Catching Sam: Book 2 of 5: The MacDonald Brothers by Emily Matthews (best mystery novels of all time TXT) 📗

as he knew, he was the only one who came to her house, so the fact that the door was locked was solely for his benefit. He was not supposed to see this. He got an uneasy feeling, and his stomach felt like he’d swallowed a rock.

And just like that, he was back to the what-ifs. What if Annie wasn’t who she said she was? And was just trying to scam him? Or what if this was some sort of long play to ruin him?

She could have come out right away after their one-night stand, but that would have been a one-time payout, and perhaps she was playing a longer game. If she had his baby, he’d be paying her for much longer. Maybe she wasn’t pregnant now, but planning to get pregnant soon.

He thought about the note she’d sent him about the sex being consensual. That might cover him against a sexual assault charge, but it wouldn’t do anything to defend against a pregnancy scam. In fact, it would help her!

He felt terrible doubting her again. And so soon after he’d assumed the worst of her with the sexual assault accusation. What was wrong with him? Was he being pragmatic or overly cynical? Cautious or stupid?

He’d read the book he bought on trusting people, but it hadn’t addressed this specific situation. Obviously. Even if it had, it would have made him out to be the untrustworthy one. Do trustworthy people sneak into locked rooms? No.

He supposed asking her about it would be the best way to find out, but then he’d have to admit he’d snooped around for a key and then used it to open her locked room. Even if he could think of some excuse—maybe he smelled smoke—she would see it as a major violation of privacy. And of course, she’d be right. And coming right on the heels of his last accusation? Even he wasn’t that stupid.

Yeah, he’d have to keep this to himself for now. Maybe he could bring up babies in casual conversation somehow and see how she reacted. Now that Jake knew about Annie, maybe he could run it all by him to get his take too. Whatever he did, he wasn’t ready to face Annie about it yet.

Making sure everything was untouched, he backed out of the room, locking the door behind him. He replaced the key and went back downstairs. He left a note saying something had come up and got the hell out of there.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

It wasn’t until Wednesday that he finally saw her again. He hadn’t called or texted, and neither had she. Not even to say thank you or come finish the job! Not a peep. He knew why he wasn’t calling her. He was still freaking out about “Avery” and the crib. But why wasn’t she calling him? He was beginning to wonder if he’d offended her. Maybe she hadn’t truly forgiven him for the last dumbass move he’d made.

Everyone was wandering into the monthly Denali project meeting. It was weird to think it had only been a month ago that he’d sat in this same room and found out who she was.

She was sitting at the other end of the table chatting with someone. Her demeanor had done a one-eighty, and she seemed to have made friends with the others.

Bill walked in and went to her immediately. He pulled out his phone and was showing her a picture. Sam strained to hear what he was saying.

“She loves the blanket you crocheted and wanted me to thank you again. You’re very talented,” he gushed. She smiled and turned toward him, oohing and aahing over how cute the baby was. Annie crocheted? A blanket for Bill? Probably Bill’s grandbaby.

Cathy came in and also went straight to Annie, thanking her for a book she’d lent her. He caught bits and pieces of Cathy saying how much it had helped and Annie saying she was glad.

Annie was doing that thing she did, grabbing her watch and squeezing, while talking to everyone. Was she nervous about something?

Phil came in and sat on Sam’s right. “Hey, great news. I just got off the phone with the attorneys and Stephanie has dropped her charge. She admitted to being drunk and said it must have been a dream.” Phil huffed. “Pft. More like she didn’t want to go to jail for extortion.”

“That is good news. Thanks,” Sam said, still staring at Annie.

“She seems to have won everyone over, eh?” Phil whispered and nodded discreetly in Annie’s direction.

“Yeah, big change from the last meeting. Glad everyone’s getting along.” She was chummy with everyone. Everyone but him. And she seemed to be purposely avoiding eye contact with him. Was it because she didn’t want anyone catching on that they were seeing each other? Or because she was just avoiding him, period? He hadn’t spoken with her since Saturday, and she’d acted strangely then too.

Did she know he’d entered the locked bedroom? Was she angry, and that was why she hadn’t contacted him? He wasn’t one to dick around. He’d stop by her office later and get to the bottom of it. Maybe she’d just been busy. She apparently had a lot on her plate he didn’t know anything about.

Gayle stopped by Annie on her way in to thank her for a cookie Annie had left her. Wasn’t she just a do-gooder? It irritated him that she was doing nice things for everyone but him. And it irritated him that he was irritated about it. Man up, dude!

He gave Phil the signal to get the meeting started. It lasted for a little over an hour, and not once did she look at him. That seemed like more than playing it safe. That just seemed rude.

After everyone had cleared out, he made his way over to her office, only to find out she’d left for the day. Beckie told him that Annie hadn’t felt well and had taken the rest of the afternoon off.

Once back at