He took another sip, and then he choked on it when Shane yelled.
“Shit! Quinn, come look. It’s definitely a woman.”
Quinn walked around his desk and couldn’t help his snort when he saw the old-fashioned magnifying glass in Shane’s hand. Give Shane a hat and a cigar, and he’d be the quintessential private dick.
“Look,” Shane ordered, holding the glass over a picture. Quinn leaned over and sure enough, a woman’s face had been caught on film. She had on the same ball cap and sweatshirt, but she’d been caught with her sunglasses held away from her eyes. She looked to be in her forties with strands of dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“I wonder where her hair was at the Conservatory,” he mused.
“Tucked up in the hat,” Shane said, shrugging. “Or she chopped it off. Who knows? But that’s definitely her.” Shane tapped his fingers on his desk. “I don’t know why but she looks familiar. Sort of. Like I’ve seen her face but different.”
“That makes no sense.”
Shane scrubbed his hands over his face. “Shit, I know. But it’ll come to me.”
Quinn leaned his butt on Shane’s desk and crossed his arms. “Pretty sure we’re looking at the hacker.”
“I think so, too.”
There was a ding on Quinn’s computer and he walked over to his desk, freezing in surprise when he saw what it was from.
“Holy shit, Shane, an email just came into Brenda Spring’s secret account.”
Shane shoved away from his desk and came close.
Quinn clicked it open, then raised his eyebrow at Shane, who read the email aloud.
You’ve read all my emails. Now come get the rest of the story.
Cincinnatus, Sawyer Point
Saturday
8:45 a.m.Chapter SixteenMother Nature seemed determined to give them an early taste of winter. Or more likely, they were settling in for more of Cincinnati’s insane weather. Just the day before, it had been sunny and relatively warm for mid-October. Now, Quinn was huddled in his jacket, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, wishing that he’d remembered to throw his winter coat in his car. Or at least a beanie and scarf. Holy shit, it’s cold!
Quinn glanced over at Shane, frowning. He didn’t look cold despite the wind whipping up from the Ohio River to rip through Sawyer Point. A small smirk played briefly across his lips. His mom had always called it the Pig Park, thanks to the four riverboat smokestacks topped with golden flying pigs. It wasn’t a bad park…during the summer months. He’d come down a few times when the city had the Party in the Park celebrations to listen to the free concerts.
There were a few people out, walking and jogging through the park on the dreary, overcast morning, but they were largely alone. The maples were clinging to their orange and yellow leaves, rattling noisily as another breeze passed through.
“Do you think she’s here?” Quinn asked as they turned down one of the paths, putting more distance between them and the river. The trees were helping to protect them some, but Quinn would have preferred to cuddle up against Shane for warmth. But that wasn’t an option either.
Since Quinn had lost his temper in Shane’s office, there had been a lingering barrier between them even though Shane had accepted his apology. It was like neither of them knew how to act, how to get back to their brand of normal. Quinn could practically hear the wheels turning in Shane’s brain, and he was worried about the questions that would inevitably come. He didn’t want to talk about his irrational anger or its possible source. Shane knew enough about his life. More than most.
Plus, flashes of Shane walking with those two men kept popping up in his brain at the worst moments, brutally reminding him that Shane had plenty of other people out there who were more than interested in keeping him happy and satisfied. Shane didn’t need him.
Of course, there was a little voice screaming in the back of his head to just grab Shane with both hands and kiss him until they were both moaning, useless puddles of desire, but that probably wasn’t the best idea when they were supposed to be meeting the hacker. He definitely needed to keep his mind on the job and out of his pants.
“If she’s smart, she is,” Shane said, snapping Quinn from his wandering thoughts. Shane stopped and looked around where they were standing. There was no one else in sight and Quinn found his heart speeding up at the promise that maybe Shane’s thoughts had drifted to the same place as his.
“I probably should have asked this before we got out of the car, but are you packing?”
Quinn blinked at him, his mind struggling to catch up. Not exactly what he was expecting from Shane at all. “Packing?”
“Are you armed? Do you have a gun on you? I know that all of Rowe’s bodyguards are licensed to carry, but I wasn’t sure if you…”