Page 30 of Caged

Get out of your head and get back to work.

“I found the address last night,” Jaden said after he got settled in at his desk. “I’m sending my notes now.”

“Why didn’t you send them last night?” It wasn’t fair to accuse him; he couldn’t have known I was up late working.

“I knew if I did, you’d stay up late working.” He shrugged, like it was no big deal he made the decision for my benefit.

Busted. I would’ve stayed up late following the new lead, or at the very least updating our collective notes.

“Can you sum it up for me?”

He told me about the commercial tripping his memory, and how he connected the Quick Wash business card on Darling’s refrigerator to our mystery address.

I pulled up the website while he explained so I had a visual.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s hinky.” He’d walked over and stood behind me. The smell of his bourbon vanilla cologne reminded me that Jaden was all man. There was no denying his good looks or sex appeal.Well, not until he opens his mouth. His shitty attitude killed any chance I had of being attracted to him.

Thank God for that. I’d sworn off office romance forever.

I turned my focus back to the screen. Before I could ask, he told me he’d emailed Doug and asked him to look into the shop.

I shared his gut feeling, though I wouldn’t have called it hinky.

“We should talk to Darling again, see what he knows,” Jaden suggested.

“I agree, but he’s at work. We can pay a visit later, if you don’t have plans.”

“I’m free.”

I nodded, a plan forming. “How do you feel about having the Quick Wash in Fort Worth clean your clothes?”

“Why mine?”

My father’s voice popped into my head: A good leader never asks someone to do something they aren’t willing todo themselves. He was right; it wasn’t fair of me to volunteer Jaden’s clothes if I wouldn’t volunteer my own.

“Sorry, that wasn’t fair. Let’s go to the thrift store. We’ll buy a bunch of clothes and take them in to be cleaned.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said, returning to his desk to grab his coffee and muffin.

“You can’t eat that in my car.”

“No, but I can eat it in my truck.”

Why did men always insist on driving?

Reminding myself of the truce, I grabbed my laptop. “Fine. Let’s go.”

On our way out, I stopped by the office Doug shared with AJ. Their office looked like ours; two desks shared the space with seats for clients in front of them, two lockers sat in the back corners, and filing cabinets lined the back wall between them.

The main difference between our rooms was the whiteboard and printer I’d added to ours, and the extra computer gear Doug needed as our tech guy.

“I’m good, Maxwell, but not that good,” Doug answered my knock on the frame.

I laughed with him. “We’re checking out the cleaners. Call us if something pops up.”

“Will do.”

When we got to Fort Worth, Jaden drove through the cleaner’s strip plaza so I could take video footage. One end housed a liquor/convenience store, the other a Chinese restaurant. In the middle was the Quick Wash, surrounded by two smaller boarded up shops.

---