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know what those emotions were, nor did he want to deal with them.
    A brief, light knock at the office door and Cooper’s permission to enter ended the brief solitude he’d managed to wrap around him, and the moment of reckoning arrived.
    *   *   *
    Erin stepped into the office, only barely managing to contain her shock as she recognized the tense, furious set of her stepfather’s expression.
    She was certain Cooper likely missed the rage brewing in J.D.’s gaze, but she didn’t. That lighter blue-gray was a sure giveaway that an explosion was imminent.
    Cooper sat back in the chair behind his desk, a frown on his face, his gaze sliding briefly to the third occupant next to the window.
    Turk.
    She looked away from him quickly, closed the door behind her, then moved with a confidence she certainly didn’t feel, until she stood several feet from Cooper’s desk.
    â€œYou wanted to see me?” she asked, keeping her voice at its normal cadence, the nerves beginning to build in her stomach tightly contained as she stood relaxed, her arms at her sides as she met her boss’s gaze.
    â€œErin, we seem to have a problem.” It was J.D. that moved from where he stood to the corner of the desk to face her.
    Damn, he was really pissed off.
    She lifted a brow slowly, watching from the corner of her eye as Cooper slowly tensed in his chair at the familiarity in J. D. McConnell’s tone.
    â€œReally?” she murmured. “What sort of problem?”
    She could feel Turk moving closer until he invaded her peripheral vision, then moved with a stealthy silence until he stood several feet from Cooper, a dark, steady watchfulness in his deep-brown gaze.
    Oh, hell, it was obvious J.D. had not informed them of exactly who she was and what she was doing there.
    J.D.’s smile was all teeth.
    Oh, God, what had she done to deserve this? Whatever the hell was coming, it was obvious her stepfather wasn’t just angry, and he’d gone past furious.
    â€œYou’ve been accused of placing an electronic device designed to reroute the camera feed over the bar to an as-yet-undisclosed location after the club was closed last night.”
    Her gaze jerked to Turk. They had worked together last night. He would have known better.
    â€œThe programming was done from this office,” Cooper interjected, his voice dangerously soft. “You were out of Turk’s gaze for approximately thirty minutes while taking the trash and soiled rags to the back door, then the time it would have taken you to collect your purse in the lounge across the hall. All recordings from the time just before you left the bar area until this morning were rerouted and erased from this system.”
    Erin remained silent for a second before looking slowly to her stepfather. His jaw was clenched, the savagely hewn curve not unlike Turk’s as well. Both men were silently holding back their fury, and there was little doubt it seemed directed at each other.
    She drew in a slow, deep breath. “Not one time did I enter this office, or any other office while out of the bar area,” she informed them. “I took the soiled rags and trash to the back door, collected my purse, then went to the employees’ bathroom to brush my teeth and collect a breath mint before returning to the bar and leaving.”
    â€œYou brushed your teeth?” Cooper asked slowly, disbelievingly.
    â€œI did.” She nodded. “When I returned to the bar I then looked up at the camera, winked at it as I do every night before leaving, then preceded Turk from the bar. He locked up, followed me to my car, then we drove to town. I didn’t return to the bar, nor did I enter your office or mess with the cameras.”
    â€œWhy the hell did you stop to brush your teeth before leaving the bar?” Cooper snapped as though she would lie about it.
    â€œBecause I wanted to,” she answered, barely holding back a