Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(13)

His eyes lit up. “You read the file.”

“I did and I’m not promising anything except that I’ll ask a few questions and see what I can come up with.”

Dax was right. No one had put much work into the case. Holland tended to think it was because the whole office had been sidetracked by the whirlwind of the press at the time. When the thick of the story had blown over, there had been no reason to further investigate. Admiral Spencer had been dead, and dragging his family through more mud seemed both unnecessary and unkind.

But so many loose threads and coincidences made her uneasy. Too many skirted this case. One of the two main witnesses was dead. The second had been shipped out almost immediately following the admiral’s suicide. And the girl at the center of everything was missing—and had been since almost the beginning.

How could she not be suspicious?

And when she’d really thought about the admiral, truly listened to her instincts, she had to agree that he hadn’t seemed like a man capable of killing himself in that manner.

“You’re making the right call.”

She could practically feel the satisfaction pouring off him. “I thought about everything you said and it stirred up something I’d forgotten. Something Gus told me afterward.”

His jaw tightened. “Gus found him. I wish she hadn’t seen that.”

“But he would have known that Gus would be the one to find him,” she pointed out. “His office was set back far enough that it’s possible no one would have heard the gunshot.”

Dax nodded. “Dad often worked late at night. Mom can be a light sleeper. He had the office insulated so he could play music, regardless of the hour. He preferred Chopin and Liszt. He didn’t like quiet. I think he spent too much time on ships. The quiet bugged him.”

“Gus told me that was why she’d found the scene so eerie before she even stepped into the room. His office had been quiet. She told me that she’d taken to bringing him coffee and beignets after her morning run, at around nine. She said he and your mother were arguing a lot so he’d been spending more time in the office. Gus had been trying to ease him into a routine to help steady him. She was the first person he saw every morning. And he knew that.”

“My father would never have willingly allowed his baby girl to find his body. He loved Gus with all his heart,” Dax said passionately. “He wouldn’t hurt her like that.”

Holland agreed with him. With some cases, the devil was in the details. A good investigator had to know how to ask the right questions of the right people, how to filter through their emotions to find the truth. “I’m going to talk to some people I know on the civilian side. See what they know.”

All she could really do was shake a few trees and see what fell out of them.

Dax eased toward her. “I can’t thank you enough. I knew you would listen to me.”

He was moving in too close. She stepped back, holding up a hand. “I said I would look into it. That means we’re working together, and I don’t date where I work.”

He stopped, holding up his hands to signal that he wouldn’t push the issue. “We don’t really work together and there’s absolutely no reason not to explore this chemistry we have. I’ve thought about you for years. Tell me you don’t feel the same and I’ll back off.”

She couldn’t make herself lie to him. It would be worse than admitting the truth. “I think about you, too. But that’s my rule. You want me to look into this, I do it my way.”

“So I get justice or you?”

So arrogant. “No. Even if I wasn’t investigating your father’s case, I probably wouldn’t date you.”

He stared at her for a minute before the sexiest smile crossed his face. “Yeah, you would. You wouldn’t be able to help yourself.”

“You think a lot of yourself, Spencer.”

When he grinned, he lit up the world. “That’s Captain Awesome to you, sweetheart, and I’ll take your rules. But you should understand that I’m famous for bending the rules from time to time.”

“And you should know I enforce them.” It was pretty much her job.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree about where we stand. For now I’ll make us some coffee.” He stopped, his hand on the doorknob. “Did I say thank you for letting me sleep? I haven’t slept that well in months.”

“I don’t see how you did it. You’re too big for my couch.” His feet had hung off the side. She wasn’t about to admit that she’d thought about waking him up and taking him to her bed. Deeming it too dangerous a prospect, she’d forced herself to walk away.

“I think it was the company,” he replied, his face softening. “I knew I was right to come to you, Holland. I knew you would be a safe haven. I might joke with you, but thank you. No one else is willing to listen to me. I knew you would.”

“Because of that kiss?” Did he really think he had that much of a hold over her?

He shook his head. “No. Because I’ve always known you were the best woman I’ve ever met.”

He slipped back into the apartment, and she was left with the beauty of the sun rising over the French Quarter and his words ringing in her ears.

She could resist the “Perfect Gentlemen” part of Dax Spencer. Even if it might be a bit tougher, she could also refuse Captain Awesome. She wasn’t so sure about the man who’d just shown her his vulnerable, sincere side.