Detective Daniel McNeil sat in the hot van and wiped yet again the sweat that continued to form on his brow. He let out a frustrated sigh that got the attention of this companion Erin Bradshaw who was sitting beside him.

"Next time McNeil get a van that has some air conditioning." She snapped because she too was annoyed at the insufferable amount of heat that the van was holding. Erin, McNeil, and four other cops were parked about half a block down from Leigh Sinclaire’s house.

"Well maybe if I had better notice that we were going to play dress-up today I could have." He snapped back and watched Erin roll her eyes.

"You two keep it down up there." One of the officers in the back of the van said and several others agreed. Both McNeil and Erin turned around and glared.

Earlier that day Erin had walked into McNeil's office, of course without knocking, and tossed him a key across the room. Before he had a chance to ask any questions, she had relayed to him a list to things that they would need in order to get into Leigh Sinclaire's house.

Erin playfully fingered the keys in her hand and smiled. When Leigh Sinclaire had come to her apartment to pick her up for their "date", Erin had asked to try on her jacket. When the raven-haired CEO had allowed it, Erin had taken the opportunity to go to her bedroom to search the pockets for a set of keys. And that is exactly what she’d found. Erin had sized Leigh Sinclaire up as a woman who didn’t carry a purse unless it was absolutely called for and the woman had not disappointed her.

During her career with Prenhall and Winemen, Erin had collected quite a bit of gadgets and kits that skilled thieves used to accomplish some phenomenal heists. Some were high tech, while others were quite simplistic and somewhat archaic. One of the latter was what Erin had chosen when she had reached in her briefcase. She pulled out a small black box that contained a soft substance that was slightly harder than putty. Quickly, the whole time half expecting Leigh Sinclaire to walk into her bedroom, Erin pressed each key on the clay-like substance and made an impression. Once she was done she returned back to her guest and returned the jacket, having replaced the keys back in the pocket.

The next day, she’d taken the impressions to a specialist, having use some of her contacts, and a couple hours later Erin had a copy of Leigh Sinclaire’s keys.

"I still can't believe you actually have a copy of her keys". McNeil said tearing Erin away from her thoughts.

"Its amazing what technology can do for you...when you know the right people." Erin replied as she smoothed down the front of her white jumpsuit. She had left the area of disguises up to McNeil. Being a carpet cleaner wouldn’t have been her first choice, but it would have to suffice.

"I thought you said that woman would leave the house at two o’clock to walk the dog." Erin had watched the house most of the day before and took note what time the woman had left to walk the dog. Erin wondered why the woman would even need to leave the property to walk the dog. God knows Leigh Sinclaire has enough property. I bet her backyard is practically a small beach. Erin rationalized that perhaps the older woman needed a change of scenery or perhaps she liked to walk. But since it was now three o’clock, maybe leaving the property to walk the dog wasn’t part of her routine after all.

Erin glanced out her window at the massive beach homes that surrounded her. And begrudgingly admitted that the home that belonged to Leigh Sinclaire was the most impressive. Having secured the corner lot at the end of the road, the house was somewhat secluded from the rest of the neighborhood. It stood two stories high and consisted of modern architectural angles and lots of glass. It definitely looked like the home of a high tech company’s president and CEO.

Much like the first day Erin had seen the house during the attempted search and seizure fiasco, she wanted very much to see the inside of the house. But if the housekeeper and the damn dog didn’t leave, she may never get the chance.

"Maybe I was wrong about the time." Erin said hesitantly while surveying the huge beach house’s front door through binoculars. "Or maybe not." Just then Erin spotted the front door opening and then the woman and huge dog.

McNeil shifted in his seat quickly and looked towards the back of the van. "Get ready boys. The eagle has finally landed."

"About damn time." One of the younger cops said back. "A few more minutes and we would have melted back here."

They waited until Mary Rowlings and the St. Bernard were out of sight before McNeil cranked up the engine and rode towards the Sinclaire residence. Like everyone else in the van, Erin placed a white cap on her blonde head.

"How long do you think the housekeeper will be gone." McNeil asked.

"She was gone twenty minutes yesterday…but I’m thinking she could come back at any time." Erin answered. On that note the disguised art bounty hunter and members of the Miami PD got out the van and moved towards the house as carpet cleaners with equipment and all.

Erin was the first to reached the door. She took a deep breath and hoped that one of the keys she’d copied was indeed a key to Leigh Sinclaire’s house. With several nervous cops waiting behind her, Erin quickly tested each key. A broad smiled appeared on her face as the last key she tried smoothly fit into the lock. She turned towards her "posse".

"Ok guys, once I open this door…we’ll have about thirty seconds to figure out Ms. Sinclaire’s security code before this place turns into freaking Ft. Knox." Her smiled was slightly nervous now. "Everybody ready?" Once she saw everyone nod, she turned back towards the front door and turned the key.

When the door was open, they all moved quickly in the house and closed the door behind them. One of the officers moved passed Erin and pulled a laptop out of the bag that was swung across his shoulder. Everyone looked on anxiously as he ran wires from the computer to the alarm system on the door. "Here we go." He said to everyone as he hit the enter key. The screen on the laptop began to flash as numbers randomly appeared.

"We’ve been in 12 seconds." McNeil called out.

Erin looked at the screen on the laptop and thought that it looked pretty much like a slot machine at a casino. But instead of looking for three 7’s to appear, they were trying to decode a ten-digit security code.

"We’re at twenty seconds." McNeil muttered. Then still had three numbers to go. "Can you hurry it up please." He barked irritably. "There are a lot of things I planned on doing tonight and going to jail isn’t one of them. Twenty-Five seconds."

Erin bit nervously on her bottom lip. Only one number left…and yes! The last number appeared on the screen. The only sound heard in the room was the beep of the alarm system letting them know that the security code and been successfully entered.

McNeil walked over to Erin and showed her the time on his stopwatch. It read twenty-nine seconds. "Damn close."

"Tell me about it." Erin got everyone’s attention. "Ok guys let’s turn this place upside down…figuratively speaking of course. We all know what we’re looking for." On that note the other four cops took off in separate directions. "Try not to break anything" Erin called after them.

"You know this is breaking and entering." McNeil commented as he stepped beside her.

"Only if we get caught McNeil." She retorted before walking off to investigate the huge house on her own.

Erin moved across the hardwood floors through the expensively decorated living room and whistled. It was beautiful, but if didn’t look lived in and it didn’t seem like the raven-haired CEO’s style. The woman she had talked to a few days before was casual, and this room was anything but. Erin didn’t even take the time to search the room because she doubted that the ruby was in there. She continued walking and saw the kitchen on her left, but the room diagonally across from it interested her more.

"Now this is more like it." Erin said with a smirk on her face as she looked into a huge room that looked like a well kept game room at a billiards. To Erin, this room represented the woman she’d met. There was a playful and mischievous side to the executive. For an instant, Erin pictured Leigh Sinclaire playing pool in the center of the room. She quickly shook the thought out of her head and decided to check out another room when she saw that an officer was already searching that particular one.

Next she came across a room with the door shut. Expecting the door to be locked, Erin turned the knob and was relieved to see the door open. She quickly accessed that this must be the study of the mighty Leigh Sinclaire. The walls of the study were lined with rich mahogany, and the light from the corner windows infused the room with a certain warmth and brightness. Erin walked over to one of the many bookshelves and took note of the varied selection. As she expected there were quite a few books about the computer industry and art. The subjects of the other books that filled the shelf ranged from marital arts to Greek mythology. She took a few more steps forward and looked at some framed photos, which consisted of many photos of Leigh with famous people. And a few that were obviously taken during her some of her famous vacations. Not knowing why, Erin picked up one picture of Leigh posing with the St. Bernard for further inspection. The CEO was hugging the huge animal and smiling towards the camera. And like she’d found herself several times before, Erin felt a since of familiarity as she looked into the clear smiling blues eyes.

Come on Erin, you’re here to look for a damn ruby. You’ve certainly looked at enough pictures of the woman. Erin next moved towards desk and took note of the expensive flat screen computer. She noted the time on the desk clock. Erin cleared her head and tried to focus on the mission at hand. They’d been in the house for at least ten minutes, and they didn’t have much more time. She stood behind the leather chair and ran her fingers across the smooth cool material and she surveyed the room with trained green eyes.

"Where would she hide it?" She asked the empty room as if expecting an answer. Her eyes sweep over the room again and this time stopped on the painting that hung on the wall directly opposite her. "I wonder if…" Erin pushed the chair aside and began running her fingers across the underside of the desk. And then she found what she was looking for. Erin pushed the button and with a victorious smile on her face watched the painting slowly move. "Hey McNeil you might want to check this out." She yelled.

"I can’t wait to see the look on her face when you go over there to arrest her." Erin said to McNeil as she fixed herself a cup of coffee back at the police station. Ever since she found the ruby in the secret hiding place in Leigh’s study, Erin couldn’t stop smiling. You’re better my ass. Erin thought to herself recalling a certain cocky and arrogant comment Leigh Sinclaire had said to her on their last meeting. You’re caught my friend.

"I bet you can’t wait to see that ten percent check that insurance company of yours is going to be cutting." There was more than a little jealously in his gruff voice which made Erin grin smugly.

"Of course." Erin answered. She hadn’t contacted Prenhall and Winemen with the good news. Though tempted, it was Erin’s own personal procedure to confirm that the property recovered was indeed the property stolen. There had been incidents in the past where stolen paintings recovered had in fact been fakes. For this reason Erin had called in Michael DeSantos to confirmed that the ruby Erin had recovered was indeed the Rhine Ruby.

When she had contacted her supervisors to relay to them her theory about Leigh Sinclaire being the thief, they had been more than hesitant to let her continue with her investigation. After a long conference call the day before, they’d all came to an agreement to proceed with the case but with great caution. Then once again, Erin could add another conversation to her list where she was warned what a woman like Leigh Sinclaire was capable of in a potentially explosive situation such as this.

Also before McNeil could officially arrest Leigh Sinclaire for the robbery, he in fact had to prove that it was the Rhine Ruby that was confiscated.

Erin had watched with amusement as she had watched McNeil dance around explaining how they had gained entrance to the Sinclaire residence.

"Ms. Bradshaw. Detective McNeil " Both Erin and McNeil turned to looked at the small Latin man approaching them. It was Michael DeSantos. He had the ruby in his left palm.

Erin reached out and shook the man’s hand. "Thank you for coming down here at such short notice. So can they go arrest her now?"

"I’m afraid not."

"Say what?" Erin and the detective said in unison.

"I’m sorry, but this is not the Rhine Ruby." He replied flatly. "A good imitation. I mean the work is exquisite down to every groove…but"

"Yes?" Erin asked. Please tell me that this man is not telling me what I think he’s saying because if he is….

"Well Ms. Bradshaw what you have here is nothing more that a finely crafted and painted piece of cubic zirconium."

"I’ll be damn." McNeil muttered as he scratched his head and took the ruby out of a seething Erin’s hand.

And without another word, Erin stalked off.

"Hey Erin where are you going?"

"To kick that tall bitch’s ass." She shouted back as she forcefully pushed open the door.

Leigh Sinclaire tried to concentrate long enough to write her quarterly letter to all employees at SSC to report how the company was performing. And she was pleased to announce that for the fourth quarter SSC was showing double-digit growth. But as always there were business units and products that could make improvements, and Leigh had to include this in her letter. Leigh planned to email it out that afternoon, after Anne had proofread it of course.

She should have been done by now, but she’d had back to back meetings all morning and then it was the fact that she was a little more than distracted lately.

It had been two days, and Leigh Sinclaire hadn’t heard anything from Erin Bradshaw. Nor had she heard anything from the Miami police department. Maybe its over. Maybe she gave up. There was a part of Leigh that certainly hoped that wasn’t true. Why do you feel like that knowing that if she somehow does prove you did it you could go to prison?

Just then Leigh’s intercom buzzed. It was Anne telling her she had a visitor.

"Do they have an appointment?

"No."

"Well tell them to go away. I’m busy." Leigh replied.

"I told her that you usually don’t see people without an appointment, but she insists on seeing you."

"She?" Leigh asked. Could it be…

"Yeah boss and she’s pretty upset too."

Leigh smiled and sat back in her chair. "This woman wouldn’t happen to be about 5’2, short blonde hair, and green eyes."

"Yeah that would be her."

"Anne send her in."

"Ok…but be careful boss. She looks real feisty."

Believe me Anne I already know. Leigh chuckled at the warning from her secretary.

Some seconds later, Erin Bradshaw walked into Leigh’s office and saw the raven-haired CEO sitting behind a huge glass desk. It was apparent that the blonde was little more than upset. If Leigh could be cut from the daggers Erin’s green eyes were shooting, Leigh would have been in desperate need of emergency medical attention.

"Damn woman, you're looking at me like I just ran over your dog or something." Leigh smirked and crossed her arms.

"You must think you're pretty clever." Erin inched closer very slowly, as if she was about to pounce on the woman sitting before her.

"I would like to think so." Looks like Goldie Locks has been snooping around the homestead. Leigh quickly came to the conclusion that the "ruby" in her home had been found. Given the circumstances, Leigh should have been upset that her privacy had been violated…but instead she was pleased. After talking with Erin the night of the auction, Leigh figured that her house would soon be under scrutiny. As anticipated, her lawyer had kept the police away. But she knew that it would take a little more than legal jumbo to keep the determined blonde before her away. She would have been deeply disappointed if it had. Good competition is so hard to find theses days…but it looks like someone is finally up to par…and also very mad. When placing the fake ruby in the "hiding place", Leigh had expected such a reacted from the blonde that she was seeing now. Which had been another reason why she’d done it…to simply ruffle Erin Bradshaw’s feathers.

"It was a fake." Erin retorted calmly but with no less anger in her eyes.

"That depends on what you were looking for." Leigh shrugged " I'll have you know what you found was 100% cubic zirconium".

"You know what…" Erin walked even closer and laid her palms down flat on the desk and leaned in towards Leigh. "Go to hell." She sneered.

Leigh began to laugh a little. "For playing a joke...that's rather harsh don't you think?"

"Not harsh enough."

"I'm sensing some hard feelings here."

"Goodbye Leigh Sinclaire." Erin abruptly turned around and headed towards the door. The use of Leigh's first and last name wasn't lost on her at all.

"Oh so we're back to being formal huh?"

Erin turned around. "Most definitely. You're not playing fair."

"Oh, so stealing my keys, making copies, and breaking in my home was fair?" Leigh asked with a raised eyebrow. An expression that Erin was beginning to think the woman owned a copyright on. Erin was about to say something, but no words came out. "Exactly Ms. Bradshaw." Leigh said sarcastically before she stood up and walked around her desk.

"There are no rules here in this game we’re playing. Haven't you found that out by now?" Blues eyes locked with green and neither woman said a word. Leigh could sense that the blonde standing across from her hadn't calmed down at all.

"I’m sorry to inform you of this but this is an official investigation. It is not some game."

"But isn’t it?" Leigh asked with her blue eyes sparkling teasingly. Erin took note that this must be the business Leigh Sinclaire, when she noticed that she was dressed in a black skirt and red blouse. Her hair was pinned up and gone were the dangling earrings. Which were now replaced by small gold studs. The way she was dressed may be differently, but still the same woman with trouble written all over her.

"Only to you."

"And not you?" Leigh looked doubtfully at the blonde. "So bidding $50,000 at an action on little ole me, and then smugly tipping me off that you knew I’m supposedly the one that stole the Rhine Ruby…was strictly a by the book procedure that you use in all your cases."

"I admit it was a little unorthodox but…" Erin took a deep breath and let out a very frustrating sigh. "Why don’t you just confess? You’ve all but admitted to me that you did it. Hell right now you’re practically throwing it up in my face that you did it."

"Confessions are for the unimaginative Ms. Bradshaw." Leigh said simply.

"Confessions are for the guilty." Erin retorted quickly.

"Everyone has their own opinion." Leigh conceded and shrugged once again. "So let me ask you this. When you found that ruby in my study, what was the first thought that entered you mind? Was it that you could call your supervisors and say ‘case closed", or was it more like ‘I outsmarted that cocky bitch, and I won.’" Again Erin took note of Leigh’s accent that seemed to fade in and out at just the right times.

Erin had to admit one of the first things that popped in her head when she’d found the ruby was how she had out-witted the woman now standing in front of her. "What if I did? Where are you going with all this?"

Leigh pointed at Erin. "I think you already know. Like I said before, this isn’t about a conviction or even about returning the ruby. It’s about you catching me and about me not trying to let it happen. This is about proving who is smarter, more clever, …

"More sneaky…" Erin interrupted.

"That too if necessary." Leigh nodded and smiled. "I guess what I’m saying, my little angry friend, is that this about you and me."

Erin narrowed her green eyes and contemplated the words that Leigh had just spoken. And though she didn’t want to admit it there was a certain truth in them, but she wasn’t going to admit it. "This is nothing more than a case Leigh Sinclaire… you could be anyone." Erin said flatly hoping to somehow throw off Leigh’s statement.

"Really"?

"Yeah really."

Leigh playfully looked as if she was offended. "And here I was thinking that I was getting special attention because you were captivated by my stunning good looks and sense of style." You’ve certainly gotten my attention.

"This must be why you’re supposedly such a good CEO. I haven’t met too many people that can make bullshit smell, look, and sound like gold."

Leigh laughed. This woman really does have some good lines. I’m going to have to start writing them down. "What can I say. It’s a gift that I inherited from that father of mine."

"Perhaps…but I must caution you that I can usually tell the difference."

"So I’ve noticed." Leigh conceded.

"Good. " On that note Erin again attempted to leave but stopped in mid turn. "Oh by the way the investigation is still in full swing. And with the little stunt you pulled today…you’ve just kicked this so called game up a notch." She said over her shoulder and began walking. "Have a nice day Leigh…" She waved with her back to the CEO and walked out of the door.

"You too, Erin." Leigh smiled and then sighed. She looked at her computer screen. After her visit with Erin Bradshaw, writing her quarterly report definitely did not hold the interest that it once did.

The woman was totally infuriating, thought Erin as she sat at her desk and angrily deleted a report she’d started earlier to submit to her supervisors. By now Erin was begrudgingly admitting to herself that Leigh Sinclaire had been right…somehow this whole "game" was about the two of them.

Erin was in fact, not treating this case like any other she had been assigned to before. Though a good percentage of those cases had been pretty boring and consisted mainly of proving insurance fraud. There had been a few, like the Rembrandt case, that involved tracking and finding the thief.

And the chase was after all thrilling…but it had been nothing like the Rhine Ruby case. In every other case, but this one, Erin had remained detached. But now she felt like something was on the line. Was it her reputation? No. It wouldn’t look great on her "resume" not to solve a case…but you can’t win them all. Was it the idea of not collecting her ten percent commission check? No. Erin definitely wasn’t in desperate need of money. Was it the idea of a thief going free? No. It wasn’t her concern whether or not the thief was caught…but rather the task of the returning the stolen property.

But Erin knew why this case was different…Leigh Sinclaire. It was something about the woman. For lack of a better phrase, the woman had had gotten under her skin.

Erin was pulled from her thoughts by the ring of her cell phone. "Erin Bradshaw."

"Hey girlie girl." A female voice said over the other end and Erin immediately recognized it. It was Vanessa St. James, her best friend.

"Hello there." Immediately Erin found herself smiling. "How are yah?"

"Tired as hell from working all day, but other than that absolutely wonderful." And she really did sound wonderful, then again she always did. Erin had met Vanessa while working a case in New York. It had been her first year with Prenhall and Winemen. Vanessa had been a receptionist in a museum where a priceless statue had been stolen. The two women had become friends immediately and had remained that way since.

Lately Erin and Vanessa had been playing phone tag. Erin was busy flying around the world trying to track down stolen art, while Vanessa was being a receptionist by day and trying to launch her acting/singing career by night.

"So are you still coming to New York for your birthday." Vanessa inquired.

"Doesn’t look that way. A case I was hoping to wrap up in a couple days is starting to evolve into something longer. Looks like I’ll be stuck in Miami a little while longer."

"Can’t you let the police handle it for a couple of days?"

The truth of the matter was that Erin could in fact let McNeil and his team work the case and could simply ask them to keep her notified of any new changes. She would only be gone for a few days…but Erin did not want to do this. This case was in fact "her case", and she was not going to let Leigh Sinclaire slip through her fingers. "No, I need to be close by. The suspect in this case is like a reincarnated Houdini, with more tricks than I can count up her sleeve."

"Her? The major suspect in the Rhine Ruby case is a woman?"

"Yeap."

"Interesting. But hey I’ve always said that sometimes the best man for a job is a woman. Not only do we cook, clean, give birth, but also now we are the masterminds behind major jewelry heists. Don’t you just love being a woman…" Erin laughed and for the first time since that morning, she was felling a little better.

"Vanessa I miss you."

"Me too. Well look kiddo, I’ve got to finish up my work, so I can make it to rehearsal on time. Let me know if your plans change. I was really looking forward to seeing you."

"Me too." Erin noted the disappointed in her friends voice for she felt the same way. "I’ll give you a call. Bye V."

Erin hung up the phone and lowered her head into her hands and sighed. She needed some time to regroup and look at things from a different angle. She closed her eyes, and immediately an image of Leigh Sinclaire appeared with a smirk that Erin was becoming all too familiar with. "Smirk all you want Sinclaire…because I’m going to catch you." Erin said out loud.

"Talking to ourselves now are we?" McNeil said and placed a folder in front of her on the desk."

"No." She answered a little embarrassed and looked up. "Just thinking out loud. What’s that?"

"A copy of Hensley telephone records and what looks like an alibi for a certain sexy raven-haired CEO with the most amazing blues that we’ve both had the pleasure of meeting."

Erin simply ignored McNeil colorful description of Leigh and looked at the information in the folder. "A phone call was placed during the robbery from his office."

"Yeah…just like she said."

"But this phone call could have been placed by anyone. We don’t know for a fact that she made it."

"Already thought of that. So I traced the number and found that it belongs to an executive named Hugh Rollins. I called and asked him did he remember talking to Leigh Sinclaire that night."

"And?" Erin asked anxiously.

"He did."

"So that doesn’t mean anything either. He could be covering. I mean she could have called his number, and left the phone off the hook." Erin had no doubt that Leigh Sinclaire could persuade a man to do about anything. Surely asking someone to lie about a phone conversation wasn’t a hard task.

"That’s unlikely. The man hates the woman’s guts. It seems he and Sinclaire locked horns a couple of years ago for one reason or another and he hasn’t gotten over it. I mean the man went on forever talking about how it really pissed him off that she would call him at that time of night to discuss some last minute details of a contract."

"I see." Erin said with millions of thought running through her mind.

"Well it seems that she has an alibi."

"It seems. "Erin stood up. "McNeil she’s the thief. I mean what about the stunt she pulled with the fake ruby. She’s rubbing it in our faces."

"Or it could have just been a joke. And just like you…I didn’t find a hell of a lot humor in it." McNeil ran frustrated hands through his hair. "I’ve got Minton on my ass from the DA’s office for some hard evidence against the woman and I’ve got nothing. I’m sorry to tell you this Erin, but if we don’t come up with more against her, we’re going to have to drop this case." McNeil said with an apologetic tone lurking somewhere in his voice.

Erin hesitantly nodded her head with understanding. "Fine, but I’m sure more evidence will show up…proving she’s guilty. Oh by they way, have you guys got anything interesting from the bugs planted in her house. "

McNeil grinned a little. "If you call listening to seven hours of Willie Nelson’s greatest hits interesting…then yeah we did."

Erin grinned too with her nose wrinkling a little. "At least someone is having fun with this whole fiasco…it just irks the hell of me that its her." Erin couldn’t help herself and started to laugh when McNeil started humming Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.

"Well...after today I didn't think I would be seeing you anytime soon." Leigh Sinclaire said when she opened her door to find Erin Bradshaw standing on her doorstep. She playfully acted nervous and looked over the blonde's head and towards her yard. "There isn't a S.W.A.T. team waiting to ambush me in the bushes is there?" She asked.

"Of course not." Erin responded. "Not that you don't deserve it." She added with a slight smile.

"Well then come on in." She pulled the door wider.

Erin walked passed her and immediately was attacked by a huge body. "What the hell..." Erin found herself falling. Leigh lunged out to try to catch her, but to no avail, because the next second Erin landed hard on her ass and was being covered in sloppy kisses from Bernie.

Leigh started laughing immediately as she watched the interaction between woman and dog. Erin was trying to push the St. Bernard away, but he insisted on licking her cheeks and her nose.

"Bernie come here boy." Leigh finally managed to say as she wiped tears from her eyes. Hearing his master's voice, Bernie's ears perked up and he went over to Leigh. "Bernie this is Erin, Erin this is Bernie."

With disgust Erin wiped her face and looked over at the dog and then at the smiling woman who was petting his head. Leigh had changed since Erin had seen her that afternoon. She was now dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you told him to do that on purpose." The blonde snapped as she struggled to her feet.

"Relax...he likes you." Leigh said.

"I hate to see what he does to people he hates."

"Simple..." Leigh smirked. "He bites their hand off. So its pretty safe to assume that ole Bernie here likes you."

"Whatever." Erin muttered and continued to wipe her face.

"So what brings you to casa de Sinclaire?" Leigh said cheerily. When the blonde had left Leigh’s office earlier that day, Leigh hadn’t really known where they stood. Hopefully she wasn’t still mad at her. Then Leigh suddenly wondered why she cared either way.

"I have some questions." Which was true enough. And since Leigh hadn’t objected to the idea of conversing with Erin, she thought that perhaps the best way to get answers in this case was to talk to the very woman who was the subject of the questions.

"Interesting because I have answers." Leigh held out her hand. "Let me take your jacket." Erin had changed as well. She now had on khaki pants, and a light blue shirt. She handed her lightweight jacket to Leigh. Leigh casually swung the jacket over her shoulder and looked curiously at Erin.

"What is it?" Erin looked down at her outfit and back up into blue eyes. "Am I dressed wrong again?" I’m beginning to think the woman is a fashion critic.

"Take your shirt off." Leigh said.

"Excuse me." Erin’s green eyes were wide with alarm. Did she just say what I thought she said?

"Take your shirt off." Leigh repeated as she stepped closer.

Erin was still looking at her dumb founded.

"Don’t go flattering yourself." Leigh chuckled when she saw Erin starting to blush. "I want to see if you’re wearing a wire."

Erin’s cheeks were burning with embarrassment from the thoughts that had been racing through her head just seconds before. Did you really think she was asking because….She quickly cut her thoughts short. "Why now…we’ve talked several times before today? You never asked me to strip then."

"Well it wasn’t until today that I found five strategically placed taps in my home." Leigh wondered if the Miami police department was enjoying the music she’s personally picked out for them.

"Yeah five strategically place bugs that now only play Willie Nelson. Nice touch by the way." Erin said.

"Well thank you. " Leigh bowed. "I didn’t want to be a total ass and just let your little friends listen to static…seeing that you all went through so much trouble." Leigh grinned. "I almost played Prince’s greatest hits, but I figured Detective McNeil wouldn’t have enjoyed that too much." Leigh’s facial expression became serious. "Now take off your shirt."

"This is ridiculous." Erin insisted as she folded her arms across her chest. "I’m not taking my shirt off."

"Well then I’m not going to talk. For all I know everyone in the world could be listening to our conversation." Leigh batted thick black eyelashes. "And you know how shy I am."

"Shy my ass." Erin retorted.

"But apparently not as shy as you." Leigh hung Erin’s coat up and then reached for her own shirt. And without warning she lifted it up. "We’ve got the same thing…".

Erin looked at the smooth muscles of the Leigh’s stomach to the black lace of her bra.

Even the woman’s stomach is tanned and flat as a board. Erin commented to herself as she noticed the gap between Leigh’s stomach and the washed out waistband of her jeans.

"Same thing right?" Leigh asked again as she pulled her shirt down. Erin was snapped out of her trace and pulled her gaze back up to the Leigh’s face.

"So…what is this show me yours and I’ll show you mine."

"Something like that yeah." Leigh replied. "If it will make you feel any better…" Leigh knelt down on the floor and covered Bernie’s eyes. "Ok now you’re safe from Bernie’s ogling eyes."

Despite herself, Erin began to laugh. "I still think this is ridiculous." But when she saw that Leigh wasn’t going to budge on the subject, Erin decided to cooperate. What’s the harm, she’s right we do have the same thing…but perhaps some of mine aren’t as big. Also I guess after tapping her house, she does have a legitimate reason to think I might show up with a wire on. What the hell… On that note Erin started unbuttoning her shirt for the watching CEO.

"Could you hurry it up Kansas, Bernie and I don’t have all night." Leigh teased as she watched Erin’s shaking hands slowly unbutton each button. When hearing the comment Erin looked up and green eyes locked with blue.

"I want to go on record that this is absolutely and positively stupid." Erin snapped when she was finished with the last button. She pulled off her shirt and threw it at Leigh’s face "Here."

Leigh smirked and stood up. "Nice abs." She complimented as she walked closer to inspect the blonde. Unlike Leigh’s own tanned skin, Erin’s was paler shade. She walked around Erin slowly. The whole time Erin was holding her breath. Erin wasn’t use to being scrutinized, and just knowing that Leigh’s blue eyes were sweeping over her was making her skin tingle. She’s looking for a wire not at your boobs…relax.

"Did you get that bra from Victoria’s Secret?" Leigh asked when she was standing behind Erin checking out her back. Nice shoulders too. Leigh commented to herself. It was apparent that the woman was in good shape and exercised. Erin had just the right about of muscle and softness. Hey Leigh you’re looking for a wire remember… Leigh thought, when she noticed that her eyes were wondering other places. I think I’ve seen enough.

Leigh started laughing inside, when she pictured what Mary’s expression would be if she walked in just then. The poor woman would probably have a heart attack. I don’t even know how I would explain it.

"Ok, we can talk." Leigh said once she was back in front of Erin. "Oh and you can pull your shirt back on now."

"Thanks." Erin muttered.

"I would offer you a tour but then again you’ve already seen the place."

Erin gave a strained smiled and wrinkled her nose slightly at the comment. And Leigh turned and walked down the hall with bare feet. Of course Bernie was right behind her. "So why aren’t you on a date tonight?" Erin called after her as she followed and struggled to button her shirt.

"I could ask you the same question." Leigh said back.

"I’m working."

"Well so am I." Erin followed Leigh’s voice to the room she’d seen earlier that day to find the woman leaning over the pool table. "Working on my pool game anyway." Leigh looked up at Erin right after she made a shot. "You play?"

"No."

"If you want I could teach yah." Both women let the comment linger in the air. Leigh put the pool stick down and then sat on the edge of the table. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"The phone call from Hensley’s office."

Leigh nodded her head with a knowing smile. "Ok"

"There was a record of the call."

"I told you that there would be."

"Yes you certainly did. But I want to know how did you managed it?"

"Not to sound like a smart-ass or anything, but wouldn't the simplest answer be that I made a phone call from his office that night?"

"The simplest yes, the obvious yes...but not the right answer." Erin said.

"Ok...what do you think the answer is?"

"Well at first I thought that perhaps you called some bogus number and then left the phone off the hook, did your little thief thing, and then came back and hung up the phone. But then we called the number and spoke to Hugh Rollins, who stated that he actually talked to you and carried on a conversation about a very important contract."

"So you talked to Hugh huh? I bet he didn't have too many good things to say about me."

"No he didn't." Erin sighed. "The man's obvious dislike for you rules him out somehow covering for you. But of course that could all be a ruse."

Leigh shook her head in disagreement. "The guy hates my guts. If Hugh saw me dying of thirst, believe me he wouldn't even fathom the thought of giving me a drop of water."

"Do I even want to know why?" Erin asked wearily.

"Probably not." Leigh shrugged and looked at the clock on the wall. "It's time for Bernie's walk." She hopped off the table and reached for a leash that was on the couch behind her. "Come on boy...let's go get some exercise."

"Wait we're not finished." Erin said and was a bit frustrated that Leigh could just walk out on their conversation like that.

"I know. You're coming too right?" Not waiting for an answer, Leigh walked passed Erin with Bernie following her faithfully behind.

"Guess so." When Erin caught back up with Leigh, she'd put on flip-flops and a denim shirt. She opened the door and then turned towards her alarm system. She looked at Erin.

"You sure you don't want to put the code in for me? For some strange reason I think you know it." Leigh teased with a rakish grin on her face.

"You didn't change it?" Erin asked.

"I'll change it tomorrow". Leigh frowned. "Which is about the only thing that pisses me off about your little escapade earlier today. Do you have any idea how long it takes to mesmerize a ten-digit security code?"

"Sorry." Erin offered and this time it was her turn to hunch her shoulders. "No rules remember."

"Yeah I remember...but I think that's just another idea that going to wind up biting me in the ass."
 

A few minutes later Leigh, Erin, and the Bernie reached the street. Parked directly in front of her house were the cops who had been tailing her for the last couple of days.

"Hey Bert. Hey Mac." Leigh cooed with one of her dazzling smiles and waved.

Erin watched in amazement as the two grown men said "Hey Leigh" in unison. If Erin hadn’t been mistaken, she could have sworn she saw the two men’s tongue dangling to the ground.

Her presence hadn’t even been acknowledged. It was as if Leigh was the only one walking.

"You know their names?" Erin asked as they finally passed the car.

"Yeah. I talked to them last night when I walked Bernie. I figure since they’re spending their time watching me, the least I could do is talk to them." Leigh looked down at her watch. "Their pizza should be here any minute. I figured I should feed them as well."

"You’re something else, you know that." Erin commented while shaking her head.

"Why because I’m nice to a couple guys doing their job?" Leigh asked. "I mean I know I called them Dumb and Dumber, but they’re really not. Did you know that Bert is putting two kids through college? And that Mac has five year old triplets at home?"

"No, I didn’t." The truth of the matter was that Erin hadn’t even known the two cops’ names until Leigh had mentioned them. And she was surprised that the CEO of a major software company would take the time talk to the police officers.

"Well you do now. See you’re never to old to learn something."
 

They walked down a narrow path that lead to a small stretch of beach. Leigh knelt down and unleashed Bernie. "Go on boy." She patted him on his back and watched him run away.

"You’re just going to let him loose like that?"

"Either that or let him drag me across the beach with that damn leash. If you haven’t noticed Bernie is a big dog and he loves the beach." Leigh reached down and pulled her flip flops off.

"No need to go to the beach if you can’t feel the sand on your feet." Erin said remembering a statement her walking companion had made on another day.

"Exactly." Leigh said with a smile. "Hey its an old dock not to far down the beach. Let’s go there. I’m sure old Bernie will catch up."

"Sure."

For the next few minutes, the two women walked in silence. Erin was listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean and for the first time that day found herself relaxed. She smiled at the irony in it all. The very person who had irritated the hell out of her that day, was now the person who had initiated the relaxed environment that they now shared.

Erin cast a side ways glance at Leigh, who now seemed lost in her own thoughts. Again she noticed how tall the woman was.

"Penny for your thoughts." Leigh said once they finally made it to the dock.

"It’s very relaxing here." Erin commented as the two woman sat down.

"I know. That’s why I come here…even when I don’t need to walk that dog of mine." Leigh turned to Erin. "But that isn’t what you were thinking. Would it help if I offered a dollar

for your thoughts?" Leigh teased.

"Well you can certainly afford it." Erin said sarcastically and then she saw Leigh was still waiting. "Ok. Its just that...since I've started this case I've been warned more times than I care to mention that you could ruin my life with the snap of your fingers...or better yet rearrange my face."

"Ah, yes. There's that pesky rumor about me having a temper again. Which I might add is
totally unfounded."

"Really." Erin replied skeptically.

"Yeah. Just because you yell a little too loud and throw a punch every now and then, people think that you have a temper. That is just simply the way we Texans are breed. I think its the heat." Leigh winked. "Either that or the whiskey."

"See, this is what I'm talking about. Every since the moment I've met you, you’ve been this well...I don't know casual, laid back, and nonchalant smart-ass with an answer for everything. I haven't seen a glimpse of this other ‘Leigh Sinclaire’ yet."

Erin watched the smile on Leigh's face fade slowly. Her blues narrowed and instantly glazed over like ice. At that exact moment, Erin could have sworn she felt a cool breeze. "Do you really want to?" Leigh asked in a menacing voice that sent a shiver down Erin's spine. Leigh's glare was unwavering and Erin began to squirm slightly.

It took all the restraint that Leigh had not to laugh at how her quick persona change had affected the blonde. It's good to know that I still have it. Leigh thought to herself as she continued to give Erin her best "You don't want to mess with me" looks.

"Umm...I'm thinking No." Erin said and was relieved when she saw Leigh smiling again.

"Didn't think so." Leigh grinned with a satisfied expression.

"So you can just turn it on and off like that."

"Sometimes.  But that little demonstration is nothing compared to when I really get fired up. But these days I'm trying to keep a lid on all that. You know some people are just too damn sensitive."

"I see." Erin replied.

"I’m sure you’ve read the papers. But they tend to blow everything out of proportion." Leigh hunched. "At least sometimes they do."

"Yeah…you hit a man for taking a picture and I remember something about you assaulting

one of your employees."

"Hey by the time I assaulted him, he was no longer an employee of mine" Leigh said with a sigh and wondered if anyone had listened to the public statement she’d made after the media had blown the incident out of proportion.

"Given all that, I thinking I should consider myself lucky."

"Well let’s see, you’ve basically called me liar, a thief, and a smart-ass. You’ve broken into my home and told me to go to hell." Leigh counted all this on her fingers. "Interesting…I know that I destroyed lives for much less." She tilted her head to the side and studied Erin. Quickly she glanced up at the star filled sky. "The fates must be smiling on you my friend."

"And why do you think that is?" Erin asked and tried to ignore the fact that even on the dimly lit dock, Leigh eyes still shined like sapphires.
 

"Haven't you figured it out by now..." Leigh leaned in and touched the tip of Erin's nose with her finger. "For some odd inescapable reason...I like you Kansas." Leigh said with a smile that was shyly returned by Erin.

Just then Leigh's cell phone rang. "Damn." Leigh sneered as she reached for the small silver flip phone and looked at the number. And as she suspected it was SSC number. "This better be damn important." She barked and Erin watched the taller woman stand up. Within in seconds Leigh was yelling and running a frustrated hand through her ebony tresses.

And Erin just sat there and watched. This was her first glimpse at Leigh's temper and she was definitely thankful she wasn't the person on the other end of the phone. Erin looked passed Leigh and saw Bernie trotting down the dock. He stopped at Leigh's feet and she reached down and rubbed his head. While still talking on the phone, Leigh pointed over to Erin. Bernie turned and walked over to the blonde and laid down in front of her.

Eventually Erin heard Leigh’s voice calm down and listened as Leigh started to throw out technical terms that Erin couldn’t even hope to understand. Erin knew her way around a computer, but only the software that she normally used. She had learned long ago, to call the help desk for support when something went wrong with her laptop.

After a few minutes of listening to Leigh’s soothing Texas accent, Erin saw her smile and then hang up the telephone. Leigh looked over at Erin. "Sorry…there was a problem with SSC." She walked back over where Erin sat and reached down to grab Bernie face. "Did Erin here keep you company while I handled some business?"

"Tell me this, do you kiss with that mouth?" Erin asked.

"Excuse me?" Leigh looked up with a shocked expression on her face.

Erin chuckled slightly and held up her hand. Hey I caught her off guard. "I mean I think a sailor would be envious of the words you were using at the beginning of that conversation."

At that instant, Leigh was thankful for her tan…or Erin Bradshaw would have seen her blush. "Oh yeah…well sometimes you have to speak a certain way to get through to people." Leigh had gone through her usually routine. She let the people SSC know that she was irritated because they had called her at home. Then she let them know that she was really irritated because the person who should be handling the problem was missing in action. After all that was said and done she’d listened to the specifics of the situation and tried to calmly figure out a way to solve it.

"It was some guys in Singapore complaining that SSC didn't provide all the deliverables we promised for our latest fix pack of Maverick 3.0...its our version of an internet browser. Seems the browser crashed during a demo for some very important clients...and they were a little more than pissed. Turns out they didn't have all the code. They were missing a required font package...that the documentation states is an optional package. So I had to walk them through installing it. That reminds me, I'm going to have to schedule a meeting with my enablement folks...you can't put out shitty documentation and expect for people to be able to follow it."

"And they called you with this problem...I mean don't you have people under you who could have handled this." Erin wondered considering that Leigh was president and CEO of the company.

"I would like to think so. But they always seem to disappear or mysteriously catch amnesia in situations like this. Plus the guy complaining demanded to speak to me...the demo they were giving was supposedly a big event. And the crash almost cost them a very important deal. They wanted to stress that to me. The guy in charge over there tends to need to a lot of handholding. Well they're back up and running now...I explained to their clients what happened...so all is well with the world again."

"And you fixed it all just now over the phone."

"Yeah." Leigh answered simply. "Kansas to stay afloat in this industry you must be able to conduct business anytime and from anywhere."

"Like the time you negotiated a contract while you were in the middle of a bike race."

Leigh grinned sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah. And you know what...I would have won that race to if the idiot I was talking to could have at least acted like he held a business degree. I almost ran off the course three times."

Erin recalled a picture of Leigh standing by a mountain bike...wearing a set of headphones that connected the cell phone attached to the waistband of her biking shorts. What did you do Erin; memorize every picture you’ve ever seen of the woman. After conjuring up this image...something clicked for Erin.

Leigh noticed the change in Erin immediately. "Is something wrong?"

"No...in fact, everything is perfectly fine." Erin said. There was something in her voice, that Leigh couldn't quite put her finger on it ...but the blonde knew something. All of a sudden there was a glint in her green eyes…that intrigued Leigh, but somehow worried her at the same time.

"That's how you did it." Erin finally spoke.

"How I did what?" Leigh dark eyebrows furrowed with dash of curiosity and confusion.

"Able to conduct business anytime and from anywhere." Erin said ignoring Leigh's question.

Leigh looked at Bernie. "Is she OK?"

"Of course I'm OK. It's you that may be in trouble." Erin smiled and pointed at Leigh.

"Kansas you've really lost me here…what are you talking about?"

"You did make a phone call the night of the robbery."

"Yeah." Leigh said slowly. "We've been over this already."

"But you didn't make that phone call from Hensley's office."

Uh Oh...I don't like where this is going. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You called Hugh from a cell phone."

"But there was a record of the call coming from Hensley's office." Leigh countered.

"Yes there was. But you could have simply cloned Hensley's number and
assigned it to whatever cell phone you were using. I know you're capable of doing
that. You're the head of a fortune 500 technology company. And your prints
were found in his office because you've been in there before."

Looks like I owe the woman another cigar. "So you think I was climbing around in vents,
stealing jewels, and conducting a very important meeting the whole time by cell phone?"

"Yes." Erin answered simply.

"You know I do love the confidence you have in my abilities." Leigh chuckled and folded
her arms across her chest. "That's one hell of a theory you have there."

"Perhaps...but its the right one. You know it and I know it."

Leigh stepped closer. "But can you prove it?" She challenged with her blue eyes sparkling.

"Probably not" Erin conceded with nothing more that a shrug. "I'm sure whatever phone you used has long ago been discarded. But it does cast a doubt on whether or not you were actually in Hensley's office. And I figure for right now that it's enough."

"Enough?"

"Enough to let you know that I'm closer to catching you."

Leigh looked down at Bernie again. "So what do you think Bernie, should I be scared?"

Bernie stood up and glanced at Leigh then at Erin. Both women looked at the dog as if they were actually waiting for an answer. Instead the dog simply walked off.

"Figures...Bernie doesn't like controversy. He always opts not to say anything at all. Why do you suppose that is?" Leigh smirked.

Erin laughed. "Guess that's our cue to leave." Erin said.

"Guess so." Leigh agreed as the walked back down the dock.

"So you're closer to catching me huh?" Leigh asked.

"Yeap."

"And let's say I am the thief and you do catch me...what then? I mean do you honestly want to see me go to jail." Leigh made her best puppy dog face.

"I’m not a cop Leigh…I’m an insurance investigator. What I want is the Rhine Ruby returned so that my company doesn’t have to cut any other check than the one for my commission."

"That's all?" Leigh asked.

"Officially yes…unofficially no." Erin said.

"Well tell me what exactly do you want unofficially?"

"You." Quickly a raven-colored eyebrow shot up above wide blue eyes. Leigh stopped walking and placed her hands on her hips. Ok Erin that didn’t come out right. Clarify yourself…please!!!! "Look umm…that didn’t come out right. What I meant was…"

"Yeah..." Leigh motioned for her to continue. Yeah…what exactly did you mean and Leigh do you really want to know?

"I meant…" Erin cleared her throat and tried to look anywhere but at Leigh’s amused face. Fix it up Bradshaw. "that I’m really interested in proving that you did it. I’m interested in revealing the tricks behind your smoke and mirrors act.

"Now I’m a magician too. If I ever need to write a resume again…will you do it for me? I’m sure it will be an interesting read." Leigh winked.

Erin continued to speak as if she hadn’t heard Leigh. "What I want is to win this little game that you started…just like you."

"Win? Hell I win all the time." Leigh said casually but with just a tad of arrogance. "But I’m beginning to think with this game…" Leigh pointed at herself and then at Erin. "I’m just interested in playing."

There was a silence just then as the two women stared at each other. But at the same time, a multitude of things were being said. So much so, that neither woman could decipher it.

The first time Leigh had laid eyes on Erin Bradshaw, she’d come to the conclusion that she’d never seen her before. But now she wasn’t so sure. In that very moment, a sense of familiarity settled over Leigh, and it made her shiver slightly. Little did she know that Erin Bradshaw was feeling the same way as she stood before her.

Erin broke contact first as she pointed ahead of them. "Looks like the pizza man is here."

Leigh snapped back to reality and followed Erin’s gaze. The pizza man was handing over a box to Bert and Mac. "I’m glad, I know those guys are starving."

Abruptly Leigh turned back to Erin. "Hey Kansas, you know umm...Mary cooked lasagna today and its enough to feed an army. So I was thinking...why don't you come on inside and have dinner with ole Bernie and me?" Leigh suggested and nodded towards her house. She buried her hands deep in her jean pockets and waited for an answer.

"I don't know..." Erin started.

"Why not? We've had dinner before. Look I even promise not to make you strip this time when you come in."

"Then why bother." Erin retorted sarcastically before thinking.

Leigh smiled. I'm not even going to touch that one "Look Kansas we could eat, kick back, maybe I could even teach you a few tricks in pool. An all knew episode of the X-Files is coming on. "

"So is Kansas my new nickname." Erin had noticed earlier Leigh’s use of the name when referring to her. She admitted herself that she kind of liked it…especially when Leigh said it with that Texas twang.

"Well yeah." Leigh hadn’t realized that she’d started calling Erin ‘Kansas’, but somehow it just seemed fitting.

"So does that mean I can call you Texas?"

Erin watched Leigh dark’s eyebrow disappear under dark bangs as if contemplating the blonde's question. "Umm... no."

Leigh shook her head and they both laughed.

"So are you going to come in or what." A little anxious aren’t we Leigh. If she doesn’t come in for dinner, it’s no big deal right?

"I'm still trying to figure out why Leigh Sinclaire is going to be at home tonight watching TV instead or lighting up the town."

"Believe me I would rather be doing something else. But since the breakup with Brent, I’ve been trying to lay low. I really don’t feel like seeing a picture of me having a good time and then reading a headline like ‘The Tech World’s Bad Girl Moves On…While Brent…" well you can fill the rest in."

"Is it true no one has heard from him in days?" Erin inquired. Not only had Brent Landers not shown up to finish the movie…he hadn’t shown up anywhere.

"No, I’ve heard from him several times…or rather my answering machine has. " Leigh responded a bit irritably. The subject of Brent Landers was definitely one she didn’t want to discuss. "Hey but let’s not talk about all that. Let’s talk about whether or not you’re going to let me spend and an evening alone watching television." Still anxious Leigh…what exactly is going on here?

Erin was about to say answer when Leigh's cellphone rang.

"Leigh here."

"Hey Leigh its Fred...did you forget about the Rome conference call or what young lady?"

"Ah shit...I did. This is the one about the framework architecture proposal right?"

"Yeap, you're only twenty minutes late...but I'm sure we won't mind if you join us." Fred said and Leigh could picture him smiling.

"Ok, I'll dial in shortly. Can you stall for me?"

"I've been doing it for twenty minutes blue eyes...what difference will a few more minutes make. See yah."

Leigh hung up and looked at Erin.

"Looks like you're going to be pretty busy tonight."

"No...I'm sure it won't take that long. You could still come in and eat some lasagna."

"But Leigh I'm the enemy. Why would you want to..."

Leigh cut her off and laid a hand on her Erin’s arm. "Just because we're playing on separate teams...doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

And again Leigh's cell phone rang. "What the hell...". She picked it up. "Leigh here."

And within seconds Leigh was engrossed in another conversation that no doubt had to do with SSC. Slowly Erin began to back away towards her car. The woman was obviously very busy. Erin waved at Bernie before she turned to walk off. As if telling on her, Bernie nudged Leigh's leg.

"So you're leaving." Leigh called after her, with her hand over the mouthpiece of her phone. There was a bit of disappointed in the CEO's voice that Erin tried not to notice.

"I don't think I have a choice." Erin called back. "Beside we both know you'll be seeing me around. I'm that close to catching you remember."

Leigh simply grinned and then winked before returning to her phone call. Erin watched the woman and dog walk towards the beach house and could not shake the feeling that by not following them she was definitely missing out on something. The idea of going back to her apartment alone was definitely not appealing. For a split second, Erin almost considered taking Leigh up on her offer and staying for dinner.

But instead, Erin Bradshaw walked in the opposite direction to her car.

 Part III

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