#HotAndHandy (Keeney Builds #1)

Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

“ W hat now?” Vincent asked, starting up the truck. He drank from his water bottle while Tomas flipped through his notebook, looking for the address of their next stop. Carl was taking his final exam at the college, so Tomas and Vincent were working together.

“Installing a garage door opener for a woman who lives in a gated community near the winery.”

Vincent put the truck in drive and started down the street. They’d spent the morning installing bookshelves and wine racks in a shop downtown. The owner liked Vincent’s design ideas, which made the work more satisfying. The light fixtures hadn’t come yet so the afternoon would be spent doing smaller jobs. Vincent took the next right and headed out of Keeney. A familiar face caught his eye, and he turned sharply to pull over.

“What the hell!” Tomas complained, looking up from his notebook.

“That guy on the park bench over there. It’s Eddie.” Vincent pointed to where a man wearing dark glasses sat in the shade, looking at his phone and periodically glancing toward the parking lot of the small park on the side of the slough. He sat up straight when a woman approached, rising when she got closer. As she reached up to kiss him, he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss. They pulled apart, Eddie’s hand settling on her lower back, and they walked to a car and got in, the woman in the driver’s seat. “And that’s Nadia.”

Tomas snapped photos, a step ahead of Vincent. “I don’t think she’s blackmailing him.”

“Nope,” Vincent replied. Checking the mirrors, he let three cars pass before pulling out into the street. Ten minutes later, the car turned into an apartment complex. Vincent continued on; they were far too obvious in the KBS truck. “I bet that’s where the money is going. Rental on an apartment for her.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean Eddie didn’t set you up. I think you should go to the cops.”

Vincent gave Tomas the side-eye. Given his record, Tomas’s suggestion was out of left field.

“The stolen property is probably still at the station, locked in a storage room. Ask for it to be dusted for prints or tested for DNA, or whatever the hell they do. Eddie and Nadia together is too much of a damn coincidence.” Tomas waved his phone at Vincent, the photo of the couple kissing on the screen.

The thought of going to the police station gave him the shivers. He didn’t have fond memories of the place or the people there. “That’s not something I really want to do.”

“I don’t blame you, but is there an alternative? Or aren’t you interested in clearing your name?”

“Of course I am,” he snapped. If for no other reason than he owed it to his mother. No doubt she’d hire a skywriter to announce it to the world.

They drove in silence while Vincent mulled it over.

“Hah!” He smiled triumphantly, remembering something his mother mentioned in passing .

“What?” Tomas side-eyed him.

“Ma plays Scrabble with the new police chief on Thursday nights,” Vincent said.

“Of course she does,” Tomas muttered.

“ G ot it. Thanks, Ma.” Disconnecting, Vincent placed his phone on the bedside table. Beside him, Hilary sat propped against a stack of pillows, computer in her lap, looking enticing in a lacy purple camisole he knew matched the panties she wore. He’d removed them once and intended to remove them again before the night ended.

“And?” Hilary asked around the pencil clamped between her teeth.

“Chief Reyes said she would have the evidence examined for prints.”

Hilary removed the pencil and tucked it behind an ear. “Didn’t they do that when you were arrested?”

He nodded. “At the time, they were only interested in my prints. They didn’t find any, but that wasn’t enough to not convict me.”

“Where do you think Eddie got the stuff?”

Vincent shook his head. “Paying kids to shoplift for him, maybe. You can find brand new stuff without paying retail if you look hard enough.”

“What’s this going to do to Iris?” Heaving a great sigh, Hilary stared at her laptop.

He knew what she was feeling. If Eddie’s prints were on the stolen items, Vincent would be exonerated, and Eddie would go to jail. The thought of Eddie in jail was satisfying. The thought of Iris having a son in jail was not.

Hilary twisted to look up at him. “I haven’t known her long, but Iris seems like one of those people who feels responsible for everything. ”

“Yep.”

“I bet she apologizes to both you and your mom.”

“Yep.”

She met his gaze with a determined expression. “But if Eddie is guilty, he needs to suffer the consequences.”

“Yep.”

Eyes narrowed, she continued, “When something good happens to someone you care about, but that means someone else you care about is going to be hurt, no one really wins. Do they?”

“Nope.”

Turning back to the computer, Hilary gazed at the screen before closing the program. She moved the laptop to her nightstand and turned off her lamp before snuggling against him with a soft sigh.

He stroked her back, feeling the tension in her muscles. “I can make you feel better.”

She peered up at him. “You can?”

Plucking the pencil from behind her ear, he tossed it to the nightstand before pulling her over to straddle him. He eased her back against his bent legs, and stroked her soft skin from hip to heel, and back up, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

She shivered and sighed again, the tension easing from her frame. He moved his hands up her thighs until his thumbs brushed against her panties, and her eyes closed to half-mast.

“That is better,” she whispered.