right, but like Ty said, his story gave me the excuse I needed to find out more about Elka.
An hour later, I had everything that was publicly available on Elka Louise Nyland, including the two years she’d attempted to go to college only to never attend any classes, as well and the five-million-dollar life insurance policy she’d cashed in before leaving her family in the dust.
Women. They were all the same.