Chapter 8 #2
“Oh.” She glanced down at the list again. “It doesn’t say Tim Junior, so we’ll go with father, but keep the son as a possibility.” No one seemed to object to that, so she continued. “Does either strike you as especially murderous?”
“No.” When he thought, the space between his eyebrows wrinkled in a slightly different way than when he was straight scowling.
Charlie forced her gaze off of Kieran’s adorable face wrinkles and back onto the list. She was starting to worry that she was getting a bit obsessive about Kiki…
possibly even ranging over the border into creepy stalkerhood.
She needed to focus on the case, especially since Kieran was still talking.
“They’re both a bit strange, but that’s not unusual out here.
My gut says they’re harmless, but don’t take them off the list.”
“Okay. Terry Buck.”
“A bit too dumb and lazy to commit murder and get away with it. Besides, I think he was pretty tight with Cobra before…” He waved a hand instead of finishing the sentence.
“Before Cobra got his head bashed in?”
“Yeah.”
“Archie Innis.”
“Too drunk.”
“But we don’t know when Cobra was killed,” Fifi protested. “No one’s drunk constantly.”
“Archie is,” Kieran said. “He’s the Liverton Riders’ lawyer—or he used to be.”
“Daryl Alexander.”
“Can’t see it. Kid’s a follower and scared of his own shadow.”
“Maybe if Clint gave him orders from jail?”
“Maybe.” Kieran’s tone was skeptical though.
“Saul DuBois.”
“Hmm.”
Charlie perked up when he didn’t completely shoot down the possibility like he had with the others on the list.
“I can see it. Saul has a mean streak, and he and Clint have always been tight.”
“I’ll put a star by his name.” Glancing at her occupied right hand, Charlie quickly amended that. “I’ll put a mental star by his name. This mac and cheese is amazing, and I’m not going to put this fork down until it’s gone.”
“Doubt he’ll talk to any of us,” Kieran warned. “DuBois is angry and suspicious, especially of women.”
“Where’s he live?” Bennett asked, pushing his empty plate aside.
“West of town—wait.” Kieran got that thinking furrow between his eyebrows again, and Charlie very carefully did not look at it.
Looking at the man just encouraged the obsession, and she was already fixated enough on him as it was.
“He and his wife are separated, so last I heard he’s staying at the compound. ”
“The militia compound?” An idea was forming in Charlie’s brain. A very fun idea.
“Yeah.” His glance was wary, so he must’ve caught the glee in her voice.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if the compound walls had ears…and eyes?”
Kieran’s gaze grew flinty in a way she hadn’t seen since the first time she’d met him at the coffee shop—truly hard, not just a thin, candy shell of pretend hardness over a warm and gooey center, which is how he usually looked at her now. “My dad won’t tell us anything. Besides, he’s locked up.”
Ohhh. The flinty eyes made sense now. “Not your dad, but thanks for offering him up.” She gave his knee a pat, relieved when the hardness softened with bewilderment.
Seeing him truly shut down made her realize how much she liked those glimpses into his soft, squishy middle.
“No, I was talking about our eyes and ears.”
Fifi smiled huge. “It’s time, isn’t it?”
Charlie loved her sister all the time, but right now she felt an extra zip of fondness as she grinned back at her. “Yep. It’s time for me to do a little breaking and entering.”
“You?” Fifi’s smile disappeared. “If anyone gets to invade the compound, it’s me. Bennett and I staked out the place for days.”
“You found a body,” Charlie scoffed. “Don’t act like it was all stake-out boringness.”
“Finding a body is not a good time.”
“No, but it’s an interesting time, which means I should get to sneak into the compound.”
“We should,” Kieran interjected.
Charlie looked over at him. “Like…all four of us? That might be a little noticeable, don’t you think?”
She could almost see him fight an eye roll. “Not all four of us. Two would be best.” His gaze moved to Bennett. “You up for it, Green?”
“Course.” Bennett gave Kieran a chin lift of a nod, and the two exchanged a look so smugly male that Charlie could only stare for a solid four seconds.
Oh no. They did not just try to pull that. Charlie’s gaze met Fifi’s in a moment of perfect sisterly mind melding. “Felicity Florence, did your stalker and my angry firefighter just try to exclude us from a break-in that we initiated?”
“Why yes, Charlotte Calamity, I believe you are correct.”
As if they’d rehearsed the move, both slowly turned to dead-eye stare at the men next to them. Bennett and Kieran shared a hunted look.
“Whatever should Charlie and I do while we wait for the two of you to return?” Fifi asked, as sugar-sweet as cotton candy. “Get manicures while we talk about how brave and strong our men are?”
Charlie batted her eyes with slow, menacing blinks.
From Kieran’s grimace, she was coming off more threatening than vapid.
“OMG, Fifi, we are sooo lucky to have such big, powerful men to push us out of the exciting parts of our investigation so we’re stuck with the boring, tedious, safe busywork that won’t cause us to break a nail.
” She forcefully fluttered her eyelashes again, and Kieran actually flinched away from her this time.
Turning to Fifi, she said in a normal voice, “Seriously, though, my nails are a mess. Mani and pedi after we solve the murder and bring Mom in?”
“Oh God, yes.” Fifi spread her hands out in front of her and screwed up her face. “My cuticles look like they’ve been in a war zone.”
“So back to taking a look inside the compound…” She focused on her sister, happy to ignore the guys since they were currently being ridiculous. “Two teams of two, do you think? Distraction and invasion?”
“Molly and John can be here in a few hours, and I’m sure they’d love a little break in the mountains.
” Fifi pushed back her plate and pulled out her phone.
“Should we let them know to plan a distraction? Molly will have an excellent plan or five, I’m sure.
” Her thumbs hovered over the screen, ready to text their sister.
Bennett let out a small sound, as if his wife had elbowed him directly in the heart.
Carefully keeping her gaze off of her brother-in-law, who was sure to have his penitent-puppy expression on, Charlie had to bite the inside of her cheek to hold back a laugh.
Fifi was hilarious when annoyed. Ignoring Kieran’s laser-beam stare that she could almost feel burning into her cheek, Charlie gave a thoughtful nod.
“That should work. They can use my grenade.”
“I gave you that grenade.” Bennett sounded so hurt that Charlie almost caved, but her sister’s sharp kick to her shin under the table renewed her resolve.
“You gave her a grenade?” Kieran’s growly voice was even harder to hold out against than Bennett’s sad one, but she fought the urge to reassure him by explaining that it was just a flash-bang.
“On the other hand,” Charlie determinedly said to Felicity, “I should keep it in case we run into trouble and need our own distraction.”
“Good point.”
Bennett heaved a huge sigh, and Charlie recognized the sound.
The groveling was about to commence. “I’m sorry, Fifi, for trying to exclude you from the action, and I feel terrible if that dismissal made you feel like I was trying to diminish you or your abilities in any way.
My only intent was to protect you from danger, which was misguided on my part, since I am well aware that you are very capable of protecting yourself—as well as those around you—in almost all situations. ”
Charlie bit down again on her now-sore cheek as another laugh tried to escape.
His apologies always sounded like they’d been drafted by an attorney.
In fact, knowing Bennett and his difficulty with social interactions, he very well might have hired a lawyer to write up a boilerplate apology.
Charlie tried to see his palms, to check if he’d written notes on them in Sharpie for when he got himself in trouble, but his hands were under the table.
“And?” Fifi demanded, although she was making eye contact with her husband again, which was a good sign.
Bennett’s contrite expression turned slightly panicky, and he darted a look across the table at Charlie, who discretely pointed at herself. “Oh! And I apologize to Charlie, who can also take care of herself, unless it involves caring for electronics of some sort. Then she’s probably screwed.”
Charlie’s plan to graciously forgive her brother-in-law dissolved as she scowled at him. Apparently, Fifi found that dumb apology addendum acceptable, because she yanked Bennett by the front of his shirt into a kiss.
Holding up a hand to block the lip action across the table from her view, Charlie turned to Kieran, who was scowling—which was normal—but also looking slightly panicky—which was unusual. “What?” she asked him.
“Do I have to do…that?” He waved a hand at the couple Charlie assumed was still attached at the mouths. She wasn’t about to drop her hand to find out.
“Do what? The apology or the kissing?” As soon as the words were out, she felt her face get warm and hoped that the low restaurant lighting hid her blush.
The intent way he stared at her didn’t help cool her down, but she managed to hold his gaze.
After an indeterminate amount of time of staring into Kieran’s gorgeous blue eyes, she knew she had to say something or self-combust into a fiery inferno of embarrassment and lust—mostly lust—but she also knew that she wouldn’t be able to form words if she was looking at him.
Going against her better judgment, she dropped her hand and looked over at Fifi and Bennett, knowing that there was no better lust-killer than watching her sister make out with her husband.
Unfortunately—or fortunately? Charlie wasn’t sure—the two were no longer kissing but were instead talking quietly with their faces close together.
“No,” she said to Kieran without looking at him.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s not like we’re a couple, much less married.
” She kept her long-term plans regarding him to herself.
Feeling a bit more composed, she turned back toward him.
“If you’re smart, though, you’ll learn from this. No taking over my investigation.”
“But it’s my investigation?” Since he sounded more bewildered than belligerent, Charlie smiled at him fondly, reaching up to pat his prickly cheek.
“Sweet, innocent Kiki. You’ll learn.”
“Who wants dessert?”
At the server’s cheerful question, Charlie jumped, turning to glare at the couple across from her. “That’s it. Next time, my back’s to the wall, even if I do have to sit on B’s lap.”
A quiet growl from Kieran brought her head around in surprise. Feeling a warmth spreading through her insides at the realization that he was jealous, she leaned back in her chair and smiled.
It was nice being wanted.