She followed his gaze. “I don’t see any.”
Derek shook his head. “Because there aren’t any. Damn it!”
He looked back at his car and shook his head in frustration before pulling out his phone and calling his brother. When he ended that call, he immediately made another.
“We’ve got a problem.”
Charlie looked at him questioningly, so he held the phone to the side and told her it was Trevor. She stood out of the way as he gave his teammate the rundown of what had happened.
He took in the damage to his car again and then looked at the other cars parked in the lot. This was no coincidence.
None of the other vehicles in the lot had been touched. Only his.
This was personal.
A few minutes later a police cruiser pulled up, followed by one that was unmarked.
“Damn, man.” His brother got out of the unmarked car and walked over to where they were standing. “Who’d you piss off this time?”
The two brothers shook hands.
Derek grinned. “Got a ream of paper handy? I could make you a list.”
Eric laughed. “I bet you could.”
Eric’s gaze fell on Charlie’s, his half-smirk spreading into a wide, toothy grin. “Hey, Charlie Girl.” He grabbed ahold of her and gave her a tight squeeze. “Man, it’s good to see you again.”
To look at his brother, you’d never know he was Derek’s twin. The shape and color of their eyes were the only things the two men had in common.
Unlike his, Eric’s nose was straight. His brother also had brown hair, like their dad’s, where Derek’s was a lighter, dirty blonde like their Mom’s.
Eric’s blue eyes stared back at Charlie with both affection and concern. “I’m sorry I missed dinner the other day. I really wanted to be there.’
“That’s okay.” She gave him a small grin. “Were you able to solve your case?”
A shadow fell over his brother’s face, but Eric recovered quickly. “Not yet. But we will.”
Derek made a mental note to find out later what that was all about.
Charlie smiled up at his brother. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”
Eric chuckled. “I appreciate the vote of confidence. If you could pass that along to my captain, that’d be great.”
Derek watched as his brother glanced down at her dress then back up to her face. With a shake of his head, he put his hands on his hips and smiled again.
“Damn, Charlie. You sure grew up nice.”
“Thanks.” She tucked some hair behind her ear. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“Meh.” Eric brushed away the compliment.
Derek was about to step in and tell his brother to quit flirting with his woman when Eric slapped him on the shoulder and said, “You finally picked a good one. Don’t screw it up.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Derek smiled down at Charlie. “I don’t plan to.”
“Good.” Eric grinned. “I always hoped you two would find your way back to each other.”
He could tell Eric’s comment surprised the hell out of Charlie. Derek just gave her one of his winks and moved on.
