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that an actual tone?” Cooper said, teasing me, which was a good sign he wasn’t that mad, or at least he was getting over it.
    “Shut up,” I said with a flirty grin. “You can Google it. It shows up.”
    “Well, if it’s on the Internet it must be real.”
    “Well, of course it is.” I smiled. “It’s probably on Facebook somewhere, too, which means it’s gospel.”
    “Riiight. What does the rest of your day look like?” he asked me.
    I flipped to my “to do” list page in my notebook that I had made last night. “I still need to track down Marissa and Janine and get their take on what happened to them. When I spoke to Allie she didn’t seem too rattled about it and felt it was more of an annoying occurrence rather than malicious, so I’m interested in hearing what the other girls have to say. What about you?”
    “I’ve got a call with Joe.”
    “Are you having him do background checks?” Joe was Cooper’s intelligence guy. If it was out there to find on someone, Joe could find it. I had never asked if Cooper had done a background check on me at any point, I didn’t even want to know, but I had on occasion asked Cooper to do me a favor by doing one on someone else.  It came in very handy at times.
    “Yeah. See if anything pops up. And then I thought I would check out the swimsuit practice. You know, just to make sure the girls are safe.”
    I punched him in the arm. “I don’t think they need you at swimsuit practice. I’ve got it covered.”
    He smiled. “I’m just teasing. I have a few more calls after Joe to get everything lined up for when the extra guys get here. Their plane gets in at six and they will be coming directly here. I need to get the schedule setup for Bob so he knows where everyone belongs.”
    “Who’s Bob?”
    “He’s the team leader. He makes sure everyone is in the right place, and he compiles a daily report for me.”
    “Got it. Want to try dinner again tonight?”
    “I would love to, but it will have to be late. I need to make sure the team is set once they get here. So would eight work?”
    “That’s fine.” I stood up and set my empty coffee cup on the side table for the staff to clear it away. Then I walked around the table to give Cooper a kiss. “See you at eight, then.”

 
     
    Chapter 6
     
    T hink we’ll be able to finish a meal this time?” I asked Cooper. We were once again sitting in the same upscale restaurant as last night when we’d been abruptly pulled away before we even ordered. Tonight I wore a strapless empire waist dress that was cream colored with large black polka dots. I wore my favorite black patent leather heels and had my phone and lip gloss in a cream silk clutch. Cooper was looking handsome in a black suit with cream silk shirt underneath. He had chosen that shirt when he saw what I was wearing, so we complimented each other very well.
    “I hope so. I’m starving.”
    “Me, too. I think I’ll have the swordfish with a side of asparagus,” I said to the waiter who’d been waiting to take my order.  This time we didn’t linger over conversation before ordering.
    “Filet, medium rare,” Cooper said, “and a side of creamed spinach.”
    We gave the waiter back the menus, and after taking a sip of my wine, I set my glass down and asked, “Was Joe able to find anything out with the background checks?”
    “Yes, and it’s the strangest thing. Every one of them has had some brush with the law. Nothing too serious, but I can’t remember a job before where all the key players we checked into had something in their past they probably didn’t want people finding out. More from embarrassment than anything.”
    “Really? Who did you check?
    “Harvey and Linda of course. The three ladies who have been targets, Elaine, and the other main office staff. Since they have more access than the contestants.”
    “Oooh. What’s in Elaine’s closet?”
    “Presley, you shouldn’t be excited over this,” Cooper said, frowning.