Page 51 of Out of the Shadows

Damn, she was hot. “Yes, ma’am.”

He dropped a quick kiss to her lips, and as much as he didn’t want to, he untangled himself from her arms. Taking her hand, he led them to the couch in his office’s seating area. “I feel like I should apologize for mauling you at work,” he said as he sat and pulled her down next to him.

“Pretty sure it was a mutual mauling. But, yeah, I should have probably locked the door when I first came in to distract you.”

His eyebrows kicked up. “Distract me?”

She held her leg out and wiggled her foot. “When I came in to thank you for the shoes, I was curious if this was one-sided.”

“This?”

She waved a hand between them. “I’m glad to know it’s not. Who knew you’d be such a great kisser, boss?”

He let out a breath that was more like a growl. “Shit,” he muttered, adjusting his growing erection. “You’re killing me, B.”

There was a loud knock on the door, and she grinned at him and patted his knee as she glanced at his crotch. She handed him a throw pillow and winked. “You should probably keep that on your lap.” Then she called out, “Come in.”

Xander peeked around the door. “Is it safe?”

“You’re fine,” Bean said, rolling her eyes.

“You may be fine, Bean, but Frazier sure as hell isn’t.” Xander smirked at him. “Nice pillow.”

Kill. Me. Now.

“Can we get this over with?” Holy shit, the very last thing Gavin wanted to do was have a conversation with Xander while he was still sporting an uncomfortable boner. The entire situation was so fucking awkward. “What is it you wanted to show us?”

Xander held up a tablet and stepped toward them, then he hesitated.

“Oh, good freaking God,” Bean muttered. “Just sit down already and show us whatever it is you have.”

Taking the seat across from them, he placed the large tablet onto the coffee table that separated them. “As you know, after the kidnapping, Edward McClintock shook up his security teams. While he fired everyone working on the personal security detail for Rita and Anson, he kept Polanski and a small group as his own personal security and to watch their house.” Xander pulled up a collage of photos. “These are stillstaken from the exterior security footage along the northern edge of the McClintock property. It’s the public street that leads to their main gate. Cyber went back two full weeks, and there are a number of people who walk this route regularly.”

Gavin glanced at the photos. The majority of the people were dressed in exercise wear. Most were walking dogs, though there were a handful of runners in the mix.

Scrolling through the photos, Xander stopped on one and enlarged it. “This guy started going by on Thursday morning.”

“Thursday,” Bean murmured. “That’s two days after Anson was rescued.”

“And the day after the McClintocks let the majority of their security staff go,” Xander added.

As they spoke, Gavin analyzed the photo. It was of a white male jogging. He was dressed in trackpants and a hooded sweatshirt with a baseball hat pulled down low to shield his face. Gavin estimated the man to be in his late twenties to mid-thirties, probably around one-eighty, and fit.

Shaking his head, he gestured to the photo. “That guy could be anyone. Maybe he’s just starting a new running route. After all, it’s a popular area since there’s not a lot of traffic.”

Xander tapped the screen, and multiple photos populated the display. They all showed the same man mid-jog. “He ran by three times Thursday, three times Friday, once Saturday morning, and again Saturday afternoon. He’s wearing a different outfit each time, even on the same days.”

Part of Gavin wanted to ask Xander if he was certain it was the same man since none of the photos had a clear shot of his face. But when Xander rearranged the photos so they were displayed side by side, there was no doubt it was the same person.

Tapping the screen again, Xander brought up a video and pressed play. “This footage is from this morning. Notice anything different?”

“He’s walking and not running.” Gavin frowned. “But his arms aren’t swaying. He’s favoriting his right arm, like his right shoulder hurts.”

Bean’s eyes narrowed as she leaned closer to the screen. Suddenly, she gasped and turned to him. “You said you got a shot into the car that was chasing us, right? Do you think this could be the shooter?” Before he could respond, she turned to Xander. “Please tell me you were able to get a clear shot of his face. At least a partial.”

Xander winced and pulled up a photo onto the screen. “Kind of.”

Gavin’s frown deepened. It was obviously enlarged from the video feed and was grainy as fuck.