Stubborn and in Love (Book Three)

8.

Melody paced around the room, looking for anything else out of place.

"Now hold on, maybe he just moved them-"

"No Jack, he wouldn't just randomly move them. Someone broke into this house, maybe the same person who broke into my apartment."

"Brown, take a deep breath. Let's just get out of here and we can figure it out later."

She nodded, her eyes looked lost in thought. I guided her towards the car, took one last look around the property, and quickly drove away.

Melody's POV

The next day Jack and I were back in New York, encrypted papers in hand for Peggy to decipher.

"You were right, they're about payments. I'm not sure exactly where the payments are being sent to or from, but I'm sure I can figure it out. As for the name sighed at the bottom, I'll have to look further into that."

"Thank you Peggy, I know you're pretty busy. Let us know when you figure out the notes."

I tried to avoid Jack's stare as I headed back to my desk.

"What's wrong?" he murmured to me.

"I just can't shake the feeling that someone was in that house before us, or maybe still in it when we were looking around."

"I really don't think you should worry. The person who invaded your apartment was sloppy. A woman from the look of the glove. If someone broke into Russo's house, they were obviously well trained."

This only heightened my concern. I tried to act calm for Jack's sake, but I knew something else was up.

January quickly sped into February, leaving a cold front in its wake. Peggy had been requested to aid in a federal case which made Jack pretty jealous. He was always wanting to climb the social ladder and hang with the big dogs.

"Have you heard any news from Peggy?" I asked Daniel.

"She's been pretty busy on that top-secret case."

Daniel made sure to emphasize the words 'top-secret' just to tease Jack.

"Look I'm happy for Peg and all, but shouldn't I be the one getting a big case like that?"

"I'm sure they have something special saved for you Jack," Daniel continued.

Jack rolled his eyes and headed back to his office. I smirked at Daniel and stirred my coffee.

"Do you know when she'll be back in New York?"

"I'm not sure exactly, she can't really say much. Hopefully this whole thing will wrap up soon, I could really use some help deciding between chicken and fish as a main course."

Even though he didn't show it, I knew he missed Peggy. I shuffled my papers on my desk and continued filling out different forms.

As much as I missed Peggy, the real reason I was asking was to get an update on the coded notes I'd given her. I needed to know where the hell Frankie was keeping his secret fortune.