Especially after he and Della realized they had feelings for each other.

  Chase had always admired his cousin’s dedication, but it was only now, when he saw a lightness in the man he hadn’t seen for years, that he realized the real toll that work had taken on Max.

  He was damn glad the man had decided to move on.

  “Love and retirement from the Bureau look good on you.”

  “Everything’s different. I can’t believe just how different—” Max took a sip of his drink “—but I’m not questioning it.”

  “I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.”

  “I wanted to hear how things were working out with SecuritKey and, well...” Max put down his glass, wiping a small bit of moisture from the lip. “We’ve all been through a lot these past few months. Your dad dying. Finding out he and my mom had a family. Meeting Nate and Sarah. It’s...” Max trailed off, before seeming to regain his voice. “It’s a lot.”

  Hadn’t Chase said something similar to Sloan just earlier?

  What he, his siblings and his cousins had all dealt with was more than Chase could have ever imagined, but he’d also gained enough perspective to realize that it couldn’t have been any easier for Nate and Sarah. They might be viewing the situation from the opposite perspective, but it wasn’t really any better, knowing their parents had kept such a huge secret from them, too.

  “We both know what each other’s going through, Chase. And if there’s anything I’ve learned, especially after finding those bodies of the young women who will never get a chance to live their lives to the fullest, it’s that we need to support each other.”

  “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up. That this is just some strange, extended dream and it’ll all be over.” Chase took a sip of his own drink. “But it’s like, surprise! You’re wide-awake, pal.”

  “It helps that Nate and Sarah are so great.”

  “Yeah, they are. And I want to give that a chance. A real chance. They’re brother and sister to us all. And they’re no more responsible for this weird situation than any of us are.”

  “No. You can lay that squarely at the feet of our parents.”

  Chase stared into his drink, seeking some semblance of wisdom from the amber liquid, even as he knew that was as futile as wishing his father had been a different man.

  “You think it’ll ever get easier?”

  “Yeah, I do.” Max nodded, his gaze thoughtful. “Finding Della and talking to her about it all has helped. But more—” He broke off, that wide grin once again spreading across his face. “She’s made all the difference, somehow. Even though I know I have to put in the emotional work and find a way through this, it’s better.” He shrugged. “Not easier, but somehow smoother that there’s someone there with me. And I’m grateful for it. Damn grateful.”

  Unbidden, an image of Sloan from that morning in his office rose up in Chase’s mind.

  To be honest, I’d be disappointed if you weren’t struggling a bit. I’m deeply sorry you’re going through this, but you’re human. You’re entitled to a range of emotions and feelings that don’t all line up like numbers on a balance sheet.

  She’d been so honest and, even more, she’d been fair. To him. His emotions. And all that was swirling in his heart, his mind and his gut.

  To a point, he’d recognized she was a bit embarrassed by it, but she’d risked the words, anyway. And with that risk, Chase realized, he’d taken her words to heart. He’d felt better that she’d acknowledged he didn’t have to be some automaton, pushing his way through the situation without care or regard for the pain.

  “I’m happy for you.” Chase raised his glass, clinking it in a light toast with his cousin. “For you both.”

  Max took a sip of his drink, the smile clearing as he settled into the conversation. “Tell me what you think about Sloan Presley.”

  “The woman’s sharp. Smart. And I think exactly what I need to do the digital-forensics work at Colton Properties.”

  “You worried there are more irregularities than you first thought?”

  Max’s FBI work and their close, lifelong relationship had made him the one person Chase had trusted to discuss what was going on at Colton Properties. It wasn’t that he couldn’t tell his siblings, but he didn’t want to panic anyone. And with a family his size, he couldn’t risk someone potentially saying something, even in passing.

  So Max was the only one who knew he was concerned about the financials.

  And once Chase had answers, he’d share all he’d learned and come clean with everyone.

  “I think I want Sloan to scour everything top to bottom and tell me what she sees. I’m too close to it all. Which is why I know something’s off but can’t decipher exactly what.”

  “She’s the best. Her company only takes jobs through referrals and still has a shocking amount of work, all the time. That’s how good she is.”

  “Good is what I need.”

  Max’s gaze was sharp, speculative and even as he asked, “How are you playing it for the office?”

  “She’s my unexpected and brand-new girlfriend.”

  Max’s eyes widened as he let out a low whistle. “No kidding!”

  “We hatched the plan as we worked through the details of what needs to be done. It’s the only way we can get her in and out of the office with an easy reason for being there.”

  “You do realize the irony in it all?”

  “Irony?” Chase wasn’t sure where Max was going, but the man’s pointed smile had him immediately curious.

  “You’re the great bachelor of Owl Creek. Surely you can see the joke in all this.”

  “I’m a divorced man. That hardly makes me a bachelor.”

  “You’re wealthy, single and you never date a woman more than twice in a row. Trust me, people notice that.” Max leaned over and patted Chase on the back before signaling their bartender for one more drink. “And you’re the one who needs a fake girlfriend to get underneath the problems at your business.”

  * * *

  Chase wasn’t sure he saw Max’s humor with regard to his current situation. His cousin’s words haunted him long after they’d wrapped up their second drink and their conversation.

  He’d walked back to the office with the intention of getting a bit of work done, but after an hour of staring at his computer screen and intermittently checking sports scores online, he decided to call it a night.

  As a man used to work and action, this strange, lingering malaise he hadn’t been able to fully get rid of since his father’s death had been endlessly confusing.

  You’re entitled to a range of emotions and feelings...

  Again, Sloan’s quiet and compassionate diagnosis was front and center in his mind.

  He wasn’t one who gave in to his softer feelings. Hadn’t he even taken pride that he’d focused on work all the way through his separation and the months that came after as he and his ex-wife wrangled over the dissolution of their marriage?

  Divorcing Leanne had been the worst time in his life. Or had been, until this situation with his father and the man’s secret family. Chase hadn’t gone into marriage expecting he’d end it two years later, but his wife hadn’t been who he thought she was.

  The woman he’d believed himself in love with had revealed herself to be a grasping, unfaithful partner, and after discovering her affair—what had been revealed to be one of many—he’d walked away.

  Was that part of his problem with his father?

  His bad marriage aside, his father’s death and the revelation of his secret life would have been a horrible experience, regardless. But to add on his experience with Leanne?

  Was he that poor a judge of character?

  Did he see what he wanted to see instead of what was?

  Was there anyone he could trust?

  Those thoughts had swirled these past few months, stealthily creeping in at odd moments. He’d tried to ignore them, but the questions were there all the same.

  More, the self-doubt had become crushing at times.

  Add on the problems at Colton Properties and Chase had been forced to reconsider his ability to properly assess those around him.

  It’s why you’ve hired Sloan.

  He mentally shook his head as he shut down his computer. It was why he’d hired SecuritKey.

  He had to stop thinking of this job through the lens of the woman and start thinking of it through the work she did. He’d hired her for her skills.

  Even if he found himself continually imagining the soft sweep of curls she’d brushed behind her ear, or those sharp, fathomless brown eyes.

  Which was how he found himself ten minutes later heading across town to the apartment complex where she was renting a small one-bedroom.

  He’d suggested the location himself, the reality of needing her close by in Owl Creek for the duration of the job ensuring she’d be too far away to stay at her own home in Chicago.

  The apartment complex was only a few years old and had been another expansion in town directed by Colton Properties. The location boasted long-term rentals as well as a handful of furnished, short-term options for those who wanted a place to stay in Owl Creek longer than a hotel stay.

  He’d pushed for the short-term options with the property owner, helping the man round out his vision of what his investment could truly become.

  As he turned into the complex’s entrance, Chase was happy to see the place looked well-kept, and its parking lot was full.

  “You might suck at reading people, Colton, but you’ve got damn good instincts for real estate,” he said to himself.

  Brimming with that subtle sense of satisfaction, he got out of his car and headed for the building that housed Sloan’s apartment. Windows were open and he heard the strains of oldies music pumping into the air.

  Instinctively, he knew the sound of Chuck Berry was coming from Sloan’s place and at the same time, he recognized how the music fit her.

  She was an old soul.

  One with knowledge and understanding layered through her words and actions.

  He walked up the exterior concrete steps to the second floor and knocked on her door. The music was louder now that he stood outside her apartment, and he knocked again. When the knocking still went unheeded, he waited for the last strains of Chuck’s voice to wane before pounding on the door a third time.

  Only to hear the rushing of feet before a bemused Sloan stood on the other side of the open door.

  “Chase. Hi.”

  “Hey. Am I bothering you?”

  “Sorry, no.” She shook her head, before stepping back to gesture him in. “I was working and had the music turned up a little loud. Were you out here long?”

  “Just a few rounds of knocking.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Chuck Berry’s rocking voice gave way to the familiar strains of Ritchie Valens’s guitar and she raced across the room to snap off a high-end portable stereo with built-in speakers.

  The room quieted immediately and Chase could only smile. “I would have pegged you for Madonna. Maybe Janet Jackson or Pink.”

  “Oh, when the mood strikes I can definitely get into the groove. I was feeling the fifties tonight.”

  “Old-school.”

  “Definitely.”

  They both stood there. He knew it should have felt awkward, but instead it just felt...right.

  Complete, somehow, to be here with her at the end of the day.

  Since that only reinforced his earlier inward admissions that he needed to get his fanciful thoughts off Sloan Presley, Chase pointed to the couch. “Mind if I sit?”

  “Sure. Can I get you anything?”

  “No, I’m good. I met up with my cousin Max for a few drinks.”

  Sloan brightened at the reference to his cousin. “How is he?”

  “He’s good. He’s left the FBI, you know.”

  “I’d heard rumblings from a mutual friend but wasn’t sure if it was rumors or fact. That’s a big change.”

  “A good one, I think.” Chase thought about the happy man who’d sat opposite him in the bar. “Hunting serial killers is grisly work.”

  “It’s terrible work. Necessary, but terrible.” Sloan shuddered. “I think his calling was admirable, but it must be soul-sucking.”

  Chase had often thought the same, and even in the very short time Max had been away from it, he’d seen a difference in his cousin.

  A welcome one that reduced the unceasing shadows he’d always seen in Max’s eyes.

  “I agree, which is what makes it great to see him so happy.”

  “That same friend who’d shared those rumblings was more descriptive about Max’s last case. Those murders are awful.”

  Chase didn’t know much more than what had been shared in the news—none of them seemed to—but the case had definitely captured local attention. Max, with Della and her K-9’s help, had uncovered the bodies of seven dead women the prior month. An eighth victim had escaped and been placed in protective custody as she healed in the hospital, but a blackout had left her vulnerable to an attacker, who’d killed her.

  Max had killed that man, but they hadn’t been able to get any more details about the murders or why that woman had been targeted, either.

  “The extensive loss of life has been a shock.”

  “Rumors say it’s that strange Ever After Church.” Sloan visibly shuddered. “Though church feels like a bad term for them.”

  “You know of them?”

  “I did a bit of research after you emailed me, saying Max was our connection. I’ve spent my entire adult life looking into the weird, unexpected and flat-out off. Heck, I’ve made a career out of that work.”

  Sloan’s comment hung there and Chase picked up on it. “Yeah?”

  “Anything I’ve tried to dig up on them? It’s all strange and oddly bucolic on the surface, yet feels deeply false at the same time.”

  “Max certainly thought so.”

  “I keep wondering why no one has followed the money because something’s definitely not right there. Their nomadic lifestyle. Those bodies that were discovered. And then that poor woman in the hospital?” Sloan looked thoughtful as her cat jumped onto her lap, and she absently ran a hand down his back. “I know it’s wrong to assign blame until actually proven guilty, but something isn’t right with that group.”

  Chase considered Sloan’s comments and once again recognized just how skilled the woman was. Her success at her work went far deeper than her computer skills, which were obviously expert.

  But she had sharp instincts, too, and that couldn’t be dismissed as anything other than a key part of her success.

  Suddenly coming back to herself, she grinned over the top of her now-purring cat.

  “Sorry. I got lost in my head there for a moment.”

  “I was just thinking it was an impressive skill.” When her deep brown eyes warmed, Chase continued on. “You’re observant and aware. Obviously, you know your way around computer code, but I think you’ve been successful because you apply considerable smarts over that.”

  “Oh.” Her hand fumbled against the cat’s fur before she lifted her gaze to his. “Why, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I—” She broke off, then muttered, “What the hell?”

  Intrigued, Chase avoided saying anything, giving her the room to continue.

  “Most people find my curiosity annoying.”

  “You mean your intelligence,” Chase corrected.

  “I meant curiosity, but we can add on intelligence if you’d like.”

  “Let’s add it.”

  She stilled for a moment, her hand settling on the cat’s back, before she continued on. “I learned early that people don’t like all the tech talk. They come to me when they want their computer fixed or are having some issue with a file, but no one loves the idea I can dig into databases and find information.”

  “Sounds like their problem.”

  “Maybe yes, maybe no. We live in a digital world and someone who can dissect all those ones and zeroes is threatening.”

  “To people burying something nefarious in those ones and zeroes, maybe.” Chase shrugged. “I still say it’s their problem. One of their own making, too.”

  “Yes, well, most men, well, really all men,” she amended, her brow crunching into the cutest frown lines. “What I do is seen as aggressive, for some reason. And each time I’ve shared my business and my work with a man, he’s gone running.”

  “Sounds like you’ve had some really crummy dates in the past.”

  “Are you being deliberately obtuse?”

  “I’m processing what you’re saying and discarding it as loads of BS that has been heaped on you.”

  “It’s not a skill people appreciate.”

  “I appreciate your skills. In fact...” Chase shifted to the edge of the couch, leaning forward to look into her eyes.

  “In fact what?”

  The slightest catch in her breath warmed him clear through and Chase felt the air around them ignite.

  “I appreciate them so much I’ve invited you into my home and my work to help me get to the bottom of my little professional problem.”

  “I’m here to help.”

  Chase sat back, suddenly realizing how effortlessly she drew him to her. “I appreciate it more than I can say.”

  It was so simple to sit here with her.

  To breathe the same air and talk about the day. He’d shared more of his life with her in less than twenty-four hours than he’d shared with most people of his acquaintance for the past year.

  Even knowing there was nothing at the end of their time together other than a disappointing revelation about someone he presumably trusted, he couldn’t seem to keep his mind on that fact.