Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead(Finlay Donovan #2)(64)

“Christ, Finn!” Nick lowered his weapon and bent over his knees. “You scared the crap out of me!”

I clutched the towel to my chest. “What the hell are you doing in my house?”

His eyes climbed my bare, dripping legs, and his cheeks flushed scarlet. I tugged down the bottom of the towel, glad I’d bothered to shave. He averted his eyes. “I can explain,” he said in a strained voice. “See, I was down the street at Theresa’s when dispatch called with a 10–66. I recognized the address as yours, so I rushed over to check it out.”

“10–66?”

“Right, sorry,” he said, still flustered. “Mrs. Haggerty called nine-one-one. She told the operator she saw someone suspicious outside your house. I did a quick check of the yard and didn’t see anyone, but—”

A door flew open downstairs, crashing into a wall. Nick whirled, gun aimed down the stairwell into the foyer.

I peeped around his shoulder. Joey stood at the foot of the stairs. His wide eyes jumped from Nick to me, and a slow smile spread over his face as he lowered his weapon. “Maybe I should come back later?”

“It’s not what it looks like,” Nick said, hands raised as my sister burst into the house behind Joey. Her eyebrows leapt toward the ceiling when she spotted me behind Nick, wearing nothing but Delia’s towel. “Well, that escalated quickly.”

Vero rushed into the house with Zach on her hip. “What’s with all the blue lights? Where’s Finlay? Is everything o … oh!” Vero slapped a hand over Zach’s eyes. “Finn, why are there three armed cops in the house? And why are you naked?” Nick, Georgia, and Joey all holstered their weapons.

“I’m not naked! I just took a shower, and all the grown-up towels are in the wash,” I said with a piercing look at Vero. “And the police are here because Mrs. Haggerty is a busybody. She thought she saw someone suspicious prowling around outside.” Vero held Zach tighter against her body and glanced out the open front door. I tugged the hem of my towel to cover myself. “As you can see, this was all just a false alarm. There was no 10–99.”

“Sixty-six,” my sister corrected me.

“Whatever. Obviously, Mrs. Haggerty was mistaken. There’s nothing suspicious going on here, so you can all go back to whatever it was you were doing.”

“I’m not so sure,” Joey said, exchanging a look with Nick. “I did a quick check around the house and found this on the front porch. Aside from her name, it’s unmarked.” Nick descended the stairs, taking a fat brown envelope from Joey. Vero peered over Joey’s shoulder to see it. From the top step, I could clearly make out my name, printed on the envelope in bold, indelible ink. I recognized that handwriting. And by the shocked look on Vero’s face, she did, too.

I raced down the steps as Vero snatched it from Joey’s hand. “These must be the adult toys Finlay ordered. Stacey down the street does catalog parties. You know, like Tupperware but with batteries.” She showcased the front of the envelope. “See? They even offer discreet packaging to guarantee your privacy.”

Three sets of eyes shot to me. Nick cleared his throat as he reached for the envelope. “I should probably check it out first.”

“They are not sex toys!” I yanked it away from him. “It’s probably just … you know … copyedits. My editor must have sent them by courier.” Nick’s eyes twinkled a little, the curl of his smile becoming wolfish as his gaze drifted down. I jerked the towel higher. Then lower. Struggling to adequately conceal all the cold, damp flesh on display.

I raised my chin to restore some modicum of my dignity. “I’m going to get dressed. When I come back down, I want all of you out of my house.”

Envelope clutched to my body, I bolted up the stairs.

“Finn, wait.” Nick caught up to me in the hall just outside my room. He maneuvered past me and performed a quick search inside, then moved deftly through the entire second floor, checking every bedroom. He reached for the laundry closet, wrinkling his nose.

“Do you smell something?”

I grabbed him by the arm, jerking him toward me. “Wet towels! I forgot all about them and they started to mold.” My hair dripped, a cold bead of water trailing over my collarbone. Nick’s dark eyes followed it. Then down, to where my hand still rested loosely on his arm. I let go, but it did nothing to break the sudden swell of tension between us. “There are no perps hiding in the laundry closet. Mrs. Haggerty probably saw someone deliver the package and overreacted. You don’t have to search the house.”

The wall was at my back. My bedroom door was open beside me. Enough room between us that I could have slipped inside and shut him out. If I wanted to.

“I owe you an apology,” he said, his voice a little husky. “I swear, I didn’t mean to bust into your home like that. Your car was in the driveway. When I knocked and you didn’t answer, I thought…” He rubbed the day-old stubble on his face. “After the gas leak at Steven’s this morning, when dispatch called and said someone was creeping around your house, I assumed the worst.”

“Gas leak?” My stomach bottomed out. “What gas leak?”

He swore under his breath. “I’m sorry, Finn. I figured Georgia already told you.”

“Told me what?”