Wicked Company

Chapter Seventeen

"You know, you're acting sassy for someone who didn't stop me."

"You can't just go around assaulting FBI agents over a muffin, Ms. Aloisio."

I turned to Hawkins, noticing he hadn't said a word. He raised a brow when he caught me staring.

"She put Ava through a lot, reasons aside. I'm not saying she deserved a broken nose, but..."

Miles sighed, though a smile edged on the corners of his lips. He went to speak, but his phone buzzed. Apologizing, he pulled it out to silence it, but something caught his attention. His eyes widened, his normal calm composure thrown out the window as his gaze locked on the screen.

Hawkins, confused, glanced at the screen and choked on the breath he'd taken. His eyes narrowed as he watched whatever was happening, a flush working up both of their necks.

"Oh, I know those looks. Your girl sent you something hot, didn't she?"

They ignored me, but Miles eventually cleared his throat and tucked his phone away.

Hawkins cracked his knuckles, a true smile on his face, the first I'd ever seen from him. "I can't wait to tan her fucking ass when we get home."

Miles nodded wordlessly. "Anyways-"

"Oh, come on! You can't leave me in suspense like that. Especially when y'all are obviously with the same girl. That's hot. I'm into it. You boys have any friends?"

"Not that we'd pair with your dramatic ass," Hawkins grunted, back to his usual self as he flopped back against the cushion. "Unless you want Vanessa. Who you just decked. Good luck."

"Would you two focus? What we need to talk about has nothing to do with the chief's daughter. Now," Miles pulled out a file and set it on the table, "how well do you know Tucker Ellis?"

I froze, caught off guard at the turn in questioning. I didn't expect it, and because of that, had no time to form decriminalizing answers.

Maybe that's a good thing though. Show them you care about the stupidly attractive man.

"We share a bed and sometimes he buys me food, but I don't know his social security number or his favorite color. Not even his favorite cereal. Some things are just too personal and I respect that, you know?"

Hawkins scowled back at me, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did you know he filed for bankruptcy a year ago and was days from losing his house and shop? That about six months ago, he started putting large cash deposits into his account and it's unknown as to where they came from?"

I leaned back against the booth's cushion, silent.

Nodding, he continued, his face easing a bit to seem more friendly. "Thought so. Look, we need to figure that out, because we have reason to believe he's connected to those businesses being robbed blind a few months back."

My brain was screaming at me, dying to prove his innocence, but I couldn't say whether or not he even was when I knew Albert Bancroft had been around months before. Where that man went, a nasty, filthy trail of lies and money followed.

My mouth opened before my mind could plan a response. "Tucker's incredibly non-tech savvy. I doubt he's done anything wrong. He prefers books and filing cabinets to a computer for his shop."