Page 30 of Dangerous Lies

“Dude, a vase isn't going to save your ass. You’d have a better chance blinding someone with your bright white chest.”

“He's a redhead,” Grim said. “Tell me where you've seen a tanned redhead. He can't helpit.”

Itwas a good thing he’d left Rose upstairs tucked away because he was about to kill his teammates who had invaded the house without an invite. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Lucas was in charge of the grocery run but forgot to order them. Casanova is a bear if not fed, so we came over and helped ourselves.” Grim pulled the pancake from the pan.

Casanova set his cup of coffee down on the counter next to a box.

Ginger's heart picked up at the sight of the box. “How the hell did the box get into the house?”

“Itwas on the doorstep when we arrived,” Lucas said, not looking up from his screen. “The guy is good. He blacked out the footage, and we have nothing but the box.”

Ginger ran a hand over his face.Itwas his job to make sure Rose was safe. Instead, he’d lost his head. The guycouldhave easily hurt them or Tyler last night all because he’d thought with his dick.

“I've seen that face before.” Casanova sighed. “This is where he thinks he's falling for her, and then he's going to back away because he can only cause her hurt or something else he's making up in his head. How many times will I have to witness my teammates act this way? I alreadyknowI'm not good enough for Grim, but I'm going to stick to her until she breaks down and realizes she can't live without me.”

Grim snorted. “Dude, you're like a lost puppy that won't go home. He keeps peeing in the house so no other dogs will come around.”

“Women don't make sense to me,” Lucas said. “All this feelings crap. Why go throughit? You can make an avatar of a perfect girlfriend online, and she says what you want.”

Lucas gave Casanova a run for his money in the looks department. Except unlike Casanova’s designer clothes, Lucas wore jeans and Marvel t-shirts.

“You don't believe in love?” Ginger asked.

Lucas shook his head. “The boarding school my parents sent me to at the age of four didn't show love. Their job was togetme ready to take on some high-power job so theycould, in return, use me. As for my parents, they were too much into their own lives. They needed an heir to hand down their fortune to and run the family company. Luckily for me, they had a kid they liked better.”

Therewas no emotion in his voice.

Ginger didn't have time to untangle Lucas's dating issues when he didn't understand his own.

“We need to do something about the box,” Ginger said.

Casanova grabbed a knife from the drawer and cut the top open.

“No!” Ginger leapt toward the box. “We don'tknowwhat's inside.”

Grim rolled her eyes and set a plate of pancakes onto the kitchen island table. “We've already tested the box, and Lucas used one of his toys as well.It'sa spider inside of a cage. No gas, nothing harmful.”

“Couldhave said that from the start,” Ginger replied. “Are we any closer to finding a lead on the guy?”

Lucas looked up from his laptop. “Youknowmy job is the Carter case, but I like a challenge. I stayed up late looking into possibilities, but I have questions for Rose. Hence the reason for the wake-up call, but the little guy woke the wrong person.Seeif I share my chocolate with him again. The task was simple.”

“He's a kid.” Rose's soft voice filled the kitchen, and Ginger wanted to wrap her up in his arms. She’d twisted her wet hair into a bun, and put on a pair of jeans with a white shirt. Her smile lit up the damn room. “Are we already starting on the serial killer talk before breakfast?”

Grim slid the platter of pancakes down the island. “Nope, we are doing serial killer talk with breakfast. Haven't youheardmurder is best served with coffee?”

He wouldn't be surprised if Grim listened to a serial killer podcast with her breakfast.

Rose snatched a pancake and poured syrup onitbefore she took a bite. Her tongue snaked out and licked the drop dribbling down her lip.

He was so fucked.

“Is that the box from yesterday?” She motioned to the one on the counter.

“Nope, your friendly neighborhood serial killer leftiton your doorstep this morning. We were just about to pull out what he sent,” Casanova said as he reached in and lifted out a container with a giant spider, the same one from last night.

A rose-colored piece of paper floated from the bottom of the container.

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