“Yes,” Hector responded to Calvin and then turned to Dorothy. “Thank you, Ms. Hollingsworth.”
“Oh, please, call me Dorothy,” she gushed, flapping her hand at him.
The woman was blushing.Blushing. She read some of the spiciest romance novels I’d ever seen, andthiswas making her blush?
“I’ll be back at my desk if you gentlemen need anything,” she told him.
That was when I noticed the other person who had been standing behind Dorothy. I recognized him from the lake.
“Hector, I’m Calvin, Iris’s best friend.” He stepped up to offer his hand for a shake, but I also saw his eyes gleaming at the fact that he knew who this man was.
Leah gasped so hard I thought that she might pass out. “Ummm, excuse me, no. That would be Christine and me,” she disputed, whipping her head to face Hector. “Hi. I’m Leah. One of the lead meteorologists on staff here and one of Iris’srealbest friends.”
Hector’s lip twitched, which for him I assumed was the equivalent of rolling on the floor laughing. At this very moment, though, I wished he were more like me—a totally readable face so I knew exactly what he was thinking.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Hector, and this is Jordan Jennings, one of our other rangers,” Hector said politely to Leah and then turned to me. “Agent Andrews called. All her agents were tied up, but she said that you had a piece of evidence she needed collected right away.”
Well, that explained it. Half of me was thrilled he was here because he made me all giddy inside. On the other hand, he clearly didn’t like me, so I wasn’t sure I liked having him here, making things more awkward.
“Oh, umm…yeah,” I stuttered. “Here’s the…uh...letter thing.”
Brilliant. Truly poetic delivery, Iris. You won’t be winning any Oscars for that performance.
I practically shoved the letter at him as he held open a large plastic zippered bag for me to put it in, and then he sealed it up.
“I’d rather not get even more fingerprints on it, but do you mind telling me what was written?” Hector asked me while looking down at the envelope and letter inside the bag.
I filled him in on everything the letter had said, noticing his jaw tighten slightly—but otherwise, there was zero reaction. The man was practically a vault.
“Seriously?” Jennings said, shock written all over his face. “He literally asked you to steal evidence?”
“Personally, I think it’s weirder that he asked her to re-enact the crime scene,” Calvin chimed in.
“Do you guys have security cameras or night guards in case this guy shows up?” Jennings asked, then mumbled under his breath. “This dude seems unhinged.”
I hadn’t thought about that.
“Do you think he would?” Leah asked, eyes wide.
“It’s not likely,” Hector said calmly, his gaze directed at Jennings as if to tell him to tone it down. “The letter was stamped in Utah. Not the same state, but also not that far.”
I hadn’t even noticed the stamp.
“Do you happen to offer bodyguard services?” Calvin interrupted.
I glared at him, hoping to signal him to shut up.
Clearly unfazed, he just kept going. “Or maybe friends who are bodyguards? I mean, any one of us will gladly walk out to the car with Iris, but we don’t exactly look as intimidating as you.”
Liar. He just wanted a handsome guy to stare at while he worked.
“I know a couple of guys I used to work with at LVPD who do private security,” Hector replied, eyes still pinned on me. It was so intense that it felt as if he were boring a hole straight through me. Or maybe he was just wondering why I was such a disaster.
“Thank you so much,” Leah said to him. “And also, thank you so much for helping Iris at the lake. She couldn’t stop raving about you and how wonderful it was to have your help.”
What. The. Hell? That was definitely not how I worded it at all. Unless “he grunted at me a lot and glared daggers at me” somehow translated into “he was so wonderful” in Leah’s brain.
“Yes, you should let her take you out to lunch as a thank-you,” Calvin added.
