Page 82 of A Vineyard for Two

‘Hey.’

Harper looked up and saw Brookes standing in the doorway. ‘Where were you all afternoon?’

‘Here and there.’

She shook her head as she stood up. ‘No, that’s not how this is going to go.’

He sighed. ‘I followed a lead.’

‘What sort of lead?’

‘The car this morning. I recognised it. It was Lisa’s.’

‘What? No. Lisa wouldn’t do anything that crazy.’

‘I don’t know. She’s definitely hiding something.’

‘The fact that she wants you. Although I don’t think she’s hiding that very well.’

‘I only have eyes for one.’

Harper smiled and looked away. She didn’t want to be leading him on.

When she said nothing, he continued, ‘I went to speak with Constable Graves, but he wasn’t all that happy to see me. Apparently, teenagers admitted to slashing tyres that night at the tavern, trying to drum up extra business for their old man. Nice but stupid. I’m not going to press charges. I doubt anyone else will either. But your car is another story.’

‘Lisa wasn’t the one on the property last night, nor was it random teenagers . Those eyes…’ She could still see them clearly in her mind.

‘I’m trying to understand why someone would target you. You haven’t been here long enough to step on any toes,’ he said. ‘Could be related to something or someone from the city?’

Harper had considered that, too. Her work had only sometimes gotten her into strife, but mostly it was mundane investigations. Nobody paid attention to her.

‘What are you working on now?’

‘I can’t really talk about it.’

‘Okay, so it’s sensitive. Is it dangerous to someone?’

‘It could be. But no one is supposed to know what I’m actually investigating.’

‘What if somebody does?’

Harper considered the implication. If someone actually knew, then there was a massive breach. She kept her computer and her files under lock and key. Her conversations had always been limited and did not pertain to anything that she’d been actively working on. Her reports were anonymous to those that were investigated. It seemed impossible that someone could access her details. Then again, hacking was more common than ever. If someone accessed her files, she would be the one to blame. It would be her neck on the line. Where had she gone wrong? What had she overlooked?

‘It would be difficult, but not impossible,’ she finally said.

‘Who were you investigating?’

She hesitated. ‘A large real estate corporation. There were some anomalies in their numbers. Suspected money laundering, etc.’

‘Is that why you broke it off with this David character?’

Her eyes widened, but she said nothing. If it was that simple for Brookes to guess, could David had figured it out, too? It would make sense as to why he was here. She’d never given him the address of her family estate or the name. He could have asked around town, that was plausible, but was he the type of person to do that? David was a real estate salesman. He had ties to the company she’d been investigating, and it was possible that he got wind of it. He knew what she did for a living. If anyone mentioned to him that the company was under investigation, he could have naturally assumed that she was the one leading the investigation. He had never come across as dangerous, but how well did she really know him?

When she didn’t respond, he jumped to his own conclusions. ‘You went above and beyond, and dated him to help your investigation.’

‘There are things about my job that I can’t talk about.’

He laughed. ‘You’re definitely dedicated.’