Chapter 7 #2
He caught her looking and raised an eyebrow. “Something on my face?”
“Just wondering about that scar above your eye.” She gestured with her fork.
“Saw some action in the sandbox a few years back. Shrapnel from an IED got me in the head and really rung my bell.” He touched it absently. “Could’ve been worse. Quarter inch lower and I might’ve lost the eye.”
“Hazards of the job.”
“Says the woman who jumps off exploding docks for a living.”
“The dock itself wasn’t exploding. Just the house behind it. And that was a one-time thing,” she protested, but she was smiling. “Usually, my job involves significantly less pyrotechnics.”
“Good to know. My lion was starting to think you made a habit of dangerous situations.” The words were light, teasing, but something in his expression grew more serious.
“You scared the hell out of me when you went for those papers, by the way. For a second, I thought we weren’t going to make it out of there before it blew. ”
The admission hung between them, more revealing than he probably intended. Lina set down her fork, meeting his gaze directly.
“I scared myself,” she said quietly. “But those papers were our only lead. I couldn’t let them burn.”
“I know. And you were right to grab them. Doesn’t mean I have to like watching you risk your neck.” He paused, seeming to catch himself, though a little smile hovered around his lips. “As a colleague. Purely professional concern.”
“Right. Professional.” But the way he was looking at her didn’t feel particularly professional, and the flutter in her chest definitely wasn’t.
She cleared her throat and reached for her coffee, needing to redirect the conversation before they wandered into dangerous territory again. “So, after Mrs. Peabody, what’s our next move?”
Liam seemed grateful for the shift back to business.
He pushed his empty plate aside and leaned forward, elbows on the table.
“Depends on what she can tell us about that page. If we’re lucky, she’ll recognize the spell or at least point us in the right direction for understanding what Mrs. E is planning. ”
“And if we’re not lucky?”
“Then we rely on the other lead. The post office box.” He nodded toward her phone on the table. “You mentioned a contact at the postal service?”
“Yeah. A guy I worked with on a mail fraud case a couple years back. He owes me a favor.” Lina picked up her phone, checking the time. “His office opens at eight. I’ll call him after breakfast to see if he can pull the application for that box without going through official channels.”
“How likely is he to help?”
“Very. Like I said, he owes me, and he’s a shifter. Some kind of bird of prey, though I never asked for details. I kept his name out of a report when he bent a few rules to help me solve that case.” She smiled slightly. “Sometimes, it’s useful to have people in your debt.”
“Remind me never to get on your bad side, Agent Goodwell.”
“Too late. You already made fun of me for the walk of shame that wasn’t.”
“That was quality entertainment. I have no regrets.” His grin was unrepentant.
She threw a balled-up napkin at him, which he caught easily, laughing. The moment of playfulness eased some of the tension that had been building between them, and Lina felt grateful for it. They needed to be able to work together without constantly tiptoeing around this attraction.
“Okay, so our plan,” she said, pulling her mind firmly back to business. “We meet with Mrs. Peabody at nine, hopefully get information about the grimoire page and figure out what Mrs. E might be planning. I call my postal contact and try to get the address from the PO box application. Then what?”
“Then we start narrowing down where she might be hiding.” Liam stood and began clearing their plates, moving with easy efficiency.
“If your contact comes through with an address, we surveil it. If Mrs. Peabody gives us intel about the spell’s requirements—things like ingredients, location, or timing—we use that to try to predict her next move. ”
“She needs something,” Lina said, thinking out loud. “That’s why she’s still in the area. She rented the house, set up the PO box, stayed local, instead of running. She needs something specific that she can only get here.”
“Something from the coven? Surely, she wouldn’t try to attack them directly again after her big plan failed. She’s totally lost the element of surprise.” Liam turned from the sink where he’d been rinsing dishes. “Maybe she needs something from them. Power, artifacts, revenge?”
“Possibly. Or access to a specific location.” Lina pulled out her phone and opened her notes app, starting to type. “We should make a list of magical sites on Long Island. Power nexuses, ley line intersections, places with historical significance.”
“I can ask Rich and Billy for help with that. They’ve been living here long enough to know the area, and their mates would definitely know the magical landscape.” He dried his hands on a towel and moved to stand beside her, looking at her phone screen. “What else?”
“Materials. If she’s casting a major spell, she’ll need components. Some of those might be rare or hard to acquire. We could check with local suppliers like occult shops, herb stores, that sort of thing.”
“Good thinking.” Liam pulled out his own phone. “I’ll reach out to Gavin, see if his financial tracking has picked up any unusual purchases.”
They spent the next ten minutes brainstorming and building their task list, falling into an easy rhythm of collaboration.
Lina found herself impressed by how quickly Liam grasped the investigative process, how he thought three steps ahead and anticipated complications.
His military training showed in his methodical approach, but he was flexible enough to consider unconventional angles.
“We make a good team,” she said without thinking, then immediately wished she could take it back when she saw the way his expression softened.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “We do.”
The moment stretched between them, loaded with unspoken things. Lina forced herself to look away first, checking the time on her phone.
“Almost eight,” she said, her voice coming out slightly rougher than intended. “I should make that call to my postal contact.”
“I’ll give you some privacy.” Liam moved toward the living room, but paused in the doorway. “Lina?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for taking this case and risking a burning building to grab evidence.” His smile was a little lopsided as he both thanked and teased her at the same time.
Before she could formulate a response to that, and even begin to process the warmth flooding through her at his words, he disappeared into the other room. Lina sat at the kitchen table, staring at her phone.
Professional boundaries, she reminded herself. This was a mission. They were colleagues.
But as she pulled up her contact list and found her postal service connection, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that those boundaries were getting blurrier by the hour.
And the worst part? She wasn’t sure she even wanted them to stay clear anymore.