her thoughts. It helped her organize them. She had lists all over her system, but only one that Hutch could threaten her with. “You wouldn’t. You don’t have any reason to.”
Kyle frowned. “I seem to be lost here. What exactly are we doing?”
“She believes someone murdered Madison Wallace, and she wants to find the killer.” Hutch let the words sit there like a bomb that was definitely going to go off right in her face. “On her own. She’s got lists of suspects. She thinks someone screwed around with the chemicals Madison Wallace was using. And somehow she’s not connected the dots here.”
“There is such a thing as coincidence.” But now that he said the words out loud, she could hear how dumb she sounded. “I don’t know why anyone would hurt Madison. Not for the same reasons they would hurt me. Everyone hated her, but she was a rock star. From what I can tell, she was on the verge of a breakthrough. We didn’t work on the same projects, so I don’t think my computer problems are connected.”
“And I think they are,” Hutch countered. “Who do you think your father is going to believe?”
He had her in check, but she still had a move to make. She turned to Charlotte. “Mrs. Taggart, I will do whatever you want me to do. I’ll be a good girl and follow every protocol you think I need, but I would like another agent to work with. Kyle said there’s a woman on the team. I would feel safer with her.”
“Don’t. I haven’t done a damn thing to make you feel unsafe,” Hutch argued. “I might have hurt your feelings, but don’t push that shit on me.”
“I’m feeling a little unsafe now because you’re being very aggressive.” He wasn’t really. His words were, but she didn’t feel physically threatened. He was, however, threatening her peace of mind because her heart was pounding, and she wondered what would happen if they were alone.
“Ian, do you remember that year of my life I spent being tortured so you could get your brother back?” Hutch said the words to his boss, but his eyes were steady on her.
Tortured?
“I do,” Taggart said evenly.
Hutch’s jaw went tight, straightening to a razor’s edge. “I’m calling that in now. This op is mine. I am in charge. We do this my way or you get on the phone with Sheriff LaVigne because one way or another she’s not going home alone tonight.”
“I thought the cotton candy machine was the trade-off for a year in hell,” Taggart said.
Hutch finally turned that stare his boss’s way.
Taggart sighed and focused his attention on Noelle. “Ms. LaVigne, Hutch is the only agent available to work your case. In light of what he’s found, I’m going to assume he’ll want close cover, and he’ll probably need to get into your office at some point. You’ll have to decide how to integrate him into your life. And pretty quickly.”
What did that mean? “Kyle has to come with me to the office?”
“No. I do. Kyle is strictly muscle, but he does have to stay close.” Hutch straightened up, seeming to relax a bit. “You recently went home. Does everyone know you went home to visit your family?”
“Yes.” She wasn’t completely sure what was happening, but she was almost certain she’d lost control in a big way. “I mean they know I went home. I’ll be honest. I’ve only been there for a year. I’ve got a couple of people I consider work friends, but I don’t talk to them about my family. We talk work stuff.”
Hutch seemed to relax a bit as though he knew he had her where he wanted her. “Good, then when you came back with a boyfriend, no one will question it. We worked out our relationship and we decided I should come to Dallas with you. Kyle is my slacker brother who needs a place to stay while he’s looking for work.”
Every syllable from his mouth horrified her. “No.”
Kyle snorted. “Because I look like the slacker.”
Taggart stood, helping his wife to her feet. “Excellent. It’s all settled then. Come along, my love. It’s lunchtime. Noelle, thank you for the muffins. They were delicious. I leave you in Hutch’s surprisingly authoritative hands. Unless you’d like me to call your dad.”
She was staring at Hutch like she could move him with pure willpower. “No. That won’t be necessary.”
“Hutch, see me before you go to check out Ms. LaVigne’s apartment,” Taggart ordered.