I carefully place my phone next to my book and get ready to turn it on. The meeting is probably still in the meet and greet phase anyway. I smile to myself, set up the directional recording device that Bluetooth connects to my phone, and hit record. There was this one time that Fi dated a private investigator briefly, and he gave these little recording devices to Angie and me for Christmas. Until now, I was sure I was never, ever going to need it. If I’m being honest, the whole situation is getting exciting.
Right on cue, Chase moves closer to shore while riding a wave and then cuts across the water toward Liam. He’s not alone, either. The beach is crowded with paddleboarders today. It makes his job easier and harder at the same time.
I wonder if he’s actually going to get close enough to hear anything. Then he does the cutest thing. He actually looks up at me and waves. I smile and wave back.
Brilliant piece of undercover work, that. It just cements his place as a tourist. I make a mental note to try to remember to compliment him on it later.
His next pass by Liam, I can see that he’s starting to get closer. He leans over toward him on the board and stops paddling. Liam doesn’t notice, but eventually his momentum carries Chase right past him. I can see that Chase’s face is a growing mask of frustration. I chuckle to myself.
The second pass that Chase makes gets even a little more dangerous. I see Liam look right at Chase, causing him to lower his head and his hat as he continues paddling by. That was close. A third pass is going to get risky, even with the other paddle boarders on the water.
Then, just as Chase is finishing his recent pass, another boarder gets pissed at the bottleneck. He takes off, splashing Liam a little and threatening the top-secret phone call meeting.
Liam immediately shoots the paddleboarder a dirty look and backs up ten feet closer to the shore. Once there, he looks around to see that nobody is walking the shoreline near him.
He studies the area all the way around him and sees me sitting in the same chair in the same spot reading the same book. He manages to look right at me, but still doesn’t notice. Well, he doesn’t notice my face. Then, satisfied that he’s alone again, he turns his attention back to his meeting.
As I suspect, when Liam moves closer to shore, I’m even more within range. The audio signal, already understandable, gets even clearer. Which is good because now Liam is practically whispering. And with the sound being recorded automatically, I don’t have to try to eavesdrop or let on that I’m listening or that I care at all.
To any and all casual observers, I’m just a super-hot chick in a bikini reading a fantastic, red-hot romance novel. Nothing to see here, folks.
When I glance up, Chase looks desperate. He tries another pass but can’t get close enough to shore to hear Liam anymore. For one, because Liam is now avoiding paddleboarders, and two, because he can’t get much closer to shore than he already is because of the fins on the board. He shoots me a desperate look, but I throw him another small wave and as indiscreet of a thumbs up as I can manage without laughing out loud.
In any case, he eventually paddles back over to Tim and gives all of the equipment back. And by the time he comes back over to take his spot on the lounge chair next to me, Liam is gone. Or in the wind as the saying goes according to the private investigator novels that I’ve read.
This time, Chase is able to get into the lounge chair more easily, and after stretching out, he gives me a grumpy look. “It was a decent plan, but I only heard a tiny piece of the conversation,” he says accusingly, as if my plan failed him.
“What happened to Oh, Kaylee, you’re a genius?” I ask.
“Well, if I got more than a few words of the entire meeting, I’d be happy. I didn’t say the word fail; you did. But I don’t feel like that went well at all. And you looked way too happy with me out there doing all the work.”
“Oh, it’s going to be like that, huh?” I ask him, tsking and shaking my head. Then I sigh because of how put upon I am. There’s a long pause while I shrug dramatically in exasperation. Then I lean over to dig in the cooler for a moment and produce a pair of earbuds.
“How do those help?” he asks.
I hand over the earbuds and he accepts them like I’m giving him a dead snake. “You see, when you scared Liam off, closer to shore, he got suspicious and moved closer to me than to you. I just set up this lovely state-of-the-art snooping device and hit record on my phone.”
I do my best Vanna White impression, showing off the small piece of technological spying equipment, and then hand him my phone as well. For now, he’d have to listen to the recording off the app on my phone. “Now all you gotta do is hit play, playa.”
He accepts the phone and his eyes get as big as saucers. He picks up the recording device between his thumb and forefinger and inspects it. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” I answer, not hiding my smugness at all. I figure I’m entitled.
“Kaylee, I concede. You are an evil genius, and I’m glad you’re on my side.”
I sit up. “I told you I had your back. My plan was well thought out and had
