"You could be killed," his dad said.
"We faced death every day," Keegan said. "We're trained for that."
"You lost one already. You said it. One of your own."
"Exactly," Mason countered. It was their own they had to avenge. "We're going after the Liberian."
His dad finally relented. There would be no talking Mason out of this.
But then Mason noticed Keegan's tension hadn't eased. Hemet Mason's eyes, hesitation thick with the foreshadow of hard news. "I talked to Dumont," he finally said. "I'll finish my time, and I'll do the mission with you, but after that, I'm out."
Mason felt struck. He hadn't expected this. He'd help the Liberian and then he'd leave the Army as soon as he could.
"It's not worth it anymore," Keegan said. "I'll always have trouble over the last mission, but I don't need to keep fighting."
He had another reason for leaving. Roanne.
And Mason felt him silently thinking he should do the same.
###
The sun had almost set when Utah arrived home. It had been three days since she'd been with Mason. She was tired from her mind churning nonstop. The meeting with her architect had gone badly today as a result. She couldn't concentrate and ended it short.
"You've had a busy twenty four hours."
She stopped in front of her garage door at the sound of Ellie's voice. The old bird sat alone on her porch bench, a glass of something clear on the table between.
Utah walked to the porch and climbed the stairs. "You waiting up for me again?"
"Somebody has to."
Utah smiled and sat in the chair next to her. She looked down at the glass.
"It's water," Ellie said before she could ask.
"You're getting like family, Ellie. That could be dangerous for me. I might end up like you when I get to be your age."
"You already are like me."
Utah breathed a soft laugh. "Where's Reed?"
"Sleeping."
"Your house or his?"
"Mine." Ellie sent her a secretive smile.
"Are you going to marry him?"
"I'm too old to get married again. I just want to have a hot and steamy affair."
Utah laughed because Ellie was kidding. "Reed would make a good companion for you."
"So would Mason for you, if you can ever get him to stay put."
Utah looked away, not wanting to talk about it, much less participate in any raillery where he was concerned. Her heart ached too much. Sadness was a heavy, living thing inside her.
"I know you slept with him."
"Ellie, please don't give me a hard time about that."
"It's all over town that you left your car at the fairgrounds all night and the last time anyone saw you, you were riding with Mason alone in the hay wagon."
"True."
"And I didn't see you come home last night."
"I stayed at Andy's."
"With Mason."
Utah looked at her and saw her tight frown, more worry than disapproval.
"I knew what I was doing." Lie. Utah didn't want to admit it, though.
"No, you didn't. You were always vulnerable when it comes to that man. I swear, if I was younger, I'd hog tie him and drag him out into a field and shoot his kneecaps off."
"Ellie."
"He's going to hurt you, honey."
He already had. She fought to keep tears from sprouting in her stinging eyes. "At least this time I know he's going to leave."
"Do you?"
Utah looked down at the wood planked porch floor. "Yes."
"Well." Ellie sighed. "It's too late to change what is. I'm here for you if that helps."
"Thanks, Ellie. But I have my golf course. If Mason leaves, I'll be fine." God, she hoped that was true.
"I doubt that, but I envy your bravado."
Utah smiled wryly. "Thanks, you old bird. How old are you? I keep forgetting."
"Eighty-two. I'm in the prime of my life."
Utah smiled bigger. "Atta girl."
Ellie laughed, her age coming out in the sound. They sat in silence for a time.
"Megan stopped by earlier," Ellie announced.
Utah turned from staring at the fading light streaking the sky orange and red to look at her. "To see you?"
"She wanted to know if it was true you slept with Mason."
"What did you tell her?"
"That you did."
That was so Ellie. She shouldn't be surprised. "How did she take it?"
"Not well. When I went to town this afternoon, I heard she's spreading the rumor that you went to the West End Inn with Andy after spending the night with his son."
Utah opened her mouth with a grunt. "I met him at Holly's for lunch. To tell him about Mason's mission so he could stop worrying. It was completely innocent."
"Not the way she tells it."
Utah slapped the arm of the porch bench. "That's just ridiculous. Why would anyone believe that nonsense?"
"Most don't. But she's desperate now."
Really? People in town believed in her? "Why is Megan desperate?"
"When she came by, she also said she was the one who called Calvin Roderick to tell him you were here."
Utah's mouth dropped open a second time. "She did what?"
"She called him to see if she could get some information on your relationship with Arthur. Turns out Calvin didn't know where you were, and appreciated her calling to let him know."
"I'm going to kill her."
"She does have a vicious streak."
Vicious. Her actions could get her hurt or killed. Who knew what Calvin was capable of. Five million was a lot of money. "Why did she tell you all that?"
"I asked a lot of questions. You'd be amazed what people feel they can tell a little old lady."
Utah gritted her teeth and kept the degree of her anger from showing. Megan had no idea what she started by telling Calvin where to find the woman who got what he perceived as his inheritance. Calvin was unpredictable. She didn't know how far he'd go to try and get what he wanted.
Ellie talked about her day with Reed, and after another hour, Utah yawned and stretched.
"Go on home, Utah. We'll talk in the morning."
She stepped down the stairs and waved to Ellie. "Love you."
"Love you, too."
Utah walked across the yard and driveway to her front door. She unlocked it and went inside. It was dark. She felt her way to a light switch and flipped it on. The first thing she noticed were the blinds in the living room. They were shut. She didn't remember closing them before she left to meet Andy for lunch.
Heart skipping faster, she spun around in the room, searching for anything else out of place. She didn't hear anything. Nothing was in disarray. She walked into the kitchen. Nothing.
She breathed a sigh, shaking her head. Ellie's news of Megan's vindictive meddling had gotten to her more than she thought, apparently.
Leaving the kitchen, she climbed the stairs to go to bed. She kicked off her shoes when she reached her bedroom. New furniture made it feel less like her mother's room, but she still felt her presence. Where her mother had an old-fashioned bed and dresser, Utah liked her more modern taste of oak and white, fluffy comforter. She'd painted the walls a soft green and the throw pillows on the bed matched. It was a big change, removing the morbidity and replacing it with the contentment of knowing this was her mother's house.
She went to her dresser. A sound behind her made her go still.
She started to turn the same instant someone hooked an arm around her and pressed a knife to her throat.
"My patience has just run out, Utah," Calvin said next to her ear.
Utah's heart flew with fear. Her mind raced with what she should do. If she struggled, would he cut her? If she didn't struggle, would he cut her anyway?
"There's an envelope in the top desk drawer in your office. Inside are instructions for making a wire transfer into a numbered account. I'm not asking. Do you u
nderstand?"
Stark fear numbed her, but she had to fight. Ramming her elbow back, she got him in the ribs. He grunted and his hold slipped. She felt the knife nick her. Screaming, she whirled away from his arms and faced him. He was between her and the door. The window was on the other side of the bed. Oh God, what was she going to do?
Calvin stormed toward her, gripping the knife in his fist, eyes gleaming devil rage. She scrambled over the bed. Calvin got around the foot of it before she reached the window. She swung her fists, hitting his check and chest.
He backhanded her. With a grunt, she lost her balance and hit her head on the footboard on her way to the floor. Disoriented, she tried to crawl onto her hands and knees, but her head was too dizzy. She made slow progress toward the door.
Calvin grabbed her hair and yanked her head back.
She didn't want to die like this. In her mother's room. Her throat slit. Before she even played the first round on her new golf course.
Mason.
Oh God, Mason. Tears clogged her throat.
"I can see now you know I mean it," Calvin said, his face upside down above hers. "That's good."
"Please don't hurt me." She hated how she sounded begging.
He laughed, low and brief and without real humor. "Transfer the money, Utah. Then I'll leave you alone. You don't transfer it, next time, I'll use this." He held the eight-inch hunting knife over her face. "Understand?"
She nodded.
He released her hair and stepped over her, walking out of her bedroom. She sat on her folded legs, shaking, hearing him open her back door and leave.
She started sobbing. Couldn't control it. She felt disconnected from her body. Somehow she managed to crawl over to the table beside her bed. Her hands shook so badly she dropped the handset of the phone.
"Utah?" she heard Ellie's voice.
Ellie was here.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was late, but Mason couldn't sleep. He sat on his dad's front porch in a cedar Adirondack chair, thinking about how off his life felt. If he could make any sense of it, he might feel better, but he couldn't. He wanted to see Utah again. He wanted to kill the terrorist from his last mission. He couldn't have both.
Car lights moved up the long driveway leading to the log house. His dad had been gone a long time. He was beginning to suspect he was seeing someone. He'd come home late the night of the festival. Where had he gone tonight? Mason smiled. His dad deserved to be happy. He hoped the two of them hooked up.
His dad drove to a stop in his sheriff's car, a white Buick with the word Sheriff on each door. The car engine shut off and Andy climbed out. The instant Mason saw his face, he knew something was wrong.
He unfolded his body from the chair and stood, feeling his muscles tense with the sharpening of his mind.
"What happened?"
His dad stopped at the base of the steps and looked reluctant to say anything.
"Dad?"
"It's Utah."
Fear unlike any he'd ever felt froze him. "Is she all right?" The degree of his alarm made him cold and pumped him full of dread.
"Calvin came to see her."
Rage obliterated his fear. "When? At her house?" he came down the stairs. "I'll kill him!"
His dad put a hand on Mason's chest, stopping him. "Now just calm down."
"What happened?" he demanded.
"He wants her to wire him money. When he came to tell her that, she fought him and..." His dad paused.
A tempest of uncontrollable fury curled inside Mason. He fisted his hands at his side. "What did he do?"
"Mason, you need to keep a cool head with this."
Mason thought his teeth would crack he ground them so hard. "Tell me."
"He hit her and she fell against the footboard of her bed."
Mason felt like roaring. "Goddamn it." He pushed past his dad and marched toward the Buick.
His dad followed. "Wait."
"Give me the keys." Mason held his palm up at the open Buick door, staring his dad down.
"I was afraid you'd react like this."
"Give me the keys, Dad."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to see Utah." And then he was going to kill Calvin.
"Think about what you're doing. This isn't West Africa."
His dad handed Mason the keys.
"Where is Calvin?" Mason asked.
"Now, Mason-"
"Where is he?" he yelled.
"I don't need you to be causing more trouble tonight."
"I'll find him whether you tell me or not. So you might as well tell me."
"He's at Pits. I just came from there."
"Why didn't you arrest him?"
His dad hesitated. "When I saw Utah..."
Fury curdled in Mason. When he saw Utah he'd decided to let his son handle it. Why? To act as Sheriff? To give him a taste?
This would give him a taste all right. "Are you sure you trust me to do the right thing?"
"I trust you to think it through."
Calvin had hurt Utah. "You better call Abe and tell him he's going to have a patient tonight." Mason lowered himself into the Buick. He felt like killing Calvin, but his dad was right. He had to think this through.
"Yeah, I know. I was going to call him anyway." Andy turned and strode toward the house.
All the way to Utah's Mason was hit with a riot of emotions. The degree of his reaction revealed how much he cared for Utah. His dad's faith in him touched another part of him. He could almost forget the tragedy of West Africa.
He parked in front of Utah's house, dreading what he'd see when he got inside. Every window shined light.
He got out of the Buick. Walked to the door white-knuckled. Knocked.
Ellie opened the door, her eyes going wide.
He didn't give her time to prepare him. He slapped his hand on the door and swung it open farther, hearing it bang against the doorstop. He searched the interior for Utah.
"Where is she?"
"She's okay," Ellie said, trotting at his heels.
"Who is it?" Utah asked from the kitchen.
Mason stretched his strides. Two brought him to the doorway. She sat at the kitchen table, holding a Ziploc bag full of ice to her jaw. She lowered it as her face registered shock.
And he saw the split skin on her lip. The bruise spreading on her cheek. The swelling. He felt his eyes lift. Meet hers. Inside, his nerves ripped in every direction. He didn't know what to do with all this rage. He'd never felt it this intensely before.
"Mason," she said.
He turned. Instinct drove him.
"Mason, wait!"
"Goddamn it!" he heard himself growl. He was an animal. Thinking at the base of his skull. His dad should not have allowed him to come here alone.
"Oh-my-Lord," Ellie slapped her hands to her mouth as he marched back toward the front door.
"Mason!"
Utah's urgent voice didn't deter him. Her hand on his upper arm did. He looked at her over the angle of his shoulder. That lip. Big. Bruised. Fresh blood pearling. He heard his hard breathing. Felt himself shaking.
"Don't do anything drastic," she said.
"He hit you."
"Yes. But I'm all right."
She was just trying to stop him. He easily moved away from her grasp and went through the door.
"Mason!" she yelled as he left the house.
He turned and walked backward. "You stay here. Don't go anywhere until I get back."
She just gaped at him.
He faced forward and got into the Buick.
The short drive to Pits did nothing to dim his emotion. He had to keep reminding himself that he was a weapon now. Not the nineteen-year-old who chased three boys harassing an innocent young girl on her bike. He could kill with his bare hands. Quickly. Quietly.
He pushed open the rickety door of Pits, a small, rational part of him hoping Calvin wasn't here.
He was. Mason spotted him with half a sweep of
his gaze. Sitting on a stool near the pool table, he laughed and drank from a bottle of beer. Two other men laughed with him. Another shot a ball on the pool table.
Pit Bull rushed from behind the bar. "Now, we don't want no more trouble here. You just go on and go."
Mason planted his palm on the short, fat man's chest and shoved. Pit Bull stumbled backward and fell.
Mason grabbed a chair and slammed it against a table, breaking it enough to provide him a club.
No one moved in the bar. Only the cheap sound of the juke box played an over-done seventies song. Satisfied no one would get in his way for now, he zeroed in on Calvin and started toward him.
The man put his beer down along with a slack jaw and big, nervous eyes. Rounding a four-foot wall dividing tables from the pool game area, Mason backed Calvin into a corner, one side a wall, the other a half wall that overlooked the rest of the bar. The men near him staggered away, giving him room.
"This is none of your business," Calvin said.
Mason pumped his arm, snake fast, hitting Calvin in the mouth. His head snapped back, bumped the wall, and he grunted with the impact. Blood oozed from a gash in his lip.
"If you aren't gone by morning, I'll stop your heart. Do we understand each other?"
Calvin dabbed his mouth, bloodying his hand. "Fuck you."
Wrong thing to say.
Gripping the asshole's head, he shoved his nose down hard against his kneecap. Calvin collapsed with a pained shout and a long groan. Two men tried to help from behind Mason, but they were easy to deflect with his makeshift club.
The juke box ran out of songs.
Mason lifted the asshole one-handed and threw him onto his back. Then leaned over him. "You were saying?"
"She's a lying bitch! Whatever she told you and the sheriff is a lie. She's nothing but a whore who fucked me and then an old man for his money."
Tossing the club aside, Mason lifted Calvin and dropped him mid-back over the short wall, not hard enough to break his back, but close.
Calvin yelled in agony as he fell to the other side of the wall. Mason straddled the wall and stepped over, following the man as he squirmed to try and put distance between them. Good. The bastard was starting to get scared.
"You were saying?"
"Look," he breathed fast, blood running from his mouth and into it and between his lips as he talked, "She doesn't deserve my dad's money. That's my only problem."
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