course,” Elsie said with an innocent bat of her lashes.
“And you’ll feed Severus for me?”
“Every morning and afternoon to make sure that his blood sugar stays normal.” She snorted. “And cats are supposed to be low-maintenance pets.”
Bess smiled gratefully at the older woman. “Thanks, Elsie. You’re a peach.” She turned to face him once again and then headed toward the door and picked up an overnight bag. “I’m ready when you are.”
He hurried forward and took the bag from her hand, then opened the door for her, making the effort to remember that he was a gentleman and had been taught common courtesies.
“I could have gotten that,” she said. “Believe me, I’m used to carrying things a lot heavier.”
He imagined so. Nevertheless, he’d do the heavy lifting on this trip. He opened the car door for her and tried not to watch the way the denim clung to her luscious heart-shaped ass as she slipped into the passenger seat. Muttering a plea for self-restraint, he stored her bag in the back of the SUV next to his, then helped Honey into the backseat and unclipped her leash.
“She’s going to hate me for riding shotgun, isn’t she?” Bess remarked, glancing back at his dog. He loved the way her hair curved along her sleek jaw, over her shoulders and around one breast. It was sexy and sensual and utterly effortless on her part, which naturally made it all the more appealing. His dick stirred behind his zipper, forcing him to shift into a more comfortable position. This was so not good, Lex thought as he slid the key into the ignition and started the car. He looked over his shoulder and then pulled out into traffic, belatedly realizing that he had no idea where they were going. In retrospect, he should have gone over that with her before leaving the store.
Too late now.
Not off to a very auspicious start, Lex thought, feeling more and more out of control.
“She’ll be fine,” he said, finally answering her question about the dog. “Payne brought me up to speed on what is going on and mentioned that your thief has been moving from one address to the next closest. Is this correct?” There, he thought. That sounded semiprofessional.
“It is,” she confirmed. She pulled a paper from a folder she’d had in her bag and consulted it for a moment. “Based on the address of the last incident he should be going down toward Waycross.”
“Waycross?”
“Yes, if he’s continuing to the next closest address. I figure he’ll stay within Georgia before going toward Mississippi, Tennessee or the Carolinas.”
He felt his eyes widen. Good grief, he’d had no idea they could potentially be covering that kind of ground, much less that in her quest for junk she covered that kind of ground. Had Payne left that little tidbit out of the briefing? Lex wondered, or had he just missed it?
“Have you alerted your clients in Waycross?” he asked, trying to quickly pull together a plan.
“Client,” she corrected. “And yes I have. Gus has been put on alert, knows that I haven’t sent anyone as my representative and he doesn’t have anything remotely resembling the book. He’s armed, and if anyone comes up on his property and doesn’t heed him, they’re liable to get the shock of their lives.”
“Sounds like this guy needs it,” Lex remarked with a grunt. “Have you had breakfast?”
She blinked, seemingly confused by the sudden subject change. “Breakfast?”
“First meal of the day,” he said. “From the late Middle English breakfast, meaning to break one’s fast.”
“I know what it is,” she said, shooting him an exasperated smile. “But thanks for the etymology lesson all the same.”
He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t enough to know what a word meant, he wanted to know where it had come from, as well. He was an avid crossword fan and he found that knowing a word’s origin often helped him figure things out. He’d picked the habit up from his grandfather, who’d also been in the service, and had been working them ever since.
“Well?” he pressed.
She looked confused again, as though they weren’t having the same conversation. “Well what?”
He chuckled. “Have you had breakfast?”
She grinned. “I have, actually, but if you haven’t, then I certainly don’t mind watching you eat.”
“I’ve already eaten, too,” he told her. “But I think we need to plot our route a little more thoroughly, so why don’t we stop for a quick cup of coffee and work that out?”
She nodded. “Sure. That sounds good.”
He found a coffeehouse with an outside eating area for Honey, and Bess stayed with the dog while he went in and ordered for them. The air had a bit of a chill to it, but thankfully not so cold as to be unpleasant. Bess had tied Honey’s leash to a chair and was busy petting the dog, who naturally had her head angled toward the store until he came out.
“She doesn’t like it when she can’t see you,” Bess remarked when he returned with their drinks and a Danish apiece. He handed Bess her spiced apple cider and took a chair opposite her. Honey immediately came to sit at his feet, resting her chin against his knee. He patted her head and rubbed her velvety ears. “She’s awfully devoted. How long have you had her?”
“About five months,” Lex told her.
She took a sip of her drink and he noticed she’d donned a kelly green hat, a matching scarf and fingerless gloves. Impossibly, she looked even more gorgeous. “So she wasn’t a puppy when you got her?”
“No. According to the vet she’s about a year and a half.” He tore off a piece of apple tart and put it in his mouth. “What about you? What’s a Severus?” he asked, remembering her instructions to Elsie.
She laughed softly. “A Severus is a black cat and he’s the unofficial boss of my house.”
“Unofficial boss?”
“I’m the official one,” she confided. “I just don’t tell him that.”
“And this is Severus, as in Severus Snape, the much-vilified and hated Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?”
She gasped delightedly. “A hobby etymologist and you know your Harry Potter.”
He’d read the books while he’d been recovering. It was the first time in years that he’d had so much time to simply be still, and he’d heard the books were filled with a lot of literary references and mythology. He’d enjoyed every minute of them.
“They were incredible,” he said. But nice as this was, it wasn’t getting them any closer to their goal. He snagged the maps on the table and picked up a red ink pen. “In order to make sure we know exactly where we’re going and where we are in relation to where he might be, I think we need to mark everything off on the map and then go from there.”
She pulled an atlas from her bag and opened it to Georgia. “You
