5. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Never argue with a librarian.
Adalyn glanced over from the stove as Berlin walked into the kitchen of the Irish Channel house—their most used safe house. Redemption Harbor Security used this house as a sort of transition or safe house if any of their clients needed it. They’d recently helped two women escape a cult and they were now on their way to safety and a new start in Oregon. No one was here other than her, however, and she hadn’t expected any company. “Hey, didn’t expect you here tonight.”
Berlin shrugged, dumped her big bag on the kitchen table. “Just left the office and I don’t have any food at home. And I don’t feel like stopping anywhere and talking or making eye contact with other humans so I figured I’d see what was in the fridge here.”
Adalyn snickered at Berlin’s bluntness. She was still getting to know the other woman—who was younger than all of them by about a decade. “Rowan’s working on something with Tiago tonight and I’m here for the same reason.” He’d even taken their dog, Gumbo, so she was feeling a little salty that he’d puppy-napped her buddy. “There’s a ton of leftovers, none of which have expired.” She started pulling out the boxes of mostly Italian food. “We really are animals.” One of them needed to learn how to cook.
“Any Thai in there?”
“Ah…yes, one box and I’m pretty sure this is from Tuesday so it should be good.”
Berlin grabbed glasses for both of them as she said, “Ezra’s going to see his ex tonight.”
“I can’t believe he has a son. Or likely does. You should’ve seen the kid. Looks just like him.” Adalyn plated food for both of them and put Berlin’s in the microwave first.
“Pretty sure she’s going to be one of our clients whether she wants it or not. Ezra had that determined look.” Berlin slightly shook her head, her dark hair shot through with rainbow highlights swishing slightly against her shoulders.
Adalyn was pretty sure they were extensions but couldn’t tell because they blended so perfectly. “Oh yeah. Rowan told me that he only mentioned Magnolia twice during the whole time they were stationed together, and both times he was drunk. Not that I’m trying to gossip! I’m just…worried about him.” And she was. He’d looked almost shell-shocked back at the police station.
“No, I get it.” Berlin glanced down at her cell phone at an incoming ping. She blinked in surprise. “Uh…we’ve got company.”
“Here?” Adalyn blinked in surprise. They didn’t advertise this place and only brought people here once they’d been vetted as real clients. It wasn’t as if the place was a secret though; their neighbors thought it was a rental. Maybe it was a neighbor or solicitor.
Berlin turned her cell phone around and Adalyn looked at the cameras on-screen that showed the doorbell feed to the front door.
Antonia Collins stood on the front porch and, yep, there went the doorbell.
“What is she doing here?” she demanded. Antonia was the widow of the deceased Detective Rory Collins, one of Adalyn’s childhood best friends. He’d been murdered earlier in the year, right during the Mardi Gras season, because of a case Adalyn had been working on. And the guilt still lived inside her, oppressive and heavy. She never should have asked him for help.
“I have as much information as you.” Berlin’s tone was dry. “Go grab the door and I’ll heat up your food.”
Adalyn just stood there, contemplating what to do. She could just…not answer the door. Hmm.
“You can’t just leave her standing there.”
“How the hell did she find this place?” Because Adalyn was certain the woman hadn’t followed her. She’d been in the CIA for years and knew how to spot a tail.
“Again, I have as much information as you.”
The doorbell sounded again.
“Damn it!” Steeling herself to talk to the woman who’d clearly hunted her down, she headed to the front door, pulled it open to find the petite Antonia Collins with her fist raised as if she was about to start pounding on the door.
The woman with dark hair, dark eyes and a lot of curves blinked up at Adalyn, then shoved a brown paper bag in Adalyn’s face, shook it once. “I know you’ve been leaving money in my mailbox.”
Ah, crap. Busted.
“Want to come in?” Adalyn stepped back even as she asked because this wasn’t a conversation for their neighbors to see. Luckily their yard was huge and they had space from their neighbors, but still.
The woman couldn’t be more than five feet two inches, but she had a big presence as she stalked inside, bag still in hand. Her T-shirt said Librarian: keeper of books, giver of answers, guardian of knowledge . And her expression said I will destroy you if you piss me off .
“How’d you find me?”
“I’m a librarian.” Antonia sniffed imperiously.
“That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“I asked Fleur where to find you. I didn’t even have to bribe her. She gave you up immediately.” And she looked a little smug about that.
Adalyn bit back a grin at the woman’s feistiness even as a bit of panic flooded her veins. Of course her sister had given her up.
“So you want to tell me what this is about?” Antonia held up the bag of cash again, waved it around.
Berlin chose that moment to poke her head out of the entryway to the kitchen down the hallway. “We’ve got food if you’re hungry. ”
Adalyn sighed. No, no, no. This was not happening. They weren’t inviting Antonia in for food. She needed to get her the hell out of here and convince her to just take the money and not ask questions.
Antonia looked up at her and maybe she read her expression because her grin was practically feral. “Sounds great.” Then she shoved the bag at Adalyn again, forcing her to take it before she stomped down to the kitchen, her sneakers lighting up purple with each step.
Adalyn stepped into the kitchen, trying to regain control of the situation. “Look, this is just a misunderstanding—”
Antonia dropped her purse next to Berlin’s bag and turned to face Adalyn, hands on hips as she stood next to the antique kitchen table. “So you haven’t been leaving envelopes of cash in my mailbox?”
Berlin’s mouth dropped open, but she quickly turned away and stuck her head in the refrigerator—as if that would make her invisible.
Adalyn cleared her throat. “Well—”
“No, you have been. The question was rhetorical! So what the hell is going on? Why have you been leaving me money? I know Rory wasn’t involved in anything bad so if you try to tell me—”
“No, no, of course he wasn’t. I feel guilty,” she blurted. “And you weren’t supposed to know.”
“What the hell do you feel guilty about? Because I know he wasn’t cheating on me.”
Adalyn blinked again. “No, he never would have,” she murmured. Rory Collins had loved his wife to distraction. His girls too. “Can we sit?” She motioned to the table, needing to sit for this conversation.
The woman yanked out a chair so Adalyn sat across from her, was surprised when Berlin set a bottle of opened white wine between them along with two glasses.
Adalyn nodded at Berlin when she held up the bottle because why the hell not? She rarely drank but tonight called for it. She cleared her throat again, trying to find the right words. “It’s my fault Rory was killed.” Murdered . But she hated saying the word, let alone thinking it. Hated everything that had gone down. “If I’d never called him about the man hunting me, then he’d have been on his way to see you and your girls. He’d have never gotten caught in the crossfire by that sick bastard.” She couldn’t give Antonia all the details—even the police and Feds didn’t know everything—but she could admit this much.
Antonia blinked, the tightness in her shoulders easing slightly as she leaned back in her chair. “ That’s why you’ve been leaving me money? I know you reached out to Rory. He told me he was helping you with something before…before everything went to hell. But I don’t blame you.” And she sounded confused that Adalyn blamed herself.
“It’s my fault—”
“Oh my god.” Antonia shook her head. “He was killed by a psychopath who wanted to hurt a whole lot of people. Unfortunately my husband was one of them. And the reality is that he could have been killed in a car accident or in a boating accident or from a heart attack or any number of things. Am I heartbroken? Absolutely. I don’t know that I’ll ever recover. And if I didn’t have my girls, I’d probably be a bigger mess than I am. But you’re not taking on the guilt of his death. That’s madness. Because I know you tried to save him that night. I’ve seen the videos. You’re not at fault. And while I appreciate the gesture, it’s misguided. He had a large life insurance policy and we’re doing okay.” She stood, her wine still untouched.
Adalyn stood with her. “Will you keep it for the girls, then? For their college or whatever they decide to do? Maybe if I set up scholarships for them so it’s all on the up and up? Or just put money into their accounts if they have them?” Because yeah, leaving envelopes of cash in the woman’s mailbox was pretty weird. Adalyn had been swimming in guilt all year though, and trying to alleviate it somehow.
“That…is actually okay. We’ve got college savings accounts for all of them. I can send you a link to add money to them if you feel like it.” Antonia gave her a small smile now. “And I probably shouldn’t have barged over here but it’s been a long day.”
“No, you had every right to. But how’d you know it was me leaving the money?” Because Adalyn had been careful to avoid her cameras and Antonia’s neighbor’s cameras, choosing to put the money in her mailbox instead of on the front porch.
Antonia shrugged. “Installed new cameras in the front yard in one of the trees. You were always pretty good about wearing hoodies and it was always at night but I got the high-tech kind. I paid for it with some of the money you left.”
Adalyn let out a little laugh. She really did like this woman. “I promise no more weird envelopes of cash from me. And I’m sorry—”
“No more apologies. I’m just sorry we didn’t get to know each other before…everything.”
“Yeah, me too.” Even more than she’d realized now that she was standing in front of Rory’s widow.
“Glad to hear that because you’re coming over to dinner on Sunday. We eat at six. We’re having tacos.” She picked up her purse. “You can tell the girls stories about their dad from high school.”
Adalyn started to protest.
But Berlin piped in. “She’ll be there.” Berlin was sitting at the island top, shoveling food into her mouth while on her phone. She didn’t even look up as she answered for Adalyn.
She swallowed back her original words and nodded. “I’ll be there.”
“Good.” Nodding once at Berlin, Antonia left a lot more quietly than she’d arrived.
“I could have had plans on Sunday,” Adalyn grumbled as she went to reheat her food.
Berlin simply snorted her thoughts on that. Then she said, “You should bring Gumbo with you. You’ll be a hit with the kids.”
“That’s really smart.” Dogs were always a great distraction, especially one as cute as Gumbo.
“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m a certified evil genius.” Her grin was mischievous as she stood up, took her plate to the sink. “I’m gonna game for a bit. Want to join me? We can do two-player mode. ”
“Nah. But I’ll hang out here with you.” It was the first night she’d had off in a while so maybe she’d catch up on reading.
Or maaaaybe she’d reach out to the others and find out if they knew what was going on with Ezra and his long-lost ex. Some habits really died hard. After being in the CIA for so long, she liked knowing everything about everyone. Some people called that being nosy, but she just liked being informed.