Chapter 11 #2
“The bank statements at the convenience store were from Eagle Rock Credit Union.”
“Yeah, they have multiple branches all over Renegade. So nothing unusual there.”
“But the ATM in the entry of the boutique was also from Eagle Rock, and I’m pretty sure I saw the credit union logo on the cash register at the dry cleaner.”
“I see where you’re going with this…but it’s pretty thin.”
“Still worth looking into though.”
“I agree, but it will have to wait for tomorrow. I know it’s your night for dinner, and I have a date.”
“A date? With who?”
“Bye, lad.” Finn cut off the call.
That was weird. Usually Finn would be crowing all day about a date, but he hadn’t said a word about it until now.
Not that Michael had any time to contemplate. Finn was right. It was his night for dinner at the Martinelli home, so he’d better get to it, and then after dinner, he could get back to his case.
He finally had a lead.
Dani made it through the day at SL Trucking and escaped immediately to her best friend’s house so she wouldn’t be tempted to do anything more than the office work assigned to her.
And she wouldn’t mind a chance to see Michael again, if he so happened to be here. Maybe they could discuss his cases, and she could live vicariously.
Maria stood in front of the walk-in closet, light from the en suite bathroom spilling over the satin blouse and pencil skirt she held up for Dani’s inspection.
“Do you like this one?”
Dani looked up from the fashion magazine at Maria’s question.
Some might wonder why her friend, at age twenty-five, still lived in her childhood home and still shared a room with her sister Frankie.
But it made perfect sense to Dani to stay where all the action was.
The Martinelli home couldn’t have been more different from the Kim house growing up.
Games of all sorts being played, laughter, teasing, delicious food.
At one point, all four girls had shared this room, the primary bedroom of the house, with two sets of bunk beds.
Sure, there had been squabbles, but there had also been late-night chats, clothes sharing, lots of sleepover giggles. What more could a girl want?
And once Martina had died, Michael moved back, and they’d all come together to take care of each other.
Dani studied the outfit Maria held up. “That rusty orange-brown looks amazing on you.”
Maria laid out the clothes in her garment bag, draped on the queen bed now in her corner of the room. “I’m not really looking forward to this overnight convention.”
“It won’t be too bad. Denver’s only a few hours away. You should totally try out this new restaurant I heard about. I’ll find it and send you the link. But first, what else do you need to pack?”
Like the longtime friends they were, they lost track of time until Gabe yelled from the hallway that dinner was ready.
“You’re staying, right?” Maria asked her.
“Duh! I never miss a chance to eat here. Whose night is it?”
“Michael’s. So you know it will be good. And smells like he grilled.”
A sudden shyness stole over Dani. “Are you sure there will be enough? I don’t want to intrude.”
Maria balked. “You know there’s always enough food around a Martinelli table. Especially with Liza out on a date. So get over yourself and let’s eat.” She led the way down the stairs into the open-concept living and dining room.
Dani had always felt more at home here than she had around her own table with her father sitting at the head, her mother at his side.
Meals in the Kim household were a somber and serious affair.
Here, Gabe and Raphael were tossing a Nerf football over the dining room table.
Frankie lunged for it, stealing it away from her younger brothers.
“Hey! Interference!” Gabe tried to snatch it from her.
Frankie tucked the ball under her arm. “You know we can’t do that at the dinner ta—”
Raph rushed over to pick up his sister and tossed her on the nearby sectional. “You might be older, but we’re bigger.”
“Boys! Help fill the bread baskets,” Kate yelled from the kitchen. “Frankie, we still need the napkins.”
Yup. This was the life. Dani lost whatever weird sensation had flashed over her earlier and helped set the table.
To the unfamiliar, it looked chaotic, but everyone had a task, and amid the chatter and spats, everything got done.
Soon, they all sat around the humongous table and held hands to bless the food.
Dani sat in the place of honor next to Dr. Martinelli.
“Tell me, Daniella”—she loved that he always pronounced her name the Italian way, making her feel like she was one of them—“how is it being back in Renegade? I thought you’d be living it up in New York City.”
“I was hoping for Miami, but the FBI sent me here.” She took the platter of pork chops from the doctor and passed it to Maria, next to her.
Across the table, sitting next to Michael, Gabe tore into his roll. “What kind of investigations are in Renegade? Talk about a lame place to be sent.”
“Right? Certainly not what I thought I’d signed up for. I’m just looking into accounts at a business, trying to find evidence of embezzlement. Seems like I can’t get away from numbers and accounting.”
“And yet you still find a way to create mischief. Like climbing locked bell towers and getting rammed off the road.” Michael’s smirk brought back the weird sensation, a sizzle of excitement running down her spine.
“Rammed off the road? Is that what happened to your vehicle, Michael?” His father looked concerned.
“It had nothing to do with my case, Pops. Just a jealous ex of Dani’s.”
“Right. That was the most excitement I’ve had since coming back to town, and it had nothing to do with work.
What does that say? But hopefully, after I find who is embezzling at this company and how, I’ll be onto more exciting work.
Maybe even be transferred to a bigger field office.
So I guess, for now, Michael’s the only one with interesting cases.
” She looked over at him. “Any chance you need help with them, so I don’t die from boredom at my own job? ”
“Actually, I was going to ask for your take on something, but it’s more numbers work.”
“I don’t mind. Really.”
He set down his fork. “If you’re sure, I’ll take that offer. We can look at it after dinner.”
“Ooooh.” Gabe and Raph made kissy faces and laughed. “Mikey’s got a date,” they said in unison singsong voices.
It was nothing new around this table. The teasing, the banter. And usually, Dani laughed along and jumped right in. But something about being the other half of the romantic equation with Michael took her off guard.
Michael simply rolled his eyes at their antics, like he usually did.
Then his gaze landed squarely on Dani, causing heat to rush up her neck and crawl over her cheeks.
What was going on? This was Michael! They were talking work and accounting.
And more importantly, she was supposed to be a poised and put-together federal agent who didn’t get flustered around guys she’d grown up with.
“You up for that?” he asked her.
She nodded and gulped her ice water. It cooled her from the inside and helped her find a normal—a.k.a. nonsqueaky—voice. “Of course.” Hopefully she came off as playful and not awkward.
“Good. We need all the help we can get.”
See? Nothing romantic about this. Just work-related interest. Dani relaxed. “Perfect. Let’s talk details later.”
And the conversation moved on to Gabe’s antics in his chemistry class, where he’d almost set the lab on fire.
Dani joined in the laughter and banter and tried to ignore the knowing look in Dr. Martinelli’s eyes the rest of the meal.