Chapter 11 #2
“I thought for sure we’d find something. That it would be an easy answer, but I feel like we’re missing something.”
“Maybe what we’re missing is that Grant Pickens is exactly who he says he is. Maybe he is that good of a man.” Jude said what Damien was thinking. Jude spun to look at Damien.
Damien tried not to scowl. He didn’t have a problem being wrong, but he rarely was. He trusted his gut because it hadn’t let him down many times in the past. What was he missing?
“Can I offer a perspective?” Jude asked.
Damien nodded, curious to know what his partner thought.
“What if you’re projecting?”
“Projecting? What do you mean?”
Jude sucked in a breath. “Harmony wasn’t on your radar before she witnessed the break-in, right? You said the coffee shop she was in is your favorite one. You’ve likely been there at the same time countless times in the past.”
“What are you getting at?”
Jude shrugged. “Maybe you’re seeing Grant Pickens as competition for a woman you only recently noticed.”
“No. Hell no. She’s not interested in him.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not interested in her. He can offer her a lot more than the reward he already gave her. He can pay off her loans and get her into a new apartment and probably give her around the clock protection if she wanted it. What can you do?”
“I…” Damien opened and closed his mouth a few times, Jude’s words torturing him. Was that really the kind of man he was? Someone who told himself stories about another man when they showed interest in the same woman?
He didn’t know. And he really didn’t like that he didn’t know.
“I’m way off base. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I know it’s not right. You’re not like that. It’s—”
“Possible,” Damien admitted.
“What?” Jude breathed.
Damien shook his head. “I don’t like the guy, but before that press conference, I thought he was good for the city.
He gives back. He’s always helping kids.
He’s a picture-perfect business owner. Am I jealous of him?
I hate that I’m asking that, but maybe I am.
Maybe I’m worried Harmony will choose him instead of me and I’m making shit up about him. ”
“You’ve had one date with her. You’ll find someone else if she picks him.”
“I don’t want her to pick him, though. I want her to pick me.”
“You’re already falling for her, aren’t you? After one date?”
Damien exhaled a laugh. “Before that. Hell, the moment we met, I started falling for her.”
“What do you mean?”
Damien shrugged. “I shook her hand and felt like I found a piece of me I hadn’t realized was missing. I never wanted to let go.”
“Dude, that’s… A little fucking crazy.”
Damien snorted. “Yeah, but I can’t change how it felt.”
“Fair enough. You think that’s the obsession with Pickens?”
“You’re the one who said it, not me.”
Jude held his hands up, palms out. “Okay, okay. I’m just not seeing anything. I can keep digging, but…”
“No, it’s fine.” Damien got it. There was nothing to find. No matter what he thought, he was wrong about Grant Pickens. The man was a boy scout. He had no skeletons in his closet. He was one of the good guys.
And Damien needed to accept that.
“Thanks for looking into him.”
“You got it.”
“I need to see what I can find out about Pamela Mercer anyway. See why she was following Harmony.”
“This woman seems to be in the middle of a bunch of shit,” Jude muttered.
“She didn’t ask for it,” Damien growled at his partner.
“I get it. I know. I’m not trying to say she did. If it helps, I did find one camera in the hallway of her building.”
“Really?”
Jude nodded. “I don’t think it’s really legal, but yeah. It shows no one leaving her apartment after Marcus left and before the two of you went to breakfast. Not through the door, at least.”
“You think we climbed out the damn window?” Damien snapped.
“You know I don’t think you did anything wrong. I’m just saying that’s what the cops are going to question. If you knew about the camera, you might have gone another way.”
“I didn’t fucking go anywhere,” Damien growled.
“I’ll keep looking for anything else, but the best thing would be finding out where this woman went and who she met up with.”
“Then find that.”
Jude nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but Damien’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen and smiled, realizing how late it was. “Hey, Harmony. Did you change your mind about me walking you out to your car?”
“Damien?”
Every hair on his body stood on end at her tone. Small. Meek. Terrified. “What’s wrong?”
Jude’s head snapped up at Damien’s tone.
“My apartment. Someone broke in. It’s—”
“Get out now. Go outside, sit in your car. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“But I—”
“Someone could be inside, Harmony. You need to be safe. Go outside, get away from the building. You can drive away if you want to, but do not go into your apartment. I’m on my way.”
“What’s going on?” Jude hissed, keeping up with Damien on his way to the door.
“Harmony’s apartment was broken into.”
“I’ll call Marcus. And drive.” Jude pushed the door open and jogged to his SUV, starting it up before either of them had seatbelts on.
All Damien had to do was not freak the fuck out before they got to her.
Easier said than done.