Page 62 of The Deputy's Secret Double

The same person who he’d managed to hit pretty decently.

Then, a few hours later, he had been helping her with her car like nothing had happened.

Price mentally paused.

A new thought occurred to him, but he kept it quiet for the moment.

They took the stairs careful but quick. JJ already had her handy-dandy bag opened and her lock-picking tools out. Price snaked a hand past her and tried the doorknob first.

It turned with ease.

“I thought you said he wasn’t home,” JJ whispered in a rush.

Price opened the door.

“He’s not, but I’d bet living on this land gives you a false sense of security,” he said. “Because who would be reckless enough to tempt fate when it comes to ticking off the Becker patriarch?”

He went past her and into the dark space. When he flicked the light switch on, he was already impressed.

The apartment above the barn was indeed an apartment. Small, but nice. There was a full kitchen that opened into the living room and a small nook beside it that housed a desk and chair for a workspace. Two doors were open at the back wall, showing the bedroom and the bathroom, respectfully.

No one jumped out and yelled at their intrusion.

Nothing but them moved at all.

“This is nice,” Price had to comment aloud. “Good for Boyd.”

JJ lightly pushed him deeper into the room so she could turn and shut the door behind them. He heard the deadbolt slide across behind him.

“Go ahead and take it in so we can start taking it apart,” she said. “Let’s see if we can find where he keeps his important documents first.”

Price wasn’t a fan of going through someone else’s private things, but he had to admit that JJ’s method of searching was…different than what he had expected.

She was like a surgeon, but a surgeon who didn’t know which type of surgery they would be performing yet. There was a precision to her, a methodology she was adhering to that was clearly in her head. Her eyes were sharp, her gloved fingers nimble. She was taking in the details but at the same time, it felt like she was discarding them the second she realized they were of no use to her.

It still wasn’t right what they were doing, but of thenotrightness it wasn’t bad.

Or you’re only okay with it because she’s JJ.

The thought pushed itself to the top of his mind in a flash.

It caught him off guard enough to physically wave his hand through the air like he was clearing it out.

JJ caught the motion.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Price sidestepped a real answer and got to the other thought he’d pushed aside earlier.

“So you were doing this when I came to Josiah’s, right?”

“I was actually on my second round, worried I missed something,” she said with a nod. “I would have tried to restrain you to do it but thought better of it since I’d already done a thorough search. Plus, you ended up being a pain.”

There was a hint of humor in her voice.

“A pain who showed up on your doorstep a few hours later.” Price eyed a collection of books near them. None looked to fit the bill of what they were looking for. “Which, now that I think about it, I’m realizing your car breaking down was probably an excuse you told Corrie to get out of working.”

He saw the corner of her lips turn up. She put the papers she had been looking through back on the desktop.