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Liam jerked the binoculars up to see. Magnus was still talking on the phone, but he was sitting up. Now he was standing and even stretching, thank all that was holy. Maybe the night was about to get more interesting. Liam watched in hopeful anticipation as Magnus checked his wristwatch, glanced at the front door...and flopped back onto the sofa.
“Oh, for the love of—” He shoved the binoculars at Finn. “Enough of this. I’m going to go see if I can hear what he is saying through the window.”
“What?No,” Cora said in alarm. “Liam, you promised you wouldn’t do anything crazy. It’s the only reason I agreed to be here.”
“And I won’t. There’s nothing wrong with taking a quiet stroll down the sidewalk like a normal passerby,” he said innocently.
“Liam.” Cora narrowed her eyes and drew out the syllables of his name in a warning tone. She was far too smart for him, God love her. It was true, he had no intention of staying on the sidewalk, but he couldn’t very well say he planned to hide in the bushes, lurking underneath Magnus’s window. Cora would handcuff him to the steering wheel. Best not to mention it. Besides, forgiveness was easier to get than permission. Another bit of wisdom he’d learned in life that still applied, no matter the century.
“You won’t be able to hear anything if you’re passing by on the sidewalk,” Finn pointed out, helpful as ever. “Even if the window’s open.”
“Huh.” Liam pretended to consider that for a moment. Then he shoved open his door to make a quick escape. “I suppose I’ll just have to improvise.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Cora grabbed his sleeve. “You—”
“Wait,” Finn said in a hushed voice. “Look.” He was pointing to a red car that was just pulling into Magnus’s driveway.
A young woman in a fitted dress slid from the driver’s seat and walked toward the front door. Before she even had a chance to knock, the door flew open to reveal Magnus with a thunderous look on his face. He grabbed her roughly, yanking her inside and slamming the door. A high-pitched shriek came from within the house, followed by a loud thump.
“What the—” Cora sat bolt upright. Loud jazz music began to blare from within the house. A muffled cry could just be heard over the music. She glanced worriedly at Liam. “Maybe we should call this in. We already know Magnus is dangerous, and if he’s hurting her—”
“He’s not,” Finn said in an odd, strained tone. “I’m pretty sure she’s okay.”
“How do you know—Oh.”Cora’s face turned pink.
Liam followed her gaze to the smaller window on the left side of the house. Magnus and the woman were silhouetted behind a sheer white curtain, and they were lip-locked in a frenzied embrace. His hands were bunched in the woman’s hair. She broke the kiss to rip his shirt over his head. He hoisted her onto a table, then lowered his head until he was out of sight. The woman threw her head back in apparent ecstasy.
Cora dropped her forehead to the steering wheel. “Next time you wish for action, Liam, can you please be more specific?”
He nodded absently as he watched a high-heeled shoe sail past the living room window. Then another. “Jesus, they’re going at it like a pair of spring rabbits.”
Suddenly Magnus hauled the woman up and strode past the living room. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and her dress was hiked up to reveal a pair of skimpy purple underwear. Still kissing, they disappeared down the hall toward the back of the house.
For one long, tense moment, nobody said anything. The only sound was the muffled jazz music coming from the living room.
“Well, that was fun.” Cora broke the silence with false cheer. “Good stakeout, guys. I think I’ll leave now and go look for some brain bleach.”
“I’m going in,” Finn announced.
Liam and Cora both twisted in their seats to gape at him.
Finn was riffling through his leather messenger bag. “Magnus left his phone on the coffee table, and he’s clearly occupied right now. This may be the only chance we have. If I can get to that phone, I can clone it.” He pulled out two wires, a small laptop, and a device that looked like a cell phone. “It should only take a couple of minutes. Then we’ll be able to track his incoming calls, texts, everything.”
Liam began to smile, deeply impressed. “That’s brilliant.”
“No, that’s breaking and entering,” Cora said sternly. “And it’s illegal. If Magnus catches you—if anyone in the neighborhood even sees you, they could call the police.”
“It won’t come to that, I promise.” Finn opened his door and slid from the car, glancing back to add, “But just in case, keep an eye out for any police officers, okay?” Then he gave Cora a wink and melted into the shadows.
“You know,” Liam said in bemusement, “I’m really beginning to like that man.”
“Right now, that makes one of us.” Cora smacked the steering wheel. “I can’t believe Finn, of all people, would just rush off and—”
Liam bolted from the car before she could stop him. He could practically feel her shooting daggers at the back of his head as he crossed the street, so he didn’t dare look back. It was his idea to do the stakeout in the first place, and by God, if anything actually happened tonight, he wasn’t going to miss it.
The night air was balmy and warm, with a gentle breeze rustling the leaves in the massive oak trees. Liam made his way toward the foundation shrubs along Magnus’s house until he reached Finn’s hiding spot underneath the living room windowsill.
Finn was in the process of trying to slide the window open. He glanced sharply at Liam, then exhaled a sigh of relief.
