by Cathy Pegau
“I think you’d make a fine supervisor,” Matthews said, mistaking Natalia’s musing for indecision. “And who knows, maybe you’d be in this seat some day.”
Natalia met her gaze. “With all due respect, ma’am, I don’t want your job.”
Matthews laughed, an almost girlish sound Natalia doubted more than a handful of people in the CMA had ever heard. “Neither do I some days,” she said.
“With the medical issues and all, I think this is the best decision for me.” She’d started the nano treatments for heavy metal poisoning, but only time would tell if they’d be effective. Natalia rose, set her holstered pulser, ID and CMA comm on the desk, and extended her left hand. “Thank you for having my back, ma’am.”
Matthews stood as well and shook her hand. Her long, tapered fingers closed around Natalia’s, strong and firm. “I’m sorry to see you go, Hallowell, but I understand. Good luck.”
Natalia strode from the director’s inner office and shut the door softly behind her. The director’s new assistant, a perky redhead who was chatting into her comm headset while her fingers flew over the SI keyboard, gave Natalia a cursory nod and returned to her tasks. Natalia imagined Andrew’s current accommodations weren’t terribly comfortable. His connection to the fungus sales wasn’t clear, but he’d been some sort of go-between for Garces and Helena Reyes. The charges of tampering with a CMA administrator’s official messages alone carried a minimum of five years in a correctional facility. Lucky for her and Gennie, the director had her messages automatically copied to her personal comm.
The elevator doors opened on the lobby. Beyond the security station, Brodsky chatted with Sasha and Sterling, while Branson and Melaine played some sort of game of tag.
Natalia passed security without incident and joined the others. Brodsky looked different in civilian clothes. Younger, if that were possible.
“Hello, Agent Hallowell,” he said, smiling.
“Not an agent anymore.” Natalia spoke to him but watched Sterling’s face. Her partner—former partner—stared hard at her. He’d known of her decision but perhaps hadn’t believed she’d go through with it until now.
“Oh.” Brodsky’s smile faltered. “I guess it’s, um, Miss Hallowell.”
“Natalia will do. Heard you’re going into the academy. The CMA can use a good man like you.” They could use a lot of them.
Brodsky nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I start in a couple of weeks. Headed home to visit my folks first.” His cheeks pinked. “You know, you were a big influence on my decision.”
Natalia’s face warmed. “Thanks, Brodsky.”
“Well, I’d better get to work,” Brodsky said. “And thank you, Agent. Er, Miss...er, Natalia.”
“Take care.”
He waved and jogged over to the security station.
“You going to be all right?” Sterling asked. He had his arm around Sasha, but she was watching Branson and Melaine.
“Just fine,” Natalia said. “Thanks, Nathan. I owe you.”
He waved her off. “That’s what partners are for.” He kissed the top of Sasha’s head. “Ready?”
Sasha’s gaze lingered on the children for another second or two. She kissed Sterling’s chin. “Absolutely.”
They made their goodbyes, promising to meet for dinner and another visit with the dog before long.
Natalia called to the twins. “Let’s go have lunch then get Mommy.”
* * *
“Mr. and Mrs. Reyes will see you now, Miss Costas,” Marta Reyes’s assistant said.
Gennie almost didn’t respond to the name the Reyeses would know her by, it had been so long since she’d used it. She finished reading the comm message from Natalia before rising from the upholstered chair in the Reyes Corporation’s CEO suite. Everything was fine with the twins. They’d meet her at the Hub Station.
Gennie slid the comm into her jacket pocket and smoothed her blouse. She limped down the short hall behind the assistant. With CMA personnel combing their SI units throughout the building and the Reyes home, Gennie was sure there was little Marta and Jackson could have been doing that explained the hour they’d made her wait. Just a petty attempt to exert their power.
Let them. It would be the last chance they had once the CMA brought charges. Helena was in custody, charges pending. The only thing keeping the elder Reyeses free was the determination of what they knew of the Grand Meridian-Juneau deal. Gennie had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before they joined their daughter.
The assistant opened the inner office door and stepped aside. Gennie entered, stopping a few steps in. Not out of respect for the man and woman behind the desk, but because she’d avoid getting close to them at all, if possible.
Marta Reyes sat in a black-and-silver chair, rod-straight in her red suit. Her dark eyes bore into Gennie, her hands folded atop the glass-and-metal desk. Nanos kept her looking as young as Gennie, but the stress of the CMA investigation was evident in the lines around her eyes.
Jackson Reyes stood beside his wife, hands behind his back. He looked so much like Simon—like Branson—that Gennie had to steel herself against false familiarity and false credibility. Simon had betrayed her by lying about his involvement in Grand Meridian. She wouldn’t trust Jackson at all.
But Branson’s resemblance to his father and grandfather worried her. Was it more than skin deep? Would she watch her sweet boy turn into something she loathed, or could she thwart the Reyes nature? God knew her own past behavior and tendencies weren’t going to help him, and Melaine was more like her every day.
Natalia will keep all of us on the right track.
Face to face with two of the people she hated most in the world, Genevieve Monroe, aka Genevieve Sinclair, Costas, Caine and Moore, smiled at the thought.
“Have a seat, Genevieve.” Marta gestured toward the lone visitor’s chair. “Sorry to have kept you waiting.” Good God, but the woman could lie. “That’ll be all, David,” she said to her assistant. He closed the door behind Gennie.
“I don’t plan on staying,” Gennie said, never taking her eyes from them. She didn’t expect to be attacked, but if Marta wanted to play stare-down she was happy to join in. “I’ll stand, thank you.”
“You’ve caused us a great deal of heartache and aggravation,” Marta said.
Gennie couldn’t help the incredulous laugh that burst out of her. “I caused you heartache and aggravation? Well, gee, I’m sorry you spent the last six years tracking me and my children down and trying to kidnap them. I’m sorry the death of my friend was such a hardship for you.”
Pain crept into Gennie’s chest and she had to take a calming breath. Losing her temper with them would get her nowhere. Calm, cool and detached. These were not her children’s loving grandparents. They were CEOs determined to make an acquisition.
“We had nothing to do with any of that,” Jackson said. He even sounded like Simon. Odd that such a soft, deep voice could come from such a hard man. “Helena confessed that she sent people after you and the children. We wanted to be part of their lives, but not if it meant hurting anyone.”
Did Helena truly confess, or did Marta and Jackson force her to take the fall for them?
Gennie crossed her arms. “So you never tried to hunt us down?”
Neither moved, except for the tightening of Jackson’s jaw muscles. Indignant about the accusation, or trying to keep the truth from coming out?
“Hunt
is the wrong word,” Marta said. She had cool and detached down to an art form. “It’s true we sent investigators to find you, but to give you a message, nothing more.”
“We want to get to know our grandchildren, Genevieve,” Jackson added. His brown eyes softened. “That’s all.”
“What about Simon?” Gennie moistened her dry lips. “Who killed him?”
She didn’t expect a confession, but their reactions were just as telling. Marta’s eyes widened slightly for a split second and her fingers pressed together. Surprise being restrained. The lines around Jackson’s eyes deepened as a frown flashed across his face. He knew something, but she’d never get it out of him.
“It was a terrible accident.” Marta’s voice cracked mid-sentence. Maybe she had loved her son.
“That’s what all this has been about?” Jackson asked. “You think we were involved in Simon’s death so you fled with the children?”
“Would I need any more reason than that?”
“Not if it were true,” Jackson said. “But it isn’t.”
He was either telling the truth or lying as adeptly as Helena. Gennie would bet on the latter.
She wasn’t sure if she believed Simon’s accusations of abuse anymore, either. Maybe he’d blown things out of proportion. Maybe, if she hadn’t felt like she’d been hunted like an animal, she would have been more open to conversation. Maybe she was being unreasonable keeping the twins from the Reyeses without proof. But she wasn’t going to risk her kids on “maybe.”
Gennie shook her head. “I don’t know what to believe. Without knowing what really happened to Simon or whether you’re part of this yttrium compound business, I won’t have the twins exposed to you.” She turned and walked to the door.
“We’ll find you,” Marta said.
Reining in the instinct to attack anyone threatening her family made her shake. Gennie spun to face them.
Marta was standing, her hands clenched. Determination blazed in her eyes. “Wherever you go. We’ll find you.”
“The harder you push, Marta, the deeper I take them. But this time, I will fight back and do some very bad things. Having your company scrutinized by the CMA will seem like a party compared to what I’ll do. Don’t make me go there.” Gennie heard the coldness in her voice. Welcomed it. It was the only thing these people understood.
Marta paled and slowly sat in her chair.
“Take care of your troubles with the CMA and the Interplanetary Trade and Weapons Board,” Gennie spoke as she walked to the door. “If you’re still free after that, I’ll think about renegotiating.”
Closing the door behind her, Gennie left the Reyes Corporation headquarters to catch her shuttle back to Pandalus. She should have taken a stronger stand from the very beginning, before the twins were even born. Maybe then this whole mess wouldn’t have happened.
Then again, without the Reyeses being such monsters, she never would have met Natya.
* * *
“Mommy!”
The twins pulled out of Natalia’s hands and ran pell-mell down the corridor of the Hub Station. Travelers parted for them in an effort to keep from being run over. Several smiled as they passed.
Gennie kneeled down, arms open, and drew them to her in a hug. The contentment on her face, the sheer love for her children, filled Natalia with such joy she couldn’t help but laugh in delight. Gennie smiled at her over the kids’ heads, and the delight became something more.
Gennie rose, taking the children’s hands, and waited for Natalia to join them. “Miss me?”
They’d only been apart for the day.
Natalia leaned forward to kiss her lightly on the lips. “Terribly. Everything settled?”
Gennie shrugged, a sad smile on her face. “As settled as it can be.”
The children eyed them, knowing something was going on. Natalia and Gennie would discuss the details of Gennie’s meeting with the Reyeses after they were out of earshot.
Tears welled in Gennie’s eyes. “Memorial’s set for the day after tomorrow.”
The other reason she’d gone to Pembroke.
Natalia brushed her thumb along the edge of her lashes, catching a bead of moisture on the tip. “I’m sorry I never knew her.”
She wished she could have met the woman who’d meant so much to Gennie and the kids, who gave up so much to keep them safe. She would have thanked her from the bottom of her heart.
Gennie nodded, pushing back the grief for the time being. “You would have liked her.”
She reached down to take Branson’s and Melaine’s hands, her gaze focused farther along the terminal. Later tonight, when they were alone, Natalia would soothe the day’s turmoils as best she could.
The unusually quiet Branson held Natalia’s left hand and Gennie’s right. Melaine grasped Gennie’s left hand. She had tolerated Natalia throughout the day, and Natalia wondered if the girl would ever warm up to her. She hoped so.
The four of them walked through the Hub Station crowd to their shuttle’s terminal. It would be a short flight to the South Continent. The home Gennie had rented until they could find a more permanent location was close enough to the old house that Natalia and Gennie could retrieve personal belongings left behind when they’d fled.
Gennie had decided to move not just to keep the Reyeses off her back, but because the memory of Delilah might make it difficult for the kids to return to the house. She hadn’t said it would be as tough for her. She didn’t have to. Natalia saw it in her face every time Delilah’s name came up.
“How’d it go with Matthews?” Gennie asked.
“She offered me the supervisor’s position.” Natalia kept her features as unreadable as possible. Not an easy task, especially with Gennie.
Gennie showed no outward sign of disturbance, other than the twitch of her jaw muscle. “What did you tell her?”
“That I was flattered. It would be quite a boon to my career, you know. I’d be one of the youngest in the CMA brass.”
Gennie remained silent as they walked. The strain lines across her brow and along her mouth showed how she felt about the idea. But it was the worry in her eyes that finally made Natalia tell her the truth.
“I told her no thank you.”
Gennie smiled. “I know you did. And if you ever try to put one over on me like that again, you will regret it. No more secrets. No more lying. From either of us.”
“Agreed.” Natalia stopped in the middle of the station corridor. Gennie and the kids did as well, all of them looking at her with curiosity in their eyes. She stepped closer to Gennie, cupped her cheek and kissed her. “I love you.”
If Gennie wanted honesty, she’d get it.
Gennie didn’t move for a moment, but her sharp intake of breath revealed her surprise. Was it too much too soon? It felt like perfect timing to Natalia.
Gennie let go of Branson’s hand. She reached under the collar of her blouse for her pendant and held it out. The holo of the twins popped up. Gennie pressed the side again. A holo of Natalia’s smiling face hovered over the silver disk.
Natalia’s heart triple-timed. “When did you do this?”
“I took the pic the other morning, when you were playing with the kids at Sterling’s.” Gennie closed her hand around the pendant and held it to her heart. “I love you too.”
They kissed, accompanied by the groans of the twins, then resumed walking to their gate. Natalia wondered if there was room for four in the new house.
“Natalia,” Branson asked, looking up at her, “are you a princess?”
Gennie laughed, a rich sound that Natalia would never get tired of hearing.
“Um, no,” Natalia replied. “Does that matter?”
Branson held her hand tighter. “No. I was just wondering, ’cause Mommy’s really happy.”
Gennie’s smile lit her entire face. “I really am.”
Natalia smiled back. “Me too.”
“See?” Melaine said, leaning forward to speak to her brother. “I told you.”
Confused, Natalia looked to Gennie for an explanation.
Gennie laughed again. “I’ll tell you later.”
They walked on, hand in hand, and Natalia couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d felt happier and more herself than at this very moment.
Branson squeezed her fingers. “Can we get a dog?”
* * * * *
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