Hidden Falls Read Free Page B

not paying enough attention to her.”
    “And?” Cooper plunked back into the chair.
    “And what?”
    “Are you?”
    “None of your business.”
    “Come on, Liam. Maybe she has a point. You’re thirty-eight years old. You guys have been engaged for, what, five years? What woman wants to be engaged for five years? Have you even set a date?”
    “Like I said, none of your business.”
    “I like Jessica just fine,” Cooper said. “And I’m pretty sure she doesn’t hate me. She gets along with Mom and Dad. What’s the deal?”
    “There is no deal.” Liam picked up his bottle of water. “Jessica wants a perfect wedding. Her parents can’t afford to foot the bill for what she wants, so we both agreed we would wait until we could manage it. I’m just trying to make some money so I can make her happy.”
    “Does she need a fancy wedding in order to be happy with you?”
    “What kind of crack is that?”
    “Just a question.”
    “I thought you said you liked her.”
    “I do.”
    “Then enough with the marriage advice. You’re thirty-four. When are you going to get a girlfriend?”
    “Oh, very smooth. Change the subject to get yourself out of the hot seat.”
    Liam laughed. “It always worked when we were kids.”
    “What do I need to wear to this shindig tonight?” Cooper slung his feet over the side of the chair.
    “Not your uniform.” Liam sat on the couch and eyed his desk in the corner, wishing he had turned some of the papers upside down. At least the laptop screen had gone to sleep. Cooper wouldn’t know what any of it meant, anyway.
    “I thought women like a man in uniform,” Cooper said.
    “Not the kind of uniform where the guy can give them a speeding ticket.”
    “It’s true that batting your eyes gets you nowhere with me.”
    “The sheriff’s office can make people nervous.” Liam got up to take his empty Perrier bottle to the recycling bin in the kitchen. And to escape looking his brother in the eye.
    “We’re supposed to make people feel safe and protected,” Cooper said. “Isn’t that what it says on our squad cars?”
    “Every theory has its flaws.”
    Cooper followed Liam across the apartment and sat on a stool at the breakfast bar. “You all right?”
    “Why wouldn’t I be?” Liam pulled a bag of black bean tortilla chips from the cupboard just to look busy.
    “Fine. Whatever.” Cooper made two revolutions on the stool. “I haven’t had a suit on in ages. Good thing being a cop keeps me fit and trim so I can wear an old one.”
    “Keep telling yourself that.” Liam crunched a chip between his teeth and wished his brother would leave. His brain was spinning with numbers.
    A particular number representing the total of the missing money.
    Various combinations that might add up to that particular number.
    Account numbers that may or may not be missing funds.
    Dates.
    Confirmation numbers.
    Missing confirmation numbers.
    Client telephone numbers.
    Reports.
    No matter which way Liam added it up, the outcome was trouble. Every time.
    He wished he were burning the midnight oil to pay for a wedding or save for his future with Jessica. The truth was, he was hanging by his fingernails just trying to figure a way to stay out of jail. The last person he needed to confide in right now was a brother who worked in the county sheriff’s department.
    “Can I sit with you tonight?”
    “Huh?” Liam made himself look at Cooper.
    “Can I sit with you and Jessica tonight?”
    Liam shrugged. “I’m not in charge of the seating chart.”
    “Listen to me, Liam. I don’t want to walk in and sit with strangers at a banquet. I’m serious.”
    “I’m listening, and I seriously hear you saying you can’t get a date.”
    “Maybe I don’t want a date.”
    “Yeah. That’s why you’re desperate to piggyback on mine. Fine. Wear the black suit.”
    “Thanks, bro.” Cooper gripped the football on the counter in one hand, hustled across the apartment, spun around, and threw a