Chapter 22
When they stepped into the new safe house, Clover glanced at Micah in surprise. He hadn’t told her that Nick would be here.
Micah shrugged. “I wasn’t leaving him out of this.”
Before she could respond, her brother crossed the short distance to her and pulled her into a hug.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she admonished even as she hugged Nick tightly.
“I could argue that neither should you.” He held her in a bear hug before letting her go with a look she could only describe as…frustrated.
“Don’t start with me.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.” Nick’s gaze strayed past her to the three women slowly stepping into the kitchen. He frowned. “Don’t worry about your bags, I’ll carry everything to the bedrooms.”
She smothered a smile. Of course her brother was taking over and helping. He might make her crazy sometimes, but he always stepped up. Which was why she should have expected this.
“We’re fine,” Ilena muttered.
But Nick did what he did best. Took over.
“There’s more stuff in the car,” Micah said as he headed back to the vehicle.
She briefly wondered if the vehicle was stolen, but dismissed that as soon as it entered her mind. Not because she thought Micah was above that, but because it would bring unnecessary heat if they had been pulled over.
He was too smart for that.
Berkley stepped into the kitchen as Clover was loading up the fridge with the few cold items they’d brought.
“Wait, you’re here too?” Clover asked. And where had she and Nick parked? She belatedly realized there hadn’t been another vehicle out there anywhere.
The house they were at was similar in layout to the one they’d been in before, but the neighborhood was a little newer, the yards slightly bigger, and most of the houses had two-car garages.
And she hadn’t seen any vehicles in driveways despite it being after traditional working hours, so she figured most of the neighbors used their garages. She wasn’t even sure why any of this mattered, just that her mind seemed to be analyzing everything.
“Of course.” Berkley smiled at the three women but didn’t introduce herself. “We’re worried about you.”
“I don’t want you involved in this.”
“Well too bad.” She faced Ilena, Taryn, and Maeve, who were all standing in the middle of the kitchen looking lost. Then Berkley turned that big smile on them. The one that eased people into letting their guard down because Berkley was simply that kind of woman—walking sunshine.
Her smile worked, because their body language immediately shifted from tense to only kind of tense.
“Micah told us that you had to leave some of your food behind so we just brought over a bunch of stuff for tonight. I also brought over extra toiletries and laundry detergent and other stuff I’m guessing Micah and Clover didn’t think about.”
“Hey,” Clover muttered. Then said, “Fine. I didn’t think about laundry detergent.” She started to say more then her new phone rang. Sinead’s number popped up so Micah hadn’t been kidding about forwarding everything. “Gotta take this,” she murmured as Berkley asked them what they wanted for dinner.
Stepping into the backyard, she was glad to see that it had a privacy fence and that she couldn’t hear any neighbors nearby. Still, she kept her voice pitched low as she sat on a rocking chair on the back patio. “Hey, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, and I want to talk about you.”
“First tell me what happened after I left.” Everything had happened so fast and she wanted to make sure Sinead wasn’t in any trouble.
Sinead let out a little huff. “They were upset when they discovered you were gone, but hid it well. I told them you took a call and had to leave, but they were more than welcome to set up an appointment to talk to you through my office. I made it clear that they had stressed you weren’t under arrest and I didn’t realize I needed to hold you.
I also hinted that you had a family emergency and that’s why you left. ”
“I don’t like any of this. Specifically, I don’t want you getting in any—”
“Clover. I’m a pro.”
“I know. But you’re Nick’s best friend.”
“Oh you sweet child.”
“I’m—”
“I know you’re all grown up. It’s just an expression I use with my own younger sisters. I promise I’ve got this. Now put your friend on the phone. I need to talk to her about representation. Officially. I’ve been doing what I can, based on what I know, but we need to talk.”
Clover knew what friend she was talking about and headed back inside. She handed the phone to Maeve, who gave her a quizzical look but still accepted it.
“I can’t thank you enough for this,” Ilena murmured, looking close to tears again as Maeve strode out of the room on the phone.
“Please don’t thank me again. And sit.” She guided Ilena to sit at the island top where Taryn was already taking the mug of tea that Berkley had placed in front of her.
“Clover, I put you and Micah in the last bedroom,” Berkley said. “He asked me to grab some of your things…”
Clover’s mind went on the fritz for a moment and she didn’t hear the rest of what Berkley said. Of course they were staying here. She couldn’t go home right now and she definitely couldn’t go to her brother’s house. It was the first place the Feds would look.
They would be looking for her. They still had questions.
And of course Berkley would put her stuff in a room with Micah’s. Everyone assumed they were together. She was going to let them keep assuming for reasons she didn’t want to explore any deeper.
So what if she liked the thought of sharing a room with Micah?
And a bed.
That had nothing to do with anything.
“Thank you. What can I do to help?” Clover asked.
“Just sit and be,” Berkley said, taking over in the same way Nick did.
Even though it went against her nature, Clover just sat at the island.
“Can’t believe you got a job at The Laughing Llama,” Ilena murmured as she nudged her.
Clover grinned slightly. “It was definitely an experience. So what did you think of Louis?” The guy was clearly shady, but at least he hadn’t been involved in Ilena’s disappearance like she’d assumed.
Ilena rolled her eyes slightly. “He was okay. Not my worst boss, that’s for sure. And I really liked Nyla.”
“Me too.” And Clover wanted to make things right with Nyla, even if she hadn’t done anything technically wrong. Other than break into her cousin’s office and steal information.
Potato, potah-to.
“Oh my god, I ran into Kurt,” she said. “When we were getting groceries. I forgot to tell you.”
Ilena snort-laughed. “I still wonder about those two assholes sometimes. They had to have found all those noisemakers, right?”
She snickered. “I heard they called in someone because they thought they had an infestation.”
Ilena laughed even harder at that, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.
As Clover talked with Ilena and Taryn, Berkley whipped up a fast stir-fry.
And for a few minutes Clover could almost pretend that she wasn’t internally freaking out about being a person of interest to the Feds.
Or the fact that she and Micah were harboring a kidnapper and a woman who wanted out from her family’s conservatorship.
As her mind raced, Maeve came back into the kitchen and laid the phone on the countertop. “You’re on speaker.”
Berkley took the pot off the stove and turned off the vent as Sinead said, “I’m not making any promises, but if you all can stay put until Monday, I think I see a way out of this for everyone.
I just need some time to get things squared away and in order—and it will take time and organization.
I can’t do that if any of you get arrested. ”
She spoke to them a little longer about the judge who’d originally signed the conservatorship, and about some other stuff that Clover could admit she completely tuned out because it was too much information at once.
She was at the point where she felt like crashing face first into her bed.
Or the guest bed. Her brain was done working for the day.
As Micah quietly slipped into the kitchen, Nick in tow, she wondered if Micah was a cuddler. Or if he’d do something stupidly “noble” and try to sleep on the floor or the couch tonight.
Not if she had anything to say about it.
“The most important thing you can all do is just sit tight. If I’m going to discredit Judge Hogan, I need you all to let me get my ducks in a row,” Sinead wrapped up with.
“I’m working on something to discredit him too,” Micah murmured, a hard edge to his voice.
This was news to her, but she was sure he’d tell her later. Maybe when they were cuddled in bed together.
She nearly snorted at the thought because she couldn’t see him cuddling up with her. Well technically she could fantasize about it… “What?” She blinked when she realized Nick was watching her.
Crap, had she said any of that out loud?
“We’re leaving,” Nick said. “But I’m just a phone call away.”
“We both are.” Berkley pulled her into a quick hug. “Food’s ready so please eat before you crash. I can see it in your face. Eat, and sleep as long as your body says to sleep.”
Clover half smiled at Berkley’s bossy tone. She wasn’t going to argue with that.
Micah slid an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure she does.”
Clover liked the feel of him touching her—taking care of her—and resisted the urge to bury her face in his chest. She simply nodded as they left, wondering why they were leaving via the backyard.
“I own the place behind this one. Another Airbnb. They parked in the garage of that house. No one will know they were here if they were somehow tailed.”
“That’s… How much real estate do you own?” She looked up at him, but he’d already stepped back and was starting to plate food for all of them.
That was when she realized the other women looked like zombies too. No wonder, they had to be running on fumes. And they’d just arrived somewhere safe only to have to move again.
They probably wouldn’t be able to rest tonight either. No, they’d be worried that the Feds would track them down somehow so their brains would be in flight mode.
Clover knew they would because that was her fear too.
She was definitely not cut out for life on the run.
She’d only been here a couple hours and was already over this.
She could only imagine how they felt. Especially Maeve.
She’d been living in a prison state for years.
And because of her own family no less. Comfortable prisons were still prisons.
“Anyone want some wine?” she asked, sliding off her seat. “I saw a couple bottles in the pantry.”
That got a small cheer from all of them, and a half smile from Micah she felt all the way to her core.
They might be running on fumes, but wine was a small win she would take.
Maybe she could convince Micah to cuddle later. Or just skip all that and get naked.