just want to make sure we’re not being targeted.” It was better that the crew was paying attention and watching the surroundings. Fifty sets of eyes were better than just his. The crew just didn’t need to know why they were being vigilant.
“I’ll get that desk and spread the word. Be back in about an hour.” Garret left and Killian returned his attention out the window. Bekki waved at Garret from where she was sitting on the ground petting Duke, who’d rolled over onto his back and was in the throes of bliss as Bekki scratched his belly with her long, red nails. He took a sip of his coffee. How had he thought she was a princess or compared her to the women who’d devastated his brothers? Was she high maintenance? Yes, without a doubt, yes, but not the way he’d originally believed. It seemed keeping her out of trouble would be a full-time job. He smiled when Duke sneezed and showered Bekki with German shepherd slobber. The woman laughed like a loon and wiped her face with the bottom of her t-shirt. A couple of his guys working nearby stopped working and chuckled at the duo in the dirt. She was exactly the type of woman he needed in his life.
Bekki tapped her pen against the stack of papers she’d just entered into her computer spreadsheet. There didn’t seem to be any connection between the entities that purchased the property. Her first inclination would be they were all the same people, but they weren’t. She picked up her phone and walked to the window to watch Killian talking with Garret. His leg was much better and the bruise, while wicked in appearance, no longer impacted his mobility. She’d been working diligently for the last three days to try to find something that connected the purchases of land, but she couldn’t find anything. She’d even asked Killian for the name of the solicitor that had offered him the outrageous amount of money for the waterfront property he owned, but that was a dead end as Killian hadn’t asked the name of the client wanting the property and she was banned by her father from doing anything other than computer…
Wait a second. Bekki picked up her phone and sat back down. Duke, who rarely left her side, laid his head in her lap. She ran her hand through his scruff and scrolled through her contacts. There. She waited for the call to go through and stared at the information she’d amassed. Where was the connection? Why would someone go to the work of burying the announcements if it wasn’t an inside job?
“Bekki?”
“Hey, Jewell.”
“Girl, it has been forever since we talked. What’s up?” She could hear typing in the background. Her cousin did some kind of computer security job with Guardian.
“Put your way-back hat on. Remember me leaking that information about the incident in Mexico for you to the news outlets? The Morales Cartel?”
The typing in the background of the connection stopped. Jewell snorted. “Whoa, that was years ago, but sure, yeah. You helped us get the story out. Why?”
Bekki cleared her throat, hating to ask, but… “Well, you mentioned if I ever needed a favor, I could call?”
“Girl, you could have just led with that. This isn’t tit for tat. We’re family. I’m always here for you.”
A rush of air fell from her lungs. “Thank you. Look, I’m working on a story.” She laid out the information she had before she asked, “Do you think you could take a look at these businesses and see if they are connected in any way? Also, I need to know if anyone in city government is connected to the people buying the land. Is that possible to do?”
Jewell laughed. “Oh, hell yeah, and I’ll check into it. Girl, this is fun stuff. I’ll get my geek on, but it’s going to be a couple days before I can get this to you. I have a Lamaze class tonight—”
“Oh, my God! You’re pregnant?” Bekki shot up straight in her chair, sending Duke scurrying.
“What? No. No! I’m doing research.”
Bekki blinked and her brow furrowed. “Uh… excuse me?”
“Research, you know, finding out facts.”
“About childbirth? I thought you worked computer security stuff?”
“I do, but Zane and I are looking into the possibility of starting a family. I can’t do that until I get all the information, you know?”
Bekki chuckled. “Jewell, most people just fall in love and let nature take its course.”
“Yeah, but Zane tells me I