“Thought you had so much computer work to catch up on.”
She met his smirk with a scowl. “I do.”
Rachel slid into the spot in front of her laptop. Just like in his office and the other day in the minivan, her floral scent settled around him. Soothing and enticing. He couldn’t help but draw in that aroma in a long, deep breath. That only forced him to exhale as hard as he could without making her think he was about to pass out.
Even if there hadn’t been warnings in those emails nor a possible threat from that SUV driver the other day, he had to recognize the danger of getting too close to the former fire chief’s sister. To his reputation, sure. But maybe to someone in as vulnerable a place as he was as well.
While Rachel clicked on a browser and navigated to a web-based email service, Mick did his own search for a safe topic.
“Is that the site of thehacking?”
“Do you want to see the emails or not?” She frowned at the screen while she typed in credentials. After a few seconds, an inbox appeared. “And figuring out a password isn’t the same thing as ‘hacking.’”
“Isn’t it, though?” When she didn’t answer, he added, “You’re lucky your brother didn’t have two-factor authentication turned on, or he would’ve received the code on his cell, and it wouldn’t have let you in, even with a password.”
She scrolled through the long list. “He doesn’t have access to his cell at all at the center. Just these patient phones that during certain hours he’s allowed to use to call loved ones. If he chooses to.”
Though Mick was tempted to ask her about the last part, he decided to stay on topic. “If he knew you wanted it, would he have given you the password?”
Rachel didn’t answer right away. When she did, it was with her body language, shoulders curling forward and chin dipping to her chest. She splayed her fingers over the keys, not pressing any of them.
“He hasn’t called me in more than a week. But when he did call, he said I should stop asking questions about things that aren’t any of my business. How can clearing my brother’s name, and finding out the truth about Dad’s death for that matter,notbe my business?”
Though Mick had to agree with her brother on some of that, Rachel had a point. She might have been missing the possibility that Riley had something to hide as well. Maybe even something that could prove he’d embezzled funds from the department.
“He was probably just trying to keep you safe,” he said, and then rubbed the back of his neck. If his need to reassure Rachel wasn’t more proof that he should back several steps away from her, then he couldn’t read a caution sign.
“Anyway, sounds like you listened to him about as much as you listened to me.” As usual, when he couldn’t think of anything else to say, he went for a laugh.
“I don’t like to be told what to do. Byanybody.”
He expected her to pin him with her stare then to reinforce that she was talking about him, but she grabbed the external mouse and started scrolling through the packed inbox instead.
“You don’t find it easy to trust anyone, either.”
This time she jerked her head to look at him, her hands gripping the edge of the table on either side of the laptop. “What do you mean by that?”
He blinked, as surprised by his question as her reaction to it. “I mean…someone must have donesomething—”
“You might as well just say it. ‘Some dude must’ve really done a number on you.’”
“I didn’t say—” Mick stopped himself because he’d nearly said something close to that. But since he had a shovel, he couldn’t resist digging deeper with it. “I did notice that Carly and Carissa’s dad isn’t around, so…”
“You’re expecting me to fill in the blanks, right?” She didn’t wait for his answer before ticking off on her fingers. “Let me see… My mom died in a car accident when I was nine. My dad took his life last August. I’m the reason for my brother’s relapse and his stint in rehab. Is that enough?”
He squirmed with the reality that he wanted to know more. But how could he admit that he was still curious about the twins’ father when she’d just shared tragic details that eclipsed anything some jerk boyfriend could have done? He held up his hands in surrender.
“Sorry. It’s none of my business.” Even if he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of idiot could have left Rachel Hoffman. Had he forgotten that one of the messages she’d found warned about what curiosity did to cats?
“Are those wounds big enough for you?” she pressed.
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Sorry about your mom, though,” Mick said, after an awkward pause. His throat filled over the lost little girl, forced to bury her mother when she wasn’t much older than the twins. “I didn’t know.”
“Angelita Flores Hoffman. I look like her in pictures, but her face is pretty blurry in my memories.”
