Page 26 of Logan

“When creating a cover, it’s often best to stick to certain truths so as not to get tripped up. Giving you another major could possibly cause problems if they ask you questions you don’t know the answers to.”

“Gotcha,” she agreed, seeing the wisdom in his explanation.

“Tonight, I’ll install the outside cameras on our house to give us surveillance on their property. My people will also be able to monitor what is happening. They won’t be watching them as much when you’re here during the day since they’ll have other work to do. I have more equipment arriving today, but I will have to know their schedule?—”

“They grocery shop every Thursday afternoon,” she blurted.

“How do you know that?”

“Farrah told me.”

He was surprised but then wondered if there would be a day when she didn’t surprise him. “As I was saying, we didn’t have time to do surveillance before I came, so this was more rushed than I would have liked.”

“What kind of things would you have done?” She leaned forward, interested in what his job entailed. “This is so different from what I do or can even imagine!”

He held her gaze for a moment, then said, “If an area can be monitored by satellite, we could have gotten a visual on the area, houses, their cars, and even who came to visit. But we didn’t have time to do much, and this area is so wooded that our resources were needed elsewhere.”

She nodded, then leaned back again. “So what will I be doing during the days when you’re at work?”

“You will need to monitor the comings and goings next door. Even with the equipment that will come in?—”

“You never told me what equipment was coming.”

Heaving a sigh, he said, “Equipment necessary for what I’ll be doing. Until then, I need you to keep a log of who comes and goes. Descriptions, car makes and models, and if you can positively identify the people, all the better. You also need to get your lab ready.”

Interest sparked throughout her. “Finally!”

Logan shook his head and met her grin with a slight quirk of his lips. “In fact, we can start that today.”

Clapping her hands, she jumped up from the sofa and announced, “Just let me get my boots!”

15

The dense woods enveloped them in a cloak of shadows as the vestiges of dusk barely filtered through the trees. They were far from the house, but with walls of thick trees on either side, the narrow path wound its way deeper into the forest.

Vivian trailed Logan, and when he finally stopped, she stumbled into his back. She reached out, her fingers gripping his coat. “Sorry,” she mumbled. A small shed was in front of them, and the wooden planks of the walls and roof appeared sturdy. There were no windows, but as Logan swung the door open, they could discern a skylight in the roof. He stepped in, setting the lantern on the wooden table against one wall.

“I wiped it down yesterday,” he explained. “But I know it will never be as clean as it should be.”

She looked around, her gaze surveying the interior of the shed. He had no doubt her mind was working overtime on how to make the shed functional. “I’ll cover the interior in plastic, so I’ll need a staple gun to make it quicker.”

“Good. That’s smart.”

She shrugged while still looking around. “I was told that I might have to prepare a temporary lab room. This should be okay. The table is small, but we can easily bring in a folding tableas well.” Looking up toward the ceiling, she added, “The skylight will give light, but I can bring in lanterns, too.”

“We need to cover the skylight. We can’t have any light escaping to give evidence that you’re in here working.”

“Oh, yeah… right.” A sigh left her lips. “I think in terms of the lab and testing. I forget about the need for no one to be able to see anything.”

“I’ll buy some battery-operated lanterns. With halogen bulbs, they’ll give you a lot of light to work with.”

Turning to him, she crinkled her brow, asking, “Do you think this place will be safe? I know it’s actually close to our house and well hidden with the trees, but…” Her uncertainty crept out for the first time since he’d met her. Until now, she’d appeared fearless.

Facing her, he put his hands on her shoulders. “This is why we need to be smart. We need to be cautious. There’s no reason for them to suspect we are on to them. Just be a friendly neighbor, but do not attempt to question them. This shed is easily accessed through our kitchen door, which they can’t see. Your car is parked on that side and can hide you as you enter the woods. You should be able to come and go very easily, but…” He stopped for emphasis, bending slightly to peer into her eyes. “I want to be out here when you are. So when I’m gone, you watch their house. When I’m home, we can come out here together.”

Together… somehow that had his thoughts scattering in directions that had nothing to do with the mission.

She nodded, her lips curving slightly as his blue-green eyes locked onto hers. “Right,” she agreed, her voice coming out breathier than before.

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