Free Trouble Comes Knocking (Entangled Embrace) by Mary Duncanson Page B

and because now I suddenly also had the task of protecting my best friend from my jerk ex-boyfriend whom she believed she fell in love with? Plus, there’s a sale this weekend at the vintage store I frequent and I just couldn’t miss it?
    “Sorry, nothing.”
    He shook his head. “I wish you had at least a little.” His eyes darted to the right, and I followed his gaze to the barista.
    “She’s about to burn herself, you know.”
    “How do you know that?” We both watched as she went back and forth between the milk and espresso machine.
    “She set a coffee on to steam, but she’s forgotten. She has another one in her hand.”
    We both watched as she reached for the espresso machine. “Ouch!” she said as the hot coffee spilled on her. She went over to the sink and thrust her hand under water.
    I took a sip of my drink, but he kept his eyes on the barista.
    It annoyed me that I sat across from him, and he spent the entire time looking at her. “There were some men, I think they called themselves Stooges, who recently started working there.”
    “Uh huh, tell me more.”
    Yeah, he was definitely ogling her.
    “Every time they get involved in a project, it goes horribly awry. Also, I’m not sure why the department is keeping them; they keep hitting each other and breaking things.”
    “Wait, what?”
    “Nothing,” I grumbled. I took a sip from my latte while picking the pumpkin seeds off my muffin.
    “These Stooges sound like a motley crew of characters,” he said, finally looking back at me.
    So he had listened. A smile tugged at my lips. He looked good today: navy slacks and a white button-up shirt. I’d hadn’t yet seen him in a uniform so the only thing that let anyone know he was a cop was the badge strapped next to his gun on his belt.
    I looked up to see a slight frown on his face. My smile disappeared. “What is it?”
    “Probably nothing.”
    “That never bodes well,” I said. “Like when your barber or your doctor says ‘oops.’ So spill.”
    He leaned forward and motioned for me to join him. “There’s a car that’s circled the block a few times. I’ve been watching it for a while, but now it’s starting to seem a little suspicious.”
    My heart quickened as I recalled yesterday. My near-death experience. “What color is the car?”
    “White.”
    I won’t lie; I probably would have wet myself if he’d said green. “Okay, so maybe it’s someone who is lost?”
    “Maybe.”
    He leaned back and typed something into his phone. He kept his eyes on the window the rest of the time we sat there. Finishing his coffee, he said, “We do actually have one lead. I can’t give you much, but I can tell you a bit.”
    Finally, something. “Okay.”
    “Mr. Winters was married but had a relationship going with the receptionist on the sixth floor. Apparently not many people knew about it. She stopped coming to work after he died, and we’ve not been able to find her. She’s not at her home, no known associates.”
    “What’s her name?”
    “Bonnie Kent.”
    I nodded. “Like Clark Kent?”
    “But no secret cape.”
    “Got it.”
    He stared at me, waiting.
    Fine. “So see if I can find anything?”
    He shrugged. “Not sure you can, but yeah, if you want to look into it, anything you find would be helpful. See if anyone knows her, knows where she might be.”
    “Okay.” I stood and tossed my trash.
    After gathering his cup and mine, Eli took them to the barista but wouldn’t hand them over at first. Instead, he leaned on the counter and flirted casually. He smiled as she said something, then laughed.
    I stood by the door, rolling my eyes, and checked the time on my phone. I had an hour before I needed to be at work, but this was a waste of my time. There was no need for me to stand here and watch this man flirt with some coffee girl who probably never went to college and barely knew how to spell barista much less be a good one.
    Truth is, my coffee sucked, anyway. The beans tasted