Chapter 5 #2
Nerd alert.
I giggled at the emoji with glasses she’s included.
Gale:
I have no idea what half of that stuff is, but I’m happy for you.
Anna:
Are you allowed to just steal all this stuff from the beach on a regular basis?
Hazel:
It’s not stealing if it’s for research!
Anna:
Famous last words.
Me:
Speaking of stealing…
I had been avoiding telling my sisters about the skull because I didn’t want them to panic.
Mostly, my sisters had big mouths and I didn’t want them to tell Mom and Auntie and have them panic.
And they would. But knowing that my face had been blasted on the local news, it was very possible word would somehow get back to them anyway.
Mostly Cora, since she often heard what went on at Lake Echo for her job.
Plus, Anna worked in TV news, and while she worked in Georgia, I was pretty sure a dead body in a lake still made for an interesting headline in other states.
Especially one that had been a cold case for so long.
Time to rip off the Band-Aid.
Me:
So…I may or may not have accidentally tripped over a skull in Lake Echo, opening up a statewide investigation, which prompted some weirdo to write a letter to our office asking me if I would show him where the skull was located and help re-enact the crime scene.
Oh, and steal some of the evidence for his crime podcast. NBD.
Cora:
Iris! What the hell?
Hazel:
When did this happen?
Before I could respond, my phone was vibrating.
“Hello, dear sister. What’s new?” I teased as I answered the phone, even though I knew exactly why Anna was calling me.
“Cut the crap, Sissy. What happened?” Anna barked into the phone, her voice only soft when she used my nickname. “Give me all the details. Don’t leave anything out.”
That was Anna. She had the investigative reporter slash cop brain always working. But I knew she would keep pestering until she had the answers, especially since her husband was a former Las Vegas cop and now private investigator. So rather than fight it, I gave in and told her everything.
Then, I spent the next twenty minutes talking her down from flying out to see me ASAP.
The phone at my desk rang, displaying an internal call from the front desk.
“Hey, Dorothy,” I answered.
“Iris, you’ve got someone here to pick up a letter, he says,” Dorothy explained. “He’s not much of a talker, but he’s very handsome, so even if you don’t know who he is, I’m still inclined to let him stay up here for a little bit so I can just look at him. Oh, and he brought a friend, too!”
I chuckled at Dorothy’s assessment of whichever fellow agents that Agent Andrews had sent. Dorothy was in her sixties and didn’t take crap from anyone. She was also very organized and loved to bake and use us as her guinea pigs, which we loved.
“It’s okay,” I told her. “I knew someone was coming. I can come up there to your office.”
“Oh no,” she interrupted quickly. “I’ll bring them back to you. Maybe give them a tour along the way.”
I laughed some more, knowing this would likely be the highlight of her day.
I turned to let everyone else in the room know that some ISB agents would be coming in here anywhere from thirty seconds from now to thirty minutes from now, depending on how long Dorothy took to bring them back. Leah and Calvin chuckled when I explained why.
Dorothy definitely took her time, because it was nearly ten minutes later before I heard her voice coming from down the hallway.
“And this is where our meteorologists work at saving lives,” she said excitedly.
I turned to greet whichever ISB agent had been sent—only to freeze.
“Hector?” My voice squeaked like I’d inhaled helium.
Smooth. Real smooth.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
For reasons unknown to science, this man short-circuited my brain’s ability to behave like a normal functioning adult.
“This is Hector?” Calvin chimed in. “As in, the park ranger from Lake Echo, Hector?”
He said it innocently enough, but I knew that tone. He was fishing, and he smelled blood. This was about to get humiliating.
“Yes,” Hector responded to Calvin and then turned to Dorothy. “Thank you, Ms. Hollingsworth.”
“Oh, please, call me Dorothy,” she gushed, flapping her hand at him.
The woman was blushing. Blushing. She read some of the spiciest romance novels I’d ever seen, and this was making her blush?
“I’ll be back at my desk if you gentlemen need anything,” she told him.
That was when I noticed the other person who had been standing behind Dorothy. I recognized him from the lake.
“Hector, I’m Calvin, Iris’s best friend.” He stepped up to offer his hand for a shake, but I also saw his eyes gleaming at the fact that he knew who this man was.
Leah gasped so hard I thought that she might pass out. “Ummm, excuse me, no. That would be Christine and me,” she disputed, whipping her head to face Hector. “Hi. I’m Leah. One of the lead meteorologists on staff here and one of Iris’s real best friends.”
Hector’s lip twitched, which for him I assumed was the equivalent of rolling on the floor laughing. At this very moment, though, I wished he were more like me—a totally readable face so I knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hector, and this is Jordan Jennings, one of our other rangers,” Hector said politely to Leah and then turned to me. “Agent Andrews called. All her agents were tied up, but she said that you had a piece of evidence she needed collected right away.”
Well, that explained it. Half of me was thrilled he was here because he made me all giddy inside. On the other hand, he clearly didn’t like me, so I wasn’t sure I liked having him here, making things more awkward.
“Oh, umm…yeah,” I stuttered. “Here’s the…uh...letter thing.”
Brilliant. Truly poetic delivery, Iris. You won’t be winning any Oscars for that performance.
I practically shoved the letter at him as he held open a large plastic zippered bag for me to put it in, and then he sealed it up.
“I’d rather not get even more fingerprints on it, but do you mind telling me what was written?” Hector asked me while looking down at the envelope and letter inside the bag.
I filled him in on everything the letter had said, noticing his jaw tighten slightly—but otherwise, there was zero reaction. The man was practically a vault.
“Seriously?” Jennings said, shock written all over his face. “He literally asked you to steal evidence?”
“Personally, I think it’s weirder that he asked her to re-enact the crime scene,” Calvin chimed in.
“Do you guys have security cameras or night guards in case this guy shows up?” Jennings asked, then mumbled under his breath. “This dude seems unhinged.”
I hadn’t thought about that.
“Do you think he would?” Leah asked, eyes wide.
“It’s not likely,” Hector said calmly, his gaze directed at Jennings as if to tell him to tone it down. “The letter was stamped in Utah. Not the same state, but also not that far.”
I hadn’t even noticed the stamp.
“Do you happen to offer bodyguard services?” Calvin interrupted.
I glared at him, hoping to signal him to shut up.
Clearly unfazed, he just kept going. “Or maybe friends who are bodyguards? I mean, any one of us will gladly walk out to the car with Iris, but we don’t exactly look as intimidating as you.”
Liar. He just wanted a handsome guy to stare at while he worked.
“I know a couple of guys I used to work with at LVPD who do private security,” Hector replied, eyes still pinned on me. It was so intense that it felt as if he were boring a hole straight through me. Or maybe he was just wondering why I was such a disaster.
“Thank you so much,” Leah said to him. “And also, thank you so much for helping Iris at the lake. She couldn’t stop raving about you and how wonderful it was to have your help.”
What. The. Hell? That was definitely not how I worded it at all. Unless “he grunted at me a lot and glared daggers at me” somehow translated into “he was so wonderful” in Leah’s brain.
“Yes, you should let her take you out to lunch as a thank-you,” Calvin added.
Seriously? I was surrounded by traitors.
“We have security cameras scattered all around the building,” I cut in, desperate to change the subject. “It’s required since we’re a federal building.”
“Why don’t we take a look at where they are to see if there are any blind spots,” Hector offered.
I opened my mouth to pawn him off on Dorothy, but then—
“Iris will show you!” Leah and Calvin shouted at the same time.
“Jinx,” Calvin said with a smirk.
Great. Beavis and Butthead were now taking the matchmaking to another level.
“It’s a great idea,” Jennings added.
“Yes, I’ll take you. Let’s go,” I practically shouted, trying to grab Hector’s elbow and steer him quickly out of the room before my friends said anything else embarrassing.
The instant my fingers brushed his skin, a warm tingle shot up my arm. I also noticed he smelled like spearmint and mountain air—a combination I found that I loved.
“Nice to meet you both,” I heard Hector say behind me as I continued to walk forward, hoping he would take the hint to quickly follow.
“Nice meeting you too. Don’t forget to take Iris up on that lunch date!” Leah yelled, with Calvin snorting.
God, they were the worst.
I knew they were just trying to help, in their own weird way, but it was actually making it way worse. Oh, and about a thousand percent more embarrassing.
His stride was much longer than mine, so he caught up to me rather quickly. I seized the opportunity to apologize without having to look him in the eye, nor would he have to see my face—which was likely bright red.
“I’m sorry for them. They mean well, but they’re…a lot. I do appreciate everything you did for me that date…I mean day…but you don’t need to feel obligated about a lunch date.”
Oh my God. Why couldn’t I stop saying date?
“They care about you,” he replied. Neutral and noncommittal about lunch.
“Leaving so soon?” Dorothy said as we entered back into the front lobby area. “I have cookies and coffee.”
“They want to see some of our security cameras,” I told her.
“I wouldn’t turn down a cookie,” Jennings said.
“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea,” she replied. “Iris, why don’t you take Chief Madeira, and I’ll get this handsome man some cookies and coffee while you two are scoping out the cameras.”
Before I could even add my opinion to the matter, both gentlemen chimed in.
“That sounds good,” Jennings replied.
“That’s fine,” Hector said.
I turned to walk out the front door, hoping Hector followed.
Then, finally, we escaped. Free and clear of matchmakers, meddlers, and embarrassing coworkers. Now, I just hoped I didn’t humiliate myself. Again.