Dark Defender by Alexis Morgan Page A

of her father’s small foible brought a fleeting smile to her face. “He did switch to mechanical pencils. We both thought that was real progress.”
    Trahern’s slight smile lightened the tension. “If he was worried or felt threatened, he would have put the information in a place that one of us might know about but that the police would most likely overlook.”
    Brenna gave the matter some thought. “That would eliminate his home office. I’d have to say no to his bedroom, too. We both considered our bedrooms to be private.”
    He nodded. “That makes sense. So do you want the kitchen or this room?”
    “I’ll take the kitchen. I think I’d recognize something that didn’t belong in there more easily than you would.”
    “We can only stay an hour, two at the most. When the daylight starts fading, we need to be gone. Turning lights on could attract unwanted attention.”
    “Fine.” She hated—HATED—feeling like an intruder in her own home. “Yell if you need me.”
    Once out of sight of those gray eyes that saw too much, she allowed herself to sag. She wanted more than anything to press the rewind button on her life and make this all go away, but that wasn’t going to happen. It was time to get busy.
    She started in the nearest corner of the kitchen and slowly made her way through every cabinet and drawer, checking under every dish in the stacks. She could tell that someone, most likely the police, had already been through the room. Damn them! How dare they act as if her father had had something to hide!
    But then…according to Trahern, he did.
    She checked the refrigerator, throwing out any food that had outlived its usefulness. After bagging it up, she headed out to the trash can. Before she’d gone two steps out the door, Trahern was right there dragging her back into the house.
    “Damn it, Brenna! Haven’t you been listening to me? You just made a hell of a target for anyone watching the house.” He jerked the bag of trash from her hand. “And if that weren’t bad enough, cleaning out the fridge ices the cake. Why not just take out an ad in the paper announcing where you are?”
    She didn’t like being bossed around, but he was right. Mumbling an apology, she returned to the kitchen, leaving him to deal with the trash.
    He joined her a minute later. “Any luck?”
    “No.” She made herself keep rooting through the drawer of cooking implements. Maisy would have hated the disorganized mess. Lord, she missed that woman with her fussy ways and warm heart.
    “Me, either. If he left anything in the living room, it’s either already gone or his choice of spots isn’t obvious enough.”
    “There’s nothing here that shouldn’t be, unless it’s on top of the refrigerator. I haven’t gotten to that yet.”
    Trahern looked. “Nothing up here.” He ran his finger over the top and held it up for her to see. “I’d guess no one has touched it in a while. Maisy would have ripped into the cleaning service for that.”
    “She was something, wasn’t she?” It was nice to share her memories of Maisy with someone who understood. “I never met a tougher woman or one with a bigger heart.”
    Blake smiled. “She scared me to death. In all my years of fighting with blades, I’ve never seen her equal with a knife.”
    She knew he was exaggerating, but the affection in his voice was real. “Yeah, I remember the first time you hugged her. I thought we were going to need an ambulance for her.”
    “Yeah, well, I only did it for the cookies.”
    Right. Maisy had stuffed him with sweets from the first night, and seeing Trahern actually reach out to someone had surprised them all. His gesture had been a major turning point. She wondered if he knew that.
    “We’d better start on another room before we run out of time.” He walked out, leaving her to follow.
     
    Blake’s cell phone vibrated for the third time in less than fifteen minutes. He sighed and pulled it out of his pocket, expecting it to be