Dangerous Ground 2: Old Poison by Josh Lanyon Read Free Book Online

complaining?”
    Taylor's sexy mouth quirked. “No way.” He added thoughtfully, “I was thinking maybe I could call the bottling company and see if they can tell me who ordered it.”
    Will's grin faded. “Are you worried about this?”
    “Nah.”
    But now Will was frowning, his investigatory instincts roused. “How much is something like this bottle worth?”
    Taylor bridled. “How would I know? It's not like I hand these out every Christmas to friends and family.”
    “Take a guess. You prowl around Chinatown and places like that.”
    “I don't know. Sixty bucks. A hundred bucks?”

    Dangerous Ground: Old Poison
    33

    His hand hovered over the trash bin; then he set the bottle on the counter. “This probably qualifies as toxic waste.”

    * * * *
They left the house at the same time, Will opening the side door of the SUV for Riley to jump in. He was stopping by his house in Woodland Hills to drop the dog off and then heading down to San Diego. San Diego and David Bradley. Taylor was determined to be practical about that; he believed Will when Will said he hadn't volunteered for the assignment with Bradley.
    Granted, Will hadn't refused the assignment either. But Will never refused assignments.
    Either way, this was good-bye, probably for what was going to be a long and stressful week. It was a five-hour drive to San Diego, and Will would be working late most nights, so it was unlikely they'd spend any real time together before next weekend.
    Taylor was determined not to be an asshole about it. He'd already been there and done that on Saturday.
    “Bye,” he said briskly as Will leaned in to kiss him. “Talk to you later.”
    Will's mouth was firm, his kiss a statement that everything was good and normal between them. Taylor turned away, going to his Acura and unlocking the door, sliding behind the wheel.
    He spotted a folded sheet of white paper beneath the wiper blades, and he leaned over, tugging it free.
    Japanese kanji. Precise black characters on a field of white.
    He stared at it for a long time.
    Vaguely, he was aware of Will getting back out of his vehicle, the scrape of boots on cement.
    “What's up?”
    Taylor looked up blankly. How the hell did Will know there was a problem? He did, though.
    Without speaking he handed the folded sheet to Will.
    Will scanned it. “What do you make of it?”
    Taylor shook his head.
    “Do you know what it says?”

    34
    Josh Lanyon

    Another shake. His oral Japanese wasn't great; his written, even worse. He knew the necessary minimum to find his way around the city and work efficiently within the confines of the American embassy; that was about it.
    “Advertising flyer from the Red Dragon?” Will suggested.
    “We took your car.”
    Will considered this and shrugged.
    Well, he had a point. The alternative was too bizarre to consider. Taylor got out of the Acura, circled it, checking his vehicle to see if someone had backed into him or scratched his paint job on Friday while he'd been out shopping, and maybe he hadn't noticed.
    Everything looked fine.
    Riley poked his nose out the window of Will's Land Cruiser, snuffling at him.
    “Hey, Riley,” Taylor murmured absently. He returned to Will, who was watching him curiously. He retrieved the note from Will's hand—Will letting go reluctantly.
    “Everything okay?” Will asked.
    “Of course.” Taylor opened the Acura door, climbed in, shoved the note into his glove compartment. In his rearview he watched Will walk back, get inside the navy blue Land Cruiser.
    Taylor pressed the automatic opener, and the security gate slid slowly open across the driveway.
    Will nodded to him in his rearview before putting his vehicle into gear. Taylor nodded back.
    It was weird, though. If that note hadn't been there on Friday afternoon—and Taylor was pretty sure it hadn't—someone had climbed over the gate and bypassed Will's Land Cruiser to tuck this note on Taylor's windshield.
    Why?

    * * * *
Denise Varga was small, dark,