Page 92 of Four Steps to the Perfect Fake Date

Had this been a silly plan? Of course. Had she put her own heart on the line by letting herself get close to Calvin Flint? Definitely. Would she want to do this regularly? Absolutely not in a million years, no.

But was it worth it for this moment?

A hundred percent, without a doubt,yes.

Daphne smiled, then turned back to the house. There’d be time for celebration later. For now, she had to get back inside, clean up, and pretend that nothing at all had happened here. She crossed the few feet of space between the fence and the house, placing one hand on the shingled roof as she headed for the kitchen door.

Inches from her destination, with her fingers reaching for the knob, Daphne heard voices.

“What are you doing here?” a man demanded in a low hiss. “Get out of here, Bobby.”

“You’ve been dodging my calls.”

“I figured you’d get the message,” the man repeated.

The voices were familiar. Daphne frowned, fingers on the cool metal of the doorknob, her heart pounding.Go back inside,she told herself.This is none of your business.

She gripped the knob and turned it.

Then the second man said, “That damn sheriff drove by my house again last night. That’s the third time since I first spotted him when I was working on my truck. He knows something, Archie.”

“He doesn’t know shit.”

Daphne’s blood turned to ice. Archie Jr. and Bobby D. Troy were just around the corner, and neither of them were happy. Daphne’s mind whirled.

If Bobby Troy was here, complaining about Calvin keeping an eye on him, the only logical conclusion was that Archie Jr. was the head honcho behind BDT, LLC. Which meant that the break-ins, the discrepancies between the invoices from Barela ... all of it pointed back to Archie. The mayor of Fernley Island.

Archie Jr. was behind Realist Trade Co., Rated Retails Co., and BDT, LLC. She thought back to the last time she’d seen him, when he’d been his usual arrogant, sniveling self. He’d stormed off ...

Daphne’s eyes went wide. Archie had stormed off when she mentioned going to see Barela, andthat very night, Barela’s offices were broken into.

Coincidence?

Lungs so tight she could barely breathe, Daphne stood rooted to the ground and tried to parse all the information while Archie and Bobby hissed at each other. Her mind made connections faster than she could blink, but she still couldn’t decide what to do.

Was someone else involved? She needed to tell Calvin what she’d heard. But what if they said something else incriminating? Wouldn’t it be better to hear the rest of their conversation?

Releasing her grip on the kitchen door, Daphne eased toward the backyard. Their voices sounded close, so she moved slowly, wishing her dress weren’t made of this plasticky material that rustled like sacks of dry leaves. To make matters worse, her phone was inside her zippered clutch. She couldn’t get it to record their conversation without making noise.

“Heknows, Archie.”

“You shouldn’t be here. We’re not supposed to speak at all. Now get out of here, and I’ll call you when I have time.”

“I want out.”

A dark silence followed, and Daphne held her breath.

“You wantout?” Archie repeated, violence lurking at the edge of his tone.

“You heard me. I don’t want my name on any of your shit anymore. We almost got found out with Sheriff Jackson, and now this.”

“Bill Jackson didn’t squeal,” Archie pointed out, and Daphne heard the words he left unsaid:And neither will you.

“I’m no snitch, but I’m sick of looking over my shoulder. I’m out, Archie.”

“We made a deal. All you had to do was tell me when you got mail for me, and you’d get that nice envelope of cash in your mailbox on the first of every month. Has that money ever failed to appear?”

“A thousand bucks a month isn’t worth as much as it was when we started this.”

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