Page 6 of Cyn
“You have any enemies, Ms. Steele?” Chief Harris asked.
She had a lot—a person didn’t spend twenty years in intelligence work without accumulating a few—but none she would tell him about.
“Call me Cyn, and why do you ask?” she countered.
His attention swung back to her. “That was a yes or no question.”
She held his gaze with a steady one of her own. “I’m an archeologist and a professor. Neither profession is free from conflict, but no one specifically comes to mind if you’re asking if someone I know would have left the body here.” That was mostly the truth. She couldn’tspecificallypoint a finger at anyone. She had options. “You think that’s what someone did? Left the body here for me to find?”
Joe’s brows dipped, and his gaze drifted back to the scene. “It’s too early to think anything. I’m exploring the options and, given that you don’t seem too upset about finding a dead body on your property”—his eyes shifted again to lock on hers—“I have to wonder why.”
Chapter Three
Cyn stared back,the intensity of his gaze giving her pause. Not that she thought he suspected her of anything, but there was something there, something a little dark and perhaps hard. It madeherwonder what his background was.
But that was a question for another day.
“You think that I might have expected something like this and that’s why I’m not in shock or as upset as you seem to think I should be?” she clarified.
“It is a question,” he said, ignoring the dig her tone conveyed about his assumptions.
Cyn let a ghost of a smile touch her lips. “Like I said, I’m an archeologist. I deal with the dead on a regular basis. Itwasa surprise to come home and find him sitting there, but once the surprise wore off, there’s not much to be upset about. All that’s left are questions, and I’m sure I have some of the same ones as you.”
He studied her. And she allowed it. She was better trained and had more experience in subterfuge than he. He could study all he liked, but the only things he’d find were those she allowed him to.
Finally, he nodded. “I agree, there are a lot of questions. Questions we aren’t going to answer tonight.”
Cyn almost smiled at that.Sheplanned to get some answers tonight…answers that she’d find on the security camera footage, but she didn’t plan to share those quite yet.
“May I go home, now?” she asked, nodding to the gates that were now cleared of the crime scene processing equipment. In fact, the only other car left was Deputy Wexler’s.
“I’ll follow you in and make sure everything is secure. You sure you want to stay here tonight since we have no idea how or why the body was left?”
“No need to follow me in. The security on the grounds and in my house is top-of-the-line.” It was better than top-of-the-line, but she didn’t feel like getting into that. “I’ve already checked the system and there’s been no activity.” She hit a few buttons on her phone and brought up the security app again. Turning it toward Joe, she showed him confirmation that no alarms had been triggered.
“Still, Uncle Joe would flay me if I didn’t.”
Cyn considered arguing more, but jet lag was finally starting to creep into her body, and it was easier to let him have this. Besides, if Franklin heard she put up a fuss, he’d probably react as badly as Joe—Old Joe.
She shrugged in consent, then rewrapped her scarf around her neck. When she was properly bundled, she climbed out of her seat, and Joe met her at the back of his SUV. In the silence of the winter night, they walked back to her car.
He held the door for her as she slid onto her seat. When she was buckled up—for as short of a drive as it was—he nodded. “I’ll follow you in,” he said, then he shut the door.
She started her car and let it warm up as she watched Joe walk back to his SUV. He was taller than his uncle, probably closer to six feet than to Old Joe’s five-foot-ten frame. Both men were built on the lean side, though, and both had the ambling gait of a man who was sure of his place in the world.
As Joe got back into his SUV, Cyn put her car in gear and pulled forward, remotely opening the gate. She drove far enough ahead to make sure he could get through, before closing it again. Less than a minute later, she was pulling into her garage and Joe had put his car in park as he waited for her to move inside.
She glanced at him as she rounded to the trunk to retrieve her bags. She wasn’t at all surprised to see his eyes sweeping over her house. It was monstrously big, ridiculously so, and that was one of the things she loved about it. She also loved the sweeping front lawn and the ocean views from the back.
She had one bag slung over her shoulder and her carry-on beside her when Joe rolled down his window and asked, “You need any help with your bags?”
She waved him off. “I’m good, thanks.”
“I’ll wait until you’re inside.”
She didn’t bother to argue. “I need to shut the garage, but I’ll come to the window and let you know I’m safely inside,” she said, gesturing to the window nearest him. Without waiting for a response, she headed toward the door that would take her into the mudroom and then into her kitchen where that lovely bottle of wine was waiting for her.
She stood in the doorway to the mudroom until the garage door fully closed. Then, after dropping her bags, she went straight to the window and waved at Joe. A beat passed, then he lifted a hand. A few seconds later, his taillights were all she could see.
