* * * *
Quita stood outside the tiny white house with its red door and black shutters. They were just outside the District in Alexandria, Virginia. Quita had been in awe at the cobblestone streets and old, Colonial style row homes.
She briefly wondered how Maggie could afford a house in Alexandria on a waitress's salary. Zach had told her that Scarlett and Maggie had become friends while working at a local diner near the warehouse. Metro D.C. was known for its high cost of living, and she was sure that the tiny cottage had cost an arm and a leg.
The door opened, and a girl with long pink hair stepped out. She was tiny, topping out right at the five-foot mark. She had side-swept bangs, and her pale pink locks were pulled into a side ponytail. She looked like a tiny princess. She made Quita think of unicorns and lollipops.
"Hey, Zach," Maggie said, her voice a soft Southern drawl. She ran out and wrapped Zach in a hug. Zach picked her up and swung her around.
"How are you, Mags?"
"I'm good. Busy, of course." Maggie fluttered her hands in front of her face, like being busy was no big deal. She turned her attention to Quita. "And you must be Quita?"
"Yes, hi. Thank you so much for giving me a place to stay."
Maggie waved her off. "Not a problem at all. I'm glad I could help. These guys are the best, aren't they?"
Quita smiled, nodding. "They are pretty great."
"Saved me from being kidnapped a few months back. I'll always be grateful," Maggie said.
"Seems they have a knack for saving women from bad situations."
Something passed between Maggie and her right then. A knowledge that they were cut from the same cloth. They were survivors. Maggie slipped her arm around Quita's shoulder.
"Let's go in."
Zach followed behind as they walked into the house. Rustic hardwood floors spread throughout the house. An antique fireplace was the focal point of the room, while a window seat looked out onto the front yard, which was the size of a postage stamp. The kitchen was updated and cozy, and Maggie's wacky style could be seen throughout.
Splashes of color brightened the small space. From the forest green velvet couch, with its plethora of throw pillows in all shapes, sizes, fabrics, and colors, to the yellow mandala-style drapes that framed the window seat, the room appeared creative and eclectic. Quita felt that the décor reflected its owner to the core.
"Ya'll make yourself at home," Maggie called over her shoulder as she bustled into the kitchen.
"Can I help with anything?" Quita asked, aware of the amazing smell coming from the kitchen. If Maggie was cooking, she might need some help.
"Nope. Your room's through there, if you want to check it out and settle in." Maggie pointed down a short hallway. "First door on the left. The bathroom is right next to it, and my room is across the hall. Sorry I only have one bathroom, so we'll all have to share."
"I don't mind," Quita said. She was just so appreciative of a safe place to crash while they figured things out.
"Zach, you'll have to sleep on the couch. Fortunately, it's huge and super comfy," Maggie said.
"I've stayed on worse, I assure you."
"I'm sure you have." Maggie gave him a sad smile.
Quita walked into the spare bedroom. There was a teal-colored antique iron bed with a soft, off-white comforter. It looked as if it had been washed until the cotton was perfectly worn in. Quita wanted to curl up under it and sleep for days. She was so tired. All the running and worrying. It was nice to have someone in her corner for once. She hadn't had that since her dad had died. She'd vowed to be the strong one.
Quita stood in the middle of the room and spun around. Her eyes landed on the dresser, and she burst out laughing. There in the middle, with a bunch of skinny scarves wrapped around his neck, was a bust of Elvis. Maggie certainly had weird taste. But somehow, it all worked.
Aware of her lack of belongings, Quita wished that she had clothes and toiletries. Zach had said that they'd go to a store later that night and get some for her. She hated being so dependent on other people for her basic needs.
She also hated that so many people that she respected didn't trust her. She understood Sully's reservations where she was concerned. It appeared that she'd betrayed them.
She hadn't. They just didn't know all the pieces to the puzzle. Quita would never willingly hand the drive over to any of those people whose sins were detailed in the files. She knew there was a possibility that her secrets would come out whenever Zach opened the files. It was a risk she'd have to take. She just hoped that once he found out, he'd give her an opportunity to explain.
Until then, she'd wait.
* * * *
At a little after five, Maggie called for Zach and Quita. She'd made spaghetti, and Quita hadn't realized just how hungry she was. She dove into the tangy pasta, savoring the spices that melded together to create a heavenly flavor.
"This is amazing," Quita moaned.
"Thanks. It's pretty simple to make. The key is to let it simmer as long as you can."
"It is delicious, Maggie. Thanks for feeding us."
"Anytime. So, want to tell me who put those bruises on your face?" Maggie asked Quita.
"Two thugs with big muscles and tiny, um, brains."
Maggie threw her head back with laughter. "Any man who beats up on a woman must have a tiny pecker."
Quita snorted, almost spewing out the wine she'd just taken a sip of. Zach just shook his head.
When they'd stopped laughing at Thug One’s and Thug Two's expense, they ate quietly until Zach interrupted the silence.
"I’m going back to the warehouse tonight," he said, tilting his chair back on its hind legs. "I need to get started on the encryption—see if I can break through more quickly this time."
Quita nodded. She’d understood that he'd need to get some work done on the files. Why, then, did it feel like the end of their time together was drawing near? She wanted him to put these men away for good. But once he did, he'd know about her. And he'd walk away.
Zach pushed away from the table and stood. "Are you going to be ok?"
"Of course. I'll stick with Maggie."
"I'd rather you stayed here. I don't want you exposed."
"Zach, I can't be a prisoner in Maggie's home. I need some things like clothes and a toothbrush. I can't hide out here."
Quita stood, her independence warring with her desire to stay safe. It would be easy to hide out under the luxurious comforter in Maggie's guest room—maybe binge-watch Friends on Netflix for the four hundredth time. But she couldn't afford to do that.
Zach moved closer to her, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Out of the corner of her eye, Quita saw Maggie quietly slip away. Smart girl.
"Please. It will be hard for me to concentrate if I think you're in danger."
"I won't be," she assured him.
"You don't know that."
"Zach—"
His phone rang, cutting her off, and he took it out of his pocket, glancing at the screen. "I gotta take this." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, then strode out the door to his car. Moments later, Quita heard the purr of the Mercedes' engine as Zach pulled out of the driveway.
"Well, that was intense."
Quita rolled her eyes. "Nah, just an overprotective man trying to get me to do his bidding."
Maggie laughed. "He cares about you, you know?"
Quita shrugged. "He's been a good friend."
"Uh-huh. Right. Friend. Sure." Maggie grabbed her purse off the back of a chair.
"What?"
"It's just, the way he looks at you—well, if I had a 'friend' that looked at me like that, I'd be tempted to eat him up."
"Maggie!"
"What? I'm just sayin'. That man is scrumptious."
A nervous laugh escaped Quita, and she tried to tamp down her reaction to Maggie's words.
"You ready?"
"Sure. It's not like I have anything to bring. I have my license and a debit card s
tuffed into my bra. Pretty much all I have left to my name."
"I'd say I'd take you by a store after my shift, but I don’t get off till midnight tonight. I told Ron I'd be in late today. I usually work the four-to-midnight shift."
"I didn't mean to mess up your schedule."
"Ron'll get over it. He's basically just a bag of hot air. "
Quita laughed as they went through the back door off the kitchen, which put them out in the back yard. Off to the right of the house was a small garage. Maggie bent down and pulled the garage door up. It was straight out of the 1960s. Instead of sliding back like the automatic doors did, this was a one-piece door that Maggie had to pull up, and that flipped up at the top of the garage.
Inside the garage was a hot pink Mustang from the early nineties, its boxy style unlike the sleek cars of today's standards. It was evident that the car had undergone a paint job, and not a very good one at that.
Maggie caught her staring and laughed. "It was cheap, and it's a lot of fun."
"No judgment here."
Quita got in on the passenger side and took notice of the fuzzy, zebra-striped seat covers, the hot pink steering wheel cover, and the furry, purple, leopard-print dice hanging from the rearview mirror.
"This is awesome," she said, unable to contain the laughter bubbling up inside her.
"It makes me happy."
"Is that why you have color everywhere?"
"Pretty much. Life is too short to live with bland blacks, whites, and grays. I want to embrace every moment and every color."
Quita loved Maggie's philosophy of life.
The drive to the diner was frustrating. Quita had heard about D.C. traffic, but experiencing it was something else entirely. They pulled into the diner a little after six, and Maggie sauntered in as if she owned the place. Judging from the way that people responded to her, she might as well have.
"Hey, ya'll!" Maggie announced as she pushed through the door. She rounded the corner and pulled on an apron, while Quita found a place to sit at the bar. Several of the workers and customers greeted Maggie as if she were family.
Maggie had one of those personalities that just drew people to her. If you knew her, you loved her. She had a magnetism that oozed from her pores. She was this tiny, spunky fairy, flittering about and sprinkling everyone with colorful beams of cheer.
It made Quita long for meaningful relationships in her own life. She'd spent so much time on the margins of society. Dark, depressing circumstances that sucked the life out of you. People who were out to get whatever they could, and to hell with anyone that got in their way. A world where money, power, and sex were all that mattered.
It was refreshing to be with someone who exuded so much life and sunshine.
Isabel was that way, too. Quita thought back to the warm embrace that Isabel had given her after the team meeting earlier that day. She'd been so excited to see Quita, throwing her arms around her and whispering in her ear how worried she'd been.
Quita's eyes had welled with tears, her sobs barely kept at bay. And when Isabel had shared the news that she was expecting a baby, Quita had lost the battle, giving in to those tears and letting them run tracks down her cheeks. She'd had dreams at one time in her life, too. Dreams that included finding a man who loved her as much as Ethan loved Isabel. Dreams that included being a mom.
But none of that seemed possible anymore. All hope of a normal life had gone out the window on the day her dad had been murdered.
The bell over the door jingled, and Quita looked up to see Sully hovering in the doorway. His eyes met hers, and he gave her a brief nod of greeting. Quita nodded back as Sully strode in and sat next to her at the bar.
"Hiya, sugar!" Maggie greeted him.
Sully's eyes lit up, and his whole face changed when he looked at her.
Well, that was interesting.
Sully caught her gaze, and, if Quita wasn't mistaken, that was blush that covered his cheeks.
She smiled to herself as Sully answered Maggie with a muttered, "Hi, Mags."
Maggie grinned more widely and set a coffee cup in front of him. "Not sitting at your normal table tonight?"
The blush on Sully's cheeks spread. "Nah. Thought I'd keep Quita company."
"Well, that's sweet," she said sincerely. She gave his arm a quick pat, then whirled around to answer a question from one of the other servers.
Quita and Sully sat in silence for a few moments.
"She's something else, isn't she?" Quita asked him.
"Mmm," Sully answered noncommittally.
"You like her."
Sully whipped his head around, his mouth open in surprise. Quita giggled at the shock and horror on his face.
"It's ok. Your secret's safe with me."
Sully shook his head. "Of course I like her. I mean, she's Maggie. You can't help but like her."
"You know what I mean."
"Stay out of it, Quita."
Quita raised her hands in defense. "What? I said that your secret's safe with me."
Sully grunted.
She'd noticed that Sully became something of a bear, grunting and growling, when he was embarrassed or irritated or flustered. Quita's face was beaming when Maggie brought a cheeseburger and fries over and set the plate down before him.
"But he didn't order," Quita said.
"It's Monday. Sully always has a cheeseburger on Mondays."
Quita's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You know what he eats on Mondays?"
"Yep. And every other day of the week, too." She winked and sauntered away. Quita couldn't help but notice that Sully watched her backside as she did so.
"Good grief. You've got it bad."
"Shut up," he growled.
Quita decided to drop it, but, for some reason, it felt good to tease Sully. As if they were actually friends. She knew that she was deluding herself. But for a moment, it felt…nice.
"Zach's working on the files. He thinks it won't take as long this time since he'd all but broken through the encryption last time."
Quita's spine stiffened just a little. If he was close to breaking in, were her secrets about to be exposed? Would she lose Zach and the rest of the Castle Investigations team when he discovered what she'd been hiding?
Quita shook off the dark thoughts. "I hope so. What will you do with the information when he does?"
It wasn't a matter of if Zach would break in. It was a matter of when.
"A lot depends on what we find. Give the information to the FBI to bring down Tobias Winters, for one. Discover who The General is and break free of his hold. If nothing else, all this would be worth it just to bring him down. He's hurt too many of those I love. It's time to end his reign of power over us."
As he spoke, Quita’s guilt continued to eat away at her. When he and the others found out—when they discovered what she knew and how she knew it—they'd despise her. But there was nothing she could do about that now. She hoped that when the time came, she could get them to understand. Hopefully, they'd see that she'd had no choice.
Quita nodded quietly when Sully looked to see if she was still a part of the conversation. "Well, I hope you figure it out soon."
"We will. Nothing will stop us from breaking free of his hold. Nothing."
Sully said the words as he watched Maggie flit around the room with the coffeepot in hand. Every person at every table she left wore smiles on their faces as they watched her go. Quita envied Maggie's ability to bring so much joy to those she encountered.
She knew that there was more to Maggie than met the eye, though. Every now and then, Quita caught a glimpse of sorrow in Maggie's gaze. She'd known hurt, sacrifice, pain. It was all there under the surface. Did no one else see it? Was she the only one to recognize it?
Maggie caught her gaze, and something passed between them. A knowledge that they shared a common bond. What was it? Quita hoped that she'd get to know Maggie well enough for her to share. But for now, it was comforting to know that she wasn't alone.<
br />
Sully left an hour later, and Quita finally got tired of sitting and watching Maggie work. She begged her to let her help, and Maggie finally relented. Quita donned an apron and helped Maggie clear tables, deliver meals, and pour coffee.
Being in the entertainment industry had given Quita the ability to act and to engage people. She didn't have Maggie's magnetism and joy, but there was still a warmth that Quita exuded as she met people's eyes and really listened to their stories.
The night passed by in a blur, and Quita didn't know when she'd been so energized, yet so tired. It was close to closing time when the bell jingled over the door, and Zach walked through.
By the furious expression on his face, he wasn't happy.
He flopped down at the bar and pinned her with a steely gaze. The other patrons seemed to quiet down and move a little farther away from him.
Zach wasn't a huge guy—not like Sully, with his towering figure. He topped out at just under six feet tall, but his physique was all muscle. His square jaw was clenched and determined-looking, and his green eyes sparkled with anger.
"Zach, you're scaring the customers," Quita whispered under her breath.
"Why aren't you at Maggie's?" His voice wasn't quiet. He didn't yell, but he hadn't dropped his voice like she had.
Quita gave up the pretense of civility and met his gaze.
"Because I'm not a child for you to tell what to do."
Zach pushed his hands through his hair. "Geez, woman. Do you know how damned hard you're making the job of keeping you safe? You run off without a word in Vegas, call me in the middle of the night to come rescue you in New York City, and now won't stay put when I ask you to!" His voice rose with each incident, and Quita couldn't hide the color rushing to her cheeks in embarrassment.
"First of all, you know I didn’t have any other choice but to leave in Vegas. And I had no one else to call in New York. And now? Well, Zach. I'm a big girl. I'm not going to be a prisoner in Maggie's house." She threw down the towel and rounded the bar, lining herself up toe to toe with him when he twirled around in his seat. "So you can either stop being a bully and help me, or you can leave me alone, and I'll walk out of your life and deal with this on my own."
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 80
