Chapter 30
THIRTY
“I’ll do it,” Maren said. She folded her hands on Arden and Kyle’s kitchen table—end of discussion.
Colin had watched her face while Gina told her about a woman named Lynn Carr—a traitor within NCIS and an absolute bitch as far as Colin was concerned.
He’d seen the moment Maren decided what she would do after Gina had given her all the details that Elissa had dug up since Gina had spoken to Lynn early that morning.
Two seconds of silence after Gina finished speaking—that was all it had taken for her to make up her mind.
Through the back windows he could see the deck.
Mac was cross-legged on the boards with a plastic teacup balanced in one large hand.
He looked entirely serious while Juni explained something at length.
Camo was draped over both of Mac’s feet.
The morning light lit the mountains behind them, and for one second Colin let himself look at that scene—at Juni pointing at something above their heads and Mac looking up and smiling.
He looked back at Maren.
“No way.” His voice rose before he could stop it.
“I will not let you use yourself as bait, because that’s what you’ll be.
Elissa says Dekker is in San Diego. The man who killed Mira and Ray.
He’s been watching locations connected to her, to Ray, to the whole damn investigation.
And you want to walk into one of those locations. ”
“Yes,” Maren said simply.
“Pretending to be your sister.”
“Yes.” Her determined expression didn’t change.
His stomach dropped. He looked at Kyle. “Tell her.”
“I agree with Colin,” Kyle said. “You shouldn’t do this.”
Maren turned to him. “Kyle, you have to stop treating me like I’m going to shatter if I step off your property.”
Arden inhaled softly. Kyle’s expression tightened.
“I’m sorry, Kyle. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“Yes, you did,” Kyle said quietly. “And you’re not wrong.”
That seemed to shake her more than an argument would have.
He went on. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we won’t expose you.
We don’t give you up. You’re family. You and Juni both.
The woman who helped bury your sister’s investigation wants to help us finish it, but that doesn’t mean we hand you to her or to Voss. That application is not worth you.”
“It’s not just an application.” Maren’s voice cracked, but only a little.
“It’s your dream. It’s Alex’s work. The dogs.
The puppies. Kevin and Bennie. Pretzel. All of it.
” She looked toward the windows, toward Juni safe with Mac and Camo.
“They’re threatening the things you love because of me—they’re threatening Juni—and I want to stop it. ”
“No.” Colin moved closer. “Voss is too dangerous. The man has been manipulating arms deals, pocketing millions.”
“Which is why I have to stop him, Colin.” Her voice had softened as she looked into his eyes. “I can’t let him get away with it again. Not just because of Mira and Ray. I can’t live with it, knowing I could have done something, but instead I hid away here.”
Colin pressed his lips together. He looked at Gina.
“You knew,” he told Gina. “The second you heard what the attorney needed, you knew Maren was the only one who could do it. You just didn’t want to say it first.”
“This is Maren’s decision, not mine, Colin,” Gina said.
“There has to be another way. You have people who can handle this.”
“He’s too well-connected,” Gina said. “It would bring down wrath on Watchdog that would make Voss’s threat look like a joke. He has to be stopped through the right channels. Mira’s evidence along with Lynn Carr’s testimony will do it.”
“So you’ll protect Lynn, but not Maren.” Dammit, he was this close to—
“You’ll protect me, Colin,” Maren said softly.
He looked at her.
Her eyes were calm and filled with trust. “You’ll come with me and you’ll make sure nothing happens to me. Then, you’ll get me back here in one piece.”
She means it, he thought. She absolutely believes in me.
Pride and terror fought each other inside him.
He wanted to say I can’t lose you. I didn’t survive everything that happened to me just to watch you risk your life in San Diego with Dekker God knows where.
He wanted to say a lot of things that were true and also completely beside the point, because Maren Walsh had made up her mind, and the reason he loved her was the same reason he couldn’t stop her.
She was good and kind and would not let evil stand if she could do something about it.
She would step up to protect the ones she loved as well as strangers she’d never meet, just because it was the right thing to do.
He exhaled.
“Okay,” he said, even though it killed him.
She looked relieved.
But then Gina spoke again, and the relief on Maren’s face wavered.
“Maren. Before you agree—you need to know what Mira set up.”
Maren looked at her and nodded.
“Lynn says the package can only be released to Mira Walsh speaking the code word. No biometrics. No fingerprints. No retinal scan. Nothing that would distinguish you from your sister.”
“Because she knew,” Maren said slowly. “She knew I could pass for her if I had to.” Her mouth twisted. “She built this around me without telling me.”
“That’s what it looks like,” Gina said carefully.
“I know her, Gina. She was my twin. I was the quiet one. She was the one who dragged me to parties and talked me into driving without a license and taught me to surf when I was terrified of the ocean. She pushed me into those things because she always believed I could do it. And I always could.”
Her voice had gone fierce and soft at the same time. “When I really dug in my heels, she’d trick me into it. So yes, Gina, that’s what this is.” She made a fist and tapped it against her chest. “I know it in here.”
Maren blinked back tears. “She knew if she told me she was risking her life to build a case against Voss, I’d try to talk her out of it.
But she also knew that if she failed—if she died—I’d be the one to take care of Juni.
And she believed I’d be the one who could put an end to Voss.
But she thought she had to trick me into it. ” A tear slid down Maren’s cheek.
Colin’s heart flooded with love.
I am so completely gone.
“I’m sorry Mira had to lie to you. But I’m more sorry she didn’t know you,” Colin said.
Maren’s head snapped back around to him. “What do you mean?”
“You knew Mira,” Colin said. “But I don’t think she knew you.
Not completely. She didn’t know how brave you really are.
How selfless. She kept you in the dark because she thought she had to trick you into doing the hard thing.
” His hand tightened around hers. “But I’ve watched you, Maren.
Everyone in this room has. You don’t need to be tricked.
You’ve been put into impossible situations over and over again, and each time, you rise. ”
“But I’m still terrified,” she whispered.
“Which makes you all the stronger.” He clasped her hand.
“I can see the determination in your eyes. It’s killing me that you want to go back there, put yourself in danger.
I would do anything to change your mind if I could.
But I can’t, no one can. I get it. That’s you, down to your soul.
You’ll do the right thing, even if you’re terrified.
So I’ll do everything I can to make sure you are safe. We all will.”
Maren closed her eyes and let out a long breath. “Thank you for understanding. She was trying to make it right,” Maren said. “Whatever she found, whatever she was doing, she was trying to stop him. I have to remember that. She was trying to do the right thing, too.”
Colin wiped a tear from her cheek. “Yes.”
“And Ray died trying to finish it.” Maren drew in a breath. “So I have to finish it.” She opened her eyes and looked around the room. “I can be tricky, too. As tricky as Mira was.”
Gina’s eyebrow rose. “What do you have in mind?”
“We use Lynn Carr,” Maren said. “I don’t trust her. I sure as hell don’t forgive her. I don’t even know if I can look at her without wanting to hit her with something heavy.”
Gina’s mouth twitched. “Understandable.”
“I don’t think we just walk in, retrieve the evidence, and hope for the best,” Maren said. “I think we play him.” She looked at Kyle. “He expects guilt. He expects me to think I’m the weak spot. He expects you to care more about Lackland than you do about me.”
Kyle’s eyes went glacial. “Then he doesn’t know me very well.”
“No,” Maren said. “He doesn’t. That’s why it works. You tell him that you’re going to turn me over. That I mean nothing to any of you, and you intend to protect Juni because she’s a blood relative and you aren’t going to let anything bring down Watchdog.”
She paused. “Tell him you resent me for hiding Juni from you. Tell him you’ve threatened me using Juni and you’re sending me to San Diego to get whatever Mira left behind and hand it over to end this.
We let him believe he’s getting exactly what he wants.
Then Lynn makes sure she’s the one Voss sends to receive the handoff.
She gets her protection from us. He gets nothing. ”
“There’s a problem,” Gina said. Not dismissive—she was already running every possibility through her mind, Colin could see it. “Voss won’t send Lynn alone, not for something this important. He’ll send insurance.”
“Dekker,” Colin said, grinding out the name.
“Dekker.” Gina nodded. “Which means we need a handoff location that works for us and against him. Controlled sight lines. Limited exits. Somewhere we can move fast if it goes wrong.”
“One more thing,” Kyle said. He looked at Maren directly. “You understand that even with all of this, we still don’t know if the attorney will cooperate. We don’t know if he’ll recognize that you’re not Mira.” He paused. “Did you ever put an obituary in the papers for your sister?”