Page 25 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

I t wasn’t the first time that Quinn thought the man needed to stop being so amusing. It hadn’t been easy, but she’d managed not to give him the satisfaction of laughing. She liked him so much it wasn’t funny.

The day really was beautiful. Much cooler in the mountains than at home in Savannah or even in Myrtle Beach. “Are we going to walk awhile or drive to the park?”

He shrugged. “It’s your operation. Just waiting for my orders.”

This man just kept surprising her. “Let’s walk awhile. See how close we can get to the mill without being noticed.”

A high school was between the strip center and the mill, and a group of teens were playing a game of volleyball. She’d finished eating the cheese pastry and only had her coffee in her hand.

Liam held out the white bag. “Want the muffin now or some doughnut holes?”

“Maybe later. Hold this a sec.” She handed him her coffee so she could get her Nikon out of her purse. She took back the cup, drank the last of her coffee, and then crushed the cup.

“Here, I’ll hold that while you do your thing.”

She gave it to him. “You’re a great photographer’s assistant.”

“Totally indispensable, eh?”

“For now.”

“Tough crowd,” he muttered, making her laugh.

She glanced around and, seeing no one was paying attention to them, she snapped some photos of the school, the kids, and in the far background, the mill.

His phone chimed, and after taking it out of his pocket, he showed her the screen before answering Grayson’s call. “You got me.” As he listened, his expression hardened, and his eyes turned cold.

That was his warrior face, and fascinated by the sudden change in him from a goofy pretend husband to a battle-ready Marine, she lifted her camera to her eye and snapped pictures of him.

After a lengthy call where he mostly listened, he put his phone back in his pocket. His gaze was distant, as if he was mulling things over.

“What was that about?”

“That was Gray. His car that we left at your house when we ran, his service manager found a tracking device on it.”

“How did that happen?”

“We assume they put it on before they broke in, before we left.”

“So, what does that mean?”

“Right now, only that they know the car was taken to Gray’s Savannah dealership, but we can’t discount that they made a note of the license plate number. That means they’ll learn the car is a dealer’s loaner out of his Myrtle Beach dealership.”

“That’s not good. That’s all they can find out, though, right? That it belongs to the dealership.”

“Depends on how smart they are. It won’t take much to connect the dealership to Gray and Gray to The Phoenix Three.

“He also said he did a deep dive on Garrison. Turns out Garrison has a cousin who lives in Hope Corner. Name’s Joey Garrison. Their fathers were brothers. My guess is that Garrison was visiting his cousin and stumbled on the illegal dumping.”

“Oh. And you think the conversation I overheard was Jasper talking to Joey?”

“Exactly.” He put his hand on her lower back. “Let’s start walking before we draw attention just standing here.”

Were people already watching them? The mill was just ahead, and she slowed. The sidewalk they were walking on ended on this side of the street. “Will we look suspicious walking past it?”

“Not if we play it right.”

“What do you mean?”

He handed her the muffin. “Who’s going to suspect an infatuated couple out for a stroll while eating their goodies?”

“I’d like to get a picture of the mill.”

“Wait until we’re across from the entrance.”

“Okay.” She bit into the muffin. “This is delicious. Want a bite?”

“I’d rather have a bite of you, but I’ll settle for your muffin.”

She giggled as she held it out to him. “That almost sounds dirty.”

“You want dirty? All you have to do is ask.”

“I just might do that.”

After taking a bite, he put his arm around her shoulders. “That is good. Let’s stop and get a selfie. Is your camera set where I can just push a button?”

She changed the setting to auto mode, then pointed to the button he needed to press. “It’s that one.”

“Okay, turn your back to the mill.”

He held the Nikon up. “Smile.” The camera wasn’t aiming at them, but just over their shoulders.

After taking several pictures, each time slightly moving the camera angle to get different parts of the mill, he said, “There’s a man standing at the entrance watching us.

” Before she could answer and still clicking the button, he kissed her.