Number's Up Read online

  His raid went worse than mine, and mine included a dead horse and being kidnapped, so that was saying something. Either way, the business was failing.

  I was failing.

  It turned out I had been wrong all these years. Numbers could disappoint. Or maybe I was just disappointed in myself.

  Nah, I was going to blame the numbers for a little while longer. Then I’d own up to the obvious.

  My business was failing and I had been the instrument in my own downfall. I snorted. How biblical. I should get the pastor to do a sermon about that on Sunday. He was usually good for a few inspirational quotes and I could use all the inspiration he was willing to deal out this week.

  I stared at the numbers again. Maybe I had made the wrong decision trying to keep the business open after the scandal broke. As far as I knew, no one had been arrested yet, but freezing Tony Harris’s accounts had been a red flag to the bulls of the business community. Harris Industries had been the first company to pull their business, although Tiffany, Tony’s sister and the head of Harris Industries, had been apologetic. She even offered me a job if I wanted to close down this business and move to the city. I hadn’t been that desperate at the time.

  I was getting there.

  Since the numbers weren’t changing, no matter how much I tried to wish them into the black, I instead thought about opening up my wine early. Maybe my beer-goggles, or in this case, wine-goggles, would make the numbers look better than they were.

  The knock on my door brought me out of my calculation of how many new customers I would have to bring in. I didn’t normally bring in new customers, that had been Henry’s job. My job was to make sure that they stayed. Bringing in new customers meant travel and meeting new people. I didn’t like meeting new people. Heck, outside of this town, I didn’t like meeting people period. But I disliked not having a job more, so I was going to have to figure it out.

  Or close the company down.

  No. I wasn’t ready to do that. I looked down at the papers in my hand one last time and decided everything could wait for tomorrow. The knock meant it was time to drink.

  Here’s to ignoring my issues and drowning my spreadsheets.

  “Hold on, Lark. Give me a second to put this away and I’ll be right out,” I called out, carefully placing the papers back in their folders and shutting down my computer.

  Knock. Knock.

  That was weird. Lark, my best friend, never knocked twice. To that point, Lark only knocked when she was too excited to ring the doorbell.

  “Coming,” I yelled a little louder. Maybe it was one of my neighbors. Like most of Barrow Bay, my neighbors had an average age of sixty, most having hearing issues of some type, and an intense hatred of hearing aids. I hoped their inability to hear would be in my favor one day. If I ever dated again, that is.

  Walking out of the office, I made sure that everything was put away neatly in its assigned place. Control. Organization. They were the keys to getting me through the day. My best friend from college had been the opposite. Her side of the room had always been a mess of items stacked too high and clothing piles. But she somehow knew where everything was. After one semester, we agreed to never live together again. We still stayed best friends, until I moved here and got too busy to reach out more than a few times a year.

  Finally reaching the door, I opened it.

  “Lark? What’s up with all the… Satan.”

  “Hello, Jen. Can I come in and talk to you?” Like last time, he flashed his badge. Since I wasn’t focused on a warrant this time, I did manage to see a photo, but not much more. It couldn’t be that I was too focused on his picture to read it. Nope. Couldn’t be that at all.

  “But it’s been three weeks.” This couldn’t be happening. Had they found something else? We couldn’t have had another dirty client. No.

  “Counting down the days since you last saw me, were you?” He raised one brow.

  There he went again with the eyebrow thing. No. I couldn’t find that sexy. Even after everything that had happened, I couldn’t deny that Special Agent Nicholas Kelly was hot. Cliché-of-steaming-playboy hot.

  “It’s been weeks. It’s over. Done with. Nothing more here. You caught your guy. I have nothing else for you to invade.” I blinked at him, trying to process what his presence could mean. And, more to the point, what I had just said. Invade? My mouth, however, didn’t process. It just kept going, letting all my thoughts out for the agent to hear. “Wait. Maybe you need to talk to me to close out the case? Perfect. Case closed. Thanks for coming, bye.” I tried to close the door, but Special Agent Satan stopped me.

  “One, it’s only been three weeks, not a month. And no, that’s not why I’m here.” His hand rested on the frame, stopping me from being able to close the door all the way without smashing his hand. Not good. I was pretty sure that smooshing a federal agent’s hand might count as felony assault. On the other hand, felony assault couldn’t have too much jail time associated with it. Right?

  “Okay. Then what brings a—” I trailed off. Insult. Insult. I needed an insult, ASAP. I already used Satan. And Special Agent Ass Hat was so last visit.

  “FBI agent,” he supplied.

  Damn. If I had anything better, I would go with it, but I didn’t.

  “—Satan to my doorstep?” When not creative, go with a classic.

  “You reported Tony Harris, didn’t you?” That sounded almost accusatory.

  Was he mad that the tip came from me?

  Also, I didn’t know if I wanted to admit that. I paused, struggling to remember what my lawyer had said to do if they showed up again. I could remember throwing away the note with his instructions three days ago, but that wasn’t helpful. Why hadn’t I reread it before throwing it away? Pains of being a neat freak.

  To make matters worse, I couldn’t remember what I had admitted to the last time they were here. I was pretty angry and a little panicked at the time. It didn’t matter that I had known they might come. Having the FBI here, in my house, was nerve-racking. It was like I was constantly on guard, waiting for them to find something that I knew they weren’t going to find. Like when a police officer drove behind me. It didn’t matter that I was going the speed limit, and following all of the laws. I stressed. And this man in front of me had not helped. In fact, he had kept me in a constant state of defensive anger.

  The only thing that had been worse than his behavior was my own anxiety going crazy every time he left me alone. It had been a sucky few days. But that was in the past. I needed to focus on the here and now.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I responded quickly, crossing my arms over my chest. “You already have everything. Got the warrant and searched the whole house. Even my kitchen.” I glared extra hard on that one. I hadn’t forgotten his comment when we met the first time. I had never been accused of having a black heart before. Or been told I was pretty in quite such an annoying way. “Why are you here now?”

  “You never asked why we came last time.” He leaned against the doorway, studying me. “You just opened your doors and let us in. Also, you hired a lawyer a week before the tip.” He smiled at me, smugly.

  I sighed. I knew that was going to come back to bite me. I had hired a lawyer before I even submitted the tip, even though I knew it would look bad, but I wanted to make sure I was protected. As my business partner was probably in on the whole thing, the lawyer and I hadn’t known if he could do much more than save my license, but he was willing to try. The good news was that he was now sure I would still have my license. Silver linings and all that.

  I needed to come up with a distraction because I didn’t know where this was going, which worried me. And, frankly, I was having enough nightmares over my business issues. I didn’t need this on top of it.

  “What do you want? I don’t have any of Harris’s records in my home office. I turned over everything when I dropped him as a client. Not to mention, your group already looked. Plus, isn’t he in jail?” Because tha
t would be nice. I could use an end to this whole thing.

  He recoiled slightly at my hostile tone. I hadn’t realized he knew how to back down from a challenge. It made me feel slightly victorious.

  “We wanted to look around again anyway.” He pulled up to his full height to intimidate me, but I was too distracted to care.

  Wow. Evidently, I looked like I was born yesterday. “Do you have another warrant?”

  “We were hoping that you would cooperate without dragging your name into the court system—” He smirked. “—again.”

  Damn. He had a point. I didn’t want my name in the court system again. The first time with the first warrant was enough.

  “Still no. I have a responsibility to my clients.” What few I had left. “Please return with a warrant.”

  I hated being responsible. Some days it was all downside and very little up.

  “You know, not many girls turn me down.” He leaned more against the doorframe, but still didn’t move the hand preventing me from closing the door. I checked.

  “That’s because you have been talking to girls. You might try women and let me know how many ‘no’s you get then.” I bared my teeth in what I hoped might be mistaken as a smile.

  His grin faltered, but he continued on. “Are you sure I can’t come in and ask you some questions?” He moved closer to me, pressing into my personal space. “Maybe get to know you a little better? We got off to a bad start last time.”

  I expected better. That was proof he had been flying by his good looks too long.

  “No.”

  “No?” he repeated, his eyebrows raising slightly in surprise.

  How did people treat these men outside of Barrow Bay? Did women just let attractive men walk all over them? Because Lark’s boyfriend Brecken had this issue, too. It was like they couldn’t conceive that we might not be willing to lay down and let them walk all over us.

  “Nope. Because once you're in here, you’re going to make small talk before you need to ‘go to the bathroom.’ Then you’ll help yourself to a little look around my house. So, no.”

  “I’m a federal agent.” He did look mildly offended. Or he was acting.

  I couldn't tell.

  “I know. You’ve flashed me something that could have been a badge.” I waved at him, indicating how fast it had gone by.

  “Could have been?”

  “It went by pretty fast. It really could have been anything.” I shrugged. “I don’t actually remember seeing it last time either.”

  “Do you want me to flash you again?”

  Yes, but maybe not the badge. My eyes dropped down before I could stop them, and he smiled even wider.

  Yep. He saw that. Damn.

  “No.”

  Nic’s -- I mean Nicholas’s -- smirk covered his whole face. “That look said—”

  “Jen?” Lark’s voice cut through whatever Nic was about to say. “Is something wrong?” She walked up the path, carrying a bag from the local grocery. Hopefully it was more wine. I didn’t think the one bottle in the fridge would be enough anymore.

  “No. Everything's fine. Nicholas was just leaving.” I glared at him, trying to force him away with my ire. He held for a second before pulling his hand back, giving me a slight frown. One echoed by Lark, who was not happy that Nic had shown up again after the last visit. They hadn’t exactly gotten along. Or maybe I hadn’t gotten along and she just backed me up.

  No, she named him Mr. Unimportant before she knew I knew him. I was going to vote she wasn’t a fan.

  “Have it your way. I’ll see you again soon.” Nic turned, but still hesitated, like he wanted to say something else.

  Great. I was definitely going to have nightmares tonight. Starring a sexy, brown-haired Spock. Who didn’t actually look anything like Spock. I didn’t know why that kept coming to my mind. Whatever the reason, it stopped now.

  “Well, then. Have a great night.” I slammed the door in his face.

  That was stupid. Lark was still out there. I had to open the door again. This was so embarrassing.

  Then again, I had always wanted to slam a door in someone’s face. I couldn’t lie. It had felt good.

  Sighing, I opened the door again to find Lark staring down an amused Nicholas.

  “Did you stand her up? Because we don’t like men who make promises and then don’t follow through around here.” Lark moved into his space, hitting him with her best glare and wagging her finger. Just like her grandmother. Oh my gosh. She was going to die when I told her.

  “No. No, I didn’t stand her up.”

  “Jen likes everyone but you. Somehow, she’s always angry at you. What did you do?”

  I did not like everyone. And she knew it. But I had to admit, the point was better when she said it like that.

  “I assure you Jen likes me fine.”

  No, I didn’t. I might be slightly attracted, but I did not like him.

  “You shouldn’t make conclusions you can’t support.” I told him before turning to Lark. “Ignore him. He’s just here for business.”

  Larks eyebrows met her hairline as she stared at me.

  “Did they find something new?”

  Satan groaned. “No one’s talking about an ongoing case to an unrelated civilian,” he told both of us, sending me a warning glance. “Lark. A pain, as always,” he joked as he turned to leave.

  I was not sure what he thought I knew that Lark didn’t, but whatever.

  “How do you stand this guy? Is it because he’s hot? Because that isn’t a good reason to let someone into your house.”

  “Oh my god, Lark. You can’t say things like that in front of people.” And I didn’t stand him. I just found him irrationally sexy. And one-upping him was kind of fun. Plus, he had been leaving until she said that. Now, he had stopped and turned back.

  “Please. Look at his cocky smile. That man knows he’s attractive and uses it.”

  “He’s no Captain America,” I agreed. Lark had started talking with her self-proclaimed, not-boyfriend, Brecken (aka Captain America), seven weeks ago when he helped solve a murder she was involved in. He was a detective down in San Francisco, which was about an hour-and-a-half drive away from here. As she had just gotten out of a bad divorce two years prior and he was a workaholic, they were taking it slow. Really slow. I didn’t know how she did it. The man looked like he walked off the set of the Marvel movies. Her own real-life Captain America. Mouth-wateringly gorgeous. I would’ve jumped him by now if I had been her. “And notice that he isn’t in my house, in fact he’s just leaving.”

  “I always liked Wolverine more,” Nicholas mused, ignoring my comment completely.

  Lark turned to study him.

  “Yeah, you do have the whole Wolverine thing going. Broody and relentless. But Jen needs a real hero, not an anti-hero working on the side of good. So, you can go.” She turned and dismissed him as he stared, his chin hanging low. He was obviously not used to people getting the better of him. That was probably why Lark irked him.

  “I love you,” I told her as she came through the door. I closed it before he could recover.

  “Because I’m awkward and say everything that comes to mind?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “So, are you going to tell me what that was about?”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t tell me why the case brought him back. He just asked to take another look around.” I sighed. “I need to call my lawyer. Again.” And be charged for his advice.

  Lawyer was the right word to use because after that Lark found a new topic.

  “I got three more bottles of wine.”

  “Three?” That wasn’t a good sign.

  On the other hand, that meant two bottles for her and two for me. So much better than the one bottle for both of us that I had.

  “Hailey’s school called me yesterday. Asked me to come in for a parent/teacher conference today.”

  “That’s pretty normal, right?” I watched her carefully. She was tens
e and buying wine in quantities I hadn’t seen since she found a leg on her porch.

  “Not with a one-day notice.” She pulled out the wine, throwing the two whites in the fridge to chill as she opened the red and poured us both a glass.

  Wow. That must have been some parent/teacher conference.

  I took a sip as I waited for her to continue.

  “Turns out, Hailey’s been listening to Gran and Aunt Helen talk about The Incident and has been telling people at school. They had to report it to social services. Who were also there. To talk to me about my body part problems.” She downed half the glass.

  Wine came flying out of my mouth, spraying the white marble counter in front of me. I could just picture Lark, sitting there with the principal and two people from Social Services trying to explain why she had received body parts on her doorstep. Lark didn’t look like she thought it was funny, but she was just too close to it. It absolutely was that funny.

  “They then had to call Benny to come down to the school and give them the report in person.” Lark slumped into one of my counter seats as she took another drink from her glass, draining the rest in one gulp. “They pulled the Chief of Police down to collaborate my story, Jen.”

  Watching her as I finished wiping down the counter, I sipped again from the glass she refilled, making sure it stayed in this time.

  “Do you know what the first thing Benny asked me was? The first thing, Jen?”

  “I have no idea.” I completely had an idea. I just wanted to make her say it.

  “‘When’s Brecken going to join the force, Lark? Aren’t you going to make him move here?’” She mimicked our Chief of Police’s voice badly, but it didn’t matter. I was laughing too hard. “Why can’t everyone just butt out of our relationship? Or understand that we are taking it slow. Slow. I will not be whored out so that Barrow Bay can get a new Chief.”

  “I don’t know if taking a job counts as payment. It isn’t really whoring… More of an unconventional benefit,” I argued.

  “No. I’m not an unconventional benefit.” Lark glared, backing up her words.

  “No. You’re right. Stand up for your rights. Burn your bras. Feminists unite,” I mocked. She was completely right, but I had made a promise to our Chief’s wife, Alice.