Daisy stood.Ruby and Harlow would be gone all afternoon,and this woman would have to wait another month to find out if her honey hadanother honey?It wasn’t happening.Not on Daisy’s watch.
“I’ll go with you.”Daisy got her purse and made sure hercell phone was fully charged.The camera on her cell would have to do fortoday.She would need to invest in more sophisticated equipment as she movedmore heavily into her new career.The good news?Her birthday was coming up.
“You’re a detective?”the young woman asked.
She was now.Besides, this was an easy job, and she was hereto make life easy for her bosses.She set the phone system toawaymode.At least she thought she did.She was pretty sure.Then she set the alarmsystem.The light went green.Green was the universal sign for go.Well, atleast it was here in America.
“Absolutely.Now let’s go find your fiancé and put your mindat ease.”She followed the woman out, using her keys to lock the door.“I’msure this is all a misunderstanding.He’s probably not cheating on you.”
He wasn’t.It was far, far worse.
Chapter Two
“Let me get this straight,” Liam O’Donnell began, sitting inthe big conference room at his place of business.“I want to make sure I’ve goteverything down.”
Daisy O’Donnell had spent her whole life coming up to thisbuilding where her da worked.She’d played with her brother in the daycare, andlater she’d done her homework in her da’s office while she waited for him todrive her home.She knew this building like the back of her hand.It waspractically her second home.
So why did it feel so weird to be sitting in the conferenceroom?It was probably the fact that she wasn’t alone with her da.Her motherwas up here, too, looking worried and patting her da’s hand from time to time.The big boss, Ian Taggart, and his wife, Charlotte, were at the head of thetable, along with Mitch Bradford.She wasn’t sure why John’s dad was here, buthe was a lawyer.
She didn’t need a lawyer.Did she?
“I was helping out a client,” she began.
“Uhm, Mr.Taggart, I would like to make it clear we didn’thire Daisy as a private investigator.”Her bosses were here, too.Harlow andRuby sat at the opposite end of the table, and Harlow seemed to be the one whowanted to set the record straight.
“She was supposed to answer the phones.”Ruby frowned herway.
She was going to have to soothe her bosses.Things had donewhat they so often did in Daisy’s life.They had gone awry.
To top things off, her brother was somewhere in thebuilding.Aidan had been the one to drive her up, and he’d told her he neededto go talk to his newest roommate.
Nathan Carter.Big, gorgeous Nathan Carter, who’d barelyknown she’d existed past being his friend’s obnoxious sister.
She hadn’t seen Nate in years.Was he still stunning?Heprobably had a girlfriend.
“Daisy?”Her mother’s voice brought her out of her reverie.“Uncle Ian asked you a question.”
Of all the grave faces around the table, it was her aunt anduncle who broke the mold and looked highly amused.
“I asked how you went from answering the phones to takingdown a drug cartel,” Uncle Ian said, his lips curling up.He leaned in like hewas ready for this story.
Her da made a sound and held his heart like it was breaking.“My poor girl.”
Her mother got up and moved to the big table where therewere drinks and snacks laid out.“I’m going to make you some tea.”
“He’s going to need something stronger,” Aunt Charlottesaid.“I brought out the good whiskey.”
“Oh, you know what…” Daisy began, but then the look from hersweet mother could have frozen lava in its tracks.Well, she’d had a roughtwenty-four hours, too.Still, when her mom looked like that it was best tofollow her lead.And she could hit the bar at The Hideout later on.“Tea soundsgreat.Now, before I tell the story you should know I took every precaution.”
“Which ones?”Ruby asked, her eyes narrowing.“Like the onewhere you pushed in the security code and then didn’t ask it to set?”
“There was a green light.”It had been an honest mistake.“And I did lock the doors.”
“Yeah, well, someone broke in and we didn’t get anotification because the light should have been red,” Harlow pointed out.“NowDad Two thinks we should move the whole office.Well, he thinks we should shutit down.Also, I’m still trying to figure out how he found me at the café.Iwas almost late for my meeting because I was dealing with my dad.Mr.Taggart,do you have like a wand or something?I think my dad LoJacked me.”
“I do, actually.”Uncle Ian had the biggest smile on hisface.
Maybe telling Chase Dawson they were getting sandwiches at acafé wasn’t the smartest thing.She hadn’t told him the name of the café.Weren’t there like a hundred in Dallas?“I’m sorry.I thought green meant itwas set.”
