by Aimee Laine
Charley stared at herself, though no mirror stood before her.
“How’d I do?” Maggie asked when she finished and turned her head to each of them.
“You look like me,” Charley said.
“I concur.” James had Maggie twirl under his extended hand. “You forgot a freckle, though. Right cheek, center.”
Maggie added it, and James pronounced her complete.
“Cael’s turn.” Maggie smirked as she shook the new curls that hung from her head.
“Lily first,” Cael said. “I’m the true last resort.”
“Chicken,” Maggie said.
“Fine,” Cael said, but Lily stopped him with a wave.
“Me first. I already know what you look like, so I’m going to do this and come back. Wait here.” Lily escaped into Charley’s bathroom.
“You can shift somewhere else, too, if you want, Cael,” Charley said.
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
Lily came back out with a slight misstep as her body wavered from fatigue. She, too, looked like Charley. The only discrepancy lay in the tips of her hair which had begun to change back to her own natural shade of blonde. “Dammit! I am so not good at this.”
“You convinced me.” Cael stood from his stool. As James had done for Maggie, he walked to Lily and raised her hand for a twirl. “You look great.”
The Lily-Charley smiled at Cael—a smile only Lily could make.
“Okay, Master Cael, s’your turn to pony up.” Maggie turned back to her previous form. Unlike Lily, a relative youngster, Maggie could transform within a short span of time without visible burnout.
“Told you she was talented,” Charley said to James, thumbing a hand at Maggie.
Cael opted for the more private method, too. He’d have to lose quite a number of inches and would lose his drawers in the process.
When he walked back in, he, too, looked just like Charley, and the towel he’d wrapped around his body made Charley wonder.
“Did you do all of the change?” She grinned at him.
He hung his head. “Yes.”
“Can we see?” Maggie clapped her hands and stalked toward him.
“No!” He barked in Charley’s voice, wrapped his arms around the towel.
Maggie as herself, Lily with half blonde, half black hair, and Charley laughed until her sides hurt. When Cael started to walk back to the bathroom, Charley stopped him.
“Wait.” One hand at her mouth, the other pressed into her side while she continued to giggle. “James needs to twirl and inspect you.”
“I think not.” James raised his hands as if Cael were a hot coal. “I’m not touching him.”
The women laughed even harder.
“What’s so funny?” Stuart asked as he walked in. “Whoa! Three Charleys.”
“Who’s who?” James asked.
Stuart stood near the door, his eyes tracked to each of the three of them, still in proper form. “Hair girl is Lily. Umm … I’m going with towel as Cael, and since Maggie looks like Maggie, the one standing in the clothes Charley had on earlier today is Charley.”
Charley smiled. “Right you are.”
“Puzzles are my specialty.” Stuart tapped his forehead. “Except that was too easy. You guys ready to get wired?”
“I am,” Charley said. “Don’t know about the rest of them.”
“I’m going to change,” Cael said.
“You can wire me anytime.” Maggie’s sensuality came through her tone.
“Ah, no, I don’t think so. Monster Man over there would eat me alive. She’s all yours, man,” Stuart said to James.
• • •
When nine o’clock rolled around and no one heard from Wyatt, Charley began to worry. She sat with Lily at the kitchen bar, swung her legs, tapped her fingers, and checked and rechecked her watch.
Cael and James had already headed out with Maggie. Lily hung back to wait with Charley for Wyatt. They’d agreed to rendezvous with the detectives at an old lumber yard across from the park. In dark, unmarked vehicles, they could pass through undetected and lay in wait. The van James kept stored for undercover purposes had been prepped and stocked with the necessary equipment.
Sophie tucked Chase in for the night. He’d curled up under the warm blankets like a little mouse. Within seconds, his snores could have drowned out a buzz saw.
“He said nine or ten, Charley.” Lily offered a milkshake, pie, and other goodies in a clear attempt to draw Charley’s attention away from the time.
Since Chase’s return, Lily had been bitten by the sweets bug; pastries, pies, cakes, muffins and who knew what lined shelves and countertops in the kitchen.
“You should start selling these, Lil.” Charley munched on a chocolate covered strawberry.
Thank goodness her kind didn’t have to watch their weight. She’d miss that particular piece of her skill. Cellulite? Gone. An inch to pinch? Sucked in. Hopefully Wyatt wouldn’t mind if she went gray and wrinkly. At least they’d do it together.
Charley moved to the dining table, where the plans still lay. She tried to distract herself with them—a double-, triple- and even quadruple-check on the gardens. Stuart snuck in behind her as she looked them over … again.
“You have a photographic memory. Why are you staring like you’ve never seen these before?”
Charley shook her head but otherwise ignored him until he disappeared.
At ten, her hands began to shake. She moved from the window to the door. With each sound, she’d rush and pull back the curtains to reveal the dark of the night. She paced in front of Cael’s big screen, dark with his absence. She tried Wyatt’s cell for the hundredth time and got voicemail.
Where is he? Why hasn’t he called?
“He can’t answer if he’s in a meeting, Charley.” Stuart sat with Sophie’s head in his lap. He popped a chip in his mouth and slid a hair back from Sophie’s face.
“He should.” Charley mumbled expletives under her breath.
She heard the crunch of tires and flew to the door, yanked the knob, and missed that the lock had been set. Her hand slipped off to pop her in the face. “Dammit!” She grabbed it again and twisted to unlock it.
The car rolled to a stop at the edge of the drive.
She stood in the doorway in an attempt to look nonchalant about his late arrival.
“Hi.” He approached, his cell in hand.
Charley smiled at him, watched him flick it to life. “Hey, back.” She moved to him, ran her hands up his chest. “I got worried.”
He tilted down to her. “The meeting lasted longer than I expected.”
“Why didn’t you call?”
“I couldn’t. They had us in a secured room. No phones, no cell, no texts. It was dreadful.”
Charley leaned into him as his arms wound around her. “You smell like perfume.” She scrunched her nose. The scent, while not unpleasant, held a chemical tinge to it.
“Air freshener. The cleaning crew got there before we did. You ready to go? Might as well be early.”
“Yeah, sure. Let me get Lily.”
“I don’t need anything else, so I’ll wait for ya,” he said.
Wyatt stood behind her as Charley walked back in. Her nerves at his late arrival hadn’t stopped their incessant buzz. She shook her hands in an attempt to startle herself out of her tizzy.
Stuart and Sophie hadn’t moved. He’d popped the television on, and she’d begun to doze. “We got it covered here, Chief,” Stuart said.
Charley noted the channel guide scrolled down. “Good to know your role in this is a big one.” She smirked, though at the same time knew it could be a far greater one if anyone tried to take Chase again.
“Hey, Wyatt!” Lily said as she passed the open door and entered the living room. “Didn’t I tell you he’d be here?” She gave Charley’s shoulder a quick squeeze.
“Yeah, you did. Why am I so nervous, then?”
“That’s obvious,” Lily said. “This is ser
ious stuff. It’s not life or death, but it hits close to home.”
“Yeah, that’s probably it.” Charley turned around, saluted Stuart with Lily in tow, and left to join Wyatt at the car.
“Ready?” He looked up from his phone. “Texted to tell James we’re on our way. Oh, and I got an FBI issue for stealth.”
“Right, excellent. Let’s go,” she said.
• • •
Wyatt steered the dark sedan down Turner Point’s hill as Charley watched her forest pass. They’d meet their group at the park, be reinforced by the police, and at midnight it would all be over. The ride home would be fraught with much less anxiety.
“Do you want to go over the plan again?” Wyatt asked, one hand on the wheel, one in Charley’s.
“I think I’m good,” she said.
“Do you know for sure everyone is in place?” He adjusted the wheel, following the subtle curve of the road.
“No, haven’t heard from James or Cael. We’re not late yet, so I expect they won’t start worrying for a bit.” She turned her attention back to the passing scenery.
“But you were nervous about my tardiness?” He smiled at her.
“How did you know?”
He chuckled. “Your hand is still shaking.”
“Ah, gotcha. I’m not usually this nervous about projects,” Charley said. “For all my time, I’ve been known for my steel spine.”
“This one’s personal,” Wyatt said.
“See?” Lily piped up. “I told you that earlier. Everyone’s in agreement that this is different because we’re all so close to it.”
“What she said.” Wyatt snickered. He offered Charley his classic smile.
“I think we’re ready, even though there are loads of unknowns.” She relaxed into the seat.
His hand caressed hers. “I think so, too.”
“You ready, Lil?” Charley asked.
“As much as I think I can be,” she said.
26
“Hey, Sophie?” Stuart asked, his hand in control of the remote. He hadn’t found anything of interest on the television.
“Hmmm …” She mumbled against him.
“You wanna watch anything?”
“No. Whatever you want.” She snuggled in deeper on his lap.
“Okay. I’m gonna leave it here for a minute or two and go double-check locks.”
“Mmm ’K,” she said.
Stuart rose, pulled the blanket up to Sophie’s shoulders, and walked the length of the living room to the foyer. They’d been gone for five minutes, and the house, without the television, let little sound through.
“Front door is locked,” he said.
He moved to the door that led to the deck. Locked. He took the stairs to the second level and double-checked Chase, who slept with his butt in the air and covers askew. Stuart smiled at the strange way kids could get comfortable—his sister had been the exact same way.
He walked back down the stairs as his cell began to vibrate with a number he didn’t recognize.
“Stuart,” he said in a sing-song voice as he walked down the stairs.
“Stuart Vance?” a voice asked.
“Yes,” he sang. “Who is speak—”
“This is Shelia McGowan, Wyatt Moreland’s Assistant. Do you know where he is?” She clipped her question in a fashion he recognized, but the worried undertone caught his attention.
Stuart continued down the stairs. “On assignment.”
He held the phone at arm’s length as she continued to speak, the volume of her voice rising to a near shriek and cutting off his words.
“I said … he’s … on … assignment.” Can the woman not hear how loud she is? If she stopped talking a mile a minute in that anal-retentive way, she might have heard me.
“Stuart.” Sheila took a few breaths. “That meeting tonight was part of the assignment. He was meant to brief the Director, but he never showed.” Her voice hitched. “I tried to get it moved to after, but our Director worried it had gotten too personal. He wanted to make sure Wyatt could handle it.”
“What do you mean he didn’t show? He showed up here at quarter after ten,” Stuart said.
“The meeting was set for six. His car registered in the garage at five thirty, but he never entered the building. At seven, we got a hold of all the security tape and registered visitors. We’ve spent the last two hours checking all the logs—wait … he showed up there?”
“Yeah. If you’re so worried, have you called his cell?”
“Repeatedly. He’s not answering. We had to get Superior-level clearance to break in his files, which took another hour. I found your name there and a Cael Aldridge.”
Damn FBI clearances. “Give me the code.”
Sheila rattled off a set of numbers which told Stuart she spoke nothing but the truth.
“Then we’re fine, right? He’s been here and gone.”
“Well, whose car did he take, then?” Her tone turned relaxed. “We just need to note it in the files.”
“His car. No … wait … he mumbled something about an FBI issue.”
“No!” Sheila cried in a panicked again. “No, that’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“No cars have been loaned today, and his is still in the garage!”
• • •
In the confines of the van, within the shadows of the buildings across from the park, James adjusted microphones, and Cael worked to secure wireless transmitters; the preparation routine came with ease. Maggie leaned into the seat back, eyes closed.
When James’s cell vibrated a few times, he answered with simple grace. “James Henry.”
“This is Stuart.”
“Hey, have you—” they started at the same time.
“Go ahead.” James continued to make his changes.
“Have you heard from Wyatt or Charley? Or Lily?”
“No, we expect them any minute.” He cocked the phone against his shoulder so he could continue to work.
“I don’t think they’re going to show,” Stuart said.
“What d’you mean? Wait, let me put you on speaker.” James pressed a button and motioned to Cael who patted Maggie’s legs. “Okay, go ahead.”
Cael turned his attention to the call, and Maggie dropped her feet from the workbench along the side of the van, her nap over.
“Wyatt’s assistant just called me in a panic. He didn’t make his six o’clock meeting. Pulled into the garage on time but never entered the building. He showed up here at ten fifteen and left with Charley and Lily, but that was nearly an hour ago. I’ve called his cell several times, and he hasn’t answered. I tried Charley’s and Lily’s, too. Nothing.”
“They could have hit traffic or something,” Cael said.
“Sheila said his car is still in the garage. Something is wrong.”
“Which one did Charley and Lily get into, then?” James asked.
“I have no idea,” Stuart said. “I didn’t see it, or him, for that matter. He said he texted you, James … right before they left.”
James flipped to the phone’s display. “Nope, no texts.” He laid it back down on the workbench.
“Where are they?” Cael said.
“Would Charley or Lily have gotten into a different car?” Stuart asked.
“If they’d been convinced Wyatt borrowed it. Wait,” Cael said. “What color is Wyatt’s car?”
“Blue,” Maggie said. “It was parked by mine all day.”
“And he’d want a darker car to blend in with the surroundings, right?” James said.
“Yeah,” Stuart said, “but that doesn’t feel right. He wouldn’t have left his car at the office. He also didn’t say he was going to switch. The man is nothing if not meticulous. You saw him fret over every last detail. He would have had that in his plans.”
“He could have changed his mind.” Maggie shrugged.
“He could have, but then he’d have had to go clear to the other side of town to get it. So, I don
’t think so,” Stuart said.
“I don’t either,” Cael said.
“Have any of the officers caught up with you guys?” Stuart asked.
“No,” James said. “And that worries me.”
“Me, too,” Cael said. “I thought they were supposed to check in at eleven, but we’ve had no movement whatsoever since we took our spot.”
“It’s eleven fifteen now,” Maggie said. “What if all this was a setup to get us, at least some of us, out of the house? Or to get Wyatt or Charley away from us?” She sat up straighter in her chair.
“Cael? Call Detective Bland. Get his whereabouts,” James said.
Cael turned, phone in hand.
“I think she might be right. If that’s the case, where are they?” Stuart said still on the phone.
“No clue, but we’ve probably just lost an hour and played right into their hands. If they’ve been gone that long, that is,” James said.
Cael closed the lid on his phone, laid it on the table. “Detective Bland isn’t on duty tonight.” Cael’s hands ball into fists. “And there is no known arrangement for officers to be at this location either.”
“Oh, boy,” James said. “None of this makes sense.”
“Yeah, it does,” Maggie said. “Wyatt’s been planning this with him since the beginning, right? Actually, you’ve all done everything with Detective Bland. Haven’t you?” She cocked her head to the side, leaned forward. On one hand, she ticked off her fingers as she elaborated. “Bland was the one on site when you got back from Montreal, right? He was tagged with each phone call, each new piece of information you guys got. He was notified when Chase was found. Like good little chickies, you kept him completely in the loop.”
“She’s right about Bland,” Stuart said. “Could he have been a part of this somehow?”
“I have a theory.” Maggie twirled a lock of her hair around her finger.
“Go ahead.” James waited for her to elaborate.
“I’m all ears,” Stuart said from the phone’s speaker.
Maggie leaned forward and clasped her hands. “What if Wyatt has changed sides? Maybe he needs to get back at Charley?”
The phone jumped with the intensity of Stuart’s response. “Get back at Charley? Are you mad? Wyatt would never do something like that. You don’t know anything about him. He’s honest and dependable—more than any guy I know.”
