Lei'd With Cupcakes (Cupcakes 3)

There was nothing to search. No cabinets, drawers, or closets, so I walked quickly, but softly, after him.

There was a small half bath, and another room.

When I entered the last empty room, Cade was climbing out the window onto the outside ledge. I stuck my head out to see him walking toward the window for the space next door. He peered inside for a few moments, then raised his hand and indicated that I should join him.

By the time I reached his side, Cade had the window open and was swinging his leg over the side. He held up one finger, so I waited while he scoped out the inside.

I turned to check out our surroundings, then turned back when I was sure there was no one around.

“Clear,” Cade said, barely loud enough for me to hear.

I stepped over the ledge into a small, tidy office. There was a small desk with couple of notebooks on top, some scattered paper, and a large map on the wall. There was also a shredder and a large trash can.

Once I surveyed the space, I left in search of Cade.

I passed another small half bath, identical to the one next door, except this one had toilet paper, hand towels, and soap. But when I walked into the largest room, totally empty. I mean, there wasn’t even a scrap of paper on the floor.

Cade was standing in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips.

“He’s probably squatting. Keeps to that back room so he can lock it when he’s not around, just in case a realtor or someone comes in.”

“There’s not much in there even if anyone did. He’s got a shredder, so he’s probably pretty anal about getting rid of evidence … if he has anything to hide, that is.”

“Setup like this,” Cade said as he looked around the room. “Dude’s got something to hide.”

I nodded, then said, “I’ll see if I can find anything.”

I turned on my heel and went back to the small office, with Cade right behind me. I handed him one of the notebooks and began flipping through the other.

“Look, here, there are some upcoming dates and a name. Do you know what it is?” I asked, pointing at a couple of lines in the middle of the notebook.

“That’s the harbor, a commercial port,” Cade replied, taking out his phone and snapping a quick picture.

“What do you think the map’s for?” I asked, looking at the large wall hanging that had red lines drawn across it.

“I don’t know, but I have a few ideas. I’m gonna make a few calls to some guys I used to know, and a couple of brothers from a local chapter, see if there’s any talk.”

“Okay,” I replied, then added, “But don’t try and cut me out of the loop. We’re in this together, right?”

“Yeah, darlin’,” Cade promised, at least I took it as a promise, then closed the book and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

We put everything back, shut the windows behind us, and made a hasty exit out of the building. When we were safely back on the ground floor, I put my hand in his and started swinging our arms back and forth. That lasted a minute, before Cade gave me a look and stilled our arms, keeping my hand securely at his side.

“Don’t forget, Big Man,” I said, steering him toward the bakery. “You owe me some cupcakes.”

I was sitting on the bed shoving a maple bacon cupcake in my mouth, when my iPad started ringing.

My stomach dipped with excitement as I picked it up and pressed the green button. I smudged some icing on my nose, hoping to make whoever was calling laugh, and grinned as I waited for the screen to come alive.

“Hey!”

“Hi.”

“Yo, sexy mama!”

My friends screamed out excitedly when their faces filled the screen.

“You guys are at Tapas without me?” I whined when I saw our favorite restaurant in the background.