Chapter 41
FORTY-ONE
The short, imposed deadline I’d been given had come and gone. Yet the burner phone remained silent on the kitchen table as I worked.
There had been no contact from my handler since his last call. I wasn’t complaining. My plan was in the final hours. I had to move quickly now. Maddy knew there was a threat. I had to act before she got spooked enough to run.
I lowered the soldering iron and touched the tip to the end of the piece of solder wire I had placed over the connection. The hot tip melted it into a liquid drop of silver that adhered to the flux and flowed across the joint of the circuitry I’d built.
This was the second device I’d made. It was better than the first. More compact, but still packing a punch. Perfect for tucking into a small hiding place. Say…the cabin of a boat.
I hadn’t always known how to build something like this. But Elliot had taught me well. I’d learned so many things from him. How to hide in plain sight. How to identify and isolate a target. How to kill.
How to love.
My hands became unsteady, the sudden pang of grief so sharp it stole my breath.
I blocked it all by brute force of will. Ruthlessly smothered the rush of memories stored like photographs in a box at the back of my mind. I couldn’t afford to be emotional now. Emotions made people sloppy. Weak.
I was no longer sloppy or weak. And this time around there was no one else to jeopardize the operation. I’d always hated group projects because no one else ever pulled their weight. Now I only had to worry about myself.
The time to grieve had passed. Now it was time for vengeance.
I knew where Maddy was. That she felt relatively safe there.
But she wasn’t. And neither was her lover. Once these devices were planted, I could finally make my move.
The blackout hood and restraints were already tucked into my bag with my weapons at the door.
It would be just like what happened in Syria. I would take her when she least expected it. When she felt safe.
And this time, she wouldn’t be able to escape what was coming.
“Quiet, you three,” Mae scolded her yapping dogs as she hurried through the house to the front door, wiping her hands on her dirty denim overalls. Fall cleanup was a messy job.
A familiar silhouette was outlined in the window at the top of the door. She pulled it open, smiled at Willow. “Hi, young lady. What a nice surprise.”
“Hi, Mae.” Willow stepped in and pulled her into a hug. “I just came by to check the cottage and make sure everything is secure. I left Rufus there. He’s doing a perimeter check of the backyard right now, but he could use a good walk. Do you feel like joining us?”
At the mention of all that, she thought of the car she’d seen pass by a few hours earlier. She’d been out back by the shed getting out some tools and noticed it as it drove past her property up the street, where it had slowed in front of the cottage.
It might have been nothing, and she hadn’t been able to get a good look at the driver or license plate to identify either, but she had made note of the make, model, and color, along with the three letters that started the plate number.
In light of what had happened, it might be worth passing along to Rafe, just in case.
The important thing was Maddy was safe now.
Between Lachlan and Blaine, those boys wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“Oh, I’d love to go with you, but—” Her phone started to ring in the kitchen. “Come on in. I need to check that.” She hurried as fast as her increasingly unstable feet would take her.
A familiar dread spread through her insides when she saw the number that confirmed this was the call she’d been waiting for. She couldn’t ignore it and didn’t want Willow to overhear any of the conversation.
“Hello,” she answered, stepping out the sliding doors and onto the back patio and shutting them behind her.
“It’s Doctor Mohammed. Have you got a few minutes to chat?”
Not good news, then. She stiffened her spine, raised her chin. Ready to accept whatever the diagnosis was. “Yes, go ahead.”
“I’ve reviewed all your test results. Based on them, plus your symptoms and physical exam…”
His voice faded slightly into the background as she listened to the rest of what he said. The world around her seemed to blur at the edges, all the autumnal colors in her cherished garden swirling together.
It was just like the strange out-of-body experience when she’d heard that Carson had been murdered by that cowardly, homophobic bastard she hoped was burning in hell.
“I see,” she said slowly when he finished, reaching out to grasp the back of a chair at the patio table to steady herself.
“We’ll need to do some follow up appointments and get you started on a treatment plan as soon as possible.”
She nodded. Tried to take it all in, her mind racing ahead to what her future would look like in the coming months and years. If she had that long.
The road ahead looked as bleak as the heavy gray layer of clouds overhead.
“Do you have any questions for me?” he asked.
“No, not at the moment.” She was still processing it.
“If you think of anything, just reach out. I’ll have my office assistant contact you to set up the next appointment.”
“All right. Thank you for calling.” Her voice was surprisingly steady. Unlike the rest of her. And that was only going to get worse.
She slipped the phone back into the pocket of her overalls.
Looked around her yard. A light wind rustled the tall tufts of ornamental grasses she’d left undisturbed because she liked the way they moved.
They made the deep plum and golden chrysanthemums tremble on their stems. Just like her left hand in her pocket.
She shook herself. Willow.
She went back inside. Willow was still waiting inside the front door, as if she sensed Mae needed privacy. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s fine.”
“I can see I interrupted you in the middle of cleaning up the backyard, but Rufus would love it if you walked with us.”
Her first instinct was to decline. Pour herself a gigantic glass of wine and collapse on the couch with her dogs while she took stock of her life. Or what was left of it.
But she was made of sterner stuff than that. Feeling sorry for herself was terrible. She had survived the worst pain imaginable when she’d lost Carson. She could deal with this.
She needed to exercise more going forward. The fresh air and getting her blood pumping would be good for her. “A walk sounds lovely.”
Willow left to get Rufus and brought him to the front garden gate. He wagged his tail in greeting when he saw her, ears pricking up. “Hello, handsome.” She stroked his soft, chocolate-brown head and ears.
They set out together down the hill, Willow mindful of her slower pace now that she had to use a damned cane. Mae asked her about the wedding plans and what she and Tripp were working on in their respective studios. Willow chatted away, the cool air whipping a pretty pink flush into her cheeks.
Mae had never seen her happier than she had been these past few months, and it did her heart good. Tripp was a good man who had been through horrific things. He’d managed to fight through them to the other side and had somehow found the courage to reach for his own happiness along the way.
There was an important lesson in that. One Mae needed to take note of.
They took a narrow path that wound through a wooded area and came out at the main road that led back to town.
Rufus stopped at the far shoulder and sniffed around insistently.
“He always does this,” Willow said, trying to tug him forward. “It’s like he found a treat here once or something and thinks there might be another one waiting every time we come this way.”
Mae wrapped the edges of her sweater tighter around her body. “He’s a clever boy,” she said, suppressing a shiver. As if someone had just walked over her grave.
Or someone else’s.
“Yeah. Too clever for my good,” Willow muttered.
The walk back up the hill was slower than the walk down. By the time they reached her house, Mae was drained and ready to forgo the rest of the yard cleanup in favor of a rest.
“You don’t look so great,” Willow said, eyeing her in concern. “Are you alright?”
“Fine, dear. Just tired from all the rushing around lately, that’s all. You and Tripp free for dinner tomorrow? I’ll make him an apple crisp for dessert.”
“I’ll check with him, but I know he’d love that. Can we bring anything?”
“Just yourselves.” They were both the best of company. Mae loved having them around. They treated her like family. But then Mae had always considered them to be her family.
Willow hugged her goodbye, squeezing extra tight as if she knew something was up. “Love you, Mae.”
Her throat tightened. Yeah, Willow knew something was wrong. “I love you too, young lady.”
Mae shut the door behind her and stood there a long moment, her mind a blur. She was tired. So damned tired, and…so damned sad all of a sudden.
She blinked away the hot rush of tears, shook her head at herself. “Nonsense,” she muttered, and shuffled into the living room.
The dogs jumped up onto the sofa, watching expectantly as she settled into the far corner and stretched her legs out across the cushions.
Larry settled in a lump between the back of the sofa and her thigh.
Curly wedged himself under her elbow. Little Moe climbed onto her lap and curled into a ball with a contented sigh, her little pink tongue poking out as she licked her lips in contentment.
Mae stroked her baby’s long black and tan fur, swallowing against the lump in her throat.
The ticking of her grandmother’s antique clock on the mantel was loud in the silence, each soft click an audible reminder that another second had passed forever.
Time slipping by with relentless and alarming speed.
She would have to make a plan. Ensure everything was handled properly and that her house and all her creatures were looked after.
The outline of her phone in her pocket dug into her hip. She’d promised herself not to call him for at least a few days, but in a weak moment she reached for her phone anyway, reminding herself to call Rafe afterward to tell him about the car she’d seen earlier.
“Hi, sweet pea.”
She closed her eyes at the familiar sound of that low voice, filled with bittersweet regret. He wanted more. Wanted their relationship to be out in the open.
She valued her independence too much and wasn’t willing to risk losing it. And yet he’d always been there when she needed him. Through her darkest moments.
“Everything okay?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.
“My doctor called.”
He stayed silent, waiting for her to continue.
“It’s what we thought it probably was.”
He shoved out a hard breath. Something jingled softly in the background. Keys? “Shit, honey, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”
She nodded. Paused for a long moment before saying what was in her heart. “Can you come over?”
“I’m already on my way.”