Tanner raised an eyebrow.“Can’t or won’t?”
Mrs.Andrews let out a sigh.“Can’t.”
He muttered a curse under his breath.“You’re paying her under the table.”
Her lips tightened.“We are allotted a certain amount of labor wages every year without having to claim it on our taxes.”
He rubbed a hand across his face.“I’m not going to turn you into the IRS, Mrs.A.I’m concerned for yoursafety.You don’t even know this woman’s Social Security number.”
“Actually, we don’t even know her last name.She didn’t want to give it, so we just let it go.”
Tanner swallowed a curse that would definitely get him snatched out of the Sunday School class.“I can’t just let it go.”
She nodded.“I understand, but she’s not the bad guy.”
Tanner thought of those big green eyes and the exhaustion and desperation that seemed to hang over her like a cloud even now.“Maybe not.But I’d still like to talk to her further.Which hotel is she staying at?”
“Neither.She’s staying at the apartment just outside town Dan and I spruced up last year for when the kids come to visit.We’re letting her have it for free for right now, until she gets back on her feet.And don’t you try to talk us out of it, Tanner Dempsey.Both Dan and I agree it’s the right thing to do.”
He took the last sip of his coffee.“I’m not going to try to talk you out of it.But I’m not going to ignore that she could be a threat to this town.That woman has secrets, and I intend to find out what they are.”
Chapter Five
Bree waited for the knock at her door she’d known would be coming from the moment she saw Tanner Dempsey in the diner.She’d done her best to avoid eye contact with the sexy officer but had no doubt he’d be showing up here soon.
He wanted answers.And he didn’t strike her as someone who would stop until he got them.
Should she run?Try to get out before he arrived?
She looked around the small one-bedroom apartment that Dan and Cheryl were letting them stay at as part of her “salary.”The last eight nights had been the closest Bree had come to a full night’s sleep in the six weeks since her life had been thrown into total upheaval with the care of the twins.
Those babies were a piece of her now.She would do anything to protect them, even what was almost impossible for her: trusting other people.
She didn’t know exactly why the Andrewses were helping her, just knew right now she didn’t have any other options, so she would accept it.She had a door that locked, a general feeling of security and their basic needs were being met.
Maybe she wasn’t exactly doing a great job with the twins’ care—Christian still cried all the time, obviously subconsciously aware in his little baby brain that Bree wasn’t a qualified caretaker—but hopefully if Melissa could see them now she wouldn’t completely regret her decision to trust Bree.
And being safe here had allowed Bree to start looking into the data on the hard drive Melissa had sent with the twins.
Very, very carefully.
The data on it could only be accessed by pinging off the Organization’s own servers.Bree was an expert at covering her tracks, but nobody could completely hide from them while simultaneously attempting to access their own network.The best she could do was make them think she was harmless.
And that she definitely wasn’t Bethany Malone, the hacker genius they’d helped create, forging her in brutality.
But coming at the data this way was slow, especially when Bree wasn’t sure what exactly she was accessing and how it might help Melissa.She just knew she had to take some time to try while she was relatively safe, even if it meant working for hours at night after already putting in long shifts during the day.
Christian began to cry, so she picked him up, walking back and forth while rubbing his back.“Come on now, kiddo.I’ve had a full day on my feet.How about if you settle down so I can worry myself sick before the big bad cop arrives.”
Beth, unlike her cranky brother, stayed asleep, as she tended to do.Even when she was awake, she was all smiles and big eyes.But both of them were growing more every day.Staying awake a little longer.Showing just a little more personality.
Soon they wouldn’t be content to stay in their carriers most of the time.They’d want to sit up and look around more.Not long after that, they’d begin crawling.
That was beyond scary to think about.
“I know your mama misses you, buddy.She wouldn’t believe how big you’ve gotten in the weeks since she’s seen you.I’m going to try to get you back to her real soon.”
As if those were the words Christian had been waiting to hear, he snuggled into her shoulder and closed his eyes.
