"Matty?" Damian prompted.

"A few weeks ago, Bob, the Lab," she added, pointing as the animal himself walked in, looked at them, then walked out. "Well, someone cut his toe off."

"Excuse me?" Charlotte said. Damians response was a bit more colorful.

Matty looked at Dash who was studying her. She swallowed. "Well, of course I rushed him to the vet, to Dash, with my neighbors help. But when I got back, I remember thinking that Brads computer was in a different place than where Id first seen it."

"Charlotte," Damian said in warning, but Charlotte was already backing away from the device. "Tell me what happened that day and when it was," he ordered.

"Theres not much to add," she said after Dash had given the exact date of the event. "It was in the morning. I think I was at the clinic just before noon, maybe?"

Dash nodded in agreement.

"And then back home probably three hours later," Matty added. Damian had already called in two of the other agents to take the computer away and barked an order for them to fingerprint it.

"My prints will be all over it," Matty said quietly, suddenly feeling a little ashamed of her solo, and somewhat sneaky, investigations.

"Say that again?" Damian asked.

Matty pursed her lips. Damian crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a look at her. Dashs arm came around her shoulders.

"I wanted to see if I could find anything on his computer. I, uh, I figured out the password and spent several hours on it. My prints will be everywhere."

Whatever Damian was thinking, it didnt show on his face. Matty cast a glance at Charlotte who was also studying her, her head cocked.

"What?" Matty finally said. "Dont pretend you wouldnt have done the same thing," she said to her friend.

One side of Charlottes lips tipped into a grin. "Of course I would have, but Im nosy and sneaky. You arent usually the sneaky one."

"I sneak," Matty retorted, though why she was offended she didnt really know. It must have been some knee-jerk, childish reaction.

"Honey, youre about as good a sneak as a fat man hiding behind a sapling. But I love you anyway," Charlotte retorted.

Matty narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Anyway," Damian cut in. "Thats good to know, we already have your prints on file, Matty. We can eliminate those. Is there anything else we should know about? Anything else you remember?"

"What about the day we went out to take care of Kristens horse," Dash said, reminding her of the second incident.

"What happened that day, and who is Kristen?" Damian asked.

And so Matty told him. She told him about Bogey getting tangled in the fence. Dash interjected, adding information about the conversation hed had with Ian after Ian had come out to look at the fence where Kristens horse had been caught-an event neither man thought was an accident.

"Okay, so you have two suspicious incidences involving animals. What made you think of the horse incident?" Damian pressed.

"Because when we came back, Matty thought things in the office looked different," Dash supplied.

Damian frowned.

"Different how?" Charlotte asked, taking a few steps toward the door to the kitchen, away from the desk.

"I couldnt find my computer when I came in to look for it. But then we had a lot of people stop over that day to pay their condolences when news got out that the body was Brads. The next day, I went into the office and my computer was there but there were a number of small things that looked out of place, like cords that didnt look like they were in the same position as when Id last noticed them, paper edges sticking out from the file cabinet. But weve had a lot going on the last two weeks. Its possible I was just imagining it," Matty said.

"Or not," Damian countered, calling in the other two agents. His eyes swept the room and he let out a long sigh. "Sorry, Ms. Lareaux," he said. Charlotte seemed to know what he was referring to because she lifted a shoulder and stepped closer to Matty.

"Pearson, Anderson," Damian directed the two agents. "This room needs to be dusted, too. And as soon as the computer is done, please ensure it gets to Ms. Lareaux." He gestured the rest of them out of the office, leaving just the two agents inside.

"Do you have something you can do for an hour or so?" Damian asked Charlotte.

"Ill go check into a bed and breakfast or something," Charlotte answered, unperturbed by the change in schedule.

Matty, on the other hand, felt ill at the thought that someone might have been in the house while she and Dash were out. If it had happened once, or maybe even twice, how many other times had it happened? Dash squeezed her hand and whispered in her ear, "Youre okay."

Bob came up and poked his wet nose against her other hand. She glanced down at the dog and realized that at least she could be fairly certain no one had been in the house while she was home or Bob and the other canines would have barked up a holy racket. Which is why, if it was true that someone had been inside, it had only been when theyd known she would be away, likely because theyd orchestrated it that way.

"You can stay with us," Dash was saying to Charlotte as he led Matty through the kitchen toward the patio. Both Charlotte and Damian followed.

"Thanks, but I like my own space and Im allergic to dogs. Its not bad and a few hours around them isnt anything a Benadryl cant handle, but any more than that and Ill be a mess. And Id rather not be doped up going through the files later. Any suggestions on where to stay?"

Dash let go of Mattys hand as they stepped out onto the patio. He hung back with Damian as she and Charlotte walked to his truck. Opening the truck cabs rear door, Matty called to the dogs and let them pile in, one by one, as she and Charlotte spoke.

"There are a few places to stay, but the best is probably The Tavern because it has a restaurant and bar downstairs. Weve eaten there a few times, and Rob, the owner, is handling the beverage service for Vivi and Ians wedding in October. Why dont you try that? If he has a room, we can meet there for dinner tonight once youre done here, so you dont have to be around dogs, or dog hair, for the rest of the day."

Charlotte agreed and Matty gave her directions to The Tavern. When she finished, she was struck again at how strange her life had become in the past few weeks. She could almost understand Charlottes hesitancy when it came to her new situation. Matty was a city girl through and through. Or so shed always thought. And now, here she was-wearing a sundress and flip flops, her hair pulled back into a low ponytail, giving Charlotte directions to a small-town inn-acting like shed lived here her whole life.

As if reading her thoughts, Charlotte smiled. "Who would have thought wed ever find ourselves in this kind of situation? Out here in the middle of nowhere, actually helping law enforcement."

Matty cocked her head then gave a short nod to Dash. "Yeah, the situation is unusual in more ways than one," she said with her own smile.

"Its a long way from the Bronx, isnt it," Charlotte added.

Matty nodded. "Again, in more ways than one."

"He seems like a good guy," Charlotte said, turning her gaze to where Dash and Damian were talking.

"He is. But youre reserving final judgment and Im okay with that," she responded.

Charlottes eyes came back to hers and in them Matty saw all their years together. All the tears and the pain, but also the laughter, the love, and the joy theyd shared. "Thank you for coming, Charlotte. And not just because youre helping to sort through the mess Ive managed to find myself in. Thanks, well, just thanks for coming. For checking on me. For caring." She cut herself off and cleared her throat.

"Because whatever else happens, well always have each other," Charlotte said.

Matty inclined her head. "We always will," she agreed.

Then Charlotte grinned and added, "Even when youre like ten-months pregnant and huge as an elephant and hating your life and Dash for getting you that way. Youll still have me."

Matty laughed, making both Damian and Dash look up. "I will not be huge as an elephant, you twig. And even if I am, you better not mention it or Ill have your mom zap you with some gris-gris."

Charlotte laughed too, especially at the reference to her mothers creole past. "Yeah, and if youre carrying the first grandbaby between us, shed probably do it, too."

CHAPTER 25.

"WERE YOU AND CHARLOTTE TALKING about kids?" Dash asked much later that afternoon. Theyd been asked not to discuss the case with anyone so had pretty much kept to themselves all day. Currently, they were camped out on his porch swing enjoying the pleasant weather. Hed been reading and Matty had been mostly quiet, lying on the swing with her head in his lap. Her quiet wasnt pensive or worried though; she looked more like she was just enjoying the lack of activity.

Her eyes swiveled to him at his question. "Kind of," she said, her hair spilling across his thighs.

He studied her eyes for a moment then shrugged. "Okay, thought so."

After a minute or two, she spoke again. "Does that freak you out?"

He looked down at her again and though the thought of kids hadnt really been on the forefront of his mind, he found he was far from freaked out by it. He shook his head. "No, it doesnt freak me out. My parents will be happy about more grandkids. Does it freak you out?"

After a moment, Dash realized hed been holding his breath and he willed himself to breath. Slowly, he let his lungs empty as Matty seemed to mull the question over.

"Not really," she said, sounding more confused by her answer than anything else.

"Good." He glanced at his book again, more in an effort to hide his surprise at the topic of conversation than because he was all that interested in the book. "Ever thought of how many youd like?" he asked without moving his eyes from the words he held not ten inches from his face-though, if asked, he wouldnt have been able to recall a single one of them.

He felt her shoulders shrug against his thigh. "Not really, but maybe two?"

A heartbeat passed before he let himself answer. "Twos good."

Matty was silent for a long while after that and he wasnt at all sure what she was thinking. Was this idle conversation for her? Was she thinking about having kids with him? And if she was, at some point theyd have to figure out their living situation. He had never really lived in a city, not for any length of time, and didnt really want to. But he knew he would for her. She had a big life and a history and her mom in DC. If she wanted to be in DC, he could understand that. He figured hed have to do more small animal work; it wasnt his favorite but he could deal with that. He was about to mention that to her, to tell her he would move to DC to be with her if that was what she wanted, when she spoke again, rendering him almost speechless.

"Youll have to fence that swimming pond, though," she said, waving toward the pond in question about a hundred feet from the house. "Id worry too much about the kids if it wasnt fenced in."

"Um, okay," he said. Not a problem. He and his dad could have it safely fenced in a weekend if that was what Matty wanted. She didnt seem interested in saying any more; she just dropped her foot down to the porch and gave the swing a gentle nudge. They rocked slowly for a long moment before Dash spoke again.

"Not to push or anything, but Im assuming this means youre okay with the whole Kent family tradition of quick marriages."

She made a noncommittal sound that brought his eyebrows up and his book down. He looked down at her; she looked up at him. "I know not everyone needs a piece of paper to be committed to each other," he said, "but call me a traditionalist, because I do. We will get married Matty."

She smiled at him. He wasnt sure what to make of that. "Are you laying down the law, Dr. Kent?"

"Yes."

Her smile broadened, though she was saved from responding by her phone ringing. Given everything that was going on, neither of them were ignoring any calls these days. She looked at the number and rose from her reclined position.

"Its Charlotte," she mouthed, before rising from the swing altogether and walking toward the end of the porch. He didnt take offense that shed moved away, rather he smiled at the fact that shed quickly realized that the best location for cell reception in his little valley was the east end of the house.

When she ended the call, she came back to his end of the porch looking a little bit like the cat who found the cream.

"Charlotte said shes done for the rest of the afternoon. Shes heading back to The Tavern and asked if we wanted to meet her there for dinner and a drink. Of course, I said yes."

"Of course you did," he responded. She held out her hand to him and he let her pull him up. When he stood in front of her, she wrapped her arms around him and started nibbling his neck in the way that always got to him.

"We are getting married, Matty," he said. She tilted her head back and grinned then took his hand and started leading him toward his bedroom.

"In a church. Were both Catholic, so that will be easy. With our families," he elaborated as she led him upstairs.

"Now?" she asked as she pulled him to a stop at the foot of his bed and moved her hands to the top button on his jeans.

"What?" he asked, distracted.

"Are we getting married now? Right this minute?" she asked, sliding her hands down along his hips.

"What? No, of course, not." His hands were slowly tugging the straps of her dress down over her shoulders.

"Then can I make a suggestion?" she asked, leaning into him.

He looked down at her.

She grinned again then went up on her tiptoes, her lips a hairs-breadth away from his. "I think we should stop talking."

Matty was still smiling and still not saying much of anything when they walked into The Tavern a few hours later. Charlotte, whod been sitting at the bar nursing a glass of wine, turned when they walked in, took one look at them, and rolled her eyes even as she laughed.

"Guess I dont have to guess how some people spent the afternoon while I was slaving away over computer files," she said as she walked toward them. She was wearing jeans and a sleeveless silk top that fit her figure perfectly. But then again, Charlotte had been wearing nothing but things that fit her perfectly since the day she could afford to. It also helped that she had the kind of body clothes just sat well on. She wasnt skinny per se, but she was nowhere near voluptuous and had none of the curves that Matty had. Charlotte always said she had a body that was neither here nor there-not small enough to be called petite but not quite full enough to have assets to flaunt either. But whatever her body was, clothes definitely liked it.

Matty laughed then glanced at Dash, who was trying not to look too embarrassed. "Shes just jealous," she said, giving her friend a kiss on the cheek and then a big hug.

They were about to make their way to a table when Damian Rodriguez trotted down the stairs. Earlier, in his suit, Matty had thought he was a handsome man; now, in jeans, a t-shirt, and even a pair of flip-flops, she thought he looked better yet.

"Youre gawking," Dash teased, nudging her as Damian came to a stop in front of them and graced them all with a killer grin.

"Im just surprised by how different he looks out of his suit," she shot back innocently. Dash rolled his eyes but didnt seem truly concerned.

"Agent Rodriguez," Charlotte said.

"Damian," he reminded her.

"I didnt realize you were staying here, too," Charlotte continued.

"I heard you guys talking about it, then Ian and Vivi recommended it too. They are actually joining me for dinner. Maybe we should make it a sixsome?" he asked as the couple in question walked in. Vivi must have said something funny because Ian was laughing and shaking his head.

Everyone said their hellos and agreed to eat together. Wanting some time with her friend, Matty sat herself beside Charlotte, who was at the head of the table. Vivi was on Charlottes other side while Dash sat between Matty and Damian, who took a seat at the head of the other end of the table, and Ian sat beside Vivi.

Drinks and dinner were ordered and lively conversation ensued. As if by tacit agreement, no one mentioned the investigation into Brads death or the Irish Mafia. Rather, the men slipped into conversation about the area and work while Matty, Charlotte, and Vivi talked a lot about Charlottes work. Vivi, ever the mental powerhouse, was intrigued by the machinations behind the global economy. Later, when the conversation turned to animals, Dash and the other two men joined in to discuss the use of search-and-rescue dogs at disaster sites.

"Have you used them yourself?" Dash asked Vivi, who shook her head.