He was falling in love with Noelle, and it felt good. And he didn’t care that his friends would make fun of him. It didn’t matter. He was going to understand why Big Tag still smiled when his wife walked in a room. Why Sean and Grace still held hands after all these years.
“Are you hungry?” Noelle asked. “I could make us some grilled cheese sandwiches.”
She stopped because Kyle held up a fist. It was a military gesture that let anyone who understood it know to go silent. It was a gesture that had his heart pounding for a completely different reason than it had two minutes before.
Hutch stood in front of Noelle, who seemed to understand what Kyle wanted. Hutch moved his hand to the back of his jeans where his Glock 22 was secure in a holster under his shirt.
“You can’t come in here and expect me to take care of you.” A deep voice spoke out of Hutch’s sight. Masculine.
“I don’t know. You seem to be doing pretty well.”
This voice was familiar and feminine. He recognized it from the night she’d spent at Noelle’s dinner table.
“Is that Cara?” Noelle whispered the question.
Hutch nodded. It sure sounded like her, and he thought she was talking to the second shift guard. Chris Taylor. Chris Taylor, who was also DPD and perhaps working with the feds.
What was Cara doing talking to Chris Taylor at almost eleven o’clock at night? Had she had a security problem? It didn’t sound like it. There was a hushed tone to her voice that spoke of some kind of intimacy.
“I’m not going through this again with you,” Chris replied. “You can’t take what you want and then leave me.”
“You know I don’t have a choice.” Cara sounded angry for a moment and then she sighed. “Come on, babe. I don’t want to fight. It’s been a long night. Can’t we enjoy the now?”
A deep chuckle came from Chris, an unamused sound. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? You would love it if you could use me and discard me as often as you liked.”
“That was never my intention. The last thing I expected…” Cara stopped.
Then suddenly there was the sound of footsteps on the marble floor of the lobby and then Chris was moving into view. He wore his night guard uniform, but all Hutch could see was the police officer.
“Ms. LaVigne.” His shoulders didn’t relax, though he sighed as if relieved. “Welcome home.”
“Noelle?” Cara put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my god. I thought you were out for the evening.”
“I was,” Noelle replied. “It’s late. We’re just getting back. Are you all right?”
Cara’s hands had a fine tremble to them. “I’m fine. What did you hear?”
“Nothing.” Noelle was a terrible liar.
Cara started crying, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I should have told you that Chris is my ex.”
Chris’s face went a nice shade of pink. “I didn’t feel like an ex thirty minutes ago.”
Cara gasped, a shocked sound. She turned on her ex, her fists clenched. “Are you kidding me? God, you’re such an ass.” Her attention refocused on Noelle. “Please don’t tell anyone. I’m not this woman. At least that’s what I tell myself. I keep going back to him when I know he’s bad for me. I got him this stupid job and I should have known it was a terrible idea, but he needed the cash.”
Hutch watched the pair. He was good at reading body language, and every line of tension in their bodies told him they’d been on the cusp of something sexual. They were also shocked to be found out. This wasn’t the place to question them. He needed to think, to go over any possible connections between the two of them. How deeply had they vetted Cara? “Hey, it’s none of our business.”
“Is he bothering you?” Kyle looked Chris up and down as though assessing him as a threat. “I can make a call to management.”
Ah, Kyle was making the play to see how far he could push her, how far she would take it. It was a good play because if they could get Chris fired, he wouldn’t be close to Noelle. Of course, it wouldn’t be a move Hutch would make since the authorities would almost surely send someone else in, and they would have to figure out who.
It was a good play if Kyle wanted to bring in his own person to watch her, to