The Root of All Evil (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 4) (22 page)

“I like to do a lot of things,” she replied slowly. “I make birdhouses. I like to garden. I help my grammy take care of her animals, and sometimes I help my mama with her baking.”

“And what about that boyfriend of yours? What’s the story with you two?”

Cooper paused. If he knew about her boyfriend, why was he still looking at her that way? She forced a smile, wondering if their “friendship” was really such a good idea. “We’ve been together for over a year.”

Officer Brayden moved closer. “So you’re serious?”

“Yes,” Cooper answered, a little too quickly. “Yes, we are.”

“Then may I ask you a question?”

“It’s a free country.”

He took another step toward her, his smile warm and his voice low and soft. “If you’re serious with him, why are you flirting with me?”

Cooper’s neck grew hot. She was uncomfortable with his behavior, but at the same time she felt . . . flattered. And she couldn’t explain it. Will’s eyes said that she was desirable, and she liked the idea of being desired. Nathan said he loved her, but he never looked at her like that.

“I wasn’t,” Cooper replied meekly, staring at her laptop screen. The copies were complete. Quickly, she ejected the USB drive and closed the laptop, stuffing it haphazardly into her bag, along with her tools. She stood, ready to leave, but Officer Brayden blocked her path. He closed the distance between them with one final step.

“Do you love this guy?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, but her voice was quiet, and she couldn’t seem to make it any louder. He was so close, Cooper could feel his breath on her hair, smell his aftershave. Her heart beat more quickly, and she was sure her neck was bright red.

“Really?”

Cooper swallowed, avoiding his gaze, avoiding the passion in his eyes. “Mmm-hmm.”

He took a deep breath, his muscular chest nearly touching her. She could feel the weight of his stare. Cooper wasn’t sure how much time had passed. All she knew was that Officer Brayden was very attractive and very close.

And she wanted to see that look one more time.

She raised her eyes to his—dark, intense, unwavering. They were filled with desire and a little jealousy. She wished it was Nathan’s eyes she was staring into now, Nathan’s gaze that made her feel hot and unsteady. She wanted Nathan to adore her the way Officer Brayden apparently did.

But this wasn’t Nathan. It was someone else stirring up confusing yet delightful feelings.

“You really do have beautiful eyes,” Will said softly.

Cooper struggled to keep herself from closing the few inches between them, and just as she felt herself losing the struggle, the moment she started to lean in, the door to the evidence room opened. Cooper quickly backed away.

Two officers entered, nodding a greeting to Officer Brayden. Cooper caught the door before it closed. Will followed her.

Once they were out in the hall, Cooper took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She turned to face Officer Brayden again, and she handed him the USB drive. He took it, his grasp lingering on her fingertips for a few seconds. His hand was strong and rough with calluses. Cooper got the feeling he might take hold of her right there, with witnesses walking the hall. She wasn’t sure she’d mind if he did.

But Officer Brayden released her hand and smiled. “I hope I see you again soon.”

“If you’re working on this investigation, you’ll probably see me sooner or later, Officer Brayden.”

“It’s Will.”

Cooper nodded but didn’t call him by name. It was safer for her if she only thought of him as Officer Brayden now, not as Will, not as a friend. He stayed a few paces behind as he walked her to the front door. Before she left, she shook his hand.

“Thank you for keeping an eye on me, Officer Brayden.”

That look was in his eyes again, for just an instant, and then it was gone, buried under etiquette and civility. “Anytime, Ms. Lee.”

Cooper was turning to leave, when out of the corner of her eye something caught her attention. Or rather,
someone
caught her attention. A figure she could have sworn she knew disappeared into the offices—an older woman with a very particular limp and hunch.

She stared for a moment, then turned away.
You’re stressed,
she thought.
You’re just not thinking straight. Not after what just happened—what almost happened—with Will. You won’t be thinking straight for quite a while.

12

“This is Harry Wintersteen,” the caller said. “I was just checking in.”

Cooper stomped her foot against the pavement. She’d just returned to work from the station when he called. “Harry, stop calling me.”

“But, I . . .”

“I have no news. I’m not a policeman or an official detective, so I probably won’t have any news. If I learn anything worthwhile, I’ll pass it on to the police. I’m sorry, but your best bet is to check with them.”

“They don’t want to talk to me about it,” Harry whined.

“I’m sorry, Harry, but I’m at work, and I have to go.” She hung up the phone. “I know what I’ll do,” she muttered, pressing a few buttons. “Not sure why I didn’t do it sooner.” She saved the number as the contact “Do Not Answer,” shoved her phone back into her pocket and continued walking across the parking lot.

“You look exhausted,” Angela exclaimed as Cooper walked in the door. “What happened? Did those cops interrogate you?”

Cooper shook her head. “Nothing like that. It was just a more . . .
intense
visit than I’d anticipated. I’ll get to work now. If anyone asks, the tools are in my truck. I’ll bring them in later. I didn’t steal them.”

But as she made her way back toward her office, Angela followed.

Cooper spun around to face her in the hallway. “Really, I’m okay.”

“You’re not a very good liar. Tell me all about it.”

“Angela, I . . .”

“If you’re worried about confidentiality, then rest assured, I am the very
soul
of discretion.” Angela lowered her voice. “Is it something about the case?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what?”

With a defeated sigh, Cooper led Angela into her office and closed her door behind them. “There’s an officer at the station. His name’s Will Brayden.”

“And he’s giving you a hard time?”

Cooper hesitated. “He . . . kind of . . . came on to me while I was there.”

Angel’s penciled brows rose with interest. “As in . . .
romantically?”

Cooper nodded.

“And what did we do about this little indiscretion?”

“I left.”

“Did you report him?”

Cooper remained silent.

“Did you tell him off?”

Still, Cooper said nothing, knowing that, at this point, any answer would get her into trouble with Angela. As it turned out, no answer was just as bad.

A wicked little smile crept onto Angela’s face. “Did you like it?”

Cooper rubbed her cool hand over her hot neck and sank down in her desk chair. “This is all your fault, you know.”

“Gracious! How is it my fault? And don’t think I didn’t notice you avoiding my last question.”

“It’s your fault because of that comment you made about Nathan,” Cooper explained. “You said that maybe his commitment stumbling block was that we don’t have much of a physical relationship. I couldn’t stop thinking about that all the way to the station, and then when Will—Officer Brayden—looked at me with that . . . I realized that Nathan doesn’t look at me that way. I don’t know that he ever has.”

“What way is that?”

“Like I’m the only woman—the only person—in the world that he can see.”

Angela smiled in sympathetic kindness. “Well, I’m sorry I got you all worried, Coop, but my comment wasn’t the cause of that man’s advances or of you enjoying those advances. Sounds like you need to sort some things out with Nathan.” Angela nodded in affirmation of her own advice. “Now then . . . what exactly happened?”

Cooper told her every detail of the encounter, from the humdrum removal of the copier plate to the heated standoff to the quasi-professional good-bye.

By the end of the tale, Angela was fanning herself with a piece of paper. “Well, Cooper Lee, you vixen!” She paused as the phone on her desk down the hall started to ring. Even through the door, it was a loud ring. “I
suppose
I ought to get back to work. Good luck concentrating on your work, Cooper. I know
I’ll
be having a hard time of it!”

• • •

Sure enough, Cooper couldn’t concentrate on her work for the rest of the day. The morning’s events played over in her mind so vividly she could still smell Will’s aftershave. When she closed her eyes, she imagined what might have happened—a long, lingering kiss, an embrace so tight she almost couldn’t breathe, a moment unreal and passionate. Then she opened her eyes again and the world was as it should be.

It was very distracting. She tried not to close her eyes.

When it was finally time to leave for the day, Cooper meandered down the hall and into the parking lot, absentminded until she saw Ben, the Document Security manager at Make It Work! She waved him down, and he pulled his car up in front of her, rolling down his window.

Ben was a good-looking man, married with no children. His former obsession with physical fitness had subsided somewhat of late. Cooper hoped it had something to do with his wife.

Ben’s wife was an alcoholic, and Cooper had a feeling that his daily two-hour jaunts at the gym were his means of escaping the reality of his home life. These days he was down to two hours three days a week, which, Cooper prayed, meant that he and his wife were moving forward and that she was getting the help she needed.

Now he had to deal with office drama.

“Thanks for stopping,” Cooper said when Ben parked before her. “I was wondering if you have a second to talk about . . .” She looked over her shoulder and then lowered her voice. “To talk about that thing Mr. Farmer talked to us about. You know . . .”

Ben hesitated and then turned off his ignition. “Yeah, I know what you’re getting at. I talked to Emilio about it. Actually, he talked to me. I made one comment about a news story I saw—about a woman selling stuff she stole from her office.”

Cooper chuckled. “Very subtle.”

“It worked. He launched into a tirade about it. ‘When you steal from an office, you steal from everybody in the office.’” Ben did his best impression of Emilio’s accent and attitude as he continued.
“‘The Man
won’t pay for everything outta his pocket, so what does he do? Yup! He docks everybody’s pay. Everyone there’s got to deal with it. Pretty rotten, if you ask me.’”

“Could be that he was trying to cover his tracks by adamantly speaking out against workplace theft.”

“I suppose. But I don’t think so. I got the impression he’s been burned by workplace thefts before. You should have heard the venom in his voice. Besides, you know Emilio. He can be a little . . . a little . . .”

“The word you’re looking for is
sleazy.”

“Sure. A little sleazy. And arrogant. And kinda irritating sometimes. But does he really strike you as a thief?”

Cooper sighed. “No. What about Brandi?”

Ben’s face fell. “About that . . .”

“Oh, no.” Cooper tried to read his downcast expression but couldn’t figure out what it meant. “What’s wrong?”

“I keep trying to talk to her, but it’s difficult when it’s a male boss and a female employee. We really should have this particular discussion when it’s just the two of us, but that doesn’t happen very often. I’ve had to manufacture situations so we can be alone. Frankly, I think she’s got the wrong impression.” He lowered his voice. “I’m kind of worried she may complain about sexual harassment or something.”

“I doubt that,” Cooper replied. “You just don’t come across that way, I’m glad to say. If anything, she probably thinks you’re trying to micromanage her. Besides, she knows you’re married.”

“She knows it, yeah, but unfortunately in this day and age, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a loyal husband.” Ben paused and then snapped his fingers. “Say . . . she’s a girl.”

“Uh, yeah. You have great observation skills.”

“And you’re a girl.”

Cooper crossed her arms, not sure she liked where this was going. “You’re very perceptive.”

“Maybe you could . . . you know . . . talk to her for me.”

Cooper shook her head. “I already talked to my two guys.”

“And?”

“Neither one seems like a criminal. The point is, I did my part of the dirty work. Now it’s your turn. Or do you think it’s easy being a female boss talking to male employees?”

“I guess not, but please, Coop,” he pleaded. “Throw me a bone here. You girls can all talk about anything. You can get a read on her. Go to lunch and casually mention—”

“Casually mention workplace thefts?” Cooper interrupted. She clamped her lips together, irritated that she actually felt inclined to help. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”

Ben smiled and thanked her repeatedly before driving away. Cooper stood in the parking lot for a few more minutes, racking her brain and trying to think of a way to confront Brandi.

Finally, she sighed, shook her head and walked to her truck. “I’ll talk to Angela on Monday,” she mumbled to herself. “Maybe she’ll have an idea.”

• • •

By Saturday morning, Cooper was thoroughly discombobulated. During the night she’d dreamt that Nathan caught her kissing Will. Will pulled out a gun to shoot Nathan, but Nathan drew a limited-edition light saber replica from his
Star Wars
collection. The light saber glowed, and Nathan used it to cut Will’s gun in half. What ensued was a very awkward wrestling match between the cop and the web designer.

Then Cooper woke up, more confused than before.

She spent much of her morning in the greenhouse, but every time she blinked she saw either Nathan or Will . . . or Nathan in a policeman’s uniform. In the afternoon, she went to the craft store to get paint and finishing touches for her Halloween birdhouse. She picked out several shades of brown for the house itself and found small balsa wood squares perfect for shingles. For the graveyard, she bought gray paint for the headstones and sand-textured spray paint for the ground.