Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
She felt herself soften at his explanation. It wasn’t that he was trapped by her—he was delighted by having her in his life. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged Magnus tightly. “I don’t know how we’re so lucky to have found each other,” she whispered before pressing her lips to his.
He allowed her to kiss him as she wanted, responding avidly to her attempts to tempt him. Finally, he lifted his lips from hers. “You are a temptation, Juni.”
“That’s okay, isn’t it?” she asked with what she hoped was a coquettish look.
“It is beyond okay. Do you want to know what the guys found in the tunnels?” Magnus asked, reminding her.
“Oh! Yes!”
“Spiders and lots of wiggly creatures. I think Phoenix is still washing his hair. He’s sure they’re still lurking on him.”
Laughter burst from her lips at the mental image of the huge man rattled by spiders. She sobered as his words registered fully. “You didn’t find any money?”
“They got the entrance open, but there wasn’t any money there.”
“Did they follow it all the way to the caves?” Juniper asked.
“The caves? No. They didn’t say anything about caves. Let me message Phoenix and see if he can talk. It’s easier to speak to him directly.”
In just a few minutes, Magnus’s phone rang. He put it on speaker. “Magnus here, with Juni. I have you on speaker. Juni, ask your question.”
“Did you follow the tunnel to the caves?”
“Caves? I didn’t even know there were caves under the resort. We got to a turn where rock blocked it. It looked natural, but maybe it had been placed there deliberately…?” Phoenix said.
“I don’t have any caves on the geographical charts for the resort,” Magnus told him. “But I didn’t have any tunnels either. It looks like we’re going to have to keep searching.”
“Now, I’m intrigued. Someone obviously didn’t want anyone to find all the paths,” Phoenix pointed out. “Juni, do the caves open up at the end?”
“Most end at a big pool of water. It’s salty. We got thirsty down there one day and tried to get a drink,” Juni said, wrinkling her nose.
“Caesar is going to be interested in that. Perhaps there’s a way in from the ocean,” Phoenix suggested.
“I remember Sammi explaining that smugglers had used the resort years ago,” Juni said.
“He’s definitely going to want to know that,” Phoenix said. “I’ll call him and tell him to stop by the basement to talk to Juni.”
“We’ll be here,” Magnus said.
“Did they find anything?” Celeste asked from behind them.
“Heard us talking, hmm?” Magnus said.
Zara followed Celeste into the room. “Yes. We can wait until dinner if you want to tell everyone.”
“Phoenix doesn’t like spiders. He washed his hair repeatedly,” Juni ratted him out.
“Oooh, we’re going to have fun with that,” Zara suggested with a smirk.
“I do not want to hear that you’ve made fun of Phoenix, Little girls. You wouldn’t want spiders in your hair,” Magnus pointed out.
Celeste raised one hand to her brown hair and scratched lightly. Juni couldn’t help but smile. Just talking about having spiders in your hair made her new friend feel itchy.
“We won’t say a thing to him. Promise,” Zara rushed to say.
“Not a word,” Celeste chimed in.
“Thank you, Littles. Now, are you finished working today? Want to watch a movie with Juni? I’ll make popcorn if you’ll still eat your dinner,” Magnus offered.
“Give us five minutes to turn everything off and put everything away,” Celeste said. “Can we watch that new movie about the cat that goes on an adventure?”
“I downloaded it this morning for you,” Magnus said with a smile.
“Come on, Zara.” Celeste practically dragged her lab assistant and friend to the lab.
“You’re a nice man, Daddy,” Juni said.
“Don’t tell anyone,” Magnus said in mock seriousness. “They all think I’m heartless.”
“Not you, Daddy. Your heart is pure gold.”
“I’m glad you think so. Now, if we could only find what the bad guys think is hidden here…”
“You’ll find it, Daddy. Did you create an algorithm that meshes the geographical information and the access points I remembered? That might help the computer map the tunnels,” Juni suggested as she slipped off her Daddy’s lap to take a seat on the large leather sectional in front of the screen.
“What do you know about computer algorithms, Little girl?” Magnus called after her.
Crap! She’d almost given herself away.
“I just heard that word from a techie-type guy.” Juniper was careful not to look at him, sure that he could read her face to know something was up.
“Little girl…” he said softly, and she could hear the warning in his voice.
Had he investigated her? Her Daddy had promised not to. She busied herself getting the pillows perfectly arranged so she could slouch comfortably on the couch.
The arrival of Celeste and Zara provided some additional cover. They quickly started the movie, and the girls settled in to watch the adorable show. Juniper even managed to smile at her Daddy innocently as she thanked him for the popcorn he’d made.