Noah (7 Brides for 7 Soldiers Book 6)(19)

Noah could list a hundred reasons why any sane male would marry Teagan. Her heart, her smile, how she cared.

"She'd be amazing to be with," Noah volunteered.

Wyatt shook his head. "There's a difference between hanging with a woman and planning for the future."

"Makes sense." An emptiness hit Noah as he dropped his head back on the  couch. He wasn't envious that Wyatt had a woman to crawl in bed with,  but he wished he had Teagan to hold. To plan with-maybe for the future?  Definitely more than for a few days and beyond a warm bed and ensuing  hot night. Though that would be a bonus Noah wouldn't complain about.  Just like Wyatt, Noah would call himself a lucky man if he was within a  shooting chance of that kind of future.

He rubbed his chest, concentrating on the night's troubles and not the  unsettled hollow feeling eating at him. "I'm too close to see what you  can."

"What makes you think I do?" Wyatt asked.

"Because I know your perspective. It doesn't matter that we grew up on  different sides of the river or that it's been this many years since  high school detention."

Wyatt nodded and quietly laughed.

"We might've been on different SEAL teams, but once a SEAL, always a  SEAL." Noah rubbed his temples. "You're not going to give me a BS answer  when I need a heads-up."

"I don't trust a man who has no reason to stay and never quite leaves."  Wyatt shrugged. "But it makes more sense that you stopped an angry kid, a  PTA member gone nuts, or a would-be thief from running off with an  armful of counseling files."

Noah's brow pinched. He tried to picture anyone at school that upset  with the woman who had recently worn a black sweater with two white  stick figures on it. One held a line above its head, the other was  missing the line body, and the text said, "I'm a school counselor. I've  got your back."

Wyatt shifted on the couch. "Teagan has dirt on half the families in  this town-stuff that Hildie could only dream of and hormone-crazed  teenagers would go nuts for."         

     



 

Noah couldn't imagine. All things he hadn't considered. "Hmm."

"How about this?" Wyatt stood. "I'll make a call to a detective friend  and see what he thinks, then I'll follow up with you in the morning."

Noah could get behind that plan. "Okay. That works for me."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm headed to bed."

Lucky bastard.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN



One follow-up phone call with Wyatt and Noah found himself heading to  the Eagle's Ridge Police Department with a detective's name on a Post-It  Note instead of heading straight into Nuts and Bolts. The office was  small and quiet, and the detective was awaiting him.

By the time Noah was shown to the officer's desk, he was certain that  everyone had mentioned he was the one who'd burned down Lainey's house.  To the ground.

"Wyatt is your friend." The detective leaned back in the scarred office  chair and rolled a toothpick between his fingers. "We did him a favor."

Noah worked his jaw back and forth. "I appreciate that. He also  mentioned that I need to speak with you. Meaning, we're all friends."

"You put me in a predicament."

The meeting wasn't off to a great start. "That wasn't my intention. I  had a concern, and if it was unfounded, I didn't want to needlessly  worry Teagan."

The detective popped the toothpick into his mouth, holding it between  his teeth like a plank before he relaxed and worked the side of his gum.  "And what's your relationship with Miss Shaw?"

Good question. "What's that have to do with this?"

He lifted a shoulder. "You're new in town, question suspicious activity, and that's not something we're used to."

Man, did Noah hate the new-in-town line. He wasn't one to name-drop,  just as he didn't use his service in the military as a shiny object to  get attention. But he was raised in Eagle's Ridge and born in a hospital  that bore his family name-the Coleman Center.

"I wouldn't say I'm new to town. ‘Returning' might be a better word."

The toothpick worked its way to the other side of the detective's mouth. "Ah."

This was a waste of time. Noah would have better luck getting secondhand  information from Wyatt. "All right, thank you for your time,  detective." Noah stood, ready to shake his hand and get to work. Not  that there were cars in line for tune-ups yet, but if he didn't at least  show up, there never would be.

"The cigarette butts." The detective motioned for him to remain seated.

Noah rolled his shoulders but dropped into the chair. "What about them?"

"They could've been piled up in the corner by someone who works there on  a regular basis. A cleaning service not allowed to smoke inside. A  landscaper, a next-door neighbor kid sneaking off to grab a smoke."

He lifted his chin. "All things I've considered, which is why I talked to Wyatt."

"But they were fresh butts. Smoked about the same time."

Noah raised his brows and rolled his bottom lip into his mouth and thought. "Hmm."

"Hmm is right." He shifted the toothpick. "Why were you over there?"

Surely Wyatt had already shared, but Noah was sure that this was something the detective had to ask, anyway.

Noah filled the man in on his conversation with Teagan and how he  planned to explain everything that had gone on thus far but had not yet  done so. The detective nodded then pulled out the toothpick and rolled  it between his fingers.

"Look, but those cigarette butts, that's concerning," the detective  said. "But it's the positioning that concerns me. Not just the window  but the corner of the house, with a view of the driveway and the  neighbor."

"What? Like a lookout?" Noah's brow pinched.

The detective rocked in his office chair. "I took a gander around the  back side of her property. She doesn't keep her shed locked."

"Who locks their shed?" Noah shrugged. "I have no idea."

"It's insulated. Expensive, not the run-of-the-mill kind that you can  order online and assemble from a prefab kit. You don't buy those at  hardware stores. It was built some time ago."

"Okay," Noah said, failing to understand where the conversation was going.

"The insulation had been stripped out, which is odd. But it doesn't look  like it's used often. Could've been an animal, could've been long ago."

Noah leaned forward, resting his forearms on the detective's desk. "Was it?"         

     



 

"Nope." He shook his head. "That wasn't an animal. But as for when? No idea."

Why would someone open the shed walls? "Anything else you can tell me?"

The detective shook his head. "There's nothing to share. Hell, it's not  even an investigation. She hasn't called in a concern or a crime. This  was nothing more than a friend of mine asking about a concern for his  friend. I looked, and we talked."

Noah ran his hand over his chin. "I get it. And I really appreciate it."

"If you talk to Teagan, and she's concerned, have her file a police  report. Otherwise … " The detective shrugged then tossed his toothpick  into the trash can.

Otherwise, Noah realized, this was just a weird occurrence, brought on  by a noise that she had heard during a week of storms. The cigarettes  were weird but not criminal. Still, they were suspicious enough that he  would be on alert. Noah stood up and extended his hand. "Thanks again  for your time."

"I'll have someone drive her street every now and then."

"Appreciate that." And now Noah had the awkward task of explaining to  Teagan that he'd scoped her backyard without letting her know and  confided in an old friend, who then sent the police to do the same.

All in all, Noah should have looped her into the conversation much  earlier. It was too late for that, and he had nothing much to share  other than his boundary crossing and a strange pile of cigarettes.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN



Every station on the radio irritated Noah. Commercials seemed trivial,  radio hosts annoying, and too many songs had lyrics that spoke to him.  He read between the lines and heard about the trust that Lainey had  bestowed upon him by letting him raise Bella, the same trust that he  might've overstepped by going to Teagan's at night. Noah's angst left  him confused over his protective nature and how he wanted to protect  Teagan specifically.

He flipped off the radio and concentrated on the list of action items  for Nuts and Bolts. His CPA had sent him a list of accounts payable  items he needed to categorize. He hoped for a customer or two to drop by  but guessed that wouldn't happen until the afternoon.

The truck's tires ate the road as he wound his way through Eagle's  Ridge. Noah drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel, uncomfortable in  the silence and his worries that kept going back to Teagan.

He couldn't be alone with his thoughts right now, and hell, what did it  matter if he was on time to the shop? With a quick change of lanes, Noah  pulled a left-hand turn and headed to see if Adam or Zane were around  at A To Z Watersports.