Body Movers: 3 Men and a Body

6

Carlotta gave the new living room window one last swipe, then stood back to admire the shine. But instead of crystal-clear sparkle, the glass was smeared with cloudy streaks.

“You have to use newspaper to get the best shine,” Wesley said from behind her.

She turned and frowned. “You don’t say? I see you decided to grace the world with your presence today. It’s almost noon.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I was up most of the night before.”

Seeing the dark circles under his brown eyes, she nursed a pang of remorse. He looked so much like their father—lean, with sharp features a male model would kill for. But he didn’t have their father’s confidence, the ability to win over a room. Wesley was more cerebral. He preferred his books to people. She was sure he had no idea how handsome he was. “Are you ever going to tell me what you were doing?”

“I told you. I was playing cards.”

“Uh-huh.” She eyed his clothing. “It’s pretty warm today for long sleeves, don’t you think?”

He shrugged, but she could see the bulk of a bandage beneath the fabric of his shirt.

“You must have scraped your arm pretty badly,” she said, fishing.

“Man against asphalt, asphalt always wins.”

“Hmm. Did Peter bandage you up?”

“Yep.”

Wesley still wasn’t looking at her. His reluctance to talk about what had really happened cemented her decision not to mention what Jack had told her about their father. After all, the robbery in Daytona Beach could be a dead end, a mistaken identification.

“Mrs. Winningham said she gave you a get-well card for me.”

“She did, but I lost it.”

“When you had the accident on your bicycle?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

He was so lying about the bicycle accident. “That’s okay, I’ll tell her I got it anyway. Are you working with Coop later?”

“Not today. I have to check in with my probation officer.”

“She sounded pretty worried about you yesterday.”

“Really?”

It was the closest thing she’d seen to a smile on his face since he’d arrived home. “Really. And she said that you impressed the city computer guy you interviewed with. You start your community service Monday?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Are you going to be able to work with Coop and do your community service, too?”

“Yeah. Coop is cutting back on body retrievals for a while. He said he was doing special projects for the morgue.”

“The morgue has special projects?”

Wesley shrugged and walked into the kitchen. “Want a sandwich?”

“No, thanks.” But she followed him. “I’m sure Coop was relieved to hear from you last night.”

“I guess.”

“Wesley, he was worried. He spent the entire night driving around looking for you.”

“He shouldn’t have. Besides, he did that for you, not for me.”

“That’s not true. He’s very fond of you.”

“Maybe, but he’s got it bad for you.”

A flush climbed her neck. “Coop is … nice.”

“Yeah, but he’s not loaded like Peter.”

Carlotta arched an eyebrow. “Is that an endorsement for Peter?”

He turned back to the refrigerator. “Are we out of milk?”

“Look in the back.” Carlotta wondered about his sudden attachment to Peter. Something illicit had definitely transpired. She could think of only one reason Wesley would call Peter—money. What had Wesley gotten her former fiancé in the middle of?

And how would she ever be able to repay the man?

“What are you doing after you meet with your probation officer?” she asked quietly.

Another shrug. “I’ll probably go hang out with Chance.”

She frowned. “I don’t like you spending time with that derelict.”

“He’s not so bad.”

“Wesley, he told me what the two of you did to your loan shark at the strip club.”

He paused in the door of the refrigerator for just a second. “He shouldn’t have done that.”

“Hannah and I kind of beat it out of him.”

“It was just a prank.”

“It could’ve gotten you killed! He said you did it to protect me?”

Her brother shrugged again.