A Cop's Honor. Emilie Rose

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СКАЧАТЬ while Rick had played with the children or watched TV. Brandon’s shoulders were broader than Rick’s had been, and he took up more space. His presence made her feel claustrophobic in the narrow area between the counters.

      Brandon rinsed a dish and offered it to her. She jumped into action. Her hip bumped his as she bent to open the dishwasher, and her pulse blipped erratically. Nerves over what his take on Mason’s attitude might be. That was all it was. She was certain.

      “Brandon, I’m sorry, but until I renovate this kitchen there’s only room for one of us in here, so...if you don’t mind...”

      He scanned the room. “I forgot you wanted to knock out some walls.”

      “Just that one.” She pointed to the wall dividing the den and kitchen.

      “Did Rick ever get that structural engineer’s report he talked about?”

      “Yes, but kitchens are expensive projects, so it’s pretty far down the list.” And now it was off it completely because one salary would never be enough to cover the cost.

      “Could I see the report?”

      She sighed. If it would get him out of the way, she’d give it to him. Crossing to the built-in desk, which she rarely used, she opened the file drawer, flipped through the folders and extracted the file.

      “You’re still organized, I see.”

      “Yes. Here you go.”

      “Thanks. I’ll read it after I take a look at the computer.”

      Anxiety burned in her chest. “You won’t find anything. Like I told you, I have all kinds of parental controls on it, and—”

      “Then you don’t have anything to worry about.” He retrieved the laptop from the den and brought it to the kitchen table then pushed a button and the machine hummed to life. “Do each of you have separate log-ins?”

      “Yes. That way the programs we use are on the desktop and my bill paying is out of the kids’ reach.”

      “Do you ever sign in as Mason to see which sites he visits?”

      “No. I trust him.” She didn’t need to see Brandon’s lips compressing to know he didn’t like her answer—especially given she’d demanded his help. “I don’t know his password.”

      “No problem.” Long fingers moved rapidly over the keyboard.

      She rinsed the remaining dishes and loaded the dishwasher, trying hard to ignore him clicking away. What if he found something? If she confronted Mason with it he’d know she’d gone behind his back and invaded his privacy. How would he react? The way her mother had? She tamped down the fear. Brandon wouldn’t find anything on the computer. She was too proactive for that.

      “I’m in,” Brandon stated.

      She stilled, water dripping from her hands into the sink. “How did you get in without his password?”

      “I signed in as the administrator.” He looked back at the screen then frowned. “Mason’s history has been deleted. Did you show him how to do that?”

      Her anxiety level climbed. “No. Maybe the computer is set to automatically delete the browsing history?”

      Click. Click. Click. “His account is.” More taps. “Neither yours nor Belle’s is. It’s not the computer’s default. If you didn’t set it up this way, then Mason did.”

      “But why...?”

      “Exactly.”

      Acid burned the base of her esophagus. She dried her hands. “I...could ask him.”

      But if she did, then he’d know she was spying on him. And spying on someone was a violation of trust that couldn’t be forgiven or forgotten.

      “You think he’d tell you the truth?”

      “Yes.”

      “Your hesitation says differently. Hannah, he’s a kid doing something he wants hidden. Let me talk to him.”

      “No! I don’t want you interrogating him like a criminal. He’s a little boy.”

      His jaw shifted. “Then let me take the computer with me so that I can find out what sites he’s been visiting. I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”

      “That’s spying.”

      “That’s parenting. If you want to know what’s driving his behavior and you won’t let me take the computer, then at least let me install some software that’ll track his activity. He’ll never know it’s there.”

      Fear tightened her chest. “I’m not violating his trust like that.”

      He shut down the computer, set it aside and stood. In three strides he was by her side. Close. Too close. She had to tip back her head to look at him. He wasn’t as tall as Rick, but he was...imposing in his breadth. Dark evening stubble shadowed his jaw and his eyes were...intent. She shuffled backward and nearly tripped over the open dishwasher door.

      He reached out, but she caught herself and held up her hands before he made contact. “I’m fine.”

      “Hannah, I can’t help you if you won’t let me. Mason is probably nothing more than a curious boy looking at porn, and he’s picked up some of the language. But it could be more. And software is the easiest way to find out what’s going on.”

      “You’re just paranoid because of your job chasing cyber criminals. But my son isn’t a criminal.” Then another thought dried her mouth. “He won’t be able to tell you logged in as him, will he?”

      “No. Think about a tracking program. It’s your best bet.”

      “No software. I want you to promise me you won’t do anything to violate his trust.”

      Frustration radiated from him, pleating his brows and making his shoulder muscles bunch. “Hannah, we’ve covered this.”

      “Promise me, Brandon. I want Mason to feel he can come to me with anything, and if I go behind his back he won’t feel that way.” She saw opposition in his face. “If you can’t make that promise, then leave and don’t come back. I have enough problems with the Leiths trying to undermine me. I don’t need you doing the same.”

      A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Fine, I agree. But only as long as I don’t think he’s in danger or a crime’s being committed. If I suspect either of those, then I’ll do whatever it takes to keep your son safe. I owe Rick that.”

      Mason wasn’t committing a crime. As his mother, she’d know if he was. Brandon’s half promise wasn’t the unconditional one she wanted, but it would have to do. “Okay.”

      “I’ll see you tomorrow. And while I’m here I’m going to check out the gutter over your garage. It’s sagging and it needs to be repaired before you have water damage.”

      He swung around and left the kitchen before she could protest. The old adage СКАЧАТЬ