Page 18 of Seductive Secrets

She heard a heavy, frustrated sigh behind her and knew that James was irritated by the interruption, but she continued down the stairs, praying that…what? That Marco would keep his mouth shut and not mention what he’d seen to the others?

Angela snorted and rolled her eyes at herself. “Fat chance!” she muttered, stepping out into the sunshine filled great room.

“Fat chance for what?” Callum asked, pulling something out of the oven and setting it on top of a trivet before tossing the oven mitts onto the counter.

Dash looked over his shoulder, but remained by the stove, stirring something.

“Nothing,” she replied, fighting back a blush. She hunted through the cabinets until she found plates, then took down a stack to set the table.

Behind her, she heard Dash comment to Callum, “I doubt it was nothing.”

Callum grunted in his usual man-speak manner. “It’s always something with our fair lady, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely!” Dash bantered. “She’s always good with words. So perhaps the ‘fat chance’ had something to do with the moans we heard moments before she came downstairs?”

Angela swung around, glaring at her former best friends. “Don’t go there!”

Callum rolled his eyes and turned away to check on something in the oven. Dash snorted as he said, “Oh, we’re definitelynotgoing there, darlin’. But it sounds like you sure are!”

“Finally!” Callum muttered with a firm nod and a glare over his shoulder.

Angela paused and turned to frown at Callum. “What does that mean?”

Marco and Chloe were pulling out utensils and napkins. Marco stepped into the conversation. “It means that you’re finally,genuinelyattracted to someone who is strong enough.”

Her eyes sliced through the room to land on James who was staring back at her with an intensity that made her heart pound against her ribs. Quickly, she turned away and focused on putting the plates on the table with a precision that was unnecessary.

“You’re exaggerating,” she finally said.

Thankfully, Kasim and Rosalee entered the room and the subject changed. Everyone helped get breakfast on the table. Even with everyone’s help, or maybe because of it, breakfast preparation was a bit chaotic.

Finally, everyone was seated and the freshly baked cinnamon rolls, cheesy scrambled eggs, and bacon were passedaround. There was a lot of teasing initially, but as everyone ate the incredible food and drank the fragrant coffee, the conversation shifted to the events of yesterday.

Angela and James explained what they knew about the key and the missing people, as well as the car chase, and the blue powder. Then the brainstorming started.

“Callum, why don’t you go to Mark’s apartment and see if you can find a clue as to what the key might open?” Angela suggested.

Callum nodded. “I can do that.”

Dash lifted his fork. “I can get into the girlfriend’s house and look around.”

James lifted his coffee cup as he suggested, “You might want to stop by the neighbor’s house and introduce yourself to her. After our visit yesterday, I suspect she’ll be watching the house more closely today.”

Angela agreed. “She looked a bit frazzled with the two small kids. I’m guessing that she’s stuck in the house all day. Watching the goings on in the neighborhood might be a welcome break from changing diapers.”

Dash lifted his dark eyebrows in amusement. “Do you really think that I can’t get into a house without being noticed?”

The rest of the group chuckled and he accepted that as their apology.

Dash pointed towards the coffee table where a big box sat. “I brought a shipment of new cell phones. These are untraceable. So leave your old ones here at the house, so you can’t be tracked.”

Kasim lifted his fork. “What about the key? It seems as if the key is instrumental to figuring out what the mystery is all about.”

“And whatever was in that glass vial,” Marco pointed out as he picked up another cinnamon roll, placing it on Chloe’s plate. She immediately took a bite , closing her eyes as she savored the warm, gooey goodness. Angela glanced over at Callum who was smiling with satisfaction at her reaction to his baking.

Smiling herself, she returned her focus to the conversation. “Where would we even start to find out what the key unlocks?”

Dash took the eggs and spooned more onto his plate, then passed it on to Chloe. “That might be easier than you think, but it could also be time consuming.”

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