Tessa sighed in a potent mixture of anticipation and delight that gave him a glimpse of what she had looked like when she was an innocent girl who’d never experienced any pain or trauma. “Doughnuts.” Her eyes were closed, her expression pure bliss. “And on Tuesday, they have a crème brûlée doughnut with vanilla custard, and they torch the top.”
“Every Tuesday,” Gil said. “We had to increase our weekly coffee club dues to pay for the doughnuts, not that any of us are complaining. They have a peanut butter and jelly doughnut that will make you think you’re headed to kindergarten instead of the office. You’ll start looking for your little desk with the pencil holder at the top.”
“Peanut butter and jelly?” Zane didn’t try to hide his skepticism. He was a doughnut purist. Plain. Glazed. Krispy Kreme. Done.
“I ordered several of everything today.” Tessa had a light in her eyes that some might call rabid. Not that he would say that out loud. “Zane has to try them all. They have the best glazed yeast doughnuts, but their sourdough with the chocolate and hazelnuts?”
“Ivy’s favorite. And Emily’s.” Gil flicked on the blinker. “Here we go. Zane, get ready for a sugar overload. The last time I went in here with Tessa, I gained five pounds before I got back to the car.”
They walked in and the aroma of sugar, yeast, and coffee, with hints of chocolate and cinnamon, permeated the air. Tessa bumpedhis arm. “You’ll smell like this place for a few hours. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Remind me not to come in here before the president arrives.”
“Your order is ready, Special Agent Reed.” A young woman stood behind the counter. “We added the extra coffees and doughnuts you requested for this week.”
“Thank you, Cherry.” Tessa handed over her credit card.
Cherry leaned toward her, and Zane didn’t pretend not to eavesdrop. “I saw you on the news Friday night. You’re famous!”
Tessa’s smile was genuine, her words full of a big-sister warmth when she replied. “Thanks. But don’t believe everything you see on the news. The only part of the story he got right was my name.”
“But you were at the Carmichael estate. Right?” Cherry returned the credit card to Tessa. “I’ve always wanted to see inside. It’s supposed to be gorgeous.”
“How do you know about the Carmichaels?” Tessa framed the question as one would when mildly curious.
“Oh, their children are the same age as my aunt. She went to middle school with one of them. She went to a couple of birthday parties at the house and says the place was unbelievable. But, of course, she doesn’t remember a lot of details.”
“I can confirm that it is a stunning home. Beautifully furnished and quite elegant. But I can’t say more.”
Cherry’s wonder was evident on her face. “You have the coolest job.”
“Some days it is.” Tessa took the coffees one of the baristas handed her. “But you have a cool job too. Coming here is one of the highlights of my week. You make people happy. Don’t ever minimize the importance of that. There are not nearly enough happy people in the world, so you’re doing a good thing.”
Cherry’s eyes were glistening as she whispered her thanks. Ittook Gil, Zane, and Tessa to carry out the coffees and the three—yes, three—bags of doughnuts.
“Do I want to know how many doughnuts you bought?” Zane asked.
Tessa hugged two of the bags to her. “I suggest you don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to.” Her tone was frosty, but her smile was like an iced tea on a hot day.
Zane followed behind Tessa, with Gil splitting off to go to the driver’s side. But before they made it to the car, an extended-cab pickup pulled in and parked beside their vehicle. There were four other open spaces. Why did he park so close? The driver opened his door and temporarily pinned Tessa in the space between the car and the truck. He hopped down and moved to close his door, which left him inches away from Tessa.
And that was when Zane saw the knife.
TESSA’SANNOYANCEat the truck driver’s rudeness morphed into fury when he stepped toward her, knife in hand.
This was getting old. How much of a weakling did they think she was? She was a trained federal officer. She wasn’t about to be taken out by a knife-wielding imbecile. Before he took another step, Tessa threw the doughnuts at the man. It startled him long enough for her to adjust her position in the tight space between vehicles and aim a kick at his knee.
Her foot connected, and that knee would never be the same. His scream tainted the cool morning air and almost covered the sound of the knife hitting the pavement. Her would-be attacker sagged against Gil’s car before he slid to the ground with his hands clutched around his damaged leg.
By the time he was down, Gil was on the other side of the narrow gap between the truck and the car, weapon drawn.
Zane was a warm presence at her back, and she didn’t need to look to know that he also had a weapon drawn.
They had the man covered, so she knelt beside the bag of doughnuts that had landed near the driver’s-side door of the truck. She opened it and removed a napkin from the top. She swiveled to her right and, with the napkin, lifted the knife from its location a foot underneath Gil’s car.
She stood and did nothing to hide her disgust. “This knife is filthy.”
Zane stepped back enough for her to slide out from between the vehicles, and she showed him the knife. “When am I going to get attacked by a classy criminal?”
