by Rachel Grant
She stopped at a Fred Meyer on the way home to pick up groceries and bath salts for sore muscles. She was driving back to the Painted Hills tomorrow and hoped the salts would ease the soreness before the long drive.
Next to the checkout was a stack of newspapers. She picked up the Oregonian, wondering if the photo of her and Josh with C-IV had made the print edition. She tossed it in the cart, just in case.
She probably wouldn’t see Josh again until Wednesday. Disappointing, but he needed alone time with Ava, and now he had Chase to take care of too.
The man couldn’t not be a caretaker. Although Chase appeared to be doing just fine. Much further along the healing spectrum than Owen had been. But Trina had given only the barest overview of what Chase had been though, and Maddie suspected what Trina had been allowed to share was only the tip of the iceberg of what the operative had suffered.
She was in her car, nearly home, when her cell phone buzzed. With the phone in the dashboard holder, the caller was easy to read without taking her eyes off the road for a full second.
Portland Police Bureau.
She spotted a gas station on the right and pulled into the lot, then answered the call.
“Ms. Foster, this is Officer Leahey with the Portland Police Bureau,” a woman said. “Your alarm service alerted us to check on your address, and we discovered a break-in. How soon can you get here to assess the damage and inventory what was stolen?”
Her stomach had plummeted at the officer’s first words. Her beautiful little rental house. She felt a sharp sense of violation and fear, and she didn’t even know if anything had been taken. She managed to form the necessary words. “I’m—I’m f-five minutes away.”
“You’re driving?”
“I’m pulled over at a gas station.”
“Stay there. I’ll send a patrol car to pick you up.”
“No. I’m okay. I can drive. I just…” She trailed off. She wasn’t sure if she was feeling adrenaline or panic or both.
“Give yourself a few minutes, then. Buy a soda if the station’s got a convenience store. We’re guarding the property, and will be here when you arrive.”
“Okay.”
She took the officer’s advice and entered the store, grabbing the first sugary drink she could find. Back inside the car, she sipped it slowly and tried to sort her thoughts. Her hands were still shaking. She wasn’t quite ready to drive.
She dialed Josh’s number. Her call rolled to voicemail, and she left a message, telling him the scant details she knew. She waited a few minutes to see if he’d call back. When he didn’t, she took several deep breaths and held out her hands. The trembling had lessened.
She put the car in gear and headed home, dreading what she would find there.
Josh’s phone buzzed as Ava’s words hung in the air. He glanced at the screen. Maddie.
No way could he take her call now, not when Ava had just laid that bombshell. He sent the call to voicemail.
“Talk,” he said to Ava, a harder edge to his voice than he intended. It was a gut punch that Ava knew his secret. The only way she could possibly know was if she’d read the damn letter. The one he’d intended to burn after getting it out of his system.
But for some damn reason, he’d kept it. Hadn’t been able to destroy it because rereading it had helped him come to terms with the guilt and shame. He’d have put it in the gun safe at the house, but that was Raptor property. Not only did it feel weird to store it there, but Owen, Chase, and any other visiting operative could’ve found it.
He should have bought his own damn document safe.
“I—I—I’m sorry, Uncle Josh.”
“First, I came here for you. That letter was me processing something that has nothing to do with you. Second, it hurts that you would go through my things. I would never violate your privacy in that way.”
“It—it wasn’t me.”
She wasn’t making sense. “What do you mean? How could it not be you?”
“When Maddie took me home yesterday to grab clean clothes for my sleepover at Marcus’s house, I found her in your room, going through your nightstand drawer. I was shocked. I told her that I was going to tell you. She said you’d never believe me. Because I’ve already made it clear I don’t like her and I’d do anything to get rid of her. Even lie. Then she gave me the letter and said, ‘You should know he didn’t come here for you. You were his excuse.’”
Every word from Ava’s mouth was a sucker punch. It didn’t sound like Maddie at all. Ava had to be lying.
But if he called Ava a liar and she was telling the truth… He’d lose everything he’d built with her.
And how well did he really know Maddie?
Sure, the sexual attraction was there in spades, but what if that was based on her resemblance to Trina? What if their chemistry came from nothing more than a shared taste in wine?
No. Hours on the phone with her said his feelings went deeper than that. He knew Maddie. She wouldn’t violate his privacy, wouldn’t cut Ava’s growing confidence by saying something so awful.
But Ava loved him. Needed him to be her dad. Why would she hurt him by making up such a story?
Last night, when Tisdale mentioned Maddie’s resemblance to Trina, Maddie had stiffened. He’d had a flash of worry that somehow Maddie knew, but that was impossible.
Except now he knew it wasn’t.
Maddie had known.
His eyes burned. One of the two women who’d become the center of his world in a very short time had just hurt him deeply. And he wasn’t a hundred percent certain which one.
16
It could be worse.
Maddie stared at her office. She’d lost her old desktop computer, but the files were backed up to the cloud. She’d had her laptop with her, safely locked in the trunk of her car, and it held all her recent work. They’d left her printer and TV—both items were likely too large for a quick break-in, especially with the alarm blaring.
She wore gloves provided by the officer, but even so, she plucked a pen from her purse and slid it behind the top desk drawer handle and pulled it open. She didn’t keep much in the drawer. Post-its, her favorite pens, a north arrow scale for photographs. And portable USB storage drives. Shit. They weren’t there. “They took my thumb drives. All of them.” She tried to remember what was on them. Photos and work files. She rubbed her temples. “My accounting software backup file is on there. They’ll have all my account numbers.”
“Was the accounting file on the desktop computer?” Officer Leahey asked.
“No. I have a cheap laptop I use only for accounting.” She took the desk key from her purse and unlocked the large bottom drawer. The laptop was still there. The thieves hadn’t bothered to waste time prying open the desk.
Thank you, Josh, for making me get a high-end, loud security system.
But her financial data was still on the thumb drives. She’d call her bank and credit card companies the moment she was done with the inventory with the police. This was going to screw up all her autopayments. If they managed to get her Social Security number, she could find herself having to deal with the fallout for years.
Oh goody.
“What about jewelry?” Officer Leahey asked. “Or other valuable items?”
“Jewelry is in my bedroom upstairs.” She led the way upstairs, passing another officer on the way down.
“No sign anyone made it upstairs, but we’ll need you to confirm,” the officer said.
She nodded, afraid to hope.
She checked the jewelry box first—it was small and held a few of her favorite—and relatively inexpensive—items. All necklaces, bracelets, and earrings were there.
She then turned to the closet and pulled down a large, dusty hatbox from the top shelf. “I don’t keep the valuable stuff in the jewelry box. It’s too obvious, and these items are sentimental.”
She pulled out the wide-brimmed red hat with black netting that had been her grandmother’s and revealed the cand
y tin beneath. She opened the tin, and there was her maternal grandmother’s gold watch and diamond earrings.
And the engagement ring Maddie had worn for eight months.
“Gorgeous ring,” Officer Leahey said. The uniformed white woman was probably close to Maddie’s age, and she’d been kind throughout the unsettling process.
“Honestly, I kind of wish it were stolen.”
“Ouch. I take it it’s not an heirloom.”
“Nope. Bad breakup.”
“Good for you in not giving it back,” she said.
Maddie probably would have given it to him, but then he said he needed to sell it to buy his new fiancée a ring. And well…fuck that. The ring was hers, even if she’d never wear it.
She put her grandmother’s watch on her wrist. It was time to stop storing it and actually use it. It could have been stolen today, and she never would have enjoyed having the piece that connected her to a woman who’d always believed in her. Grandma had worked in factories during World War II and fought for women’s equality for nearly six full decades after the war.
She put the rest of the jewelry back in the tin and hat box and returned it to the shelf. “It looks like the only thing they took was the computer and flash drives.”
“Which is pretty targeted—but they were also in a hurry. We were on the scene within five minutes of the alarm going off.”
The thieves had smashed through the back door. They’d likely parked on the street parallel to hers and jumped the rear neighbor’s fence coming and going.
As they headed back down the stairs, Maddie’s cell phone vibrated with a text.
Probably Josh. She felt a rush of warmth. She knew he was planning a movie night with Ava, but maybe he’d let her come over for a bit and just hold her. She needed a little comfort after her home had been violated.
At the bottom of the stairs, she pulled out the phone and frowned to see a message from Ava. Two words: I’m sorry.
What was that about?
She tucked the phone away.
“Given that this theft appears to be targeted, did anyone know you were going to be out today?” Officer Leahey asked.
“Anyone who knows I’m dating Josh Warner might have guessed I’d be at the training today.”
“He’s the Raptor guy who’s been training counterprotesters? In consultation with the Bureau?”
Maddie nodded.
“And how many people know you’re dating?”
“Well, it was sort of in the paper today.”
“So basically, everyone. And especially people who are watching Warner—all officers received a briefing from the chief after he was doxed. And yesterday, there was an attack at his house.”
Maddie nodded. “Yes. I was there.”
“You know,” the officer cocked her head, “you probably should have led with that. It changes everything.”
“But my address isn’t a matter of public record. I haven’t been doxed. No one knows where I live, and as you said, this looks pretty targeted at my computer.”
“You’re certain you haven’t been doxed? You just said your relationship with Mr. Warner was in the paper.”
She pulled out her phone as her brain raced to remember which website had doxed Josh. She never went to the nut-job sites. Ever.
She was about to google it when a message popped up on her phone. Not from Josh. From Keith: Voigt Forum doxed you three hours ago. We were busy with medivac arrangements for Tricia, or we’d have caught it sooner. Raptor is setting you up in a hotel. Will text with reservation confirmation.
She showed the officer the message on her screen.
“Damn,” the woman said. “I’ll call the chief. You pack a bag. I’ll escort you to the hotel.”
“I need to make arrangements to fix my back door. I can’t leave the house wide open like this.”
“We’ll nail a board over it on the inside. You’re going to need a new door, and that’ll take a few days. Take everything valuable, including the stuff hidden in the hatbox. Anyone who wants in will get in.” She nodded to the phone. “Go to the hotel, and we’ll get the detective investigating last night’s tear bomb attack to follow up with you there. This could be random, thanks to the doxing—but why did they go for the computer and nothing else? That’s not random.”
Maddie’s brain raced as she took in the officer’s advice. Move to a hotel. Her home wasn’t safe for the foreseeable future.
And…why hadn’t Josh been the one to call her? Why Keith?
She checked her messages. Nothing from Josh since she’d called to say her house had a break-in.
Just an I’m sorry from Ava.
Her stomach clenched. What had Ava done?
She texted back: Why?
“Go pack,” the officer ordered.
Maddie headed back up the stairs, staring at her phone.
She was in her bedroom with her suitcase open on the bed when her phone vibrated again.
Ava: I told Uncle Josh about the letter.
That was good news. Josh would be upset, but once Ava explained how she felt scared having a man she barely knew as her guardian, he’d understand. They’d clear the air and be stronger for it.
Her phone buzzed again.
Ava: I told him the truth. How I caught you snooping in his nightstand drawer yesterday. I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t have done it.
Maddie closed her eyes as pain sliced through her. Pain for Ava. Pain for Josh. Pain for herself.
Her anger at Ava left her breathless, but she reminded herself Ava was a brokenhearted, struggling girl who was trying desperately to keep the attention of the one adult in her life—a man who collected strays like he walked around with raw meat in his pockets—focused on her.
Ava could share Josh with Owen. She could share him with Chase. But Maddie was a threat in that she didn’t need Josh the way the others did. He just made her happy. And she made him happy.
Ava’s lie could well have destroyed that. For good.
Josh was in an untenable position. If he accused Ava of lying, he could break the fragile bond they’d found. But if he didn’t believe it was a lie…what did that say about their nascent relationship?
He couldn’t really believe it, could he? And did it really matter?
The first night they’d met, he’d stated in no uncertain terms that Ava came first. He’d reiterated it the second time.
How much would it gut him to hear Maddie claim Ava had lied? Would he think she was trying to drive a wedge between them, that she was jealous of Ava’s place in his heart and life?
This was a no-win situation all around.
If Josh reached out and said he knew it was a lie but he had to bide his time to get Ava to admit it so they could heal without making things worse, Maddie could accept that. But the longer her phone remained silent—in the aftermath of doxing and a break-in, no less—the longer she was certain that Josh wouldn’t make that call.
Which meant on some level, Josh believed Ava. And there was nothing Maddie could do to change that.
17
Josh stared at the TV, not seeing the action on the screen. Hell, he’d be hard-pressed to name the film they were watching. Beside him, Ava laughed and nibbled on her pizza.
Her phone lay on the coffee table. He’d seen the texts to Maddie on the screen when she set it down earlier to go to the kitchen for a soda.
He’d noted Maddie’s lack of response. No replies that called out Ava for lying. But of course, Ava could have deleted the replies before she placed the phone on the table.
He could call Lee Scott, have him hack Ava’s phone and provide a full transcript, but that violated every ethic he had and would be a gross abuse of Lee’s skills.
What if everything he saw in Maddie was an illusion? What if he’d been so desperate to break the lock his obsession with Trina had on his heart that he’d fixated on Maddie and saw only what he wanted to see? What if she wasn’t the warm, caring person he’d believed her to be?
Keith hadn’t said a word when Josh asked him to inform Maddie about Voigt Forum, but he knew his best friend had questions.
He couldn’t face Maddie right now. Not when his stomach churned at the idea she might have thrown his feelings for Trina in Ava’s face.
Bad enough to read his letter. But to weaponize it?
He wanted to believe it was all a cruel lie on Ava’s part. But was his niece that vicious? Did she not want Josh to be happy?
She’d practically called him Dad and said she loved him. They were making progress, dammit. She wasn’t conniving enough to use those words to manipulate him, was she?
Ava was too straightforward for that. Like the first night, when she said she was afraid Josh would fall in love with someone horrible and she’d be squeezed out—she’d been honest. And later, when she’d been rude to Maddie’s face. It hadn’t been pleasant, but it had been Ava unfiltered.
She’d said on Thursday night that she kind of liked Maddie. If that was true, why would she lie now? None of it made sense.
All he knew was his heart hurt, and the person he wanted to turn to, Maddie, was the cause of the pain.
And he sure as hell couldn’t tell Keith, the other person he’d always confided in. Hey, man, I wanted to bang your wife for years. And I wrote a letter about it. And either Ava or Maddie found it. And either Maddie was snooping and cruel, or Ava lied to hurt us. And in the meantime, I was doxed and so was Maddie, and I’m just trying to keep us all from getting swatted. Plus, I’ve got a billionaire yanking my chain with a big contract, and by the way, how is Tricia?
He picked up his beer from where it sat next to his ignored pizza and drank half of it. He’d planned to allow himself only one drink tonight, but Chase would be here as backup. He could have two.
“You okay, Uncle Josh?”
He turned to Ava and tried to figure out how to answer. His dad would never have showed emotional weakness. But then, his dad was about the worst example of fatherhood imaginable. Unfortunately, he was the only example Josh had when it came to teenagers. Lee and Curt were good dads, but their kids were toddlers.
