Page 73 of Fall Into Temptation
“You go anywhere near—”
“Everything okay, Eves?” Nikolai and Jax, handsome as devils and looking concerned appeared behind her.
Agnes’s twisted face smoothed into a bright smile. “Thanks for the directions, sweetie. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”
It was a threat plain as day but one Eva couldn’t deal with right now. Not with family witnesses. She watched Agnes scurry off toward the park and then pasted a facsimile of a smile on her face.
“What brings you two handsome men out so early today?” she asked brightly.
“Who was that?” Niko demanded, his eyes still on Agnes’s thin frame.
“Yeah, you looked like you were about to deck her on the street,” Jax commented.
“She’s no one. Just a stranger asking for directions.”
Neither of them looked remotely convinced. “Eva, if you’re in trouble—” Jax began.
“You give us names and social security numbers, and no one will ever find the bodies,” Niko interjected, doing his best impression of a hitman from Jersey.
Eva laughed to reassure them though the pit in her stomach seemed to grow by miles. “Are you two doing some kind of overprotective street patrol for Donovan?” she joked, her voice tight in her throat.
“We’re on our way to pay our pal the sheriff a visit. The PI turned up a trail for Reva and Caleb’s mom. We want to move on it before it goes cold.”
Christ on a freaking cracker, what was with mothers abandoning their children and being shit human beings?Eva wondered, her chest tightening. She hoped that Reva and Caleb’s story would be a happier one than her own. Jax and Joey would stand between those kids and their mother just as she stood between hers and her family.
Eva bobbed her head. “Uh, well, good luck. Tell Donovan I said… nevermind. I’ll see you guys around.”
She turned, but Jax stopped her.
“Hey, are you coming out to the farm Saturday? Apple butter boil day. You don’t want to miss it.”
“Uh, sure. Yeah. I’ll be there,” Eva nodded. “See ya.”
This time she escaped, climbing behind the wheel of Donovan’s SUV and locking the doors.
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Nothing was going to dampen Donovan’s mood today. He diffused the cold brew battle at Overly Caffeinated without even having threatened anyone with charges. Clayton, a teddy bear at heart that looked like a retired linebacker, graciously accepted Selma’s apology for dumping her cold brew coffee on his crotch after an argument about whether the Giants’ new quarterback was worth his $20 million contract.
Donovan even scored a free cup of truly excellent coffee for his troubles and was in the office, whistling, by seven.
“Someone’s in a good mood,” Minnie said, raising an eyebrow as he snatched a blueberry muffin out of the box she’d brought.
“The sun is shining. The birds are singing. And I didn’t have to arrest anyone before seven a.m.” Donovan told her. “What’s not to be happy about?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Right. The sun that’s not even over the horizon yet,” she snorted. “Did the sun also bail out Tanbark and send him home? Wait. Nope. That was Evangelina Merill according to this form.” She waved the paper in his face.
“Eva has a big heart. She thought Tanbark should be home with his parents.”
“Uh-huh. And did she also believe that two weeks of files should be tossed on the floor of your office and rolled around on?”
“Don’t you have some filing or faxing or muffin-eating to do?” Donovan asked.
Minnie stuck her tongue out at him as he grabbed the newWeekly Monthly Moonoff the counter and resumed his whistling on his way into his office.
He wasn’t even shocked by the headline. But that didn’t mean he didn’t roll his eyes. That Anthony Berkowicz made small town journalism look more like a high school yearbook.
Sheriff Dating Fire Victim: Engagement announcement expected shortly.
