Chapter 23
While her family sat on their private breakfast patio, where she and Markus had enjoyed ube pancakes and macadamia nut lattes only an hour ago, they walked to the beach, far enough away so that they couldn’t be overheard but close enough so that they could keep an eye on the Worst Family Ever. It was official.
And Markus—she couldn’t forget that he’d lied to her this morning. Fooling around in the woods with Genesis when he said he’d be working on Sheridan’s evacuation.
The wind kicked up and blew her hair across her face. Gabby sputtered to get her windblown strands out of her mouth. Markus’s shirt clung to his abs.
“Did you talk to Sheridan?” Gabby asked, pulling the hair from her mouth.
Markus raised his eyebrows. “Really? I think we have bigger problems at the moment. What the fuck is your ex-husband doing here? And your mother?” He looked absolutely flabbergasted. He shook his head and blew out a breath like he was trying to get a hold of his emotions.
But she was mad too. Hands on hips, Gabby stared him down. It was questionable what their biggest problem was: her mother or Markus’s lying.
“Why are they here?”
“I sure didn’t invite them,” she said, seething with rage. Had a family ever followed an undercover agent on assignment before? It sounded crazy, but she was two-for-two.
“If you didn’t invite them, then why are they here?” Markus looked frustrated beyond belief. “Our jobs are on the line. The mission could be jeopardized, and Phil is here acting jealous about a fake relationship.”
The way he emphasized “fake” hurt.
“They’re here to stop the wedding.” Gabby couldn’t believe she’d just said that out loud. But that’s what had happened. Her nosy mom and her jealous ex had crashed her undercover wedding.
Markus looked like he was going to melt the sand into glass with his glare.
“How the fuck do they even know there is a wedding? I heard you tell everyone we were going to Cleveland. And here they are—”He gestured to the beach. “How?”
A crab skittered by on the sand, unaware of the human drama unfolding above.
“Kyle put an AirTag in my stuff and informed everyone in the house that we were not in Cleveland. Granny apparently called to warn me, but the call dropped, and then I lost the phone.”
Markus started laughing. But not a joyous laugh. More like a we’re-so-fucked-there’s-nothing-to-do-but-laugh laugh.
The crab found another shell. Gabby wished she could hide under something and skitter away.
“At least the kids aren’t here. I think there’s a good chance we can get rid of my mom and Phil without causing a fuss. I’m sorry. I’ll tell Valentina everything. You shouldn’t take the fall for this. I should have known something was up when Kyle gave me a pair of Crocs.” Hindsight.
But she knew that, if this mission failed, they’d both go down, especially this mission. You couldn’t use a fourteen-year-old as an excuse. Agents were supposed to plan for all contingencies. Although she would have needed a psychic to predict today.
“What happens if we report this?”
“We’ll be fired.” With a grim look, he said, “We have to report this and request an evacuation. Your family can’t be here. Our covers are most likely blown or will be any minute.”
They hadn’t even gotten around to talking about Sheridan. They were supposed to be evacuating her from the resort. Instead, they were dealing with Gabby’s drama.
Before they could dial Valentina, Gabby caught movement in the corner of her eye and turned to see Sheridan running full speed toward them. Sheridan was wrapped in nothing but a towel that she was doing her best to hold up. Her knee was bleeding, and her legs were scratched.
Sheridan, the woman they were supposed to be babysitting, was in obvious distress while she and Markus were arguing about her family. This wasn’t good.
When she reached them, she stopped and tried to catch her breath.
“What happened?” Gabby asked. No one appeared to be chasing her, but Sheridan had been running for dear life. Her hair was soaking wet. Some of the suds from a recent shampoo were popping in the breeze.
When she’d almost caught her breath, she said, “Someone broke into my cottage while I was in the shower.”
Unlike Gabby and Markus’s place, Sheridan’s cottage had an outdoor shower with a little garden. She must have just grabbed a towel and run.
“Are you okay?” Gabby gestured to Sheridan’s knee.
“Yes. I had to climb up the retaining wall to get out the back. They’re just scrapes.”
“Let’s get you to shelter,” Markus said, standing between her and the direction from which she had run. “You’re safe with us.”
“Thanks,” she said shakily.
In a calm voice, Markus asked, “Are you sure it wasn’t a butler or someone dropping by?”
Sheridan stopped walking forward and gave him a scathing look. “Would I have climbed up a retaining wall naked if I thought they were friendly?”
“Why were you sure they weren’t?”
“I heard someone cock a gun. There was no way I was going to hop out of the shower and ask them polite questions.”
“Are you sure it was a gun?”
“I’m from Wyoming,” she said. “I know what a gun sounds like. Whoever it was, they weren’t dropping by for tea.”
Also, she was a psychic.
Gabby and Markus exchanged a look. They didn’t have much choice. It was either take Sheridan back to her place with a possible bad guy or to the family reunion going on at the honeymoon cottage. No one wanted to introduce her to Phil and Elena, but ex-husband and mom beat bad guys.
In action mode, Markus said, “You take Sheridan back to our cottage. I’m going to check her place out.”
“Markus,” Gabby paused and reached out to him. The wind whipped her hair around as words caught in her throat. She didn’t know what she wanted to say, but even if he was lying his ass off, she wanted him safe. “Please be careful.”
Markus didn’t reach back. Apparently, her mom and ex’s arrival was too fresh for forgiveness. “Get her back to the cottage safe. I’ll be back.” And with that, he was trotting down the beach toward the bad guy. She was pretty sure he didn’t even have a weapon.
Gabby escorted Sheridan to their cottage, scanning the area for danger and hurrying as best she could. Because they weren’t living in a movie, the only place where towels actually stayed up, Sheridan was struggling to keep the towel on. Luckily, it was an extra-large, fluffy one.
“Just to warn you, I have unexpected guests at my place.” She was about to tell Sheridan more, but what was the point?
When she slid the patio door open to the honeymoon cottage, her mom said, “Gab—” before catching sight of Sheridan. Elena’s jaw dropped, and her hand flew to her mouth in genuine shock. “Sheridan?”
“Yes, Mom, this is Sheridan. You know her?”
Gabby mouthed, “I’m sorry,” to Sheridan. To her mother, she said, “Sheridan needs to get changed. Sit tight out here.”
She took Sheridan back to her room and found a comfy one-size-fits-all outfit. “I’m going to check the perimeter while you get changed.”
Gabby could barely believe she’d just said “check the perimeter” in a serious voice. She tucked a sidearm in her yoga pants and pulled on a hoodie to conceal it from prying eyes.
While she was clearing the rooms, Phil found her and started following her around. “Gabby, we need to talk.”
“In a minute,” Gabby said.
“Why is Sheridan Lane here?” her mom asked. “And why was she naked?”
“She’s wearing a towel,” Gabby said, as if that was normal. “I’ll explain in a minute. I left something outside.” To give her mom something to do, she said, “Will you make some coffee or tea? I will explain after I—” She didn’t say check the perimeter.
Phil said, “I’m coming with Gabby.”
“No, wait here, Phil. I’ll be right back.”
Phil followed anyway, breathing heavily before he’d even walked a foot. “Gabby, are you really marrying this guy?”
Gabby scanned the wooded area behind the cottage and the beach. Some of the trees bent in the wind, and the leaves rustled, but she didn’t see anyone. Markus had scanned for surveillance devices earlier.
“It seems really fast. Has he even met the kids?”
The terrain behind the cottage wasn’t meant for walking. Gabby scrambled up an embankment and walked through some underbrush that could provide cover for an intruder.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” He gestured to her. “You’re not really acting like yourself.”
“I dropped something out here earlier.”
“What?” he asked, scanning the ground.
“Umm, a necklace,” she improvised.
After circling the entire cottage and finding nothing, Gabby was satisfied. She headed back inside while Phil trailed behind, still talking about her abrupt choice to alter her life and that of the kids.
“What about the necklace?” Phil asked.
“I give up,” she said.
Markus returned from Sheridan’s place about two minutes after they’d gone back inside. Gabby gave him the “all clear” nod.
“Mom, Phil—” Gabby said, “Markus and I are going to take a moment with Sheridan. Then we can talk.”
“Do you have a session?” her mom asked, clearly trying to make sense of it.
“Yes.” Gabby nodded.
“That’s good. At least you’re listening to someone.” Under her breath, she said, “Although I don’t know why she was wearing nothing but a towel.” Her mom cleared her throat. “Do you even remember you have children?”
Gabby escaped to her room before her mom could sling any more barbs. Instead of sagging against the door like she wanted, she said, “Hey, Sheridan. Are you doing better?”
Gabby picked up a pile of her clothes on the floor and tucked them away. Nothing like having your bra and undies out for an important work meeting.
Because they were in a bedroom, there wasn’t anywhere to sit. This was an unwelcome escalation of the one-bed situation. One bed was supposed to force you into sex, not whatever this was, but here they were—sitting awkwardly on the bed interviewing Sheridan Lane.
Markus balanced on the edge of the mattress like it was a chair. “Let’s cut to the chase,” he said. “You were right. Your door was tampered with, and it was also wide open when I got there, like someone took off when they heard me. It wasn’t obvious whether they took anything.”
Sheridan nodded. “Glad I wasn’t hearing things at least.”
Markus said, “President Simon already ordered your evacuation.” He stopped to perform some calculations in his head. “We can get you out on a plane by this afternoon.”
“Nope.” Sheridan shook her head adamantly. “I’m ninety percent sure President Simon or someone in the White House wants me dead.”
“What?” Gabby’s jaw dropped. Why was no one cooperating today? “Why do you think that? Did you have a vision?”
“I’ve had a premonition building since the morning Genesis took me here.
I wasn’t sure what it was about, but over the past week, it has been getting stronger.
When that person broke into my room, I had a flash of clarity.
” She made direct eye contact and in a serious voice announced, “The president killed Amanda Duvall. He knows I know.”
Markus rubbed his temples and groaned. “And your evidence is a vision?”
“I thought you were psychically blocked…” Gabby said.
Sheridan was adamant. “Now that I’ve sensed the truth, I can’t unsee it. It makes too much sense. Who else would want me dead?”
Markus stood up and started pacing the room. “We can talk this over with the EOD. They can provide you with a security detail.”
“Please,” Sheridan pleaded, “don’t send me to DC. I won’t be safe.”
Gabby was turning all of this over in her head. “I thought you trusted the president.”
“Did I say that?”
“I guess not.” Sheridan had been flying to Washington before being unexpectedly diverted to Inner-G. Why would she go to Washington if she hadn’t felt safe?
“I didn’t know what was wrong before. Fate intervened on my behalf with Genesis.”
Gabby didn’t know what to say. Just a few hours ago, she’d woken up in this bed, wrapped in Markus’s arms. She thought she’d had everything figured out.
“Do you have any evidence?”
“I keep notes and records of my sessions on my phone. When I think back, he asked a lot of questions about Amanda.” She wrung her hands. “He kept asking if he could trust Amanda.”
“What’d you say?”
“I told him to stop thinking with his dick, do his job, and end it. He accepted my wisdom and said, ‘I know what I have to do.’”
Gabby was on the edge of her seat.
“I thought he meant divorce his wife or break up with Amanda. He meant end it permanently.”
Markus dropped his head to his hands. Quietly, he said, “Where are your recordings?”
“Just on my phone. I use Voice Memos. It’s nothing fancy, but it backs up to the cloud.” She reiterated, “No one knows.”
“Jesus F. Christ. Where’s your phone?”
“In the bathroom. I didn’t grab it.”
“We need to get the phone, and we need to tuck Sheridan away somewhere, even if it’s to keep her safe before the evacuation.” Gabby tried to talk slowly and calmly to de-escalate things.
Markus looked up. “I’m all ears.”
“I have an idea,” she said. “You’re not going to like it, but I think it’ll be perfect.”