Vindicate (Recovered Innocence #1)(5)
“That could work,” Dad says. “I can offer Leo to you for the summer free of charge or you can come back in December and apply for our help then. What do you think, Ms. Hollis?”
“Does he have any experience other than filing?”
Ouch. But she’s not wrong. I have shit for experience, but I’ve been hanging around the agency since I was in diapers. Something had to have rubbed off, right?
“He’s in training,” Dad hedges, and I want to thank him, but that would give everything away. “I have another appointment in”—he checks his watch—“twenty minutes and I need to finish making notes for my report to the client. We could meet tomorrow morning and go over your brother’s case. I can help Leo form a game plan. And we’ll go from there.”
She’s glaring at me with those deep, penetrating eyes and I can’t tell if she loathes me or if she’s trying to resign herself to this strange turn of events. She’s won her battle, but it’s not the victory she wanted. I’m a pale imitation of my father. She knows it and I know it. What she doesn’t know is that I’ll work my ass off for her.
Turning back to my dad, she nods once. “Okay. But I have a condition.”
She’s not exactly in a place to put on conditions. So damn ballsy.
“A condition?” Dad asks.
“We work together. You train me while you train him.”
My dad offers her his hand. “Deal.”
Chapter 3
Cora
While I was in Nash’s office I calculated that I have just enough money to pay my rent, eat, and put gas in my car—if I’m careful—for about three months. It will take all of my savings, but I can do it. I’m taking a huge risk that
a) this guy Leo actually has had some training in private investigation.
b) Mr. Nash will teach me enough that if at the end of the summer we haven’t been successful, then at least I’ll have learned something I can use to help Beau.
c) we find some kind of lead that will eventually go somewhere.
Those are big risks.
And now here I am on a leave of absence from my job and about to put Beau’s life in the hands of the owner’s kid, who looks like one of those loser skater dudes who make just enough money to cover skate-park fees and buy new trucks for their board once in a while (if they can’t get their parents to buy them). I have to make sure his dad is as involved as possible and that he teaches me everything he knows before the summer is over and skater dude goes back to whatever it is he does the rest of the year.
Balancing my box on my hip, I open the door to the office the second I hear the click of the door being unlocked. The box is damn heavy, but it holds everything I collected on Beau’s case, including a possible lead on a new witness. I accidentally bump that blond bitch who wouldn’t let me in to see Mr. Nash yesterday and she lets out a yelp. I guess she wasn’t expecting the door to open or else she wouldn’t have still been standing so close to it.
“Sorry,” I say, as I close the door behind me. “I didn’t know you were there.”
And then my gaze tracks to the reason she was so distracted. Leo’s standing near the file cabinet again, just the way he was the day before. It’s like Groundhog Day and I’m caught up all over again in whatever drama is playing out between Leo and the receptionist. The way she looks at him—a combination of lust and loathing—makes me want to laugh. Except I kind of know how she feels.
Leo doesn’t ask me if I need help. Not that I’d take it. I’m very protective of my box. He just stands there like he’s posing for a camera or waiting for a bus, his gaze latched on to my chest like he’s seeing his first set of tits. I wonder for the millionth time if I’m doing the right thing here or if this is just a colossal waste of time.
“Why are you here?” Blondie asks. Her hostility toward me is completely baseless. Skater dude can leer at me all day, for all I care. I’m here for my brother. End. Of. Story.
Leo peels himself off the file cabinet and swaggers toward me. “We’re working together on a case.”
Reception lady gives me the once-over, one side of her upper lip lifting like she smells something bad. “A charity case?”
If I wasn’t holding this box…
“Knock it off, Savannah. She’s a client…and also kind of a temporary employee.”
Savannah’s as pretty as her name, even when she’s being a bitch toward me. She really needs to get over her whatever with Leo and move on to bigger and better things. Like a guy with a real job, a real haircut, and real aspirations.
“I’m only here to help my brother,” I tell Savannah, trying to make it clear that I have no intention of horning in on her territory. “Mr. Nash has agreed to go over his case and train me to be a private investigator.”
“Call me Ed.” Mr. Nash stands in the doorway of his office with a mug of coffee in his hand.
I didn’t notice him. From the way Savannah immediately tries to look busy, I’m guessing she didn’t either. Leo looks like he couldn’t give a shit. Typical boss’s kid who gets everything handed to him.
Mr. Nash (I just can’t call him Ed) waves me into the office next door to his. “Come on in and let’s get started. Leo…” He motions with his head for his son to follow.