Reese watched my face melt. "Who?" he asked.

I pointed at the phone and lowered my voice. "The chick from the bar."

He laughed. "Seriously?"

"Put her through, Marge." My phone started ringing, and I looked at Reese. "Can you excuse me for a minute?"

He sat back in the chair and crossed his boot over his knee. "Hell no. I don't wanna miss this."

I wadded up a sheet of paper and threw it at him.

On the fifth ring, I picked up the phone. "Detective McNamara."

"Nathan?" she asked.

"Yes. Can I help you?"

Reese was chuckling across the desk.

"Nathan, it's Shannon." After a pause she added, "Shannon Green."

"Oh, hi." I swirled my index finger next to my ear and mouthed 'this chick is crazy' to Reese. "Is everything OK?"

She sounded bubbly on her end of the line—too bubbly before nine in the morning. "I'm sorry to bother you at work. I just wanted to let you know that you left your watch at my apartment."

I yanked my sleeve back and stared down at my naked wrist. My day just kept getting better and better. "I didn't even realize it." I shifted awkwardly in my seat. "I don't suppose you could FedEx it to me? My mom gave me that watch."

She was silent for a second. "Well, I was thinking I might just bring it to you this weekend."

My mouth dropped open. "Uh..."

"I'm going to be in Raleigh anyway," she added quickly. "I've got an interview with a news station there on Friday morning."

The halogen light above me was flickering like a bad omen. "Uh... sure, yeah. Just let me know when you're in town and we'll hook up."

Reese leaned forward, his eyes doubling in size.

"Why don't you text me your number, so I can get in touch with you on Friday?" she asked.

This chick was good.

"OK. Is your cell on the card you gave me?" I asked.

"Sure is!" she bubbled.

"All right. Thanks, Shannon."

"Have a wonderful day, Nathan," she said.

"You too." I quickly slammed the phone onto the receiver before she could say anything else.

Reese was laughing. "Well?"

"She's coming to town this weekend. I left my watch at her apartment."

He smiled at me and cut his eyes in question. "So you could see her again?"

I shook my head. "Definitely not."

"Sure, Nate." He stood up and stretched his long arms over his head. "Whatever you say, brother."

I laughed and pointed to my door. "Get out of my office."

When he was gone, I turned on my computer and brought up my case files.

There had been six high profile robberies in our jurisdiction spread out over the first few months of the new year. One or, possibly, two suspects targeted large homes in rural neighborhoods, nothing too far off the beaten path but somehow all conveniently located just out of our immediate reach. The week before, they had hit the home of Albert Kensington—the mayor of Apex. Like the rest of the victims, he and his wife had recently left the home when the thieves broke in. It was unclear whether the mayor was specifically targeted or if it was a coincidence. Thankfully, no one had been injured during any of the robberies, but we all knew that could change at any moment.

The thieves mainly stole cash—all of the victims kept plenty of it in their homes—but at the Kensington residence, they took his whole damn safe. Inside the safe, he kept a notebook full of his passwords to various websites, including his bank account. Before daybreak, $13,000 had been transferred out of his checking and into a web-based account that was opened in the name of Justin Sider, which was funnier and funnier the more I thought about it.

By the time I tracked down Justin Sider's account, it was empty. The money had been withdrawn by Mr. Sider in person from a branch in Virginia. Unfortunately, that bank's cameras were offline that day for maintenance. Whoever the thieves were, they were good.

I picked up the phone and dialed Mayor Kensington's office to tell him I still had nothing to tell him. I prayed it would be enough to keep Lieutenant Carr off my back for the rest of the day.

**************

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