Kayla knew she’d started all of this and couldn’t really end it. It wasn’t as if Paul could know the truth. He needed closure, but how did she tell him Doug was gone without implicating herself? She actually toyed with the idea of ending all of this and coming clean. Matthias talked her out of that, too. He believed deep down Paul knew the truth and would find a way to go back to being Ben.
She wasn’t convinced. But she did add another victim to her list of people she’d destroyed with that one fateful act years ago.
“He’ll get some help and be fine.” She repeated the words to Elliot that Matthias told Lauren. She just wished she believed them.
“Maybe you should take a few days. Get the apartment back together and relax.”
Not going to happen. “Maybe.”
Elliot smiled. “Hey, come out with us on the boat today.”
Her stomach flipped over. “No way.”
“Lauren’s teaching me. You can join in.”
It was a sweet suggestion but she was pretty sure the throwing up would ruin his good time. So would her mood. She couldn’t find the strength to celebrate anything. “I get seasick.”
“Can’t you take medicine?”
“I’d rather stay on dry land.” She could barely walk along the dock to the end of the boat slips. She wasn’t afraid of drowning, but the idea of bobbing up and down out there made her want to walk around wearing a permanent life preserver.
“So, you don’t know anything about the water?”
She refilled his coffee. “Enough to stay out of it.”
He held up a hand and laughed. “Fair enough.”
She spent the next few minutes delivering food and chatting with patrons. None of her regulars asked about Paul and she didn’t open the door to the topic. A blur of movement outside the front door grabbed her attention.
Matthias. She could always spot him. He towered above everyone else and looked more in control, suit or not.
He stood there talking with Garrett. Figuring out she was in love with him at the same time she shredded every personal vow she’d ever made and told him the truth about her past had her dizzy. It all scared the hell out of her. So did he. Not his size or his strength. It was the fact that with him she couldn’t hide. He dragged things out of her that she’d never intended to share.
As she watched him now, nodding his head while Garrett talked and walking his usual confident walk, all tall and sure, her heart melted. When he pushed the door open and that bell chimed, she held her breath. She had no idea why but the minute Matthias looked at her and winked, everything inside her calmed.
“Coffees and pie,” Garrett said as they walked up to her.
Yeah, he needed more sugar. “It’s ten in the morning.”
He shrugged. “Pie has eggs in it.”
“Who can argue with logic like that?” Matthias rolled his eyes. Before she could say anything or even put the pot down, he leaned over and kissed her. Right on the mouth and in front of the entire café. “Good morning.”
More than a few people watched them now. She had no idea what to do. The public affection thing was new to him and totally foreign to her. But she liked it. Would have liked for it to last a bit longer. “Hi.”
Garrett smiled. “Well, now.”
“That’s what boyfriends do,” Matthias said before he turned back to her. “And he thinks I’m the personality impaired one.”
Garrett snorted. “You are.”
The conversation was a stark reminder of their cover story. They slept together, made love, talked. He’d even suggested they go for a walk later. But this was pretend to him. A job.
Not for her. She’d fallen. Truth blended with fiction.
The excitement at seeing him turned to something else. Nagging doubt. When the shooter was caught, and she believed Matthias would track the person down and get answers, then what? It was one more unsettled question in her life, and she was getting tired of those.
She forced a smile. “I like you just the way you are.”
“Romantic.” Garrett pointed at the uncut desserts lined up behind her. “Now the pie?”
“Don’t make me kick you out.”
“Listen to the woman.” Matthias touched his hand to hers then pulled away again to point at the table in the corner. “We’ll be over here. No rush.”
“Kissing in public?” Garrett asked as he sat down.
Matthias was impressed Garrett waited until they sat down to say something. “I’d tell you to shut up but you never listen.”
“No.” Garrett’s eyes narrowed. “You look like shit, by the way.”
He knew that was true so he didn’t argue. “Thanks, man.”
He felt like the inside of a dirty ashtray. Last night sucked. Telling her so much about his life left him feeling hollow. She needed to know and a part of him needed to say it, maybe as a warning so she’d know who she was dating. But the truth brought pain and when she wept it nearly killed him.
Watching her break down had hit him harder than the shock of reliving his past. She wept and all he wanted to do was make it better. His guard crashed down.
He’d spent the entire night just holding her. He thought it was the right thing to do, but it wiped them both out. He saw the exhaustion on her face and knew it mirrored his. Now they had to find a way through it all.
Garrett lined up his silverware on his napkin. “The light was off on your side when I got in last night.”
“It was a long-ass day.” And that didn’t even begin to cover how awful it had been. Matthias ached for her, wanted to help Paul turn back into Ben and sensed a showdown was coming with Mary.
That’s why he was talking to Garrett today. He’d found something and Matthias almost hated to ask what.
“You’re weirder than usual this morning. You sure you’re okay?”
Since Garrett sounded sincere, Matthias answered him that way. “I’ve been better.”
“Are we going to talk about that?”
“Nope.” He didn’t want to relive one second of yesterday. The conversation with Kayla was off-limits as was his history. So, time to move on.
“Well, this conversation isn’t going to help your sunny disposition.”
“Just spit it out.” It couldn’t be worse than anything else he’d heard lately.
“Mary came into some money a few months ago. Big money. Tens of thousands, which is odd since she’s been a waitress at a hotel most of her life.”
Matthias relaxed. This was not a big deal because he had the answer. “Ninety thousand? We’re good. It’s from me.”
“What?”
“She had a mortgage on her one bedroom and was about to default. I paid it off.” He didn’t regret that. He had the money and there was no need for her to suffer. He hadn’t expected her to hand over credit card bills and her car payment, but she did. He took care of those, too.
With her debt-free he thought she could start over. Rebuild and try to find a life outside of Nick.
It was a good theory. He wasn’t so sure it worked in practice.
“You gave the money directly to her?”
That struck him as a weird question but he answered it anyway. “By wire transfer. I got the payoff amount and sent it to her.”
She insisted she pay. Said something about needing to feel as if the house was her responsibility and she’d handled it. He didn’t get it and thought about refusing but gave in when she started crying. Crying women were not his thing.
“I can stop trying to trace that wire.”
“Please do.” He liked to keep his financial information private and had used a specific account for that transfer.
“You should know that she didn’t use the cash as intended.”
Anger spun through him. Matthias felt it build and he tried to punch it down, but it flared right back up. “What are you talking about?”
Garrett opened the file in front of him and turned it around to face Matthias. “She still has the mortgage.�
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Matthias paged through the documents. Bank records and credit card statements. It looked like she’d run up a few of her bills again. Then he saw the paperwork from her checking account. Cash withdrawals. Three of them totaling fifteen thousand dollars. “What the fuck?”
He said it loud enough to have people look at him. He almost didn’t notice through the haze clouding his vision. What was she paying for?
“I don’t see any gun purchases or anything like that.” Garrett closed the file and took it back. “But it’s suspicious.”
“Hell, yeah.” She’d promised and he believed her. That would teach him, but he hadn’t really had any reason to doubt she’d used the money for the mortgage. Well, no reason except his instincts, which told him her story had holes.
“Do you think it’s related to Kayla?”
“Isn’t everything Mary does?” The two women in his life seemed to be tied together and he couldn’t unknot them.
They had the money issue and Mary’s talks with Paul. So many problems.
Matthias had been trying to forget Mary sat up in a hotel room just an hour away. Looked like he didn’t have that luxury. He needed to talk with her. Ask her the hard questions.
Kayla showed up at the side of the table. “Here’s your pie.”
Garrett watched her put the plates down. “Thanks.”
Her smile faded as she glanced at Matthias. “What’s wrong?”
She knew. Of course she knew. She could read him as easily as he could read her. “Mary Patterson.”
She made a strangled sound. “That can’t be good.”
“Never is.” Ever. Matthias was starting to learn that.
“Are you handling it?”
Not the response he expected. “You don’t want to know what it is?”
“Not yet.” She sighed. “Let me get through this day. I can deal with her tomorrow.”
That sounded like a good plan. Matthias wished he could do the same, but ignoring Mary hadn’t worked out for him so far. They needed to have a rough family chat. “Fair enough.”
Kayla threw him a sad smile then walked away. Matthias did what he always did—enjoyed her walk. He blocked out the rest and for a second focused on her. He was starting to wonder if he was ever going to be able to focus on anything else.
“Bullet dodged,” Garrett said as he scooped up some pie.
“No kidding.” But only temporarily. Matthias was smart enough to know that.
“Now what?”
He shoved the plate away from him. He wasn’t hungry now. “Apparently I need to go talk with Mary.”
“Good luck.”
“I’ll probably need it.”
Chapter 28
Matthias was starting to hate the drive back and forth to DC. As an avowed workaholic he normally got antsy whenever he was away from his office for too long. Turning his bodyguard duties over to Garrett and his men proved to be even worse. He wanted to be the one watching after Kayla. Leaving her in favor of a showdown about money just was not a choice he ever wanted to make.
It didn’t help that Mary was in full dramatic mode today. She had her bag packed and sitting in the middle of her unmade hotel room bed. “You can’t keep me prisoner here.”
As if that was even happening. “You’re in a hotel room and can go outside anytime.”
“But I can’t go to Annapolis.” She plunked down on the mattress right beside the bag.
Wren’s men watched her but so long as she didn’t try to get to Annapolis and Kayla, everything was fine. Unfortunately, she’d proved completely capable of getting into trouble without moving one inch. Her bank records, the unexplained calls. That’s why he’d come here today.
“What good would it do to leave here?” As far as Matthias could tell, she’d go straight to Annapolis and cause more trouble. He just wasn’t sure why. She’d had years to exact her revenge. She’d used Paul back when he was still Ben. Who knew what else she’d done. So, why now?
“I have a right to see her.”
He could not figure out what that would accomplish. A public showdown would send Kayla running, a thought he despised, but Mary wouldn’t be one inch closer to avenging Nick. It was a sick cycle and it needed to stop because it didn’t go anywhere and only made both Mary and Kayla miserable.
“I can show you a photo.” Not that he planned to do that.
“This woman killed my son—”
“No.” Again with this. He had no idea how Kayla lived with this bullshit. “There’s no evidence to support that.”
“You know better.” Mary got up and went to the minibar. She opened the refrigerator door and the little bottles clanked and jingled. She took one out but didn’t open it. She just stood there, holding it.
“Really? Enlighten me.”
She turned and reached for a glass. “Don’t talk to me like that. I am still your mother.”
Matthias watched her reflection in the mirror. Tried to imagine what went on in her head when she said shit like that, totally ignoring the fact she’d abandoned him. The rage simmered under the surface, but not far under. She practically vibrated with it. He couldn’t tell if it stemmed from her hatred of the situation or her disappointment in him as a son.
He couldn’t get a handle on her agenda. Good thing he had one of his own. This, the real reason for his visit, was Kayla and not his continued frustration and disappointment over the reality of his mother-son reunion. He could work that out another time or do what he’d done for this entire life—bury it.
“The police don’t think she did it. The prosecutor wouldn’t bring charges.” That was just the start.
Mary turned around holding a glass. Her fingers turned white from the force of her grip on it. “That’s about them wanting to save their jobs. They have to be reelected, which means they can’t bring cases where some pathetic creature on a jury might fall for the defendant’s lies. The way she looks, some stupid idiot would.”
She had this all worked out in her warped mind. She wouldn’t listen to reason and facts, but he tried anyway because he had no idea how else to get through to her and get to his questions. He couldn’t tell her the truth. That was not his secret to tell, and he’d die before he divulged it. But he could try to bring Mary around. “There’s a list of suspects and, honestly, other people are far more likely to have done it. You need to trust me on this.”
“Do you know another one of her friends is missing? From back at college, I mean.”
He bit back an exhale. “Yes.”
“The theory is he was her accomplice and died in a hiking accident. Convenient, wouldn’t you say?”
If he didn’t know what he knew, maybe. If he were blinded by revenge he might make those connections. He hoped his mind would stay clear.
He chose his words carefully. “No one thinks she had anything to do with a hiking incident.”
“Why can’t you see it? There’s a line of missing coeds that leads back to her.” Mary held the empty glass, flung it around as she talked. “You were supposed to go after her and end this. You were the one.”
“For what?” She’d never said anything like that before. She’d asked for help and pulled every string and brought out the guilt to send him looking for answers about Nick. He bought it because he was willing to be bought. Because he was curious and felt partially responsible for the younger brother he’d never met.
“You were supposed to do this work and figure it out.”
“I’m not an investigator.”
She slammed the glass down without ever filling it or taking a drink. “Then I should have hired one. A better one.”
She pivoted around him and went back to the bed. Unzipped her bag and started shifting the contents around.
Since the conversation was already going nowhere, he jumped into the topic that was sure to blow things up even more. “Is that how you found Ben Weston?”
Her hands froze and she looked over at him. “What?”
Matthias
hadn’t moved outside of a two-foot square up until then, but now he did. He walked over to stand at the end of the bed. He wanted to be able to see her face, try to read her. “He came to you and you told him your theories.”
“She killed his brother. He deserved to know the truth.” Mary folded and refolded her shirt. Her hands were constant movement.
“You filled him with half-truths, got him riled up and aimed him directly at her.” He reached over and took the shirt out of her hands, forcing her to look at him. “You basically weaponized a confused kid and sicced him on Kayla.”
“That’s not her name.”
He threw the shirt on the bed. “The point is that you are too close to this. You’ve decided she’s guilty and refuse to listen.”
“She got to you.” Mary shook her head. “The way she looks. All those lies.”
“Stop.” He refused to dissect his relationship with Kayla or discuss it with Mary.
“That’s what happened to Nick. She lured him in and he thought he was safe.”
She twisted every fact to fit her theory. “They were never together.”
“You believe her.”
“God, yes.” He was on the verge of yelling it.
A crack of silence broke through the room. “You’re a complete disappointment.”
Her words sliced through him. They shouldn’t because he shouldn’t care. But as soon as they were out there he realized he hadn’t just been on this quest for Nick. He’d been looking for some sort of connection with her. That didn’t happen.
He kept his voice steady. “I’m sure I’m not who you hoped I’d be.”
“I was right not to trust you with this.”
He was so tired of her cryptic bullshit. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Mary.” He picked up her shirt and threw it onto the top of her bag. “Tell me.”
“Some people need to learn the hard way.”
The bright morning had given way to a cloudy afternoon. Thunderstorms rolled in the distance, a typical thing for the area at this time of year. The air took on a twinge of dampness and impending rain showed in the gray sky.
The Enforcer Page 23
