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Mr. Harling will see you now,” the teller said, standing beside the open office door.
    â€œI’ll be right there,” she told the woman. Thankful to be escaping Yardley’s disturbing presence, sheturned to him. “Thank you for returning the car. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting.”
    â€œSee you later, sweetheart.” His voice seemed to echo throughout the bank lobby.
    When several bank patrons turned to look their way, Elise felt as if her cheeks were on fire. “Why on earth did you say that?” she asked, lowering her voice so only he could hear. “Now these people think there’s something going on between us.”
    Nodding, he grinned. “That’s the plan.”
    â€œWhy?” Shocked beyond belief, she couldn’t seem to do anything but stand and gape at him.
    He leaned close to whisper in her ear. “Remember, I told you that your every move is being watched. That’s one of Valente’s men standing over by the new-accounts window.”
    Elise looked around, but the only man she saw, other than the bank guard, was a little old man of about seventy leaning on his cane. “Yeah, right, Yardley.” Fuming, she shook her head. “I don’t have time for your silly little games. I’m late for my meeting. But this isn’t over. As soon as I have the time, I’m going to set you straight on a few things, Caveman.”
    Grinning, he turned and headed for the door. “I’ll be looking forward to it, sweetheart.”
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    Cole stood, propped against the fender of Elise’s car as he waited for her to come out of the bank. He had no doubt that the first chance she got, she’d give him a tongue-lashing for that little scene in the lobby. But that couldn’t be helped. The sooner that word gotaround about them being together, the safer she’d be from Valente’s tactics.
    Not that he thought she’d fall for one of Valente’s lines. Elise had a lot more intelligence than that. It was John Valente’s persistence that bothered him. The man wasn’t used to having people tell him no. Coupled with Valente’s complete lack of scruples, and Cole had a feeling that the man embodied the kind of trouble he didn’t even want to think about.
    No, it was much safer to listen to her call him a caveman and read him the riot act every chance she got than to let her take her chances with a viper like Valente.
    Once Elise collected all the records she needed for her investigation, and she was safely tucked away in her room at the Mission Creek Inn crunching numbers, Cole would resume his investigation and solve the case.
    He smiled when he looked up and saw her shouldering her way through the bank’s tempered-glass doors with a big file box. “Need some help, Campbell?”
    â€œI can manage.”
    He watched her struggle for a moment before stepping forward to take the box from her. “Where do you want it? The trunk or the back seat?”
    â€œTrunk,” she answered, pushing the button on the remote to release the latch.
    When he placed the heavy box inside, then slammed it shut, he looked up to find her glaring at him. “What?”
    â€œWhy were you waiting for me?”
    He smiled. “You’re welcome.”
    â€œOh…yes, thank you.” She frowned. “Don’t change the subject.”
    Shrugging, he walked around to the passenger side of her car and opened the door. “I thought I’d ride out to Ricky Mercado’s place with you.”
    Her vivid emerald gaze narrowed as she stared at him across the top of the car. “How did you know that’s where I’m going next?”
    â€œI talked to Sheriff Wainwright yesterday when he helped me get your car back to the inn.” Cole lowered himself into the passenger seat at the same time she opened the driver’s door. He wasn’t giving her the chance to leave without him.