Trusting Danger (Danger, #2)(56)

He glanced at Claire, knowing he needed to get his thoughts on something else. “How about if we pick up some dinner?”

“Good idea. I’ve got almost nothing at my place.” Giving him a mischievous look, she added, “Takeout is more my thing.”

They stopped at a nearby restaurant and were soon back at Claire’s condo with Chinese food. When they walked in the door, the dog danced around them, sniffing at the paper bags Grayson carried.

Claire laughed and tugged at Charlie’s collar, steering him toward the kitchen. “I’ll need to feed him first.”

As she took a bag of dog food out of her pantry, Grayson unpacked the takeout containers from their brown paper bag.

A picture frame sitting on the counter caught his eye and he picked it up. In the photo, Claire looked a little younger than she was now, a huge grin on her face as she leaned against a deck railing with the rolling hills of a mountain range in the distance.

“Where was this taken?”

Pouring kibble into Charlie’s bowl, Claire glanced back to see what he was referring to. “At my parents’ place in the mountains, near Front Royal.” When Grayson gave her a quizzical look, she added, “A couple hours west of here. After Dad was elected to the Senate, he and my mother decided they wanted a getaway place, somewhere they could go for a weekend to get out of DC, so they bought some acreage and built a cabin there several years ago. Mother doesn’t go as much, but Dad and his press secretary go out there to hunt a few times a year. And Dad’s taken his staff there for a weekend retreat a couple of times.”

Grayson continued to stare at the picture as memories came back unbidden.

“Have you been?” she asked.

“To the mountains?” He set the picture down. “Yeah, when I was a kid. My mother has some relatives in southern Virginia, so we visited a few times in the summer.”

“Grayson County,” she said softly, awareness dawning on her face.

He nodded. “It’s where she got my name.”

The soft expression Claire directed his way made Grayson want to tug her into his arms. Instead, he broke eye contact and gestured toward the food.

“Let’s eat.”

“This smells so good,” Claire said as they sat down. “I don’t usually eat Chinese.”

He let out a snort. “You don’t eat much of anything.”

Claire grinned. “If you think I’m bad, you should see my mother. There’s always some function she’s getting ready for, some dress she needs to fit into. I guess it’s rubbed off a little.”

Before he could stop himself, Grayson allowed his gaze to drift down Claire’s perfect form. She was tall and graceful with curves he wished he could explore. He mentally shook himself before asking about the meeting at the jail.

Her face clouded with worry. “Chris is still refusing to take the deal. He’s going to end up at the court’s mercy.”

“You think he’s a good kid.”

Claire focused on her food, seeming emotional as she nodded.

“What was he dealing?”

“Meth.”

“Here in DC?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Grayson frowned. What were the chances the boy was selling for the same drug ring the team was investigating? “What is it the prosecutor wants from Chris?”

“Info on players higher up the distribution chain.”

Grayson’s mind worked, an idea forming, until her next question surprised him.

“How’s your mother doing?”

Blinking several times, he shifted his attention back to Claire. She was biting her lip, almost as if she regretted her words.

“I should really check in on her. And then I’ll get a little sleep before you go to bed.”

Claire gave him a curious look. “I was wondering how that would work, having only one bodyguard. How you’d find time to sleep.”

“I don’t need much,” he said with a small smile.



Grayson excused himself once they’d finished eating and closed himself in the guest bedroom where Claire had indicated he’d be sleeping. The first call he made was to Eli.

“We’ve finally got something on the car Jack Lawson was driving, although we’re still looking at it,” Eli said. “Just a partial print, but it was enough. We ran it through the database and got a match, and have put out an APB on him. Roy King, forty-five years old, lives in Fairfax County. Has a rap sheet similar to Lawson’s—assault, burglary, and the like. I’ll have Joanne forward you his file.”

Relief filled Grayson. Finally, they had a name for Jeremy’s other killer. Now they just needed to find him and bring him in.

“Has Lawson said anything yet?” Grayson asked.

“No. Still not talking.”

Grayson gave Eli a rundown of Claire’s client’s situation. “The prosecutor is angling for names of higher-ups in the drug ring, but the kid’s too afraid to rat anyone out. I want to use the information I’ve got on the ring so far to get his charges reduced, maybe get him probation instead.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“I am. He’s a first-time offender, and considering his background, where he ended up isn’t a big surprise. The kid needs a break.”