“Your husband was a Texas Ranger?”
Jodi stopped. “There is nowas. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger. And yeah, that’s him.” The pride in her voice was unmistakable. “Cleared all his cases, too. Except for one, but we solved that one last year.”
She waved me on to an open door on the right.
“This is mostly where the magic happens. But don’t tell Micah I told you that that.” She laughed.
“What’s up, Mrs. Townsend?” one of the guys in the spacious office asked. In the office sat a long, wooden desk with two computer screens mounted on it.
“My name is Jodi,” she corrected. “I swear, since tying the knot, everyone in this office has forgotten my damn name,” she griped.
“We’re just making sure to show the lady of the office some respect.” He turned to me, and I remembered that face from the night of the wedding. The only problem was, there were two of them with the same face.
“Sy, you remember Lena,” Jodi added before giving me a wink.
I guess the confusion was evident in my expression.
“Don’t let it get ya down,” Sy said. “Most people can’t tell my brother and me apart.”
“You called me?” another male voice that sounded exactly like Sy’s interrupted.
That was when Sebastian, Bass for short, entered, reintroducing himself.
“I’m a big fan of yours, Ms. Clarkson,” Bass said, almost shyly.
He was tall and gorgeous, and yet his bashfulness made him fall on just this side of adorable.
“Thank you. Please, call me Lena. No need to be formal.”
He nodded, and his gaze circled the room as if looking for someone. “Your security isn’t around?”
I squinted. “Oh, you mean Rayven?” I shook my head. “She left a little while ago.”
Bass frowned as if disappointed. I wondered what that was about.
We talked for a few minutes, and Jodi told me that Sy and Bass were the firm’s techies. While they were trained PIs as well, they also could be called on to handle all of the company’s computer needs.
After leaving their office, she showed me the offices of a few other PIs, both of which were out of the office working separate cases.
“Lastly, we have our own little training area,” Jodi said, opening the door to a huge gymnasium. The gym looked as if it spanned the size of my condo back in Los Angeles. Spread around the room were mats, an actual jungle gym, a rock wall, and tons of workout equipment.
“This is huge,” I said. “Do you work out here?”
Jodi shrugged. “Now and again,” she answered. “Most of the guys who work here prefer it. But Micah and I go out on hikes and runs around the house. We’re going to start using this place to train our next dog.”
I peered down at Hound, who whimpered as if he understood her words.
Jodi gave him a side-eye. “We’re not replacing you.” She gave him a loving pat on the head and underneath his chin.
“He gets upset when I mention another dog.” She leaned in and whispered, “But ever since he was shot last year, he’s lost his step a bit, so it’s time for a new dog for the office.”
She explained it so casually. But I’d been shocked when she told me everything that happened between her grandfather’s murder and Hound getting shot while protecting her.
“Micah should be off of his call by now,” she said. “Let’s go tell him we’re headed out to dinner. Any idea what you want to eat?”
I shrugged while I followed. “Honestly, I haven’t eaten much today. Anything sounds good right about now.”
“There are a bunch of great places to eat in town,” she told me before knocking on Micah’s closed office door.
