“You should. You’ve been working twelve-hour days lately. Don’t want you burning out.”
She laughed. “Listen to you. Mr. Boundaries. Mr. Work-Life Balance. Telling me not to overwork.”
“I’ve learned from the best.” He finished the vegetables and moved to wrap his arms around her from behind. “Besides, I like having you home at reasonable hours. Means we actually get to spend time together.”
“You mean you don’t want to live with a workaholic?”
“Hypocritical, I know. But no. I want to live with the woman I love. Who happens to have a successful business. But who also knows when to close the laptop and be present.”
Nora turned in his arms. “You’re really doing it, you know. Everything you promised. The boundaries. The therapy. The showing up.”
“I’m trying.”
“You’re succeeding.” She kissed him. “I’m proud of you.”
They finished making dinner—the coq au vin turned out surprisingly good—and ate at the table, talking about everything and nothing. Nora’s plans to expand her business. Carson’s consideration of the promotion to lead detective. The vacation they wanted to take next month.
Normal couple things. The kind of conversation Carson had never imagined having six months ago when Nora had left and he’d thought he’d lost her forever.
After dinner, they cleaned up together, then settled on the couch with wine. Nora had brought work home—a proposal she wanted to finish—and Carson had some case files to review.
“Is this okay?” Nora asked, opening her laptop. “Me working while you’re working?”
“It’s fine. We’re together. That’s what matters.” He pulled out the file he’d brought home. “Just being in the same room counts.”
They worked in comfortable silence for a while, both focused on their respective tasks. It felt good. Balanced. Like they’d finally figured out how to maintain their individual ambitions while still prioritizing their relationship.
Carson was reviewing Eugene’s case file—something he did periodically, making sure all the documentation was complete for the trial that was finally scheduled for next month. Eugene had pled not guilty, and the DA wanted everything airtight.
But something caught Carson’s eye.
A notation in the evidence log. Three years before Eugene had escalated to attacking Nora, there’d been a report filed. A woman in Eugene’s previous apartment building had reported feeling watched. Evidence had been collected, including potential DNA samples from items left at her door.
But the evidence was marked as destroyed. Water damage. Authorization by...Captain Ray Shaw.
Carson frowned. Shaw again. He’d been so focused on the twelve cases he’d alreadydocumented, he hadn’t thought to check if there were even more recent ones.
It was an oversight he could kick himself for.
He pulled up the evidence database and searched for Eugene Whitmore. Found four other reports spanning five years before Eugene’s arrest. All from different women. All reporting similar behavior—feeling watched, things moved, gifts appearing.
And in every case, evidence had either gone missing or been destroyed during Shaw’s tenure.
“Something wrong?” Nora asked, looking up from her laptop.
“Maybe. I’m not sure.” Carson turned his laptop toward her. “Look at this. Eugene had multiple reports filed against him over five years. But evidence kept disappearing. All during Shaw’s time as captain.”
Nora studied the screen. “So Shaw was protecting Eugene specifically? Not just running a general operation?”
“I don’t know.” He hesitated. “Could be both. Eugene paid for protection, like Dan said. But this is more evidence than we originally thought.” Carson made notes. “I need to tell Captain Holloway. This could affect Eugene’s trial. Could show a pattern of stalking that goes back years.”
“Can you prove Shaw destroyed the evidence deliberately? Or could it be legitimate?”
“That’s what I need to figure out.” Carson closed his laptop. “But not tonight. Tonight is for us. I’ll look into this tomorrow.”
He meant it. Six months ago, he would have spent the entire evening diving into this. Would have ignored Nora, ignored dinner, ignored everything except the case.
Now? Now he set it aside. Because Nora was right here. And she mattered more than a case that could wait until morning.
