Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest) - By Carly Phillips Page 0,77
these.”
He grinned and took a bite. His eyes glazed over. “Delicious. This isn’t just grilled cheese.”
Pleasure filled her. “I’m not sharing my secret recipe. Besides, it’s not like you’ll ever cook it. If you want it, you’ll have to come to me and get it.”
“That would be my pleasure.” He started to reach for her, but she slapped his hand.
“Work first,” she said, tapping the book with her finger.
“Can we play later?” His eyes darkened at the suggestion, and her heart skipped a beat.
She’d been disappointed when he’d kissed her and gone home last night, but a part of her understood. They’d both admitted to deeper-than-planned feelings, and sleeping together last night would have been a very bad idea. She’d have ended up feeling way too much. This afternoon, though, they were back on familiar playful ground, where she at least had a shot at keeping her emotions in check.
“Maybe,” she said, teasing him. “Now keep looking.”
He turned the sheets of paper one by one, finally coming to another set of filled pages. “Bingo. Women’s names.”
“I bet you can match those to the initials underneath the men’s names.”
A quick scan back and forth proved her right. “Okay, so the initials are names of women,” he said.
“One question answered. Let’s focus on the men. Any names you recognize?”
“Other than the judge? Only almost every one,” Mike muttered. “Judges, politicians, family men, men with money, working-class guys…” He shook his head in disgust.
“Is Simon in there?” she asked gently.
He skimmed the pages more than once before meeting her gaze. “No.” His eyes shimmered with relief. “No, thank God.”
So whatever Simon knew, he hadn’t been cheating on his wife.
“What about—”
“Yeah. Rex is here,” he said, reading her mind. “And not just as a patron but as a benefactor. Hell, it looks like Rex helped fund the place. There’s cash notations next to names, including Rex and…oh shit.”
“What?” She leaned in close.
“Martin Harrington, Faith’s father, is in here.” He slammed the book closed. “It’s like a bird’s-eye view of the sex lives of the men in Serendipity.”
“Eww.”
He nodded in agreement. “Let’s break this down. What do we know?”
“We’ve confirmed that the Winkler place was a brothel and that the old boys’ network kept it going.” Having finished her sandwich, Cara pushed her plate away and took a long drink of her water.
Mike, too, took the last bite of his sandwich and added his plate to hers. “What about the money in the evidence locker?”
“We know marked bills were found in both the trunk and the evidence locker, so we know there are ties to the Winkler place. We know many prominent men in Serendipity were involved, and we know whatever it is has been over for years,” Cara said.
“So we have more information now than we did before, but we’re still at a dead end, and unless we want to question every man on this list and bring all this dirty laundry to light after thirty years, we’re still at a dead end. And the only two people we have asked aren’t talking.”
Cara rose and placed her hands on his shoulders, massaging the tight knots, engaging all her senses as she worked her fingers through his shirt and into his skin. “All you can do now is wait until you feel Simon’s strong enough to push for answers.”
Which put this case back on hold.
“The mayor left a message this morning. Hell, she called last week.”
“Just tell her you’ve reached a dead end. It’s not a lie.”
“It’s not the truth, either.”
She stilled her hands and leaned her cheek against his. “We haven’t found anything that needs to be revealed.”
He inclined his head. “And I bend the rules all the time when it suits me. And it suits me now. I just need to know.”
“I get that.” She kissed his cheek, savoring the masculine scent and the rough stubble against her lips.
His appreciative groan rumbled through her at the same time his cell phone rang. “Dammit.” He grabbed his phone. “Yeah.” He listened to the caller on the other end. “Thanks, Erin. I’ll let her know.” He disconnected the call and turned to face her.
“What?”
“Bob Francone made bail.”
Cara sucked in a startled breath. “Because it wasn’t the first time, I thought they’d keep him locked up. But I’m a cop. I know better.” She kicked the leg of his chair, but he was still sitting in it and the pain seared through her toe. “Ouch. Shit. Damn!”
“Hey.” Instead of letting her continue taking her frustration out