CHAPTER 42
Special K
Logistics. Recon. Transport. A local safe haven and at least two backups. Security. Comms. Gear. Supply chain.
I think like a SEAL. I can’t help it. And as I leave my house, double-timing it to Cal’s for our meeting, the details are swirling around my brain.
There’s a lot of moving parts. But I know I can count on my brothers to walk through all the steps with me. Once we talk it out, I’ll head back to the ridge for Frankie.
I know she doesn’t want my help. I know she thinks she can take care of herself. But I also know that every time she lets another detail slip, the issues and risks escalate in my mind, and the whole thing gets stickier and stickier.
It’s no longer about respecting Frankie’s wishes. It’s about keeping her safe. I’d much rather have her alive and hating me than dead because I didn’t do what had to be done.
I’m running past Dad’s house when I see Aunt Phyllis standing in the doorway, peering inside like she’s waiting for someone. I start to wave and say good morning when she puts her finger to her lips in the universal “shushing” signal and frowns at me.
Something’s up. Something not good. I slow down.
Shit.
Harper steps out of Dad’s house and Phyllis rolls her eyes.
“Special K!” Harper races down the steps in her running shoes. “Hi! I’ve been looking all over for you!”
“I don’t have time,” I say, resuming my run to Cal’s.
“Can’t we just sit down and have a conversation? It’s almost like you’re avoiding me.”
I stop and spin around to face her. “Almost? I am avoiding you, Harper. Because I have nothing more to say to you and you need to go. No one wants you here.”
Her grin disappears and her eyes narrow. “What did you just say to me?”
“You won’t be working for us. No one trusts you. Whatever you’re up to and whatever you want, you’re not getting it here, so it’s time to say ‘fair winds and following seas’ and get yourself on outta here. Is that clear enough for you?”
I’ve stunned her, but she regains her composure quickly and displays a sweet, innocent smile—a totally fake one that turns my stomach. Before I can start running again, she traces a finger down the center of my chest.
I recoil.
“I still love you, and if you were honest with yourself, you’d admit you still love me.”
I’m literally about to upchuck in my mouth.
I laugh and shake my head. “Negative. You never loved me. And though I convinced myself I loved you, I now realize it wasn’t love. Whatever it was, it’s long gone. ”
“Please, please let me explain! I… I got scared and I freaked out, Special K. I couldn’t think straight. I’ve regretted it every second of every day since.”
“Right. Regretted it so much that I never heard from you until you wanted a job?”
She throws up her hands. “That’s just an excuse for me to be close to you—don’t you get it? When I saw Evander in London before Christmas, everything came bubbling to the surface. How much I regretted what happened. How I can’t live without you.”
I stare at her for a second, and then start applauding. “And the Academy Award for most nauseating comedy performance goes to Harper Dunn-Spence!” I laugh. “You’ve missed your calling, Captain. Good luck in your new private sector career in the thee-ah-tuh.”
She tosses her hair back. I was always a sucker for that move when we were together. I was a fool. “I get it,” she says. “I hurt you, so you’re hurting me in return.”
“No, I don’t think that you do get it. If you did, you’d already be gone.”
Her mask is slipping. Her smile morphs into a sneer.
“You decided you never loved me, huh? And some other woman has come along to teach you what love is?” She laughs.
“Whatever. Of course, you’re not still single.
That was a miscalculation on my part. Look at you—maybe not the liveliest dinner party date but definitely the hottest.”
“We’re done.” I walk away. Unbelievably, she still follows, sticking to my side like a bloodsucking tick. I’ve been so focused on Harper that I hadn’t noticed what was happening off past the barn.
I turn and do a double-take, not sure what I’m seeing.
It looks like my sisters-in-law are riding four across, headed toward the paddock. I’ve never seen them riding together. Summer and Phoebe, sure, because they’re both lifelong horsewomen. But Victoria and Emma? Not so much. And never with Summer and Phoebe.
Something about the set of their shoulders and their determined expressions reminds me of the opening scene of “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.” In my head, I hear the iconic theme: “Oooh-eee-oooh-eee-oooh… DUM DUM DUM.”
I wonder what they’re up to…
They dismount, and Harper waves wildly at them. “Hello! You look like you’re having fun!”
“Yo,” Summer says in her don’t-fuck-with-me voice.
I arch an eyebrow at her. They meant it when they said they don’t trust Harper. It’s nice to know that my family supports me. Better than nice. I’m damn lucky to be a MacLaine.
With Harper distracted, it’s my opportunity to end the encounter. I run toward Cal’s, leaving Harper in the capable hands of the MacLaine women.
I’m the first in the conference room, followed quickly by my brothers. “Little brother calls an emergency meeting?” Declan plops down in a chair and puts his bare feet on the table.
“Get your Hobbit-assed feet off my twenty-thousand-dollar conference table,” Cal growls.
“Holy shit, those are ugly,” Finn complains. “How does Summer handle it?”
Evander looks horrified. “Have you never had a pedicure?”
“No, but I still have my balls, so…” Declan snorts at his own joke.
I sit down and immediately launch into it. “So, here’s your hypothetical mission objective: You need to disappear. And I mean disappear right the fuck now, from Yosemite Ranch. How would you do it? What steps would you take and in what order? Where would you go?”
They all stare at me. At least I’ve got their attention.
Declan sighs dramatically. “Oh, Kevin. Now what have you gotten yourself into?”
No one laughs but him. I continue with my mission description.
“How would you go about applying all the resources and expertise we currently have at our disposal to achieve the strategic goal of disappearing safely and for the long term? How would you do it without unnecessarily escalating an existing conflict, attracting attention to yourself, or creating unintended consequences.”
Declan removes his feet from the table and sits up straight in his chair. My other brothers take their seats, as well. They’re silent for a good long while.
“This isn’t hypothetical,” Finn says.
“And it’s impossible to answer without knowing all the underlying variables,” Declan says.
“What’s the threat matrix look like? Who’s the known threat actor and what are his capabilities, motivations, and weaknesses?
What is the nature of the current primary conflict and what is the operation environment?
Who is trying to disappear and what is the worst possible outcome that must be avoided at any cost? What—”
“We got it,” Finn says, cutting him off.
“Oh, holy shit,” Cal says. He rests his elbow on the table and then drops his forehead into his hand.
“This is about the squatter,” Evander says.
“Don’t call her that.”
“All right. What term might you prefer? ‘Uninvited pioneer?’ How about ‘lease-less inhabitant?’”
“I vote for that last one,” Declan says.
“Her name is Frankie, and I really like her.” I shock myself. I didn’t even plan to say that. “I care for this woman. She’s incredible. And yeah, I know it makes no sense at all, but it’s the truth.”
After a silent pause, Cal nods seriously and says, “Sometimes, the best things in life don’t make sense at first.”
“They can even seem completely out of the question,” Finn adds.
“Making sense isn’t the measure of how good something is or how good it is for you,” Evander says.
Declan nods. “Yeah, sometimes weird shit happens and you just gotta say, ‘Fuck it. I’m goin’ in.’”
I assume they’re talking about themselves and their relationships, and not me. But then they ask me about Frankie. Who she is. Why she’s here. What she’s afraid of.
Her last name.
“This is where it gets a little vague,” I say.
“I don’t know all the details. But I know she’s afraid for her life and trying to hide, not because of something she did but because of someone she was with.
She called him a psycho killer. She said if I try to fix it he will kill me and my whole family. ”
Cal blinks at me.
“And that’s really all I know. So, how does Frankie disappear?”
An hour later, I’m tacking up DG to ride up to the ridge, mulling over my brothers’ advice.
I’ve been away from Frankie for almost twenty-four hours. That’s far too long.