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“ I s there a different system we can put in?” Sabina asked.

Chad racked his brain at her question as he studied the documents spread across the table. Together, they were studying the architectural plans for the server room being built on the new premise.

“Maybe we can install it on the walls rather than the ceiling?” he suggested, then quickly shook his head. That wasn’t a good option.

“What about putting it behind glass, like the old-school fire alarms?” she countered.

He leaned down to get a closer look at the wall depth. It wasn’t a bad idea.

“What are you all doing?”

Chad straightened as Ethan, one of his cousins, sauntered into their temporary digs. In four weeks, they’d be moving into their permanent offices. But in the meantime, they’d set up shop in the prior owner’s cabin rather than Chad’s house. The building was a bit primitive, but he was grateful for the neutral meeting ground. Not only did it allow him to separate work from home, but it also meant he hadn’t had to experience Sabina making herself comfortable in his private space.

“Ethan, good to see you,” Sabina said with a bright smile. As if his arrival was a pleasant surprise. Which it wasn’t. It might be pleasant, but it was hardly a surprise. The security system had let them know he was on his way up the drive five minutes earlier.

“You too, Sabina. What are you two up to?” he asked again.

Chad was certain his cousin hadn’t stopped by to talk construction, but he shifted to the side and gestured to the papers. Ethan, a former naval officer and current sergeant with the Mystery Lake Police, stepped up to the table.

“We’re trying to decide where to put the universal kill switch for the server room,” Chad answered. “Each server has its own, of course. But in the event that something catastrophic happens, and we need to kill all servers at once, we need a way to do that.”

Ethan looked down at the plans and frowned. “What’s the problem?”

“The fire suppression system is the problem,” Sabina answered. “We don’t want the universal switch located anywhere near where that system might—or could—interfere with it.”

Ethan studied the documents, his arms crossed over his chest. Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved Henley, it was almost as if Chad were looking into a mirror. His cousin might be seven years younger, but all the Warwick men seemed to have the same look about them. Athletic builds, six feet tall—give or take an inch—dark hair, and their grandfather’s sharp facial structure. The only thing that really set the eight Warwick males in his generation apart was their eye color. Chad’s were dark brown, whereas Ethan’s were a deep green. The rest of his cousins and brothers fell at various places on the spectrum. For as similar as they looked, it was an oddity that not a single one of them had the same eye color.

As for his female cousins, Ethan’s twin sisters Joey and Charley, they shared their brother’s green eyes. And although they were as athletic as their male relatives, both were petite—barely five foot five—with their mother’s Mediterranean skin tone and auburn hair. A color that had more red than brown and that no one knew from where it had come.

“What if you moved this part of the wall out about six inches? If you did, you’d be able to create a small room, like an entryway, here,” Ethan said, pointing to the east wall. “Then you could put in two doors—one to enter the small room and one to enter the server room—and put the kill switch in that space? With nothing in there, you wouldn’t need to run fire suppression to it at all.”

Chad and Sabina dropped their attention to the plans. In his mind, Chad reconfigured the wall and saw what Ethan was suggesting. To enter the server room, a person would walk through one door, which could close behind them, then a second door would open to the server room. Ethan was right. If they did that, they wouldn’t need to run any suppression system into the small space and there’d be no risk of it interfering with the kill switch.

“You are a genius!” Sabina exclaimed. “What do you think, Chad?”

“I think he solved a problem in less than five minutes that we’ve been discussing for an hour,” he responded.

Sabina grinned then started to roll up the plans. “Let’s sleep on it. If we still agree in the morning, I can take the plans to Josh and go over the change.”

Chad nodded. Josh was his brother, only two years younger. He owned the construction company Stella and Hunter had hired to do the work on the new facility. He was the best in the area, but he’d also done work for the DOD over the years and had the right security clearance.

Ethan and Chad remained silent as Sabina gathered the plans and the rest of her things. It was close to six, and they were done for the day. Overall, he was happy with how the facility was coming along. Barring any unforeseen issues, they’d be settling in in four short weeks.

Sabina gave them a wave before walking out the door, and Chad and Ethan nodded in response. His heart tweaked at not knowing where she was going. But he forced himself to breathe through it as she climbed into one of the company Jeeps and pulled out of her parking spot.

“You still don’t have any idea where she’s living?” Ethan asked.

Chad shook his head and led his cousin into a room off the kitchen that he was using for his office. “I asked, she said downtown. I left it at that. If she doesn’t want to tell me, I’m not going to force the issue.”

“Even though you want to?” Ethan said with a grin, taking a seat in a wooden chair. Chad shot him a look as he circled back behind his desk and took his own seat. He hoped his cousin would get the message.

But the thing about cousins is that even if they got the message, they usually didn’t heed it. “All I’m saying is you two work well together. You have this seamless way of being around each other. I know that doesn’t always amount to more, but in your case, I think it does.”

“Next time you see her, ask her something personal,” Chad said. Ethan frowned. “Ask her if she’s going home for Thanksgiving, or what her favorite Halloween memories are. If you’re half as smart as you think you are, you’ll see why I’m keeping my distance.” For now, at least. He’d been living and breathing the new facility since they’d arrived four weeks ago, and he hadn’t had the time to consider what he’d do about Sabina. He knew the smart thing was to leave it—leave her—alone. If she didn’t want to trust him, he couldn’t make her. But something deep inside him wouldn’t let it lie. Still, he had no desire to make her uncomfortable or make her feel that he was putting her back up against a wall. He needed a subtle strategy, and he hadn’t had the time or energy to come up with one.

“I can’t imagine you came here to talk about Sabina,” Chad said. Ethan shifted in his seat and ran a hand over his face before he let out a deep sigh. “Ethan?” Chad pressed.

His cousin raised his gaze, took a breath, then asked, “Do you think HICC will be hiring once you get the facility up and running?”

That was not what Chad had expected. As far as he knew, his brother Ryan, and Ethan, liked working for Mystery Lake PD. At least they’d never said anything about not liking it. Like him, they’d both done time in the military—Ethan in the navy and Ryan in the air force—before settling into something a little tamer. Granted some of the ops HICC ran weren’t exactly tame. And he was also sure that not every day as a police officer in their hometown was quiet. But both jobs were a far cry from the danger and near-constant stress of their first careers.

“Yes, we will be. You interested?” Chad asked. Ethan would be a great addition. Provided he was making the decision for the right reasons. HICC wasn’t the military, but it did take a different level of commitment than most jobs. Including the Mystery Lake PD.

Ethan hesitated then nodded.

“I have to ask, what brought this on?”

Ethan’s expression turned grim, but he straightened in his seat then answered. “Being a cop is sucking the life out of me. I know that sounds dramatic, but that’s how it feels. Contrary to what most people think about police work, it’s pretty routine and, even in our small town, layered with bureaucracy. I have to drag myself out of bed every day to go in, and I don’t like that feeling. I need change, and I need some autonomy. I also need flexibility and think I do better, mentally and physically, if every day isn’t like the next.

“I’ll be honest, I’m not entirely sure of the scope of what HICC does, but I know you like it. I know you like it way more than you liked being an FBI agent. And I know you well enough to know that’s probably because you’ve found purpose in the work you’re doing. A lot of people might find that in police work, but I haven’t and I’m craving it. Don’t worry, I don’t have any visions of sporting an HICC cape and saving the world, but I need to have some purpose. Ryan might have found it with the police—and I’m happy for him—but that’s not for me.”

Chad considered his cousin’s words, impressed that Ethan was aware of his mental health needs and taking steps to meet them. He wasn’t sure if HICC would give him the purpose he sought, but Ethan hadn’t been wrong in his assessment of Chad’s own happiness. HICC did good work all over the globe. Chad liked the people, the work, and the travel—it all gave him purpose. It was still a job, and some days were better than others. On the whole, though, he believed HICC was a company he’d be happy to be a part of for as long as they would have him.

Chad nodded. “I can’t promise anything other than to forward your credentials and my recommendation to Stella and Hunter, the owners.”

Light flickered in his cousin’s eyes. “Understood. I can forward you all my details—at least those that I can—tonight.” Whatever Ethan couldn’t include in his CV because it was classified, Chad was certain Stella and Hunter would dig up.

“Sounds good,” Chad said, shutting his computer down. “You tell Ryan?”

Ethan shook his head. “And I don’t want to. Not that Ryan is one to talk out of turn, but I don’t want anyone on the force to know I’m considering leaving. If it doesn’t work out, I don’t want them worried about my commitment to the job when I’m supposed to have their back out on patrol.”

“Fair enough,” Chad said, sliding his computer into his work bag. “I’ve been up since four this morning. First at the gym, then on-site getting all sorts of shit done. Our in-house security team is also arriving the day after tomorrow to do custom installs on the property, and we’ve been prepping for that. I could go for a burger and a beer before hitting the sack. Any interest in a stop at the Dirty Boom?” he asked, referring to a local favorite tavern that had been serving patrons since the gold rush days.

“You’re on. I’ll give Josh and Asher a call. Ryan and Mitch are on duty tonight,” he responded. Out of the ten cousins, all but the two youngest lived in town. Asher was Ethan’s older brother—by eleven months—and one of the local doctors. The brothers’ twin sisters, Joey and Charley, had just started their last year of college. They planned to move home when the year ended, but for the next nine months, they’d be enjoying their time at UCLA. The four of them were the children of Michael and Sonya Warwick. Chad’s father, William Jr., had been the oldest of William and Genevieve Warwick’s three sons, but he and Chad’s mother had died many years ago. Michael was the youngest, with Anthony in the middle.

Mitch, Cody, and Bradley were brothers from Anthony and his wife, Annie. Mitch was a local firefighter and Cody a country singer. Brad ran the family resort that sat on the north end of the lake. With Cody on tour and Brad already wrapped up in getting ready for the ski season, neither would be joining them.

“You think Sabina would want to meet us?” Ethan asked as they exited the cabin.

Chad paused to set the alarm and lock up. When he was done, he answered. “I don’t know, but I doubt it. Josh invited her to the family barbecue a couple of weeks ago, and Ryan asked her if she wanted to come that night we went to the Rotary Carnitas Festival. Both times, she declined. Although she did send Ryan with a donation to the Rotary Foundation. Cash of all things. Five hundred bucks.”

They paused beside their respective cars, and Ethan frowned. “Who carries five hundred bucks in cash?”

Chad stifled a snort. “Usually people up to no good. But I know Sabina. Hunter and Stella know her even better. She’s not up to no good. What she’s up to, I don’t know, but it’s not anything sketchy.”

Ethan opened the door to his truck and climbed in. “I’ll send her a text. She’s new to town—it feels wrong not to at least invite her.”

Chad shrugged and set his bag down on the floor of his Jeep behind the driver’s seat. “Go ahead. I’ll be interested to see if you pick up on what I mentioned earlier.”

“You didn’t actually mention anything other than suggest I ask her a personal question.”

Chad grinned. “Think of this as your first HICC test. See if you can figure out what I was talking about.”

“She’s your friend,” Ethan said as he buckled his seat belt. “She is, isn’t she? I mean, I know I said I sensed more, but you at least consider her a friend, right?”

Chad half nodded, half shook his head. “I consider her someone whose welfare I care about. Probably more than I should. And I trust her with my life. In fact, I have trusted her with my life on more than a few occasions. And we’re friendly. But, well, if you can get her out tonight maybe you’ll see why I hesitate to call her a friend .”

“You’re weird, dude,” Ethan said with a shake of his head.

“It runs in the family, dude ,” he shot back before climbing into his own car. A few minutes later, he was trailing his cousin through the gates of the property and onto the road that would take them north and into town.