Deception (Carrington Hill Investigations Book 1) by Kate Allenton Page A

everything.”
    She shrugged. “That’s debatable.”
    Ethan’s gaze met Trip’s, and she knew something unspoken had just passed from one brother to the other. She rounded the desk as he pointed to the monitors. “This is what we’ve got so far.”
    The pictures on the screen were the same ones she’d reviewed at the field office , along with some additional ones of Catherine and Ethan that she’d never seen before. “Where did you get these?”
    Trip rounded the desk and placed his palm on her back. “Director Johnson thought you might need these and hoped that Ethan might notice something out of place.”
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You mean besides the blood stain in the middle of her living room.”
    She tapped Ethan’s arm , motioning him to vacate the chair so she could get a better look. She flipped through each picture, taking in everything. There were pictures of broken furniture and blood stains, among other rooms that seemed untouched. She continued flipping until she got to the photos of Catherine’s room. She had a bag sitting on her dresser with a towel poking out of it. Catherine had indeed planned on meeting them at the beach house. Ethan pointed to the bag. “She was already packed for your yearly vacation. She was beyond excited to see you and Sara.”
    Lexi lifted her gaze to study Ethan’s face. “She told you?”
    He rounded the desk and sat in one of the empty seats, running his fingers through his hair. “Lexi, I love her. She’d planned on introducing us in Verona. I rented the beach house two doors down, and she was going to introduce me to the two people that meant the world to her. I was just as excited as she was.”
    Lexi leaned back in the chair. “Did you cancel the reservation?”
    His brows dipped. “Pardon me?”
    Lexi let out a sigh , not caring if he understood why she was asking. She repeated herself. “Did you cancel the reservation?”
    He shook his head. “No.”
    A smile tilted on her lips as she glanced at Trip. “We can use that as how we met, running on the beach Friday night. As long as you can’t be placed here in your house.”
    He shook his head. “That should work. I stayed the night in my studio apartment closer to town so I could meet Director Johnson first thing in the morning. No one else knew where I went because they didn’t know about the investigation.”
    Yep , she had her fake meeting place where she and Trip would have met, thankfully provided by her new brother-in-law.
    Ethan gave her an approving smile . “Trip, your wife is pretty smart.” He tilted his head. “Now do you two care to tell me what’s going on and why you got married? If you really did get married.”
    Trip kept his hand on her shoulder , gently caressing the knots starting to form. He thought he was being helpful. Little did he know that just the slightest contact from him was wreaking havoc on her body. “We officially got married so that Lexi would have unrestricted access to all of the suspects and everything in the company.”
    “ Ahh, I see.” He nodded.
    Lexi pulled her cell phone from her pocket and quickly dialed the number she knew from heart. “You’re up.” She glanced at her new brother-in-law as she spoke into the phone. “My new brother-in-law and I are leaving the premises.” Ethan would be the one who knew if anything else was unusual at Catherine’s house. Lexi needed his help as much as he needed hers. She moved the phone away from her lips. “What kind of car do you drive, Ethan?”
    “A black Mercedes. Why?”
    “You’re driving.” She replaced the phone to her mouth. “You copy that? We’re leaving in five and exiting through the back entrance at the corner of the property.”
    Trip tilted his head. “How did you know about that?”
    She smiled as she rose. “One day you’ll learn to quit underestimating me, Trip.”
    Ethan chuckled as he stood and walked to the door. “Seems you’ve met your match, big