Sullivan turned around and headed for his car that was parked directly behind mine. And this was why it was dangerous to start caring about someone while you were working undercover. It meant your mind had a million distractions. I hadn’t even realized the giant SUV had parked behind me and that I was at Sullivan’s mercy.
“Get in your car,” I ground out.
“Excuse me?” Saidy whipped around to look at me.
“You’re going to be late. Let’s hurry.” I jogged to her car and held the door open for her. Saidy somehow conveyed her displeasure toward me with her eyes. It was an incredible talent. Not many people could make you feel three-inches tall with a single look…
“Follow me to that address.”
She smiled in the way that promised retribution, “Okay, but I’ll have to make it up to you somehow.”
I smirked. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
She shut the door and I headed back to my van as Sullivan pulled past me, giving me a cocky salute.
I pulled out and tried to remind myself that she probably wasn’t used to driving as fast as me, so I tried to drive like a funeral home director who was afraid of a casket falling out of the back.
Fifteen minutes later, we were on the right side of town, and I was parking in front of the address she’d given me.
My boss’s address.
The chief of police.
I stepped out of the car at the same time she did. “I can’t believe I’m late!”
“What time were you supposed to be here?”
“Five o’clock!”
I glanced at my watch. It was 4:58. “You’re on time.”
She spun around to glare at me. “That means I’m late. I still have to unload the baskets from the car.”
“Well, good thing I’m here to help. Do you want to make sure this is the right place before we unload the car?” What I really meant was, why are you at the chief-of-police’s home? On his day off?
“I think this is it.” She studied the front of the house as she scrunched her eyebrows together. “I’m sure of it.”
With that she spun around on her high heels and hurried to the back of her car. She pulled out a box that made her look tiny in comparison. She was a scrappy one.
“Here!” I leapt forward, taking it from her. “Let me carry that.”
I glanced at the box that was full of fabric and random pieces of wood. This really was heavy.
“Thanks. Do you mind taking this one too?” she asked as she stacked another one on top of the box in my hands. Somehow, the second one was even heavier. She placed another box on top of that one, then she pulled out a large basket full of papers to carry herself.
“Er, why are you here?” I grunted as I shifted the boxes to a better angle and followed her up the sidewalk to the house.
“For a complete redecorating of the main living area. It’s a birthday surprise for his wife. I love when people do thoughtful things like that,” she told me with a raised eyebrow.
Just then, a roll of ribbon wobbled out of the top of the box and smacked me in the face. “You’re like a freaking traveling Hobby Lobby.”
Her laughter was genuine and still as contagious as ever. “What did you think I always went shopping for? My shoes all fit on one shelf.” She winked, then hit the doorbell with her elbow.
Thinking of her shoe shelf reminded me that I probably wouldn’t get a chance to see that shoe shelf again unless I did something drastic to salvage our relationship.
The door opened and Wendy, my boss’s wife, stood there smiling at Saidy.
“Hi there, I’m Saidy Perez with Bespoke Perez Design. Your husband scheduled this appointment with me?” She ended in a question, as though she wasn’t sure how Wendy would receive her.
“I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve been looking forward to this so much. My husband told me about the surprise this morning.” She ushered Saidy inside, then looked at me again in surprise.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Saidy said. “This nice man helped me find the right address. I’m afraid that’s why I’m a little late, I ended up on the other side of town.”
I noticed she didn’t explain our connection beyond the immediate one.
Wendy smiled and nodded, pretending like she’d never seen me before. She was good. Maybe she should have been the one going undercover.
“Why don’t you come into the living room, and you can set everything down there?”
We followed her into a living room full of dark couches.
“Wow,” Saidy managed. She glanced around the living room in deep thought.
I didn’t see what the problem was. All I saw were lots of comfortable couches to crash on.
“Yes. You can see my little problem, can’t you?” Wendy agreed with her.
“So. Much. Leather,” Saidy managed as she set her basket on the floor.
“What’s wrong with leather?” I asked.
Both of them looked at me. Wendy practically rolled her eyes, and Saidy looked horrified. Like somehow all of the hours she’d spent talking home décor to me were wasted—which, they probably were. All I knew was that Saidy could make any space feel like home.
“Er, forget I said that.”
Wendy gave me a pointed look. “Would you mind going into my kitchen, young man?” Her emphasis on young man did not go unnoticed. “And bring me the small basket on the island?”
She was making a strange motion with her eyebrows and pointing in the vicinity where I needed to walk, even though I knew this house inside and out. It wasn’t hard to guess I would find more than a basket in the kitchen.
“I’ll be right back.” I hurried in the direction of the kitchen; grateful it had a door I could shut behind me.
Chuck Maxwell, the police chief of Riverly, sat at a small table by the kitchen window, eating a sandwich and reading a newspaper.
“You know they have all of that online now, right?”
He kept
