Page 38 of Capture My Heart

Who could she bounce all this off of? Not Tommy. Mom… No. Ryan had a date tonight, besides she promised not to tell anyone at work about Trey’s involvement.

She looked at the time. Liz probably knew all about it, as Finden had tried to kill her, and Jim was in on the whole undercover agent thing.

Amy’s finger hovered over her friend’s name in her contact list. No. Not yet. She needed to talk to someone who would understand how she felt and could give her objective advice, or just listen to her vent. One name came to mind.

She scrolled through her favorites and pushed the button. A few seconds later, her academy friend’s voice filled the room.

“Am, I was just thinking about you. How are you doing?” Candi Maguire was one of those friends that always remembered dates. A birthday, the day they graduated from the Police Academy, and the day Amy’s father died.

“Hey, girl. Sorry I didn’t return your text the other day. I have had better weeks. Do you have a minute to chat?”

“For you? Always.”

Amy’s thoughts were a jumbled mess. They wanted to trip out of her mouth one after the other, but she held them in. Processing.

“How’s work?” The benign question sounded lame, even to her own ears, but she didn’t know where to start.

“Oh, you know. Trying to live up to Daddy’s expectations, avoiding Mom’s setups, and trying not to get killed at work. The usual.”

A smile tugged at Amy’s lips. “Oh, I totally get it.”

“I knew you would.” Candi paused. “How’s that sexy landlord of yours?”

Amy had mentioned Trey to her friend from time to time, but damn if she didn’t have a sixth sense or something.

At her silence, Candi gave a low whistle. “Honey, don’t tell me. He’s a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. The prick.”

“No. He has a girlfriend, but that’s not it.” Amy sucked in a breath before continuing. “He’s a BCA agent.”

“Okay, could be worse neighbors to have. So, what is it?”

“He’s undercover… At my station.”

Candi cursed under her breath. “Well, they don’t send them in for petty stuff, do they? I remember you said something about weird things going on. A corrupt cop?”

“Yeah, but it gets worse.”

Her gasp echoed in Amy’s ear. “Don’t tell me he thinks you’re the dirty cop… No way. That’s bullshit. You could never.”

Amy’s heart warmed at her friend’s defense of her character. “He said he thinks I’m innocent, but he can’t clear me, yet.”

“Well, that’s something, but it’s still crap.”

“What sucks is that he wants me to help him.”

“Okay.” Amy could almost hear her head nodding. “I can see why he would want that. I’m surprised he told you if he’s undercover.”

Amy picked at the frayed edge of her shorts. “He didn’t. I figured it out. Get this, I’m still on the list of suspects but he wants me to pretend to be his girlfriend so he has a legit reason to be at all the work happy hours and such.”

“Oh girl, this could work out to your advantage. You could get undercover experience and, if things work out, you could see some action with your sexy BCA neighbor.”

A laugh slipped from her lips. Leave it to Candi to find the bright side of the situation.

“You’re crazy and I love you, but you know I can’t do that for two reasons. One, his gorgeous redheaded Barbie girlfriend. And two, I can’t lower myself and sleep with an investigating officer if he questions my innocence.”

She doubted Agent Fenley would go for it either, even if it’s only that he hasn’t ruled me out yet. Attraction smoldered between them, but she could tell he had a strong moral compass. Every pore of his body oozed integrity.

“True. I don’t think I could either.” The deflection in her voice rang out loud and clear. “But if this guy’s as hot as you’ve said, I’d be working my ass off to clear my name, just in case the girlfriend isn’t serious.”