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indecision.”
    “It’s challenging, but fun.”
    Their waiter came over and asked what they wanted to drink. Trent ordered coffee, so Charlotte did, too. They chatted some more about what she had left to do before opening her store, and as much as she wanted to question him about Harmon, she could tell it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about, especially with them sitting in the restaurant where his brother worked. Harmon might have been given the job because he didn’t mention where he’d been the last few years, or else having Trent as a reference helped.
    “So what case are you working on?” she asked.
    He dipped his chin and lowered his voice. “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”
    She loved it when he was in a fun mood. “That bad, huh?”
    “Actually, it’s been rather boring around the station. We haven’t had any real excitement since your dad came to town, and we had to locate those gun toting terrorists.”
    “Dad said you took a bullet in the leg trying to stop them.”
    He waved a hand. Then as if the pain suddenly flared, he rubbed his thigh. “All in the line of duty.”
    The waiter returned with their drinks and they ordered their meals. “I want to hear the whole story about my dad and your involvement. Start from the beginning.”
    He laughed. “You sure? Your dad’s injuries were severe.”
    “I know.” She’d asked him about it, but he hadn’t elaborated much.
    For the next hour, he regaled her with how her dad, using the name Jonathan Rambler, would sit for hours in front of this warehouse pretending to be homeless, all the while collecting vital information about these terrorists.
    Charlotte loved hearing about her father and what he was like. “I don’t know how my dad survived the beating and the fire.”
    “It was touch and go. If it hadn’t been for Jamie and Max Gruden, the flash drive wouldn’t have been delivered to the right hands, and we wouldn’t have caught the bastards. A large part of the townspeople would have died in the explosion.”
    The waiter cleared their plates, and then brought over the check. Both of them pulled out their credit cards at the same time. Trent placed a hand on hers. “I got it.”
    “You sure?”
    “Yes.”
    She was thrilled. He must have considered this a real date.
    “Hey!” This came from a tall man striding toward them.
    Charlotte turned and stared into the face of a man who looked remarkably like Trent. His hair was shorter and a little darker, but he had the same strong jaw and appealing green eyes. She held out a hand. “You must be Harmon.”
    “Sure am.” He turned to Trent. “Am I interrupting?”
    Trent shook his head. “Nope. We just finished. I came to give you a lift home.”
    “Great.”
    As Trent stood, his cell rang. He slipped it from his top pocket and checked the screen. “It’s Cade Carter. He’s a detective from work. I’ll only be a sec.”
    From the way the tension radiated across his forehead, the news wasn’t good.
    “Hey.” Trent turned his back, and Charlotte couldn’t make out much of the one-sided conversation. He finished quickly then glanced between the two of them. “Something came up at work.” Trent faced her. “Is there any way I can impose on you to drive Harmon back to my place?”
    She’d love to see where her mystery man lived. “No problem.”
    Harmon placed a hand on his shoulder. “Is it serious?”
    “Deadly. Someone was murdered.”

Chapter Four

    C harlotte stood there, stunned, as Trent hightailed it out of Italiano’s. Someone was dead?
    “From the look on my brother’s face, it’s like he knew the person,” Harmon said, his gaze focused on the closing door.
    “I hope not. Poor Trent.”
    “Come on.” As they left the restaurant, Harmon held open the door.
    “My car’s parked behind the gun range. Hope you don’t mind the walk.”
    “Not at all.”
    For most of the way, they walked in silence.
    “Does my brother always leave a beautiful woman