Page 45 of Home Town

“This has to be one of the top two suckiest mornings of my life,” she continued.

The number one suckiest slot was taken, of course, by the day she realized she’d somehow lost the town’s founder’s compass.

With a deep sigh, she straightened up. She couldn’t take the back of the chair digging into her spine any longer.

“Okay. If you say so.” He laughed again, his eyes still focused forward rather than back at her.

She scowled. She didn’t see anything amusing in this situation. The mind-numbing task before them was unbearable. As was the place where they were forced to do it.

They had hours and hours of video to go through. Even sped up it was taking forever. And they had to do it in the cramped, hot, minuscule security room—which no doubt was really a broom closet or a utility room—located in the back of the gas station.

There was barely space for two chairs side by side in the allotted area. And the fact Corey was built bigger than a normal human didn’t help.

Did he have to keep bumping into her with his big thick bulging arms? And were his legs really that long that his knee had to keep knocking into hers?

And the heat! The length of his thigh that rested against hers was like a furnace, heating her leg and radiating out to the rest of her body.

This situation was as bad—no, worse—than being wedged in those tiny airplane seats in economy class next to a big guy who liked to manspread while hogging the armrest.

And in here, there wasn’t even a flight attendant with a refreshment cart to offer her something cold to drink with a bag of pretzels. She could only hope this morning’s endeavor would not last as long as her cross country flight from California to New York had.

There was nothing she could do about how long this would take. But the other thing—the fact she was parched and hot and cranky—she could control.

Pushing the folding metal chair back with a loud scrape against the scarred and dingy floor she said, “I’m gonna go out to buy something to drink?—”

“Wait!” Corey said behind her as she turned and reached for the doorknob.

What was with the sense of urgency? Jeez, if he wanted something, all he had to do was stand up and get it himself. A fully-stocked convenience store attached to the gas station was located—conveniently—just on the other side of the ugly gray metal door.

But since he was staying to watch while she was taking a much-needed break, she said patiently, and magnanimously if she did say so herself, “Did you want something?”

When he didn’t answer, she turned back to see if he’d even heard her. But what she saw was Corey leaning forward toward the screen. His nose almost touching the black and white image— And why did he have such a perfectly shaped nose? Dammit. She’d always hated her own.

Finally, he leaned back and glanced at her.

Pointing at the screen, he said, “You just came out of the library.”

There was an element of excitement in his tone that confused her. “Yeah, Columbo. I know. I was there. That’s not a revelation.”

Lips pressed tightly he drew in a chest-expanding breath through his perfect nose. “No, but your lawn boy Kirk being there is.”

That’s what he was all excited about?

She rolled her eyes. “I know. He came upstairs to see who was in the building. We talked for like two minutes, then he walked me out.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Corey nodded. “And then he went back in.”

She opened her mouth to defend the guy, but puzzle pieces began to fall together in her brain. Kirk staring at the shelf where the compass was, but not wanting to go inside to take a closer look. Kirk showing up at the house unannounced this morning, all friendly and talkative—maybe to determine if she’d noticed the compass was missing yet?

Holy shit.

“Yeah, holy shit is right,” Corey echoed her thought exactly and she realized she’d spoken the words aloud. He leaned back in the chair and folded those massive arms across his chest. “What are we going to do about it?”

It was a very good question—not that she was going to tell Corey that.

Dammit. Kirk had seemed so nice. How could he have pulled one over on her?

“I guess we should talk to him. Ask why he went back inside. Ask if he saw anyone in the library while he was there.” See if he’s acting nervous, like a thief would, she added silently.

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