32. Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter thirty-two
Peter
Even after talking to Hummingbird for a bit, I had a hard time settling down and falling asleep. They had seemed almost too calm during the attack.
They had said it wasn’t their first rodeo.
A smile appeared on my face as I thought about how they sassed Ryan. Not many people were bold enough to do that.
Eventually, I felt tired enough to sleep, but it was nowhere near peaceful. I kept dreaming about people breaking into houses and attacking people important to me, especially the faceless person I knew as Hummingbird.
My phone ringing pulled me from another nightmare, and I was grateful for it. I panicked seeing Ryan’s name on my screen. “What happened?”
“No emergency. Sorry for the early call. Are you working at the lodge today?”
I blinked several times, trying to get my eyes to focus properly. What time is it? I pulled the phone from my head and glanced at the screen. It was barely six in the morning. “Not until later. Why?”
Ryan let out a tense breath. “How soon can you be there?”
I was immediately fully awake and sitting up straight. “In less than a half hour. Why are you calling me and not Lukas?”
“It’s about the nest.”
Shit. I shot out of bed, grabbing the first pieces of clothing I could get my hands on. “What do you need from me, eyes on Edith or the perimeter? Is Hummingbird okay?”
“I need you to get to Edith ASAP. She’s expecting you. As for Hummingbird, last I heard, they were okay.”
Relief washed over me. I was truly worried about them.
It was one thing to go through a traumatic experience and then be able to debrief, and I had done my best to provide that, but I couldn't even begin to fathom how afraid they were having to stay in that house all night.
It surprised me a little with how attached I was to someone I'd never met in a formal, traditional sense.
As soon as I was fully dressed, I slipped out of the basement and headed to the lodge. My mind raced the entire time as to why I needed to be there ASAP. My phone lit up as I parked in the parking lot.
Momma E:
Shield:
A couple minutes later, I walked into her office. “Good morning, Edith.”
“Thank you for coming in so early.” She looked tense, worried, and tired. “I have coffee and some muffins for us.”
“Of course… and thank you.”
“Have you been in contact since the attack?”
I nodded. “I chatted with them for a while last night. They seemed okay, all things considered. Why did you need me here this early?”
Edith gestured to a red phone I’d never seen before. “Now we call Lynette.” She picked up the receiver and dialed a phone number, gesturing I came sit next to her. “No speakerphone for this call. You’re going to want to keep close to hear what Lynette says.”
Two rings later, a familiar voice answered. “Good morning.”
Edith smiled. “Good morning, Lynette. I have Peter with me.”
“And I have Ryan with me.” She let out a tense sigh.
“Let me cut to the chase. Peter, I need you to go to the property, collect Hummingbird and her things, and help her clear out all identifying elements from the safe house. Physical and digital. I then need you to get her out of the safe house without arousing attention or acquiring a tail.”
My eyebrows shot up, and when I looked at Edith, her expression matched mine. “What?”
Lynette continued. “The safe house has been compromised. She has to leave. You can protect her during the extraction.”
I nodded as I processed the list of things she wanted me to do. So Hummingbird is a woman. Glad to have that verified. “And take her where, ma’am?”
“Where you live. If it’s good enough for my son, daughter-in-law, and three of our employees, I have to trust it for our bird.”
My eyes went wide. It was not the response I’d been expecting. “Fair enough. Potential problem, though. I don’t know if I could get her and all her stuff into the house without Lukas, Quinn, and Cole seeing us. The separate entrance is only going to help out so much.”
Edith leaned into my shoulder. “Quinn will be at work until six tonight. Phil, too.”
I let out a tense breath as I ran down the list of people to keep Hummingbird away from… at least for the moment. “Well, that’s helpful, for sure. I can tell Cole to stay out of the basement until we give him the all clear, per Lynette’s orders?”
The woman in question chuckled. “I like this plan so far and am happy to back it. Go on.”
“As for Lukas…” I looked at Edith. “It’s a bit of a long shot, but could you contact Paul and ask him if he can call and invite Lukas to the studio for something? I’d say call him in here, but he’ll notice if I’m gone.”
Now Edith laughed. “I’ll text Lukas and tell him to surprise his wife and take her out to lunch, or I will.”
I smiled and shook my head. “He doesn’t like getting shown up.”
She shrugged, looking smug. “Well, then he’d better take his wife out to lunch.”
Lynette chuckled and then cleared her throat. “Now that we have that settled. Peter, when can you head over?”
“As soon as we wrap up this call, or sooner if you’d like.”
“One quick thing before you go.”
I tipped my head to the side, curious about what she had to say. “Yeah?”
“When you’re there, don’t be alarmed about the large holes in the yard. That was compliments of our bird, not the intruders.”
“Oh?” Edith’s eyes went wide at that piece of information, but I nodded. I’d seen something explode out in the yard on one of the cameras. When no one put out an SOS, I figured it was one of Hummingbird’s tricks, especially after Ryan complimented her on them.
Lynette let out a tight laugh. “Our Hummingbird is a resourceful one. This wasn’t the first time extra deterrents were needed or used.”
Remembering the damage done to the house by the intruders, a question popped into my head. “Do you want any repairs done? I’m concerned about water or animals getting into the place.”
“Normally I would prioritize patching up the place, but don’t worry about it this time. I have a feeling our visitors are going to return soon, and with far more firepower now that they know what she has up her sleeve. Fixing it is likely a futile exercise.”
I nodded. “Good to know. Time is of the essence then, isn’t it?”
“Very much so, which is why I need you to leave now.”
A crucial problem popped into my head, keeping me from standing up and following out my orders. “Before I do, can I see a picture of what she looks like? I know there shouldn’t be anyone else on the property, but I’d like to know for sure who I’m supposed to be collecting.”
“Fair enough.” Lynette went quiet for a moment. “I’m going to send you a picture through the app. It’s from roughly seven years ago. Our Hummingbird is the one sitting between me and Liam.”
I immediately reached for my phone, and by the time I opened the app, there was a message from Lynette.
It was a group photo that had been taken in the Agosti living room.
Liam, a woman, Lynette, and George were all sitting on the couch, and Lianne, Lukas, and Mitchell, Kathy, and Susan Vaux were all standing behind them.
Susan’s hands were on Liam’s shoulders, but he was holding the other woman’s hand.
As I stared at the faces of the women, specifically those of the Vaux family, I spotted more than one facial similarity.
“Wait… Is… Is this Susan’s sister, Victoria? ”
Edith nodded at me.
Holy shit. “I thought she was dead.”
Lynette let out an irritated sounding sigh.
“That’s what Susan wants and needs everyone to think.
” The sour tone of her voice made a million questions pop into my head, but I kept my mouth shut.
Now was not the time to barrage my boss.
I returned my attention to the only person in the picture I didn’t know. “So, this is Hummingbird then?”
“It is.”
She was absolutely stunning. While I could definitely see the family resemblance between her and Susan, Hummingbird’s features weren’t as sharp, her hazel eyes were kinder, and her smile was much warmer and more genuine looking.
This is the person I've been talking to?
Edith insisted on sending a few plastic totes with me. “I’m not sure how much she has there to pack things into, and I don’t want her to leave anything sentimental behind unnecessarily.”
Lynette told me to park where I normally did, do my walkabout, and walk through the front door.
This is where I would meet up with Hummingbird.
We’d pack up, move everything to my SUV, including her, and then I’d walk back out the front door and walk back to the mine entrance, acting like it was business as usual.
It didn’t make sense, but Edith assured me it would once I was there.
My heart raced for so many reasons as I got ready to leave for the property.
Sure, the cameras that were still functioning showed nothing new out of place, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to find anything in the woods on the way in.
Also, I had no idea how the interaction between me and Hummingbird would go.
It was one thing to message through an app.
It was an entirely different thing to pick them up and take them home.
Talk about the weirdest date ever.