“Very,” my dad agreed. “He was instructed to hire men who were expendable if they got caught. Idiots, according to him, though he admitted they served their purpose well enough. The heists he led went smoothly. The others didn’t.”
“So, he decided to take part in it again and see it go right,” Ian said.
“That’s about the size of it. According to him, everything would have gone just fine this time too,”—my dad turned and grinned at me—“if he hadn’t ended up with such a clumsy hostage.”
I raised my glass. “If not me, it would have been the FBI who foiled his plan.”
Ian hid a smile behind his glass.
“Unfortunately,” my dad continued, “following up on the information he provided hasn’t gotten anyone very far. Burner phones were used, and tracking the emails hasn’t led anywhere either.”
Ian leaned back slightly. “Someone knows how to hide.”
“That they do,” my dad said.
I set my glass down. “Are the FBI looking into who rented the safety deposit boxes that were opened?”
“They are,” my dad confirmed. “But so far none of those box holders turned out to have multiple boxes.”
That didn’t sit right with me. Someone had known exactly which boxes to open or at least the proximity. And whoever it was had managed to stay very well hidden.
My dad pushed his chair back and stood. “I’d better get going. I have a meeting with the mayor. She wants to discuss police presence for the Labor Day Festival.”
I scrunched my brow. “Why would Mom want to meet with you for that when she’s already familiar with it?”
“She requests my presence for things she knows are already well in hand just so we can have lunch together or take a walk—time for just the two of us.”
“Make sure there is no rumpy bumpy going on,” I teased, and when his brow creased, I smiled. “Better known as hanky panky.”
My dad chuckled. “Do you really think your mother would do anything inappropriate in her or my office?”
I considered that and he made a point, then he went and totally floored me when he reached the door.
“Though your mom does have a wild side to her on occasion.” He chuckled and walked out the door.
The kitchen suddenly got quiet.
Ian looked at me, a twinkle in his eye and a teasing smile spreading across his face. “So, you do take after your mum.”
I shook my head. “Don’t even paint that picture in my mind.”
“Why not? I think it’s great that your mom and dad’s love for each other is just as strong now as it was when they were young.”
“I’ve actually thought the same recently.”
Ian walked around the island. “We’re going to be just like them.”
“I was hoping the same.”
He rested his hand lightly on the back of my island stool and leaned down.
“I do have to get back to the shoot,” he said softly.
“So, you came all the way home just for tea?” I asked.
Ian smiled. “Not exactly.”
He brushed a strand of hair back from my face that had fallen loose from my long ponytail and kissed me. It wasn’t rushed. Just warm and lingering enough to make the rest of the morning feel suddenly a little brighter.
