Page 31 of Spies Like Us

He pops it back in and keeps loading the balls into the machine. “You weren’t at the library as long as I thought you would be,” he comments as I place my bag on the ground and jump up onto the tattoo bed and watch as he works.

“Ry and Miller showed up with those girls in tow,” I explain, leaning back on the tattoo bed. “It wasn’t pleasant.”

He chuckles. “I don’t blame you. Why do you think I’m here? I couldn’t stand sitting at the table with Max and that harpy, Stella, any longer. She has issues. She kept making sly racist comments to both Anders and me, so we bailed. Max will be pissed, but we have better things to do with our time.”

“God, what a vapid bitch. Her and her sister are two peas in a pod. I caught Sophie threatening Jessica with violence if she doesn’t distract Miller from Ryland. Are we sure the women have nothing to do with the trafficking? Sophie certainly shows some aggressive tendencies.”

He stops loading the balls and purses his lips. “There’s no evidence of it at this stage, but it’s something to consider. Did you find what you were looking for at the library?” he asks.

“Yeah, I did. I shared everything with Lathan. He can bring you all up to speed when you’re together again, but we also discovered that the tunnel under the library isn’t boarded up like the librarian thought. We saw Billy and Ashley carrying Bishop to dump his body.”

Dayton’s eyes narrow, and he’s suddenly laser focused on me. “Oh? Did you happen to hear where?”

“Yeah. Want to take another swim in the hot springs?” I suggest, and he quickly puts the rest of the balls in the machine and jams the lid on before carrying it off to the side. He returns to his drawing desk and grabs the set of keys that are sitting there.

“Let’s go. We will pick Anders up on the way. He had a meeting with Matthew after lunch, so he can fill us in on what he said. It won’t hurt for them to think the three of us are going out there to fuck, since it will help sell yours and Anders’s cover.”

I jump down and grab my bag as he ushers me out the back to his gorgeous car. We climb in, and then we head in the direction of the mansion.

“Speaking of our cover, why are you located in the tattoo studio? Surely that’s not going to wield too much information on the case.”

“Well, you know I already had an established relationship with Kevin and this town, so I wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere else, and it frees me up to poke around. While you are all working your angles elsewhere, Lathan and I can follow people like I followed Matthew last night when he left the club.”

“Where did he go?” I turn my body to face him as he makes his way through the town center and heads toward the governor’s mansion.

“I followed him to the shipping docks where Ted Standish has offices. I couldn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying, but he stayed about an hour and then I followed him to a motel on the outskirts of town. He went into a room there and stayed for a couple of hours.”

“Did you see who he was meeting?” I ask, and he wrinkles his nose adorably.

“Yeah, when he left, I caught a glimpse of the person behind him. It was the coast guard captain, Isaac Palmer.”

“Okay, this is good. So he visits Ted first, the shipping magnate, and then the coast guard captain. Surely that points to them possibly transporting the merchandise via ships.”

“I mean, sure, but does a business meeting usually involve being naked? Because I saw a lot more of Isaac than I was hoping to.”

“Oh! So not a business meeting?”

He shakes his head.

“Well crap,” I mutter as he pulls into the mansion’s driveway before stopping in front of the house.

“Wait here. I’ll grab Anders, and we’ll be on our way.” He puts the car in park and runs into the house. I unstrap and climb into the back seat so that Anders can have the bigger leg room.

Just as I get myself situated, my phone beeps. It’s a message from my dad, reminding me to call Katie. Now seems as good a time as any. I tap in my cousin’s number, which I have memorized. It barely rings before she answers.

“Hello?” She sounds cautious. She wouldn’t recognize the number of my burner phone.

“Hey, Dad said you needed to speak to me.”

“Kenz, how’s the South? Is high school all it’s cracked up to be?” She sounds like she’s laughing at me, and I mentally flip her off.

“Ugh, be glad we never attended one,” I grumble, resting my head against the seat and closing my eyes. “It’s fucking awful. I can’t wait to be done.”

“And how’s the new team?” she probes, not hiding her curiosity. “What’s it like to work with backup? Are they all up in your business constantly?”

“Surprisingly no. They kind of let me do my thing, and they do theirs. It’s working well so far, but it’s only the first week, so we will see how this week goes.”

“Keep me updated. I can’t wait to hear all about them. Listen, that art gallery opening we committed to in New York is next week. Are you going to be able to make it? Both our parents are going to be there.”

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