It was part of her campaign to remind him just how much of her family’s Old South money she’d invested in Kingston and how significant her personal stake really was. From the boys in their private high school to the family’s sprawling three-story Georgian-style home in nearby Great Falls, she played the role.
He despised the personal part. Let him stay at the office, away from the ridiculous chatter and incessant arguing over things like limits on the boys’ television watching and picking the “right” school activities, and his satisfaction level remained high.
Except for Sean Moore.
Glenn stepped up to the opposite side of the oversized desk. “We were unable to reach Sean’s sister in Annapolis as hoped. She wasn’t at her shop.”
Bryce glanced at his watch a second time, even though he was very aware of the hour. “This should be the one time of the day she’s there.”
The businessman in him balked at the idea of an owner walking away at the busiest part of the workday. Summer in Annapolis meant tourists and profits. She ran a small business. She’d have to be insane to leave her shop during peak hours.
Glenn nodded. “I agree.”
Bryce turned his pen end over end, tapping it against the desktop with each pass. “Then tell me why her shop is closed.”
“The police surrounded the place.”
His pen hung there, stopped in midair, when he heard the exact comment he dreaded. “Someone called the police?”
“Yes.”
The last thing he needed was outside interference. “Find out who and while you’re at it, find her.”
Glenn swallowed hard enough for his throat to bobble. “Right.”
“We find her, we find her idiot brother.”
“And then?”
Bryce knew the next step. He didn’t have the benefit of growing up in an expensive neighborhood lined with trees and home to rounds of nannies, which in this case would have been a detriment anyway. The Baltimore docks had taught him a thing or two about life.
“I’ll handle Sean Moore.”
Chapter Four
Fifteen minutes later, Pax created a false trail. He doubled back and looped around, using skills he learned long before reaching adulthood, when he’d been trying to hide from Davis after curfew and downing more beer than his dimwitted teen brain could handle. With the road behind him clear except for the usual summer traffic, Pax eased his death grip on the steering wheel and let his shoulders slump back into the seat.
He eyed up Joel and Kelsey in the backseat of the SUV. They sat on opposite sides of the vehicle, with Kelsey pressed tight against the door, her head resting on the glass.
Pax, usually comfortable with silence, felt the need to say something. “I’m hoping this next part of the plan goes better.”
Joel smiled but his attention never wavered from his scan outside the window. “We have a plan?”
“Not exactly what I wanted to hear,” she mumbled.
Pax eased his foot off the gas and tapped the brakes so he could make the steep turn into the driveway behind the Corcoran Team property. The bounce under the wheels had his leg shifting and his back teeth grinding together.
The ride through slim streets, historical and perfect for the charming look of the tourist town, made the trip bumpy. The constant lookout for following cars kept his focus off the road just long enough for him to hit every stupid pothole between Kelsey’s shop and the team headquarters.
She rested a hand against the window. “This looks like a house, not a workplace.”
Pax understood the confusion. On top of the emotional roller coaster, he drove her deeper into the heart of the historic section of Annapolis and straight up to a house sitting amid tall trees. It was a federal-style standalone and a bit imposing the way it soared three stories into the air, except for a small portion, about a third, of the top floor that functioned as an open porch area—which they never used because the site would leave them too exposed.
“Don’t worry,” Joel said. “It’s a home on the top and office on the bottom.”
Pax was done talking and ready to find a bottle of painkillers. “Let’s go.”
He slammed the car into Park the second he pulled into one of the open garage bays at the back of the office property. He had the door open and jumped down, hoping to walk off the big band thumping in his thigh.
The small white stones that paved the space between the separate garage and the redbrick building crunched under his shoes and further threw off his balance. Much more of this and he’d be back on crutches, and he vowed to burn those as soon as he found out where Lara had hidden them.
Lara Bart Weeks, his brand-new sister-in-law and the absolute best thing ever to happen to his big brother, Davis. He was two years older and even now off enjoying the end of his honeymoon while Pax handled the coffeehouse mess.
Not that this job was supposed to blow.
Pax had been ordered to desk duty until his leg healed. The only reason the boss let Pax handle the assignment was he threatened to shoot out the surveillance screens in the office if he had to sit there and do paperwork for one more minute. That led to a low-risk operation, a stakeout of the coffee shop. Just sitting and eating doughnuts.
In some ways, it was an easy stakeout because no one expected Sean to seek out his sister. Nothing in their relationship suggested he would, not when he was deeply mired in trouble. And boy was he. But Sean had surprised them all.
They’d gotten halfway across the open space of the yard when Connor Bowen slipped out the back door of the house and stood on the small porch, just under the overhang. He wore black dress pants and a long-sleeve blue dress shirt, and managed to blend in despite being totally out of place in the relaxed summer environment.
But that’s who he was. After years in the field doing work and traveling to places Pax could only guess about, Connor craved air-conditioning and a desk.
“So much for the idea of resting the leg,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared Pax down. Being only seven years older didn’t keep Connor from looking every inch the in-charge boss man.
Kelsey stopped biting her lower lip and came to a halt in the clearing. Her arm shot out and she grabbed Pax’s. “You really are injured?”
Connor’s eyebrow lifted. “You can’t tell?”
Joel snorted as he passed them all by and went straight to the back door. “I need food and the bathroom, and not in that order.”
“Knock yourself out.” Connor shifted to the side to let Joel pass, but then he restaked his ground. Legs braced, arms folded and hovering by the door as if to say anyone who went in had to go through him first.
Pax got secrecy and understood
