Piper gazed out onto the soccer field from the sweeping windows of Deidre Joss’s viewing suite, but the action on the field was secondary to the puzzle pieces that refused to fit together in her brain. She didn’t get it. The mugging, the drone, and the tire slashing were active acts. But the online sabotage and the false tip to the INS seemed more cerebral. How did it all come together?

Behind her, she heard Deidre laugh at something Coop was saying. The two of them looked as though they belonged together. Deidre, tall and poised as a ballerina, and Coop, all rangy self-confidence. A pair of good-looking high-achievers completely at home with the luxuries their hard work had brought them. Deidre was obviously taken with Coop, but she wasn’t pushy about it.

“Enjoying the game?” Noah Parks said as he came up beside her.

All afternoon she’d watched him take care of Deidre. He didn’t crowd her, but if Deidre needed a fresh drink, he was there. If she seemed to tire of a conversation, he stepped in to deflect it. Piper could use a Noah Parks in her life.

“It’s not like watching the Bears, but yes, I am,” she said. On the field, the Fire successfully tipped away a shot at the goal. “These are really nice digs.”

“Deidre has a skybox at Soldier Field, too, and one at the Midwest Sports Complex.”

Where the Stars played. “A girl can’t have too many skyboxes.”

He laughed. “She uses them for business entertainment.” He gazed through the glass down at the field. “Interesting that you’ve become part of Coop’s inner circle, considering the way you two started out.”

He was probably fishing for information, but he wasn’t getting anything from her. “He’s bored, and I’m a novelty.”

The Fire scored their first goal, and she excused herself to get a hot dog from the buffet.

Everybody in the suite wanted to talk to Coop, and it wasn’t until the second half that he approached her. “I just learned that Deidre Joss is the person who hired you to follow me.”

Piper straightened. “Why do you think that?”

“Because she told me.”

“Really?” She’d spoken too loudly, and some of the people in the skybox turned to stare, but Piper was outraged. After swearing Piper to secrecy and nearly destroying her career in the process, Deidre Joss had just blurted it out to Mr.Golden Eyes?

It was a good thing her cell vibrated right then. She pulled it out of her jeans pocket and glanced at the screen. Why was Tony calling her?

“Coop turned off his phone again,” Tony said when she answered. “Is he with you?”

“Yes. You want to talk to him?”

“No. Tell him we’ve got a big problem, and he needs to get over here right away.”

***