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Shannon
“You’ve never seen her?” Walker asked as he tapped the woman’s face in the photo.
Shannon shook her head. She had expected to run by Walker’s office and pick up the photos, but he met her with a fresh batch of questions. “If I had, I could’ve dealt with the situation months ago.”
“Someone close to you is behind this, I’m sure.”
“She doesn’t work for Lucas.” But then, Shannon had never met Becca. Could other women she hadn’t met work in the office? He partnered with local architects as well. “I recently met his new assistant, Becca. I should visit the office and the architects he works with.”
“Leave that to me. If you see her, let me know. Otherwise, let me search for employees. Lucas works for individual clients. Any suggestions in that area? Has he complained about inappropriate attention?”
“No one in particular. He’s careful to never be alone on a site.” "I suspect our mystery photographer is using this woman’s picture to hide. My tech is searching stock photo sites for a match. Remember, faked pictures won’t prove Lucas didn’t cheat.”
The blood drained from her face. “I want this to end, Mr. Walker.”
“I will figure it out.” He sat back in his chair. “Do you have any suspects to add to your list?”
“His assistant. She started working for him at the right time.”
“Becca but no last name.” He made a note. “I’ll check her against this Guy LaRose lawyer, see if I can find any connection. Anyone else?”
“I had an awkward encounter with an old college friend just yesterday.”
His eyebrows rose. “Name?”
“Peter Hollis. He works for Morrisville College. Pete’s never been a problem, but yesterday he flirted and made me uncomfortable. Lucas saw us together and, well, it didn’t please him. Pete offered me a job around the time I found the photos, and he started calling more regularly and emailing. I don’t see how Pete could be behind this, but I’d be an idiot to ignore the timing.”
Walker nodded as he made notes. “An investigator will check into Mr. Hollis.”
“Thank you.” She stuck the manila envelope of pictures into her bag. “I understand your warning, but knowing whether the pictures are real, means everything.”
Walker stood and followed her to the waiting room. “I’ll be in touch. Try to get the recording devices into Lucas’s vehicle and home. Since the recorders are voice-activated, wait a few days before you retrieve them. I’ll put the tracker on his vehicle.”
“All right.”
“If he’s innocent, and you’re being targeted, the best way to smoke out your enemy is to continue the distance between yourself and Lucas. Don’t reveal there’s been a change, so you don’t spook him or her into running.”
Shannon left the office and headed toward Lucas’s worksite. Raw emotion lingered from their conversation the night before. The closer she got to the address, the harder she clenched the steering wheel. He should be busy, so she could put the recorder pen in the truck’s cupholder, leave the photos, then text him later.
When she rolled to a stop along the curb and looked up the slight hill to the Victorian, she scanned for Lucas’s truck. Overgrown hedges lined the drive and masked the front of the house. She had to walk up after all.
The old concrete driveway had cracked and buckled. She maneuvered over the rough edges, using them as an excuse to look down as she neared the entrance. The construction sounded shrill against the warm summer air, with saws screeching and hammers pounding. The front door stood open, revealing the gutted interior lined with yellow pine studs. This was a gigantic project.
The hedgerow ended, opening the view of the front yard. She turned the corner of the last hedge and stopped.
A shirtless Lucas strode toward the front door with boards balanced across one shoulder. Sunlight glinted off the sweat like dew on his golden skin. It had been a long time since Shannon had seen him unclothed, and she stole this moment to enjoy the way his length moved, how the muscles rippled across his back as he faced the house, how his jeans molded his impressive behind. A tool belt slung low on his hips and oozed masculinity. How had she forgotten the tool belt?
A worker appeared in the doorway and pointed in her direction. Lucas swiveled to face her, pulling earplugs from his ears and lowering the boards to lean against the outer wall of the house.
His chest was perfection, rippled with lean muscle and a triangle of dark hair that tapered to disappear under his jeans. Her heart stalled then sped. She’d always loved his shoulders, the smooth skin that met iron biceps. No amount of weightlifting could touch the natural strength of a man who built muscle through labor. He was chiseled with sinewy muscles in every nook and valley of his shoulders, back, and sides. Her hands longed to trace the path her eyes were traveling.
Lucas leaned against a porch column, letting her look her fill with a growing smile. He could be a model for an outdoor magazine with his close-trimmed beard and unruly mop of dark curls. “Mornin’, sweetheart.”
She worked to swallow and managed a shaky, “Good morning.”
Before she could approach, a company truck rocked up the broken drive, spewing loose gravel and dust. Lucas reached for a shirt draped across the porch rail, slipped it on in a hurry as the truck door flew open, and Becca jumped down in a flash of bare legs.
“Lucas!” Becca cried and ran toward him.
Shannon watched Becca launch herself at Lucas. His hands came up to ward off Becca’s efforts to hug him. He looked across the lawn toward Shannon, and she read a flash of concern in his face.
“The Donners accepted your bid!” Becca’s sweet voice sang excitement. She seemed oblivious to Lucas’s frown as he tried to capture her arms.
“That’s great news.”
Shannon moved toward them, her mind working to take in the scene. Lucas’s reaction to Becca, putting on the shirt, holding her away from him, told Shannon he knew Becca was dangerous. It told her he didn’t encourage Becca’s attention.
“It’s Becca, right?” Shannon asked, her voice frosty.
Becca’s head jerked around.
“This is my wife Shannon,” Lucas said. He watched Shannon, his eyes boring into hers with a million silent words.
She smiled at Lucas before looking at Becca. “It’s nice to meet my husband’s assistant.”
The woman recovered with a toss of her hair. “Nice to meet you.”
Yeah, I bet.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Becca, thanks for letting me know about the Donners. It saves us playing phone tag all afternoon. I’ll need you to schedule a meeting with them sometime this week.”
“Of course,” Becca said, all adoring eyes. “I’ll take care of that for you.”
“Thanks.” Lucas smiled at her, then returned his attention to Shannon. “Since you’re here, would you like a tour of the house?”
Yes, but her heart needed protecting until she was certain of his innocence or guilt. She didn’t speak until Becca left for the truck. “I’d like to, but I have errands. I have an appointment with the party planner at the estate.”
He searched her face. “All right. I can work on the attic tomorrow.”
“Fine.” She turned away before Lucas could read her emotions. He was so close. She wanted to grab him, wanted to kiss all over him. But she needed to catch whoever was after them even more. “I’ll leave the envelope in your truck.”
“Yeah.” His expression fell, and he stuffed the earplugs back in his ears. “I have to get back, then.”
She waved a little before turning and walking toward the oversized truck. Leaving the recorder pen in the cupholder seemed like a betrayal again of their trust. She laid the envelope on the seat and ignored her misgivings.
Everette
In all his years as a cop, then a private investigator, Everette had never had a wife proving her husband didn’t cheat. It made his stone-cold, cynical heart thaw just a little. Having the husband call to hire him for the same purpose almost made Everette believe in true love. Despite his warning to Mrs. Knight, he had wanted the affair to be a setup.
So, his disappointment in Lucas Knight came with a harsh pang.
Everette shifted on the hard park bench to ease the cramp in his side. His ruse today was a drunk bum. He held the slouched posture to match while he spied on the lunch meeting at the bistro across the street. The stench of his clothes kept the tourists far away, and his mini binoculars were disguised as a flask.
Lucas Knight should be smarter than meeting his mistress at a local place. Unless he was preparing to dump Shannon and no longer cared. The investigator Everette assigned to dig into Becca March’s background had emailed her photo, so he knew this wasn’t an innocent lunch with Lucas’s assistant. Mr. Knight was an only child, so the mystery girl wasn’t a sister. She could be a client, but Shannon claimed Lucas never met with clients alone. He would likely have Miss March along. He didn’t take notes, and he didn’t have paperwork.
It didn’t look good for the innocent husband set up by a secret villain theory.
The girl shadowed her face under a pink broad-brimmed floppy hat. Even if Everette could see her face, large dark glasses covered her eyes. Her dress came to her knees and pink peep-toed shoes matched the hat. She gestured a lot as she spoke and fingered her nearly-to-her waist golden-blonde hair. Classy, flirty, summery.
She leaned toward the large cloth tote sitting beside her chair and pulled out a cell phone. Her thumbs flew over the screen in animated typing. Lucas spoke, she typed, she spoke, he spoke, she typed. Hmm. Interesting. Lucas’s face flashed emotion, and he leaned toward her with intensity. She occasionally turned her head as if scanning her surroundings. She scooted her chair closer to Lucas, brushing her arm against his while turning her back on Everette, and held up her phone to take a picture of the two of them.
It all spoke to a not-so-innocent lunch date, and Everette’s stomach clenched. He had hoped this would end well, but he should’ve known better.
They talked while she looked at her phone. For a second, Everette could’ve sworn she looked directly at him from across the street. Then Lucas stood and leaned toward her. She gave him a side hug from her chair, and he walked away. Everette watched Lucas head for a truck, then flicked his sight back to the mystery girl. She was sliding something into her tote. The cell phone? Everette had missed her move.
He watched for a few more minutes. She called over a waiter then sat back in her chair to finish a coffee. Everette had to admit, she was cool, sleek, and relaxed, while Lucas had hummed with intensity. Everette would follow her.
“Excuse me?”
Everette shifted, making sure to move slowly as he looked up at the voice. “Whadayawa?”
A bistro waiter looked down at Everette with disgust. “The lady sent this over for you, her compliments.” The teen dropped a paper to-go bag next to Everette and made a hasty escape from the stench wafting from his disguise.
Everette’s head jerked back to the bistro. The girl stood from the table and waved at him. Using the binoculars, he saw her flash a wide, toothy grin before turning and strutting down the sidewalk. He snatched the paper bag open and found a blueberry muffin with a business card that read “Brightman Investigations”.
Huh. She was a PI, hired by Lucas Knight. Everette’s thoughts rushed. She’d made him. Somehow, she’d seen through his disguise and called him out. The little minx. A rumble of laughter vibrated from his chest.
