someone.” He clearly didn’t want to outright state that it was a cop behind the leak…but Spencer had no such reservations.
“It was an officer, all right.” Everyone turned to him. As usual, he turned taciturn and aloof in the face of a crowd. He gave a shrug as he tapped at the keys on his laptop. “Once Andie left I blew up the photo she gave me and enhanced the image.”
At his silence, Hunter prodded, “And?”
Spencer gestured toward his screen. “And there’s a slight bulge beneath his jacket that could indicate a concealed weapon.”
“Is that it?” Mack asked.
He clicked some keys and his smile turned smug. “From what I can make out from the car in the corner, it’s an unmarked cop car. It has all the tells, including bars between the front and back seats. It’s not easy to spot, but they’re there.”
Everyone was staring at him. Finally, Andie said, “Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?”
He shrugged again. “I didn’t know what I was looking for before so I didn’t take a close look at the car.”
“Better late than never,” she said. Spencer gave her a little smirk as thanks.
Eddie and Cole looked dangerously angry. They wore matching scowls as they turned over this new information that confirmed their worst fears.
Or at least, Andie imagined it was their worst fears. She nibbled on her lower lip as she fought the urge to tackle Cole with a hug that would dispel the tension written all over him.
Cole turned to Spencer. “Do you think you could make out any numbers on the license plate?”
Spencer nodded slowly. “I can try.”
Eddie stood. “Send me whatever you’ve got on that car. It could help our guys narrow it down.”
Hunter was tasked with keeping Cole and Andie safe and hidden while Eddie promised to keep an eye on Andie’s friends and family, Spencer included.
Mack recruited Jenna to help her do more research on Anthony and his family to see what they could dig up to help Cole. She felt certain that if they combined their efforts they could help him find some tie between Anthony and the Coradas.
The only one left without an assignment was Andie. Apparently her job was to not get killed. Her mission was simple: don’t reply to Anthony’s texts. Stay inside and out of sight. Lie low until this all blew over.
She blew out a rush of air that had her pink bangs fluttering. Non-action was not exactly a satisfying assignment. “Are you sure I can’t do anything more useful?”
No one seemed to hear her. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Maybe if I took Anthony up on his offer—”
“No.” Cole barked the word from across the room, his gaze fixed on her with an intensity that was unnerving.
She swallowed down her protest until later when she could catch him alone. There was a lot they needed to discuss and being put in the corner like a child was absolutely on the agenda.
It was late by the time the gathering broke up. Eddie took Spencer, Mackenzie, and Jacob back to their homes, and Andie helped Jenna make up the bed in the spare room for her. Cole came into the living room while she was turning the couch into a makeshift bed.
She frowned down at it as she threw the last pillow at one end. “Are you sure you don’t want the bed?”
“No.”
Her sigh was loud in the quiet room. Jenna and Hunter had long since gone to bed and this was the perfect time to talk to Cole. Assuming she could manage to get more than one syllable words out of him.
She straightened the blanket. “We could share the bed.”
Heat flooded her cheeks at his silence. She probably sounded like some desperate lech. “I mean, you could sleep on top of the blankets or something. I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant.”
Well, at least it was more than one word. But his tone was far from welcoming. Sure enough, when she turned around to face him there was absolutely nothing in his stance or demeanor that said “let’s chat.” If anything, he managed to convey “leave me alone” awfully well with nothing more than a heavy-lidded glare.
She swallowed down a rare case of nerves. “I’m sorry.”
A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes before he resumed his unreadable mask. “Sorry for what?”
She looked up at him through her eyelashes. He was too hot. Too sexy. Too masculine and too…much. Just too much. Her senses couldn’t handle it. But