She shrugged and took a bite of her burger. “He’s a lawyer.”
I rolled my eyes. “So am I. It’s not that hard.” Then I sighed. Tess had a hang-up because she hadn’t gone to college, and I just didn’t get it. “You’re really smart.”
“I know.” She set the burger down.
But she didn’t. Not really. It was weird to be in the position of trying to encourage my older sister. She’d always been my protector, just as fierce as Donna. “Tess. If you’re having a hang-up about college, go get a degree. If not, then don’t confuse education with intelligence. Some of the dumbest people I know are lawyers.”
“Like you,” Pauley snorted.
I shared a smile with Tessa. A joke from Pauley, a real joke, was a rare and special treat. “I’ll think about it,” Tessa said. “Though I’m not sure I want to spend four years learning about business. I might want to just start one.”
“Really?” I chewed thoughtfully. “That’s awesome. What kind of business?”
“I’ll let you know when I decide,” she said.
I nodded. “Fair enough. For now, make sure you have tomorrow afternoon off. I got us spa appointments—on me.”
She frowned. “On you?”
“Yeah. Part of a case.” I filled her in on what I could, and her eyes glimmered with the excitement of going undercover. Kind of, anyway. I had just finished when a shadow crossed our table, and I looked up to see Nick. I swallowed and introduced him to Tessa and Pauley.
He finished shaking hands with Tessa. “I have to get going but thought you could walk me out. Have a couple of thoughts about our cases.”
Our cases.I liked the sound of that way too much and had to remind myself that one of the cases was about Aiden, who’d just kissed me the day before. Really well.
“Sure.” I stood and took my paper plate over to the garbage. My legs were a little tingly. There were a zillion good-looking guys in the world, but this one was smack dab in the middle of mine. And I didn’t know a thing about him—not really. “Good idea.”
You’d think leaving a family barbecue, one held every Sunday, would be easy and quick to do. You’d be wrong. It took nearly twenty minutes for Nick to make it from my table, across the lawn, and finally through the house, saying goodbyes and coming up with plans. Finally, we stepped outside and walked toward the Koi pond.
“It was nice of your family to invite me,” he said.
“I work for you and you’re single,” I said easily, dodging over the rocks.
He chuckled. “Yeah. That’s what I figured. Silverville really never changes.”
No. It didn’t. I turned and shielded my eyes from the sun with one hand. “You wanted to talk about the Devlin case?”
“First thing tomorrow,” Nick said, the sun behind him creating a fit outline of his muscled body. “We’ll set up a war-room and go over the information I received from the county police about Scot Peterson as well as Aiden Devlin, since I believe the cases are related. I’ve also called in a couple of favors with the DEA for any of their surveillance on Devlin and the Lordes.”
The net was definitely tightening around Aiden. Considering Scot had been killed, was Aiden in danger as well? Was it possible the cases weren’t somehow connected? “I’ll be in at eight,” I murmured.
Nick paused and ran a hand through his dark hair, ruffling the thick mass. “I requested your harassment casefile regarding Jareth Davey from the Silverville police force.”
I paused. My current casefile? “Why?”
Even with the sun behind him, his eyes glowed a low amber. “I told you I’d find Jareth Davey for you. I’m surprised you didn’t tell me about the cards he sends to you.”
My stomach cramped, and I lifted my chin. “I haven’t asked you to find Jareth Davey. I don’t want to know where he is.” His location didn’t make one bit of a difference in my life, so long as he didn’t live in Idaho. “Why do you even care?”
For the first time, something flickered in Nick Basanelli’s eyes. Something uncertain. “I want to help.”
I didn’t need help. “How did you even discover that there is a current investigation?”
Nick rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”
Good point. Silverville. No secrets. “I don’t care about the cards.” I couldn’t prove that each anniversary and Christmas card came from Jareth Davey, and since he’d never made a move, I wasn’t going to spend my life letting him scare me. That was his plan, and he wouldn’t win. I passed each card on to the small police department in Silverville, and they fingerprinted them, with no luck. Then I ignored them, breathing easier from June until December because there would be no cards. “Drop this, Nick.”
“He still contacts you. You need to know where he is,” Nick said quietly.
