him last night, and I accepted.”
Easton rolled his eyes. “Honestly, I expected this to happen before he even left town. It finally happening now doesn’t surprise me. Just make sure if you get married it’s a couple of towns over. We don’t want your marriage interrupting our op.”
I winked. “Will do.”
“We know a guy two counties over or so,” Kansas said, startling me.
I jumped, turning to realize that they’d never left.
They’d heard all of that.
“Umm,” I said, looking at the two warily.
Toot’s eyes were filled with mirth.
“He’s a judge. He’s very discreet,” Kansas said. “And he knows how to marry people.”
“What makes you think that I don’t want a big wedding?” I challenged.
“Don’t know if you do or don’t,” he said. “What I do know is that the way State acts around you? He won’t allow you to wait very long.”
With that, Toot tapped the chain-link fence twice and slapped Kansas on the shoulder.
“Y’all have a good one.” Kansas waved as the two headed inside.
I turned back to Easton to see him staring at me thoughtfully.
“What?” I asked.
“If you’re in love with him, I don’t think a courthouse wedding is bad,” he said. “You’ve been keeping your entire life secret from your family. What’s a wedding and a marriage at this point?”
I looked away.
He was right.
I was keeping quite a bit from my family.
And, honestly, my dad didn’t even like Trouper.
It was quite possible that Trouper, even a successful fighter pilot in the Air Force, wouldn’t make my father happy. There was always something about Trouper that had set my father off.
Maybe Easton was right…
As I let my mind whirl, I counted the minutes since Troup had gone in the door.
It was taking a really long time.
“Where is he?” I grumbled as I picked at the imaginary lint on my shirt.
“You didn’t see him enough last night?” Easton teased.
I felt my face flush.
“We haven’t seen each other in a really long time, okay?” I defended myself. “It was… necessary. We wouldn’t have functioned well if we’d have had to sit on that.”
Meaning, if we didn’t get it out of the way, scratch that itch, it would be all either one of us could think about until we could actually do it.
Even now, I wanted to devour him. And not only had I had him before he’d slipped from his bed this morning, but I’d had him multiple times last night.
When it came to each other, we were both insatiable.
Just as I’d said that, the doors on this side of the chain-link fence opened, and Trouper emerged.
He was freshly showered, he had on a pair of aviator glasses, and he was staring right at me.
I didn’t need to see his eyes to know that.
“Y’all ready?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Let’s go,” he urged. “In your little POS.”
I looked at Easton, who was already rolling his eyes. “It’s not like I have a choice on what I get to drive. They make me drive their shit because it’s less conspicuous.”
Troup laughed and walked toward the car. “Shotgun.”
But before he could get into the car, his name was called and he jogged toward a man that spoke with him quickly.
“What’s that look for?” Easton asked as he slammed his door and started the car.
I licked my lips, then pulled my phone out and snapped a picture of the man now facing toward us.
Trouper’s grin was fast and swift when he caught me.
I blew him a kiss and got into the car with Easton.
“I’m in love. Leave me alone.”
Fourteen minutes later, we were standing in front of a house on base, and I was no longer in such a playful mood.
“This was where Eunice lived,” Troup said as he gestured to the small house that was in a smaller neighborhood on base. “She just moved in here a couple of weeks ago.”
“Do you know her?” I asked curiously, suddenly jealous that another woman might know my man.
“No.” Troup shook his head. “Just from what I’ve heard and asked about. I have no relation to either victim.”
Something settled inside of me.
“Do you know when she moved in here in correlation to when the other victim moved?” I asked. “I thought when you lived alone you didn’t really get to live in a house on base. I thought they were more reserved for families.”
“Records show that both women moved about the same time. As to your other…” He was about to answer more, but a young man, a very nervous looking young man, interrupted him.
“C-Captain?”
Troup paused mid-sentence and