“I’m not going to release it just yet,” Logan said. “You know the rules. I’ve got to go through it all, but I’m positive this is what the guy was looking for. He must have sent it by mistake and needed to get rid of it before anyone discovered it. Maybe he hoped Dahlia would have had a new computer by now and this would be gone. Or he’d just take it as part of the robbery. A lot of people upgrade after a few years or when they have issues anyway.”

  Dahlia wouldn’t though. She’d keep it in good shape and get as much use out of it as she could. He could tell it was already several years old.

  “I’ll let her know,” he said. “She’s going to want to know how long it will be.”

  “A few days,” Logan said. “Tell her to consider it being at the repair shop again. Don’t worry, anything I see won’t go any further. She’ll get it back exactly as I got it, minus this file... if it’s allowed. That is being removed, but I’ve got to follow the chain of command on what I found and when. You’ll have to sign off as a witness and so will Mitch. You know, conflict and all.”

  “Got it,” he said.

  He didn’t believe it was going to be an issue and he’d make sure protocol was followed to keep it nice and tidy for everyone.

  He’d do what was right for his job at all times and always did. One of Keri’s issues. That he’d put that before her.

  He went back to his desk and picked up his phone. He was going to text Dahlia but decided to call instead.

  She answered on the second ring. “What did you find?” she asked.

  No nice greeting and he shouldn’t have expected it.

  “A file that was buried deep. It was easy to find. It’s a summary of activity. Enough to give them the information they need to close this case quickly. It was the missing piece in all of this.” There was silence on the other end. “Dahlia?”

  “You’re serious? He sent me a file of his embezzlement?”

  “Not the smartest guy out there,” he said. “I can’t prove that he was the one that broke into your house though. This file wasn’t on his computer so he destroyed it or had it somewhere on a thumb drive hidden. Again, he’s not talking.”

  He was going to find out though. Not that those charges would make a big difference in the break-in, but he wanted to be able to let the sisters know and have closure too.

  “I don’t think it matters right now,” she said. “Unless he could come back?”

  “No. He’s under house arrest. He can’t leave the area. I’d still feel better if you stayed with me.”

  “Hugh,” she said. “No. That’s crazy. We’ve had no problems since and you know it.”

  He couldn’t argue with that. “They need your computer for a few more days. Sorry. Just protocol. They said you’ll get it back the same but minus that file.” He didn’t want to admit she might not get it back at all depending on what more could be found.

  “I don’t want that file on it. I’m not sure I want that computer. If I could get my files off of it, I’d just as soon let the FBI keep it so they know I cooperated. I only have a few things on it for work.”

  He wasn’t surprised she’d said that it would be better for everyone. “I’ll talk to Logan and let you know. Maybe you can come in and tell us the files you want and he’ll remove them for you after he’s checked them out.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “I can do that. Let me know when.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You should be,” she said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “You didn’t. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

  “Maybe you should tell me why you reacted that way. I know we haven’t known each other long but...it was hurtful that you thought I’d lie to you.”

  “I know,” he said.

  “It made me feel as if you were embarrassed. That you could have been played and then everyone in your office would think you were a fool.”

  That was too close to the truth for him.

  “I don’t care what other people think.”

  “I don’t believe that. And I’ve got to go. I’m tired.”

  “Do you feel okay?” he asked.

  “Fine. Just riding a sugar high and talking with Ivy.”

  “I hope you don’t get sick tonight,” he said. She’d be upset if she had to throw up with Ivy home.

  “Me too,” she said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. We have to figure this out.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Talk to you tomorrow.”

  He hung up after that. At least it didn’t sound like she was still pissed.

  They’d work it out. They had to.

  They had a child coming.

  27

  DAMN HORMONES

  “Hi,” Dahlia said when she walked into Hugh’s office building the next day at a little after four. She’d gotten out early so she could come get her computer, but she and Hugh hadn’t talked since he’d called her last night to say what was found and then a text today to come in and get her files.

  “Hi,” he said.

  “It’s not too early?”

  “No,” he said. “Come back, I’ll show you where I work.”

  He seemed normal to her right now. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting though.

  She followed him to the back after she’d been buzzed through the door.

  “Hi, Dahlia,” Ken said when she moved past his desk. “Stephanie said you two have lunch planned this week.”

  “We do,” she said, smiling.

  Hugh hadn’t stopped moving so she raced to keep up with him, then they got to his desk. “You didn’t tell me you were meeting Stephanie for lunch,” he said quietly.

  “I didn’t know I had to report my weekly agenda to you.”

  He better not start to get controlling. She didn’t see him as that type of person, but she didn’t think he’d accuse her of lying either yesterday.

  “You don’t,” he said.

  “I thought my workspace was small,” she said, looking around at his area. It was just a big cubicle and not a lot of privacy.

  “I’m not always at my desk,” he said. “I’m not in the field as much on this job, but enough.”

  “And you do a lot of work at home,” she said.

  “I don’t have papers in front of me like you probably do.”

  She smirked. “I’ve got three monitors I work off of to try to prevent the paper copies, but it doesn’t always work.”

  “Your laptop is in the conference room with Logan. My boss is in there too.”

  “Thanks for telling me that now.”

  He reached for her hand and touched it lightly. “Don’t worry about it. Dotting all our i’s and crossing our t’s. It’s better this way.”

  She knew that, but she was still embarrassed that this all happened under her nose.

  She should have never opened that damn email from Shawn and deleted it right away.

  Curiosity got the better of her and that never happened in the past.

  They walked to the conference room where there was an older man and someone around Hugh’s age sitting down.

  “Dahlia Greene, this is, Supervisory Special Agent Mitch Draper and Information Specialist Logan Manning.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said, shaking their hands.

  “I’ve gone through and removed the file from your computer that was sent from Shawn Stratton. You had no knowledge of it?” Logan asked. She noticed a recorder on the table that had just been turned on.

  “None,” she said.

  Logan nodded. “It looks to have been downloaded on the date of the email and then not opened since.”

  “As I told Hugh. My computer started to lock up and I walked away from it. Maybe I should have stayed and watched it. I don’t know. I remember working and not wanting to lose what I was doing and, rather than sit there frustrated, I went to do laundry or something. When I came back it was fine. Do I need my attorney here for this?”

  “No,” Mitch said. “But due to your and Hugh’s relationship, I’m sitting in to make sure nothing is compromised.”

  “I said you can keep my computer. I don’t care what you do with it. I just have a few work files on there that I’d like. Nothing else to worry about.”

  “We appreciate your cooperation,” Mitch said. “We’ll give you a receipt for everything we’ve taken.”

  It was time for her to upgrade her computer anyway. What better excuse than to do it now?

  “Thank you. How does this work? Do I just show you the files I want? They are all together.”

  “That is fine,” Logan said. “I ran your computer for anything else and came up with nothing, but I’m sure everyone in Chicago would like to have a crack at it.”

  “Which means they were most likely going to keep it anyway?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Mitch said. “Which files do you need?”

  She went to touch the mouse but Logan said, “Just tell me.”

  She looked at Hugh and he shrugged. Nothing she could do about it. “Go under my documents. There are three files personal, work and fun.”

  She turned to look at Hugh when she said that. She was positive her face was on fire.

  Logan clicked each folder open, she scanned the documents from them all and then he moved them to a thumb drive. “Do you need me to get any passwords that are saved here for you?”

  “I don’t save passwords on my computer,” she said. “I’ve got them hidden somewhere else.”

  “Written down?” Hugh asked.

  “It’s got to be safer than having them saved on my computer if someone opened it up,” she argued. “Or managed to steal it and get into it.”

  “She has a point,” Logan said.

  When the files were done being transferred she thanked everyone and left. “Are you going home?” Hugh asked her.

  “I was going to go change and get some dinner.”

  “Why don’t you pack a bag and come to my house? I’ll grab some dinner and we can talk.”

  She wanted to say no. That she needed the time alone, but the truth was, they couldn’t put this off.

  “That’s fine,” she said. “How much longer are you working?”

  “I’ll follow you out the door.”

  He grabbed his jacket that was on the back of his chair. His gun was holstered on his side. She didn’t think much of it, but it was the first she’d seen it on him physically and not covered.

  The fact it turned her on said she couldn’t stay mad at him long. Damn hormones.

  He held the door for her and they walked to her car. His was parked further away. “Did you want something?”

  “I want us to be good,” he said.

  That helped a ton hearing him say that. “I want the same thing. You’ve got to give me a reason, Hugh. I know we haven’t known each other long and we are going to be tied together for life regardless of what happens with us.”

  She almost choked on those words. She didn’t want to think they wouldn’t work out. She didn’t throw the towel in on anything and wouldn’t unless it was necessary.

  No, she wasn’t married, but having a child together made the bond stronger in her eyes. All the reason they had to figure it out.

  “Nothing is going to happen with us that we can’t fix.”

  “I hope so,” she said. “So think about it. Maybe you’re the one that hasn’t always been so honest with me. I’ll see you soon.”

  She got in her car on those parting words and drove away. When she looked in the mirror, he was still standing there watching her. He was frowning on top of it.

  Good, maybe she got to him.

  Now she wondered if she could handle what she hoped he’d tell her.

  28

  BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

  “What’s the fabulous smell?” Dahlia asked when she walked in his front door.

  At least she didn’t knock or worry she wasn’t welcome.

  “Tacos,” he said.

  “That’s low,” she said, moving quickly toward the bag he was unloading. “Where did you get them?”

  Hugh remembered that Mexican and tacos were Dahlia’s favorite foods. He was hoping maybe he could soften her up some.

  “I need to feed the baby. How are you feeling?”

  “Better now that I’m going to get tacos in my belly. Ivy’s ice cream almost did me in.”

  “Sorry about that,” he said.

  “You’re not the one that fed it to me,” she argued. He put a plate in front of her, but she’d already unwrapped a taco and taken a bite. “Where did you get these?”

  “Grant told me about the place. I’m just thankful they had takeout.”

  He’d gotten three orders of the tacos. Three in each order. He didn’t want her to be hungry after. They did look pretty good.

  She moaned in her throat. “These are good. Sometimes they are dry, but these aren’t. Hope I don’t get heartburn later, but as long as I don’t throw it up, I’ll be fine.”

  “Did you throw up the ice cream?” he asked.

  “Yep. Ivy was on the phone with Brooks in the living room and I said I was going to take a shower. Don’t judge me. I threw up in the shower. I figured she wouldn’t be able to hear me. It was more spit than anything, but it helped.”

  “No judging,” he said. “Wish there was something I could do to help you.”

  “Nothing to do,” she said. “I hope it passes. I always feel better once I throw up. It’s just I never know what is going to cause it to happen. There is no rhyme or reason to it.”

  “Which would drive your logical mind crazy,” he guessed.

  “One of many things. Talk,” she said. “While we eat. Why did you react the way you did? I know we haven’t known each other long, but there was no reason for you to think I lied. You could have come at me any other way and asked rather than the way you did.”

  He knew that. “First, I don’t want you to think I worried what other people would think. I have believed wholeheartedly that you were innocent from the first I looked into you. Before I even met you.”

  “So you said,” she said. “But then you still said what you had the other night.”

  “There was part of me that was frustrated that maybe I was being played and wondered if I missed something.”

  Dahlia stopped eating and the tears formed in her eyes. She put her taco down and went to turn and leave.

  “I can’t be here.”

  “No,” he said, rushing after her and pulling her into his arms. “You can be. I’m being honest. That is what you want. You said on our first date that it was too easy to walk away. I’m banking on you not doing that and hearing me out.”

  She was sniffling against his chest and held onto him for a minute, then pushed back to wipe her nose on her shirt. “You’re right. I guess I’m more hormonal than I thought. At your office, when I was leaving, I told myself you better damn well give me something to explain why you acted that way.”

  “I just did and you didn’t like hearing it.”

  “Which is wrong of me,” she said. “Go on.”

  He liked that she was trying to be reasonable. That she was human enough to react but still give him the benefit of the doubt. He’d never had that before and was glad he did now.

  “I told you part of why my marriage ended. Keri didn’t like that I might have emotional ties or reactions to a case.”

  “Because her big protective husband might not be big and strong if you felt something?” she asked.

  He held back the laugh at the tone of Dahlia’s words.

  “That was part of it,” he said. “The other part was she couldn’t handle some of the things going on. The world is a shitty place. I’ve seen and experienced things most never will and they shouldn’t. First, I want to tell you I’m thrilled I’m going to be a father. But I’m scared shitless on top of it. I know the evil in this world and bringing a child into it...”

  “I never thought of it that way. I mean, I should have. I’ve seen poverty in this world that those in America would have no clue of. Seeing starving kids on the TV is nothing like witnessing the living conditions they are in. Simple medication isn’t even afforded to them. Children shouldn’t be dying of infections from a cut or a common cold, but it happens all the time.”

  “I know it does,” he said.

  That was nothing to what he’d seen though when memories of Kevin appeared in his mind. He hadn’t planned on telling her about that but then realized he might not have a choice.

  She knew there was more going on with him and what better way to get her to trust him than to open up his soul for her to catch all the messy parts spilling out. It’d let him know where he stood when she said she could handle it.

  “Tell me what is going on with you,” she said. “There has to be more. I know it and you’re keeping it from me. I don’t know why. If I weren’t pregnant, maybe I wouldn’t bug you about it as much, but I feel that we need to have a good understanding of each other to make this work. I can’t do that if you are keeping secrets. Your marriage seemed to be on the rocks for years and yet you split and divorced fast. Something caused that.”

  “Finish eating and then I’ll tell you.”

  “It’s that bad?” she asked. “Maybe I’ll stop eating so I can enjoy it after rather than worry it might come back up.”

  He didn’t think of that. “It’s up to you. I’m not sure how you’re going to feel.”

  He knew he couldn’t eat though and just finished the one taco he’d started while he got a beer and a bottle of water for her.

  She started to put the tacos away and into the fridge and he realized they’d eat them later.

  They both went to sit on the couch, and in his mind, he couldn’t look at her while he talked. He didn’t want to see the sympathy in her eyes.

  He pulled her next to him and under his arm.

  “Are you ready?”

  “As ready as I’m going to be,” he said. “Ask questions if you need to. I’ll try to answer as best as I can.”

  “I’ll just let you talk. I think you need to do that more than anything.”