Page 29 of Wicked Suspicion

“The battery was dead, but it had a charging cord. This was late in the afternoon and I didn’t have much time. I plugged it in long enough to get a little juice. I sent Archer, my boss, an SOS text.”

“How’d you get a cell signal out here? I’m guessing it wasn’t a satellite phone.”

“I didn’t get a cell signal. It connected to the hacienda’s Wi-Fi.”

Case felt a chill go through him. It took effort to keep his voice low and even. “You connected to the house Wi-Fi?”

She shook her head. “The phone did it while I wasn’t paying attention. They must not have changed the router password for at least ten or fifteen years. That’s my guesstimate on the age of the device.”

“It doesn’t matter whether you meant to connect or not. If Vargas is monitoring his home network, you were picked up.”

“Yes,” Nyx said slowly. “I never thought the phone would auto-connect, not after so many years.”

It surprised Case, too. As paranoid as Vargas was, he’d have thought the router login would change regularly. If not, then at least when the equipment was upgraded. “How long were you on the network?”

As she grimaced, the water sputtered. “I’m not sure. It took a while to type out the message and longer for it to send, so probably more than five minutes.”

“Fuck.”

“No one burst into the library or harangued me afterward. They must not have noticed, and I put the phone back where I found it.”

Taking her shoulders lightly in his hands, Case leaned forward. “Just because they’re not checking in real time, doesn’t mean someone isn’t monitoring a log after the fact. With the phone as old as you say it is, it’s going to stand out. None of the dudes working here are carrying around an antique mobile.”

She nodded. “I know. It seemed like a reasonable risk to take, Lurch.”

“Case.” She stared up at him. “When no one can overhear us, you can call me Case. That’s my first name. But only when no one can hear, okay?”

“Understood. Case.”

He liked hearing her use his name, and he had to shake off the sensation. “Is there anything else you didn’t tell me?”

“No, except—” Nyx paused.

“Come on, Nyx. We’re supposed to be working together. What else?”

Another hesitation before she said, “I can’t be completely certain the message was sent. The mobile went dead an instant after the progress bar showed complete, but I’ve never used a dumb phone before.”

That was a problem he’d think about later. “You messaged Archer, no one else?”

“Only Archer. He has an emergency number, and he required us to memorize it. I’m not sure I know another phone number without looking it up in my contacts list.” Her small smile was self-deprecating.

The water cut out and came on again. “Anything else?”

“No, that’s everything, Case. I can probably come up with more details about the patrol if you want to ask specific questions, but I forgot to memorize the path through the house until my escort had me more than halfway back to the room. I’m sorry I missed that opportunity.”

Case found himself staggered. She was apologizing for not paying attention to the layout? “It’s okay. I can get us out of the hacienda. That’s never been a problem. The issue is the wall surrounding the estate.”

“I’ll do better,” Nyx said and there was a fierce note in her voice.

She seemed to need a response. “I know you will.”

That cleared her expression and his Fireball beamed up at him. He’d never met a woman like Nyx Templeton before. He wasn’t sure there was anyone else like her.

Befuddled, Case reached into the shower to turn off the water and fought off the urge to kiss her.

Nyx stayed on the opposite side of the sitting room from Case and tried to work up some interest in the television. She didn’t have much success since he was more enticing, especially with only a towel on.

Washing their clothes in the bathtub had been her idea, but she hadn’t considered the ramifications. Case had his towel, and she wore nothing except his fatigue shirt. Something about not wearing any panties while he was half-naked aroused her. Something. As if he wasn’t sexy has hell. As if she hadn’t been attracted to him from the first instant she’d sat down at his table four days ago.

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