Page 1019 of One More Kiss

But after I returned this shipment to its rightful owner, I would have enough money to indulge in a few cups.

I grinned at the thought and was still smiling as I began edging my way around the side of the building.

But the next voice from the barn stopped me in my tracks. It was smooth, masculine, and British.

“We should pack this up and head home. You can blend the last batch there.”

Connor and I froze for a split-second, then turned wide-eyed gazes on each other.

Benedict Abercrombie?

What on Earth was the man who’d hired me—the purported victim of the tea theft—doing here, where all the clues we found led us?

That was the second aura I picked up on the path to the barn, I realized.

If he was here, and the tea was here, then the shipment hadn’t been stolen at all. It had simply been diverted.

And in a heartbeat, I figured out what Abercrombie had done.

Grabbing Connor’s sleeve, I pulled him away from the back of the barn and then tugged him down behind a particularly tall stand of Johnson grass.

“Did you know Abercrombie was here?” I demanded in a harsh whisper.

“No. Of course not.”

For some reason, I believed him.

“He never meant for us to find the shipment,” I added.

“Why would he hire you at all, then?”

I rubbed my hands across my eyes. “If we gave up on finding the tea, it would lend credence to an insurance claim.”

“And then he could sell the tea, too,” Connor said, shaking his head. “Double the profit.”

“More than double, given what he could charge on the black market.”

“Shit. Guess I’m out of a job.”

Technically, I guess I was, too, since presumably Abercrombie had hired me because he believed I would fail.

I hated being used like that.

Not to mention underestimated.

Fuck that.

“Let’s go reclaim the stolen tea—just like I was hired to do,” I said, determination steeling my voice. “And then we can arrange to have the thief arrested.”

“I’m in,” Connor said, his dimple appearing in his cheek.

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