She turned to the whiteboard. “Ava said Jack and Leo Grant had a falling out this summer. If the police talked to Clive, they’ve almost certainly paid Leo a visit. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve ruled him out. I’d like to talk with him, too.”
Ports and dockyards were a natural setting for drug smuggling, ships going in and out all day with cargo. She had no idea where Leo’s operation was located or which ports in Scotland were hotspots for drugs, but that would be easy enough to research.
“I’m no’ takin’ you to the docks at night. It’s no’ safe there.”
All at once, the situation seemed futile.
She sank onto the sofa beside Quinn. “This is getting us nowhere. The police are ten steps ahead of us. If I’m going to help at all, I need something to go on.”
“We can pay Leo a visit on Monday.
“Why not tomorrow morning?”
“Tomorrow, I’m takin’ you to see the sights.” Quinn drew her into his arms, resting her head against his chest as they talked about places they might visit.
It felt so natural to be held like this by him. She kept waiting for the post-sex awkwardness to strike, but it hadn’t. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d told Quinn he was the best sex she’d ever had. He had blown her mind. She had no regrets.
Still, they needed to talk. She needed to make it clear that once they got back to the US, everything would go back to the way it had been.
Are you sure you want that?
It was either that—or one of them had to give up their job.
Then it hit her. “I know where we should go tonight.”
“Where?”
She sat upright. “The alley where Jack was killed. I want to see what it’s like in the dark.”
Quinn scowled. “Naw, we’re no’ goin’ there, no’ at night. We should wait until daylight.”
“I want to see what it’s like at night, how well-lighted it is.” She stood, went for her shoes. “It’s not like the killer is going to be hanging out there, waiting for us. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I can catch a cab.”
He glared at her, got to his feet. “You’re no’ goin’ alone.”
She’d known he would say that. “I’ll look up the crime scene in the papers and meet you in the hallway in five minutes. Don’t forget to arm your security camera.”
10
Quinn stepped with Elizabeth into the elevator, the loaded Glock 42 tucked into its holster and concealed in the waistband of his jeans. It was time to lay out the rules. “If we get there, and I think it’s unsafe, I willnae let you get out of the car. If I tell you we’re goin’, they’ll be no argie-bargie.”
“What’s an argie—?”
He cut her off with a kiss. “You’re the intel expert, but if it comes to fightin’, it’s my problem. You’ll do what I tell you to do, aye?”
She nodded. “Right. Okay.”
They retrieved the rental from the car park and set out.
Elizabeth had looked up the location of the crime scene in the newspapers. “It’s an alley off Topmast Lane between Howard and Clyde. Do you want me to use GPS—”
“Naw, I know where it is.” He turned right. “What are you expectin’ to find? The police have already searched the area and cleaned away the mess.”
“I just want to see what Jack would have seen. Maybe the alley is near a busy place like a nightclub where we might find witnesses. Maybe there’s something about the location that explains why Jack was there. Maybe there are cams, and the police have the whole thing on video and haven’t told anyone. I don’t know. Maybe we won’t learn anything.”
The knot that had been in Quinn’s stomach since Elizabeth had mentioned going to the alley drew tighter, and it took him a moment to fathom why.
It’s where Jack died.