Chapter 14
Fourteen
Michael would find whoever had locked Dani in that cooler and—okay, what he really wanted to do wasn’t legal, so he’d arrest them and pray they were punished to the full extent of the law.
He should’ve asked Kate what strings she could pull since she worked at the DA’s office.
As he stared down dispatcher Van Hoyt in the SL Trucking office, he tried to ignore the weird look Finn was giving him and continued questioning the man.
“So you left at what time?” Michael leaned closer to the man sitting at his desk.
“A little after four thirty, I think.” Hoyt’s gaze shifted around. A sign of guilt?
“And what did you do after work?”
“I went home.”
“Can anyone verify that?”
“No, sir. I…I live alone.” He swallowed hard.
Was that sweat breaking out on his nose? What was he trying to hide?
“And after you arrived home? What did you do the rest of the night?”
“Uh, nothing. I ate dinner. I watched TV.”
“What show?” Michael poised with his pen over his notebook.
“Huh?”
“I said, what show? What specifically did you watch?”
The man stammered. “I don’t know. I mean, I scrolled through quite a few things, mostly documentaries.”
“Excuse me.” Finn cut in. “I need to speak to my partner for a moment.” He nudged Michael over to the wall by Dani’s office.
“What is it?” Michael asked. He had more people he needed to question, and he wanted to get to it.
“Mick, you’re coming down a little hard, dontcha think?”
“One of these men locked Dani in a refrigerated truck and left her there to die. I don’t think asking about what he watched on TV is coming down hard. And do you see how shifty his eye contact is? He’s acting guilty.”
“He’s acting scared because you came in here, waved your badge, and started treating everyone like they were guilty before we could get to the bottom of it. Besides, didn’t Dani say she saw all the office staff leave? We should focus on the guys in the shop and those working the loading bays.”
“Everyone will be questioned. You heard the owner. Silas wants to find the person responsible. I intend to do so.”
“As do I, but are you sure you’re not a little too close? I’ve never seen you interview someone quite like this. The poor man is about to faint. He has no record, he’s worked here since he was a teenager, and he was more worried about Dani than anyone. So maybe soften your touch a wee bit, eh?”
Was he too close? That’s what everyone kept saying about his mother’s case too, but everyone else seemed to have moved on and forgotten. He couldn’t let that happen on his watch.
Michael glanced into Dani’s office. He didn’t want—no, he couldn’t think about what would’ve happened if he hadn’t come back for his mom’s medal. A world without Dani Kim’s sunshine and smile was unfathomable.
He didn’t really know what this whole thing was with Dani.
She’d kissed him.
Whoa boy, had she kissed him. It had unleashed unspoken dreams of happily ever afters, a family of his own, that he’d always thought would be in his future.
He’d just never thought it would be with his best friend’s little sister.
But she hadn’t responded to his good-morning text or said anything about it.
How did he address it? Had it been a fluke? Had it been a thanks-for-saving-my-life, getting-caught-in-the-moment kind of kiss? Like a knee-jerk reaction? Or were there—
Finn whistled. “Michael?”
Michael shook himself. “Yeah?”
“What’s going on?” His eyes narrowed.
“Nothing. We should get back to—”
“Oh, the interviews can wait. I want to know where you went just now. What were you thinking? I don’t ever think I’ve seen you turn that shade of red before.”
Before Michael could answer, Dani walked up to them. “So…how go the interrogations?” She stood next to Finn, nudged his arm, which Michael hated.
“I thought you’d focus more on the guys out in the shop area. I can almost guarantee you it’s not any of the guys on the floor. They love me because I share Lily’s cookies with them.” She gave Finn what he would call a cheeky grin.
Seriously, could his partner be any closer? Give the girl some space!
“That’s a good question, lass. What d’you say, Mike? Shall we go question the others and leave Dani’s fan club alone, not scar them for life, hmm?”
Finn’s smirk was getting rather annoying.
“Sure. But we’ll be back. They may not be the ones responsible, but they still might have valuable information.”
“Righto.” Finn clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We better get back to it. We’ll check in with you later, Dani.”
She waved goodbye and went back to her office while Michael and Finn left the building.
As soon as they were outside, Finn busted out laughing.
“What?” Michael asked him.
“Oh, Michael, you poor lad. I see now what the trouble is.”
“What trouble?”
“You’ve fallen for your best friend’s little sister. And I can’t tell you how glad I am.”
“Falling for her? What are you talking about?”
“It’s all over your face. The moment she walked up to us, you couldn’t hide it. I’m pretty sure you wanted to knock me out when she touched my arm. You, my friend, have fallen hard and fast.” He laughed with glee.
“Look, it’s just…weird. Last night she kissed me. And it took me by surprise.” And no, he would not be telling Finn it had been their second kiss. They had work to do.
“Kissed you? Wait a minute. You didn’t write that in your police report.”
“Will you get back to the case? We need to—”
“Oh no. I need to enjoy this a bit more. You, who said, ‘You just don’t date your mate’s sister.’ ‘It’s an unspoken bro-code thing’ and all that dithery nonsense. And now you’ve gone and done it.”
Michael looked out over the mountains in the distance. Sunshine and shadows in stark relief against an azure sky, and all he could think about was pummeling his partner. “I don’t see why you think this is so amusing.”
Finn lost a little of his smirk and stopped to look Michael in the eye. “Maybe I’m also relieved a bit.”
“Relieved why?”
Finn glanced down and then made eye contact. “Because it makes it a bit easier to admit I’ve been absolutely gobsmacked. I never meant to go behind your back or anything, Mikey, but I’ve quite fallen for your sister Eliza.”
“Wait. You’re Liza’s date? The one she’s been sneaking around with?” Now he really wanted to let a good jab fly. “You went behind my back—”
“Now wait a second here. Neither of us meant to be sneaky or hide it. It all started out innocent enough. We were talking at your brothers’ game.
Then that night, I came across a funny reel I thought she’d enjoy, so I sent it to her.
Next thing I know, we’re chatting. We thought we’d go out on a couple dates and see how things went before we got anyone else involved. We’ve only been out once.”
“And?”
Finn looked him in the eye. “I like her, Michael. A lot. And it would mean the world to have your support. We’re all adults here, and she doesn’t need your permission. But we’d like to know it won’t cause any friction or resentment if we keep seeing each other.”
“And what happens if you guys break up?”
“Work might get a little awkward, but I expect you’ll loosen fists of fury on me and we’ll move on with it. But I’ve gotta be honest, it’s worth the risk. She’s one in a million.”
Yeah, but this was his little sister.
And his partner.
Who, he had to admit, was a stand-up guy.
In five years on the force and living with two generations of cops before that, he’d seen and heard about his fair share of brutes or careless officers.
Finn was neither. He’d been on the force longer, having gone to the police academy right out of high school.
But he wasn’t hardened to the point of not caring.
He worked hard. He had integrity. He was open about his faith and where he stood on values.
Better than Michael by far in that area.
What more could he ask for for his own sister?
He must’ve been quiet too long. Finn was starting to look desperate. “Look, Mi—”
“It’s fine, Liam. It might take some getting used to, and you better not break her heart, but I get it. Just don’t let me know all the gory details of your dates anymore.”
“Righto, laddie.” Finn’s chuckle held a good deal of relief, and they started walking again to the warehouse. “So when are you going to tell Josh you have the hots for his sister?”
“Dani and I aren’t dating. I don’t even know if she likes me.
And she wants to leave Renegade as soon as she can.
And you know, she should. She belongs in a big city.
I belong here. I have a lot going on. There really isn’t space in my life for a relationship.
So…to answer your question, I won’t be telling Josh anything. ”
Dani sat with Silas, Michael, and Finn in the main office, going over the video surveillance now that Silas was back in the office after handling a trucking accident with one of his semis. The footage suspiciously cut out right before six o’clock, when most of the men left the building.
Silas spun in his chair. “I don’t know what to say, officers, but I will be installing more cameras inside all the buildings and hiring security.
I don’t take lightly to my employees being locked up or harassed.
I don’t care if Dani’s been an employee for a few days or years.
She should’ve been safe here, and I’m going to make sure nothing like this happens again. ”
“Is there anyone else who wouldn’t be on your list of employees here?” Michael asked.
“That’s everyone on our payroll. Now, we do get trucking students or family members here from time to time.”
Michael read down the list of names. “Looks like we’re missing Kenny Henshaw and Judd Downey.”
“Kenny called in sick, and Judd is only here two days a week.” Silas looked at her. “Although, I never did hear why you stayed so late and were in the warehouse to begin with.”
Dani fought to keep a pleasant yet vague expression on her face. “I worked late because I had an appointment this morning. And I was missing some receipts from the parts manager. I thought I could find them myself rather than bother him.”