Twenty minutes later, Croft was showered and ready to go. He expected it to take Emma a while to get ready for the trip, but as usual, she surprised him. When he emerged from the bathroom, she had coffee ready for both of them in travel mugs.
“That smells good,” he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead. “I could use some right about now.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll drive. You can navigate,” she said, taking the keys to her Jeep off the hook by the door. “Exhaustion and getting behind the wheel are an accident waiting to happen.”
He was the man, and he was driving. Croft already knew how chauvinistic that sounded in his head, so he made sure not to say it out loud. He didn’t want to risk that wrath of his woman. “Can I have the keys to load up our bags?” he asked, snagging them from the air as she tossed them.
“Sure.”
Greyson grabbed the bags, carrying them outside. As she was locking up, he tossed them in the back and jumped into the driver’s seat.
“Grey!”
He started laughing. “My house, so I get to drive.”
Emma climbed in laughing. “That’s my Jeep there, ace. You want to drive the FBI sedan?”
Croft was actually beginning to get used to her vehicle, and he chose to ignore her protests. “We’ll swing by my place to get you acclimated. Then we’ll head to the boutique, grab the book, and head back to my place for dinner.”
Emma believed she could handle that plan.
Then it occurred to him. “I forgot to mention. I have a cat. Please tell me you aren’t allergic or have an aversion to four legged felines.”
She lifted her glasses and started laughing. “I’m not, but you seriously have a cat?” He continually surprised her.
He glanced back over as they got on the turnpike. “Why does everyone think that’s odd? I have a big furry pet cat.”
Emma started laughing. “It might be because you’re an ex-soldier and an FBI agent. That screams ‘dog’ guy.”
Greyson grinned. “First off, once a soldier always one, and secondly, I can’t have a dog. I’m sometimes away for a week. Cats are self-sufficient. When I’m not home, he has run of the castle.”
Emma grinned. “What’s this furball’s name?”
When he told her, he wasn’t expecting her response.
She started laughing again because she got the irony of the name. “Let me guess. H-A-I-R-Y?”
He looked over surprised. “Yeah, how did you know?” Generally, every one believed that it was spelled more like the man’s name. She was the only person to ever get it without him having to explain.
“Because I know you and that’s something that you’d do. The name wouldn’t be anything less than funny and practical at the same time.”
Croft could feel the warmth running through him at the prospect that she understood him. “No one’s ever caught that from just hearing his name. I’m a little astounded that you figured it out.”
She shrugged. “If I had a cat that’s what I’d name him too,” she offered, grinning. “Very clever, Senior Agent Croft.” Emma leaned over and left a peck on his cheek.
If he wasn’t in love before, he absolutely was now.
He finally found a woman who got him--imperfections and all.
The next two hours, they fought over the music on the radio, him teasing her and Emma laughing freely. It was the first time he’d seen her with her hair completely down and relaxed. Maybe it was the fact they were escaping Celestia for a little break, or possibly it was them together. Croft couldn’t ever remember feeling this free before with another person. It was liberating to see little snippets of the woman beneath her guarded armor.
Despite the death that brought them together, there would be substance to keep them joined.
When Croft yawned, Emma took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “How about we head into the city and get the book first. I think I can handle this,” she admitted, smiling at him. “Then we can go back to your place, and you can take a nap.”
He glanced over at her. “You’re going to let me take a nap?”
Emma started laughing. “I wouldn’t say that. It’s more like I’m going to lure you to bed with sex, and then exhaust you until you pass out.”
There was no way in hell he had to think twice on that one. “Deal!” Greyson couldn’t remember the last time a Saturday consisted of some incredible sex and a nap. Now, he was thinking about tossing in some burgers on the grill. Maybe it was time to test her ability to eat dinner around a man who was consuming meat.
He took the expressway into center city, and immediately, he could feel the tension in her hand. “Are you going to be okay, Em?”
“Yeah, this used to be my patrol area when I first started out on the force. I’ll be okay in a little while. I just need to adjust to it all over again.” Emma stared out the window, reliving it all over again.
Passing houses, she began to remember the calls, gunshots, and everything else that made her edgy enough to want to leave.
Neither spoke as they continued on the trip to Megan Landry’s business.
When they finally pulled into a space in front of the shop, they noticed it was opening in thirty minutes. They’d made excellent time.
“Want to get a coffee?” he asked, touching her cheek.
Emma nodded. “There’s a coffee place around the block. It’s not far from the precinct where I worked. A lot of cops used to hang out there.”
“Do they have donuts?” he asked, dropping on his sunglasses.
She snickered. “Yes, and you can’t have one. They’re horrible for your cholesterol, but you can have oatmeal.”
Croft stared at her openmouthed. “Seriously? I can’t have a donut with my coffee, in a café that serves cops? Won’t that throw off the balance of the universe?”
Emma slapped him on the arm. “Come on,” she said, taking his hand in hers and strolling towards the café. Already, it was all coming back to her. Once there, Greyson pulled the door open, the smells, and sounds flooded back, and it was as she never left.
He let her lean against him as she looked off balance. Maybe this was a horrible idea.
Before they were five feet in the door, there was a shadow approaching them.
“Excuse me, ma’am, do you have a permit for those deadly weapons?” he said grinning, referring to her eyes.
Emma quickly turned her head and started laughing. She pulled off her sunglasses and shook her head. “You still use that line, Detective Delmarco?”
He picked her up off her feet and swung her around. When he placed her back on the ground, he winked. “Did it work this time?”
She shook her head. “Not since the last time you used it on me.”
The man couldn’t help but laugh. “If you’d break your rule about dating cops, maybe it would have worked.”
Emma could feel the man she loved tense behind her. “Detective Tony Delmarco, this is Senior Special Agent Greyson Croft.” She looked up at Grey to explain, “Tony at one time was my brother’s partner in vice.”
The men shook hands, and both of them sized the other one up.
“You rolling with the Feds now?” he asked, signaling a server before leading them to a table in front of a window.
Croft spoke up, “Yes and no. She’s rolling with me.” There was no missing what he was stating.
Delmarco laughed before continuing, “You broke your cop rule! I knew I should have hung in there a little longer. I could have had a chance.”
When the server stopped, they each ordered a coffee.
“Tony, you could have hung in until you were one hundred. You were way out of my league,” she said, winking at him. Emma leaned back against Croft and took his hand in hers.
He relaxed immediately at the connection and the public display in front of people she was once called friends.
“So, what are you doing back in town? Last I heard, you flew the coop and were playing sheriff in some small little burg.”
Emma nodded, taking her coffee from the server. “I have a serial killer. Greyson and I are here to pick up a journal before heading back.”
Detective Delmarco pointed at her forehead. “Who clocked you?” he asked, glaring at the man behind her.
“It was a homicidal maniac,” she offered. “Not one of the Feds,” she answered.
“Man, when you left, you swore you were done with death.”
Everyone at the table got quiet.
“Don’t worry, Tony. I’m okay.” It was the truth. Each day she was getting better because of the man beside her.
The detective nodded, staring out the window. “We all miss you here. You made it fun, and when you bailed on us sweet stuff, it made it all boring as hell.”
“Sweet stuff?” repeated Greyson over the rim of his coffee mug, his lips curling at the corners.
Emma laughed. “Yeah, they refused to call me by my damn name for the first year because they thought I’d break and run from the job crying. I believe they said they didn’t want to waste brain cells remembering it if I wasn’t going to stick.”
Croft laughed at the naivety of that. “Shocked them, huh?”
Emma winked at him.
There was a big booming voice. “Is that my little woman over there, and is she cheating on me with two men?”
She started laughing as the largest man Croft had ever seen began crossing towards them. He picked Emma up and squeezed her.
“You came back because you’re bored out of your mind?” asked the large man.
Emma shook her head. “No way. I’m never coming back to this dump and slumming with you two,” she teased, hugging the man. “How are you, House?”
The man delicately put her on her feet. “I’m better since I got to see you.” He looked over at the man behind her. “Who’s the dude? You get married?” he asked, crossing his arms.
Croft lifted a brow. “I’m sweet stuff’s love muffin,” he said, shaking his hand.
Emma started laughing. “House, this is Special Agent Greyson Croft, and he’s most definitely my love muffin.”
“A Fed! You’re shagging a freaking Fed? No damn way!”
Croft pulled his blazer back to prove it. The men saw the badge and gun and shook their heads.
House sat in his chair. “I never saw this day coming. You swore you’d never fall for a cop.” He waved to the server and ordered a donut.
“I was lying my ass off to get you goofs to stop hitting on me. It was getting embarrassing having to shut you down all the time.” Emma sipped her coffee.
Greyson stood. “I have to call base and make sure everything’s going per plan. I’ll be right back,” he said, dropping a kiss on her lips. “Behave, sweet stuff.”
She slapped him on the ass when he moved past her. “You bet, love muffin.”
The men waited until he was out of hearing.
“You’re going to marry a Fed?”
Emma laughed at them. “He hasn’t asked me to marry him. I’m sleeping with him, and I’m very happy.”
They both went quiet. “We’ve been worried about you.”
She patted them both on their hands. “I’m good, boys. Look at the body that’s guarding me,” she said, giggling. “I’m a very safe and lucky girl.”
“I think he better take damn good care of you,” muttered House, licking frosting from his meat-hook sized hands.
“Yeah, or we may have to find him and kick his ass,” Tony added.
Emma simply shook her head and laughed at both of them.
It was good to see some things never changed.
Greyson watched the interaction between the three from across the room as he called his partner. When the man picked up the phone on the third ring, he got an update on everything going on in Celestia.
“We’re golden here. There’s nothing happening,” Briggs reassured him. “The lab is still processing, the deputies are out doing patrols, and Lila’s flirting up a storm.”
“Yeah, well better you than me, partner.” Croft didn’t want in on that action. He didn’t need Billy Barnes popping out of the bushes trying to sucker punch him.
Briggs laughed. “Yeah, because you have a sexy sheriff on the brain,” he answered.
Ignoring him was probably his best option. “We’re getting the journal and then heading back to my place for a while. We’ll be there tomorrow morning some time.” Croft said, checking his watch. “Has the mayor been digging around?”
“No, and as a matter of fact it’s eerily quiet here. Everyone’s working, Reese has asked me a million times where Emma is, and I’ve deflected creatively.”
Greyson grinned, knowing what that meant. His partner was busting the man’s ass. “What are you telling him?”
“You ran off to get married. She’s in labor. You two are shopping for china. Oh and my favorite one is that you’re adopting a baby from Timbuktu and had to go pick the Siamese twins up at that airport.”
He choked on his coffee. “What?” The man wasn’t quite sure how he felt about any of that as a joke. He’d marry Emma if he thought she’d be responsive to it.
“I have to go, partner. Lab techs are here for an update. I’ll forward you anything pertinent as soon as I get it,” Briggs said, hanging up the phone.
He wandered over to the counter and ordered two oatmeals to go. He had to be in love big time. Croft was going to eat wallpaper paste instead of a sugary sweet confection.
Damn love hurt.
Emma finally managed to escape the café and the men who she used to work with. She promised to keep in touch with them, but deep down inside, she wasn’t sure she really would. They were part of her past, and that made her heart ache. At this point in her life she was looking forward, not back.
Outside the coffee shop, Croft handed her a container and spoon.
“What’s this?” she said, pulling off the lid.
“Oatmeal.”
Emma stared at it and her eyes filled with tears.
Croft didn’t know what he did wrong. “Emma, honey, are you okay?” He showed her the bag. “I swear, I’m suffering too and eating oatmeal.”
“I love you.”
He stared at her. “Because I got you oatmeal?” he asked, confused as hell at what just happened.
She nodded and pulled him down to her mouth for a kiss. It was warm and silky. There was no one she’d love more than him. Emma ran her fingers thought his hair, and kissed him like he was the last man on the earth. He could have picked a donut and ate it, but he didn’t. That little gesture moved her.
They stood in the center of the sidewalk while irritated people moved around them.
Greyson held his oatmeal in one hand and used the other to hold Emma to his body. As she pulled away from him, he stared down into her eyes. “Oatmeal is my new favorite food.”
Emma started laughing. “It’s good for your cholesterol.”
If it got him kissed like that daily, he’d bathe in it. “Want to go get that journal? Then we can go to my place and you help me work out. I hear exercise and a good diet is important for a man my age.”
She patted him on his ass. “That works for me, love muffin.”
Yeah, it did for him too.
Once in the shop, they managed to get the employee to call Mrs. Landry to okay opening the safe. The woman eyed them as if they were trying to gain access to Fort Knox.
Hesitantly, she allowed Emma to unlock the mini vault, and take out the well-worn journal. Once in their possession they headed back out to the Jeep.
“I’ll drive. You read,” stated Croft, unlocking the doors.
Emma agreed as she hopped into the vehicle. Once buckled in, they were heading out of Philly and towards his home.
As she flipped through the pages of the journal, most of it was business related. There were listings of vendors and suppliers, their addresses, and phone numbers. Finally, she reached the page with all the phone numbers that Megan had hand written out.
“Find a
nything?” he asked, glancing over at her. She was focused on the pages.
Emma ran her finger down the listing, quickly checking for any names that might be on their suspect list. “I have a M.P, and I’m assuming that’s Michael Parks. She has three stars after it. It looks like Megan liked rating them.”
He shook his head. “Women astound me.”
There was something funny about the way he said it. “You should see what I put after your name in my little black book, babe,” she said laughing at the look on his face. “Relax. You’re the only name in my book.”
“Keep it that way.” Greyson kept driving. “Anyone else on our list?”
She kept scanning, grateful that they were in alphabetical order. “I have an R.T,” she paused, pulling out her own phone and pulling up her contact list. “It matches Ron Tate’s number.”
“So, she was acquainted with the mayor.”
Emma thought about it. “It’s his home number. I have it in case of emergency after hours. He shuts his cell off early to get his beauty sleep.”
“So, one of our victims was sleeping with the mayor and got pregnant, and the other has his number in her journal and probably her missing phone.”
“The killer takes Megan’s phone, even though he used a burn number,” she said, contemplating it. “We thought maybe he sent texts or messages that would give him away, but what if he took it because his real number was in it?”
Croft was thinking the same thing. “Then you find the DNA match and someone goes after you.”
“This makes him look very guilty.”
He nodded. “Yeah, it does.”
Emma closed the book and thought about it, but before long, her focus was on the scenery, houses, and area flashing by her window. Agent Croft lived in a very quiet suburb outside of the bustle of the city.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, touching her cheek to get her attention.
“That it looks peaceful here.”
It was calm there, and that’s why he’d sucked up the big mortgage and bought the house years ago. “My family doesn’t live far from here. My dad moved us from Ohio when I was a teenager.”
Celestia is Falling (A Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 1) Page 29