Page 28 of Flick

Chuckles from his brothers had him shaking his head.

“Oh yeah, that’s the only reason you’re not sleeping well. Not because you want to make the woman yours,” Brody teased.

“All teasing aside, I’m really glad you’re coming home, Brody, and I’m glad we’ll all be together in Bluff Creek,” Gunner said softly.

“Me too,” Flick said.

Flick and his brothers caught up, even though Brody never said exactly why he was leaving the Army. Flick was grateful because he missed them. He wanted this assignment over because he was looking forward to spending time with his brothers again.

After they got off the phone, Flick stared at the wall in the room for a while, deciding his next steps. He didn’t see any way that he could not take this further with Beth. Now that the dam had broken, everything he felt for her was bubbling to the surface.

He only hoped he could keep from getting distracted because distraction could get them killed.

Chapter Eighteen

Beth watched Flick walk away to talk with his brothers, then leaned back against the sofa. Had they almost made love? And it would have been love. She’d had plenty of time to consider what she felt for Flick.

It was all she’d thought about when she wasn’t working on the assignment. She finally had to admit to herself that her best friend could be her man if she could get him out of his head.

Flick would probably overthink what had happened. Beth didn’t have any hope they’d be continuing this later tonight. She might as well go get something a little more substantial on and do some surveillance of their neighbor.

She walked by the study where Flick was at to head upstairs and really wished she could listen in. What was he saying about her, or was he not mentioning her at all?

She was happy for Flick. Each day Brody hadn’t checked in had left a little more tension in Flick’s shoulders. Hopefully,both his brothers were good. Speaking of siblings, she dialed Winnie.

“Hey, little sis, how’s it going?” Winnie asked.

Beth wasn’t sure she wanted to share yet.

“It’s going. How’s the clubhouse?” Beth asked. She couldn’t wait for Winnie’s opinion since she was staying there.

“Oh my gosh, seriously, these men are pigs. After Rose and Della let me know the coffee situation, I purchased a new coffee pot and toaster because I wasn’t going to use the ones here. I don’t understand because all the guys are fastidious about their appearance, but I’m not sure when the last time this place has been dusted,” Winnie whined.

“Yeah, when I saw the condition of the main bathroom, I cleaned the en suite in the room I stayed in and only peed there. Ugh. I’m like, if you can’t hit the toilet when you’re drunk, friggin’ sit down to pee,” Beth groused.

“Amen, sister. I reiterated that Bootstrap needed to hire a housekeeper or a cleaning service. And the food! No one cooks here. How these men have those muscles is beyond me,” Winnie huffed.

Beth chuckled. She had missed her sisters, and having Winnie close by, even though they were only on the phone, was wonderful.

Beth slid her shorts on and grabbed a light jacket. They were keeping the house as cold as possible to make sure the room with the surveillance and computers didn’t overheat. It was a tad chilly for Beth, but Flick loved the cooler house.

Beth got situated at the camera and trained it on the back of the Kingpin’s house.

“Do we have any threads yet that you can see?” Beth asked. Winnie was good at looking at a situation and seeing a common thread.

“The only thing that stood out was something Della, Rose, and I noticed on Friday and Saturday: box trucks leave the club around two a.m. We can’t determine anything about them because they have an underground dock for the delivery trucks.”

“Where is that? Flick and I were in the back parking lot, and I didn’t notice any type of underground dock for trucks,” Beth questioned, then started taking pictures. Kingpin, along with a new man, was sitting in his office chatting. Beth went in tight on their faces to see expressions. Kingpin didn’t seem pleased with his visitor.

“Sorry. Could you repeat that? I was distracted taking pictures. Kingpin is not happy with his late-night visitor,” Beth said.

“I said the underground dock is behind the large steel gate in the back. Trucks go in and then disappear underneath the building. It seems like a lot of work for ordinary deliveries,” Winnie said.

Beth watched the man leave. Kingpin threw his glass at the wall after the man was gone.

“Hey, Winnie, I’m going to send a couple pictures. Kingpin was furious enough to throw his glass of liquor at the wall after the man left. Can you have Cowboy see if he can identify the man?” Beth asked.

“Of course. Now, back to my initial question. How’s it going?” Winnie asked, with creaking in the background.

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