Chapter Twenty-Four
Sabrina
“HI, NANA.” CASH AND I walked into Pops and Nana’s house holding hands, clinging to every moment we had together, not knowing how long we had. Maybe I was insane for loving a spy. But when he’d told his handler the night before that he loved me and begged her not to remove him from his assignment so he could protect me, it melted my heart. A declaration like that kind of does something to a girl—like make her admit she’s never stopped loving him. I didn’t have all the answers, and I had no idea what our future held, but at this moment, he was here, and we had a serious job to do. We needed to save my ungrateful sister who, according to my app, was either in her room all day or wasn’t wearing my locket. She was so frustrating. Sometimes I didn’t even know why I tried with her. But then I would remember the little girl who used to follow me around claiming she wanted to be like me when she grew up—and my promise to keep her safe.
“Hi, baby girl.” Nana kissed my cheek before accosting Cash, ripping him out of my grasp to wrap her arms around him. “Oh, darlin’, if I were a younger woman, my granddaughter would have some stiff competition.” She burrowed her head into the chest I had slept on all night. Best. Pillow. Ever.
I rolled my eyes and smiled while taking in one of my favorite places in the world. In the face of the scary things I was confronting, Pops and Nana’s house always made me feel safe. There was something so comforting about seeing their matching brown rocking recliners and the coffee table that always had an uncompleted puzzle on it, with The Price Is Right perpetually on the TV in the background. But there wasn’t any time to reminisce. “Nana, you can grope Cash later. We really need to talk to Pops. We’re hoping he still has the maps he made of the caves. Cash and I would like to do a little exploring.”
The team on Emerald Isle had come up empty-handed, and there was no way we could risk searching Soren’s room again. Given there were two agents tailing Soren now, Cash agreed we could safely start our own search of the caves. SPI was sending a team in, but they couldn’t get here until tomorrow, and that didn’t work for me. Especially since Soren suspected that Cash wasn’t exactly who he said he was. I knew what it was like for every internet search of Cash to disappear and for my computer or phone to crash unexpectedly. It was disconcerting, to say the least. Because of this, Cash and I worried Soren was becoming a flight risk, which part of me was totally fine with, as long as he stayed away from my family. But the other part of me worried about other families and how he could harm them. He needed to be stopped. Which meant we needed those diamonds before they fell into worse hands than Soren’s.
Nana reluctantly let go of Cash. “Exploring, you say?” She wagged her bushy white brows. I was surprised that Lexi hadn’t been over to pluck them. Although on second thought, Nana would probably have fought her if she’d tried. My money would be on Nana in that matchup.
“Yes, Nana, there’s nothing more to it.” Well, there was, but it had nothing to do with what she was implying.
“Sure, sugar.” She obviously didn’t believe me. “Rhett,” she called out. “Come out here. Some of the young ones are here ... the ones we like,” she added.
I had to hide my snickering. I assumed the ones she didn’t particularly care for were Lexi and Soren.
Pops sauntered out in a plaid shirt and overalls. It went well with Nana’s plaid muumuu. I didn’t even know you could get a muumuu in plaid.
“Hey, Pops.” I smiled.
Pops looked between Cash and me. “Something has changed between you two.”
“You’re right,” Nana agreed. “Most of the uncertainty is gone, but a little still lingers.” Nana was spot on. She had no idea how hard it was to be in love with someone who could disappear on you at any second.
I kept telling myself how crazy I was, but that didn’t change my feelings. There was just something about Cash—there always had been.
Cash shifted uncomfortably, running a hand over his hair. This was unfamiliar territory for him, and I think he feared everyone would hate him when he went back to his spy life. I knew loving him was a risk and that my heart would probably break, but at least it would be a whole heart breaking and not the half one I’d carried around since he’d left me in France.
I took Cash’s hand, hoping to ease his discomfort. “We’re working on things.” It was all I could offer my grandparents. “Pops, do you still have those old maps you made of the caves?” Time was of the essence here and we needed to move along.
Pops scrubbed a hand over his white whiskers and stubble. “Hmm. I believe so. Looking for an adventure, are we?”
“Yep,” I said chipperly, lying through my teeth. My idea of adventuring was kissing a stranger on the streets of France, not hunting for blood diamonds or trying to outsmart a wife-murdering smuggler.
“Good for you. It’s about time,” Pops said.
“Amen,” Nana agreed.
I was beginning to think that people saw me as boring. Was I boring? I just didn’t like drama, that’s all—I thought that was a good thing. But man, oh man, my life was one big soap opera right now. “Well, okay.” I tried not to be offended. There was no time for it. I wished I could tell them I was in love with a spy and might just be saving my sister’s life. That was the epitome of non-boringness, thank you very much.
“Don’t be hurt,” Nana admonished. “We think the world of you; it’s just good to see you coming out of your comfort zone and taking some risks.” She pointed at Cash.
She had no idea the risk I was taking. And it was official: my family did think I was boring. No wonder everyone was so happy to see me all fired up about Cash—they all thought I was blah. How come Mia hadn’t ever said anything? Dang it, I’d moved away from home and started my own business. Wasn’t that an exciting feat? Okay, so I took over a business and my daddy loaned me the money to do it. So maybe that wasn’t as adventurous as it sounded. Ugh.
“I appreciate Sabrina’s steadiness,” Cash defended me.
There you go. I was steady. Which was probably another word for boring, but it sounded better.
“Good man.” Pops gave him props. “Now let’s go find those maps.” Pops waved us back to his den while Nana sat down in her recliner and went back to watching The Price Is Right .
On the way down the hall, the wood floors creaked beneath our feet. “Do you think I’m boring?” I whispered to Cash.
He chuckled and kissed my head. “Not at all.”
Pops showed us into his cluttered den where his old degrees hung on the wall, along with black-and-white photos of him and Nana and Mama and Aunt Vivian. It smelled of cigar smoke and aftershave.
Pops started looking under a pile of old newspapers in the corner.
“We can help,” I offered.
“That’s all right, darlin’. If you move anything, I won’t know where it is.”
I wasn’t sure how he knew where to find anything among the clutter.
Cash and I smiled at each other and watched Pops do his thing.
My phone buzzed, and I reached into my crossbody bag and pulled it out. It’s Lexi, I mouthed to Cash before stepping out into the hall to answer it.
Cash followed and waited by the door, keeping a watchful eye on me.
“Hello.” I tried to sound normal, even though I was worried about why Lexi was calling. I didn’t think I was missing any torturous bridesmaid events.
“I need you to come to the house.” There was no Hello or How are you? or Thank you so much for the gift and trying to save my life .
Despite her rudeness, my first thought was that something was terribly wrong. My heart stopped and my mouth went dry. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. Everything is perfect,” she sang. “It’s just, Soren wants to do our first-look pictures this afternoon. Isn’t that so romantic?”
Uh. That’s not the word I would use for it; I would say more frightening than anything. I gave Cash a pained look, and he came to my side. What’s wrong? he mouthed.
I didn’t get a chance to answer because Lexi said, “The problem is, my hair stylist isn’t available, so I need you to help me. Oh, and we want our wedding party there with us for the pictures. I really think that Soren wants to get to know Cash better.”
Oh, I bet he did.
“So, will you help me?” Lexi asked.
“Yes,” I breathed out, knowing if I said no, it would only look suspicious to Soren. “Cash and I will be there soon.”
“You’re the best,” she squealed. “I can’t wait for Soren to see me in my dress. He says he just can’t wait any longer.”
What is he up to? was all I could think.
“Byeeee.” Lexi hung up.
“What’s going on?” Cash immediately asked.
“They’ve moved up their first-look pictures to this afternoon. They were supposed to do that right before they got married on Saturday. Something doesn’t feel right about this.”
Cash pinched the bridge of his nose, his entire body tensing.
“And ... he says he wants you there. That can’t be good, especially after the way he looked at you yesterday and your handler interrupting his search on the dark web. Do you think he knows we wanted to explore the caves today? Is that why he wants you there?” I whispered.
Cash shook his head. “I don’t think so, but we shouldn’t assume anything at this point,” he said for my ears only. “My guess is, he’s not sure who I am, but he wants to keep an eye on me. And I fear this rearranging of the schedule means he’s going to be on the move soon.”
“Do you think he’ll leave before he marries Lexi?” I asked with hope.
Cash’s gorgeous, chiseled-to-perfection face paled. “Sabrina, my fear is that he wants to take Lexi with him.”
I grabbed my stomach like someone had just punched me in the gut. “What makes you say that?”
“Because, in a strange sense, he loves her. No man would jump through the hoops he’s gone through otherwise. What other reason would he have to stay? She is probably the only thing keeping him here.”
If that were true, it was odd how my sister’s life and mine paralleled each other—we were the only things keeping the men we loved here.
Pops came out of his den with a big smile on his wizened face. “Found them.” He held up the maps. “You can go on your adventure now.”
Oh, Pops had no idea the kind of adventure we were about to embark on. I just hoped we all survived. Well ... except maybe Soren.