Page 33

“About that.” Noah turned to his partner. “You heard Maddox. We need to make a splash as soon as we return to Ardmore. Any ideas how we can do that without being too obvious that we want attention?”
“The Ranch,” Seth said.
Teagan frowned. “You want to go to a ranch?” How would that help their militia setup?
“It’s an exclusive restaurant outside Ardmore. If you’re part of the in-crowd, that’s where you go.”
“Sounds expensive.” And exactly the kind of place she avoided like the plague.
“Very.”
“No offense, Seth, but you’re a cop on a civilian salary. How can you afford a membership to a place like that?”
“Not me. Noah.”
Her attention shifted to the detective currently shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “The membership is yours?”
He shrugged. “I dated a defense attorney for a few months last year. She’s from old money and bought me a membership for a year. My membership doesn’t run out until Christmas. I can bring as many people as I want with me.”
“How dressy is this place?”
“Suit and tie for me and Seth. Classy outfits for you and Violet.”
Teagan rolled her eyes. Translation? Dresses and heels. Lovely. What a way to start a mission. Good thing Fortress kept her wardrobe well stocked for any occasion. She still preferred fatigues and combat boots.
Seth turned to Teagan. “You okay with that plan? If not, we’ll come up with something else.”
“If The Ranch is as exclusive as you insinuated, are you sure an appearance there will make a splash? It sounds as though the potential audience will be small.”
“The right people will be there. Trust me, if we show up there, we’ll be the talk of the town by morning.” He cupped her cheek with his palm. “So, are you still game?”
“Oh, I’m game, Seth.”
“Should I leave?” Noah asked dryly. “I feel like I’m a third wheel over here.”
“Yes,” Seth murmured.
“No. Do we need to have reservations for tonight, Noah?” Teagan broke her eye contact with Seth. Wow. Her detective was smoking hot. She’d have to stay focused when they were together in the compound. Otherwise, they could both end up dead.
Seth’s partner slid his phone from his pocket. “I’ll take care of that as well as lunch reservations.”
“Lunch?” Teagan frowned. “Better not be another place requiring dress clothes. I draw the line at once a day.”
The detectives chuckled. “The restaurant I have in mind isn’t a place that has a required dress code.”
“Thank goodness. Don’t think I could handle wearing heels twice in a day.”
More laughter. As the laughter petered off, Violet exited the elevator with two brown envelopes in her hand.
She handed one envelope to each man. “Your new phones.”
“We have cell phones,” Noah said.
“Not like these.” Teagan plucked the brown envelope from Seth’s hand and ripped open the package. She powered up the phone and handed it back to Seth. “Type in your pass code.”
Although his eyes narrowed, Seth did as she asked. The screen unlocked. “Do I want to know how Murphy figured out my code?”
“Nope. Pull up your call list.”