Chapter 11
Eleven
Harmony stared at Detective Murphy, watching as he made notes. “Damien didn’t kill anyone. He wouldn’t.”
Detective Murphy looked up at her with a smile.
“All I am doing right now is gathering information. Both of you said you were in your apartment all night. Neither of you can prove the other was there the whole night. That’s not unexpected.
We will be looking for security footage to support your stories.
” He closed his folder. “If I’m being honest, I don’t think of either of you as suspects.
But you both had an interaction with Ms. Mercer within a few hours of her death, so I have to ask these questions. ”
“But my saying I can’t confirm Damien was there doesn’t mean he’s in trouble, right?”
“No more than he already was. And that’s not to say he’s in trouble,” Detective Murphy said when Harmony opened her mouth to argue. “We are looking into all the options right now.”
“Okay.” Harmony chewed on her lip. She hated doubting herself. Not knowing what was happening and what made sense. If Damien was dangerous, she wouldn’t have felt so safe with him at her apartment. Right? But she didn’t really know him well. Was there any chance he was responsible for this?
She shook her head. She really couldn’t imagine him murdering a woman. Self-defense? Sure. She knew he was in the military and assumed there were times he had to take a life then, too, but in cold blood without a cause? She couldn’t see that in Damien.
“Are you done with me?” Harmony asked when Detective Murphy didn’t ask her another question.
Detective Murphy nodded and stood. “I am. Unless there’s anything else you need to tell me.”
Harmony shook her head. “I told you everything that happened. I with I could be more help, but I consider myself lucky that I didn’t have another conversation with her. I have no idea why she was at my apartment, and I don’t think I want to know.”
Detective Murphy pressed his lips together, making Harmony believe he had an idea, but he didn’t volunteer his knowledge. He moved to the door and opened it, stepping back to let her go out first.
“Is this where you tell me not to leave town?” Harmony joked.
Detective Murphy chuckled. “We’re definitely not there. But be careful, Harmony.”
She shivered at his tone. “Thanks.”
Detective Murphy walked her out to the front where Damien was waiting for her. He stood when she approached.
“Hey. Everything okay?”
“I said I couldn’t confirm you were at my apartment all night. I’m sorry.”
Damien reached for her hand and smiled. “You told the truth. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“But I feel like I betrayed you.”
“No. You did no such thing. You would have betrayed yourself if you’d said anything different.”
“I wanted to say I knew you were there.”
“But you didn’t. There’s no way you would have been able to say that. Just like I can’t say you were there. Anything other than the truth is going to cause the police to look into us when there’s no reason to. They will find the truth.”
“You’re very calm about all of this.”
Damien led her outside, his gaze scanning the area as they moved toward his SUV. “I know Marcus and Pryce are going to do everything they can to find out what really happened. I’m sorry someone is dead, but if she intended to hurt you, I’m not going to be sad about it.”
“Do you think she was going to hurt me?” Harmony breathed.
Damien stopped next to his SUV and met her gaze.
“I don’t know why she was at your apartment.
I don’t know why she sent you running from me.
I do know she lied to get you away from me, then she followed you home.
Maybe she had a reason for it, but her ending up dead less than twelve hours later makes me think she was working for someone and didn’t do what she was supposed to do, and she was killed before she could talk. ”
Harmony trembled at the calm way Damien relayed his thoughts. “I… I’m no one. Why would anyone care what I do?”
Damien stepped closer to her and cupped her jaw. “First, you’re not no one, Harmony. You are beautiful and intelligent and special. Second, we’re going to figure out what is going on and why someone is after you. But right now, I need to get you back to work.”
Harmony nodded and slid into the SUV. Damien closed her door, then walked around the front of the vehicle. He climbed in next to her and reached for her hand.
“Are you okay?”
She exhaled a mirthless laugh. “No.”
“That’s understandable. What can I do to help you?”
“I don’t know.”
He squeezed her hand. “Let’s get you back to work, and if you think of something, you can tell me.”
Harmony nodded, missing his hold on her as soon as he let go. He was being respectful and considerate of her. They’d been on one date. They barely knew each other. She couldn’t lean on him for everything. She needed to stand on her own like she’d done for years.
When he pulled up to the back door of her building, she thanked him for the ride.
“Call me if you ever need anything, Harmony. Anytime. And I hope I can talk you into another date sometime. Maybe without someone sending you running from me.”
“And ending up dead the next day.”
Damien smiled. “Definitely that part, too.”
She nibbled her lip. “I’m probably going to be working late tonight since I was gone for so long, but maybe tomorrow?”
“You tell me when and where, and I’ll make sure I’m available.”
She couldn’t stop her smile at his acceptance. “Sounds good.” She took a step back to close the door, but he stopped her.
“And tonight…”
She paused and moved closer again.
“Please be careful leaving here late. I really want to tell you to call me when you’re going to walk out so I can be here, but I feel like that might be crossing a line. But if you call me, I will be here, Harmony.”
She smiled, her body tingling. He was definitely the kind of man she could fall for. The kind who made her feel like she was important. “Thank you.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Harmony.”
She nodded and stepped back, closing the door. She swiped her keycard and opened the door to the building, turning to wave at him.
He hadn’t moved, just like she knew he wouldn’t until she was safely inside the building.
She could definitely fall for him.
Damien waited until the door closed behind her to pull away. He didn’t like the thought of her working late and leaving alone, but he couldn’t stalk her or force her to call him.
He would make sure he was close, just in case.
Damien went back to work, needing to check in with Jude and Montgomery before the day was over. Jude had sent a couple of texts, but nothing urgent as far as Damien could tell.
“Hey, Berkeley,” Damien said as he walked in the front door.
Berkeley was their business manager, office manager, all-around savior. She kept things going for Rose Protection Agency. She pushed back on their boss, and she kept all of them engaged in what everyone was doing with her regular updates on the entire company.
Seeing her angry was not a usual experience. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just great,” Berkeley said in a tone that betrayed her words.
“What’s going on?”
She growled and shook her head. “Our boss is being a pain in my ass.”
“What did he do?” Montgomery and Berkeley had a good relationship as far as Damien knew, but Montgomery expected a lot from people.
“He got all pissed off and judgmental when I said I have a date tonight and can’t stay late.” She scowled at her computer. “He refused to let me leave on time, saying I left early two days last week, and if I’m not going to be dedicated to this job, then maybe I should find another one.”
Damien’s eyebrows shot high. “Really? That’s not like him.”
“Yeah, well, he’s being a stupid alpha jerk lately. He gets his panties in a twist whenever I need to leave at a reasonable time, whether I’ve finished things or not. He always claims he has something else I need to take care of immediately, something that can’t wait until the next day.”
“If you finish it, can you go?”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s what he says. But it means running late for my date. He just—” She cut off her words.
“He just what?”
“Nothing. I’m being snotty. I like my job, and I love knowing what we do makes a difference, even though I’m not good enough to be a protector.”
“Is that what you want to do?” Damien asked, leaning against her desk.
Berkeley slid him a glance and shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know. I guess I feel like I’m just irrelevant. Anyone can do what I do. Seeing you guys go out and actually help others is inspiring. I never thought about it until Eve started working here. She’s just as badass as you guys are.”
“You’re badass, too, Berk.”
She snorted. “Not according to the boss.”
Damien exhaled roughly. “He’s wrong. You can do whatever you want to do.”
She offered him a small smile. “Thanks, D.”
Damien knocked on her desk, then let himself through the security door. He went to Montgomery’s office to let him know he was back, then pulled up a chair next to Jude. “Anything?”
Jude spared him a glance and shook his head. “Grant Pickens is squeaky clean.”
“Squeaky?”
“Squeaky. There’s no way he’s that clean,” Jude said.
“Why not? What makes you think it’s not real?”
“Everyone has something. A parking ticket, a jury summons, a failing grade, a complaint from work. He has nothing.”
“What does that mean then?”
“It means I don’t know if Grant Pickens is just a really good person or if that’s not his real name.”
“Whoa, seriously? I didn’t see that coming.”
“I haven’t found proof it’s a fake name, but you think there’s something there,” Jude said. “He’s been using the name for decades, so maybe it’s him and he didn’t have much of an online presence before he started his company, but I don’t know.”
“None of this makes any sense.”
“Why not?” Jude asked, clicking through a few more things on his screen as Damien collected his thoughts.