by Jen Talty
“Just let me go and you’ll never have to find out,” Harmony said, her blue eyes pleading with him as if she were a beggar desperate for a sip of water. The timbre of her voice screamed fear and a lack of confidence he wasn’t accustomed to when it came to her and how she carried herself.
“I can’t let you just leave in the middle of the night without an explanation.”
“You have to let me leave. Trust me on that. And frankly, I owe you nothing.”
“I beg to differ. You just said my sister’s kids are in danger. If you think I’m letting that slide—”
“They will be fine if I go now,” she said, turning on her heels, taking a long step in the direction of the car.
Coop wailed like a sad puppy at the back door. His thick paws scratched at the door as he demanded to be let out.
“How will my family be hurt?” he asked, grabbing her by the arms, holding her biceps a little too tightly. “I can’t help you unless you tell me what is going on.” He eased his grip as her slightly parted lips drew into a tight, angry line.
“Get your hands off me.”
He let go. “If I let you drive away, I’m jumping in my truck, following you, and calling my boss, so please, just tell me what is happening.”
Tears pooled in the corners of her sea-blue eyes. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before clearing her throat.
“I have to make a phone call,” she whispered.
“Your handler?” he asked, taking a chance that this time his gut was right on the money. It didn’t happen often when it came to women, but he prayed that this time he was right.
Then again, if he was, she’d probably have to walk out of his life.
For good.
Coop howled as if he could read his thoughts.
“Come inside.” He reached behind her, leaning into the car, and shutting off the engine.
“I only have until six before something terrible happens,” she said with a shaky voice.
“I’m not going to let anything bad happen.” He yanked out his phone as he guided her up the path.
His sister picked up on the first ring. “It’s late. Is something wrong?”
Oh boy, that was a loaded question. “I don’t know yet, but I need you to head over to Mom and Dad’s for the night with the kids. I’m going to have Jonah drive by a few times, but I’m also going to call in a buddy from the fire department to hang outside the house.”
“You’re scaring me. What’s going on? Does this have to anything to do with the break-ins? With Harmony?” Kate spoke quietly, but quickly.
“I don’t know yet, but better safe than sorry.” He pushed open the door, and Coop went nuts, running in circles, jumping up and down. No amount of commands would calm that beast down, so Mason let him do his thing.
Besides, Harmony seemed to have him under control.
For now.
“If you think it’s too late to move the kids, I can have Mom and Dad—”
“No. They took Jessica for the night and the boys are still awake. Way too much candy and they are wired, so this will be good.”
“Thanks. Text me when you get there, okay?”
He tapped the end button.
Harmony held her cell up. He shook his head. “Don’t call yet,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Because we don’t know if we really need to yet.” He had no idea what he was dealing with or why she’d been placed in the Witness Protection Program, but he intended to find out.
“Read this email.” She handed him her phone and then plopped herself down at the kitchen table, Coop sitting protectively at her side. Coop had only been a few months old, but from the beginning, he hated Julia. Wouldn’t go near her, listen to her, or even let her pet him. He didn’t like Lilly any better.
Harmony was different and if Coop sensed a kindness in her that deserved his affection, then Mason would give her a chance.
He scrolled through the threatening email, swallowing the bile that bubbled in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t take too kindly to intimidation, especially when his family was involved. But this went beyond that.
“In five sentences or less, tell me the history here,” he said, not looking up. He had no desire to see Harmony’s face. He wanted to hear the words first, then he’d gauge her facial expressions.
“Anna is my ex’s sister. She blames me for his incarceration,” Harmony said with an even, yet tight tone, a flare of anger dropping from each syllable.
“Who is your ex?”
“Lucas Montana.”
“Who is he and what did he do?” The name didn’t ring any bells. Mason didn’t know if that was good or bad.
“He and I ran poker tables together.”
Mason snapped his gaze to meet Harmony’s. “Who started them?”
“He did, but I willingly participated, and I was good. But I had no idea about his drug running until I was in over my head. The FBI offered me a deal, and I ran with it.”
Christ. She’d just broken that contract, and they could cut her loose. He should have let her call her handler. Then again, he was a cop and duty-bound to protect her, and he would do exactly that.
“So, that picture is you and your ex,” he said, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “What happened to your baby?” He lowered his eyelids, glaring.
“I lost him,” she said, choking on a guttural sob, her hands covering her belly. “When I miscarried, that’s when I decided I needed to work with the Feds.”
“I’m sorry,” Mason said. “I can’t imagine that kind of loss.”
She pressed her hands against the table. “No. You can’t. And I had to go back and take two more beatings—”
“What!?” Mason stood, kicking back the chair. “He hit you and that’s why you lost the baby?”
She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Yes.” Her single word hung in the air like thick, black smoke.
He breathed in deeply through his nose and exhaled slowly, counting to ten. Any man who hit a woman was no man at all.
And what this Lucas did was nothing shy of the murder of a potential life.
“He’s behind bars?”
Harmony nodded. “I never had to testify because he took a plea.” She smoothed down the front of her dress, which she hadn’t changed from yet. “If I’m not going to meet Anna, then I really need to make that phone call.”
“You’re not going to make it,” he said.
“I have to. I’m putting your family at risk if I don’t.”
“I said you’re not going to make the call. I am.”
She shook her head.
Coop followed suit.
Damn dog was always going to take her side.
“You can’t. I’m breaking all the rules telling you any of this.”
“Let’s not forget I’m a cop. That changes things, and my boss and I will deal with the Feds and this Anna chick. But the bigger question is how did she find out where you were? That takes some skill.” He scratched the back of his head. “Or maybe there is a leak.”
“You mean someone in the FBI told her where I was?” Harmony’s voice screeched.
Coop pushed his nose up under her hand, licking wildly, as if that would make this situation any better.
“I’d like to believe that couldn’t be the case, but money talks,” he said. This changed things and calling the Feds might not be a good idea.
But calling a friend would be. “Hey, Siri, call Tim Winser.”
“Who’s that?” Harmony asked.
“An ex-marine I served with who married a Federal Agent. They live in LA, and I bet she can help.”
“Betting is what got me into this mess,” she mumbled.
“Well, taking a calculated risk is going to get you out of it and make sure you can keep your life here.” He inched forward, holding out his arms. “I’d like a second date.”
“This is no time to be having this conversation.”
He pulled he
r to his chest, running his fingers through her hair.
She shivered.
“I need to call my buddy, and my boss. Then you and I are going to pay this Anna bitch a visit.”
Chapter 10
FOR THE LAST YEAR, Harmony had to rely on others. She’d had no control of her life. The FBI told her what her new name would be. Her occupation. Where she’d live. She thought she’d be able to pretend to be someone else, but in the end, it didn’t matter what she changed her name to, she was still that girl who ran poker tables. She might have done the job willingly, but hindsight is perfect vision and she regretted ever saying yes to Lucas.
About anything.
“What are you thinking?” Mason asked as he pulled down Lincoln Street two towns over. The dark sky had started to lighten, but the sun’s rays were still hidden behind the horizon. It would be at least forty minutes before the sun would rise and with the dawn of a new day, Harmony figured she’d be starting a new life.
Again.
And this time she wouldn’t become attached to anyone.
Or anything.
She’d be that crazy lady that lived down the street that all the kids were afraid of and the adults ignored. She’d have to talk Sterling into making sure she was a computer geek or something. Anything where she could work out of her home and interact with not a single person.
“I’m wondering how Anna found me so quickly and what Lucas has to do with it.”
“Tim’s wife, Alice, is checking into your case. She’s got a pretty high clearance, which means she should be able to find out who knows about you,” Mason said, glancing in her direction. “Which begs the question: why would an agent give Anna, if this is indeed Anna, any information?”
“You don’t think it’s Anna?” She shifted in her seat, facing him as he pulled into the parking lot of a twenty-four diner.
“I don’t know what I think,” Mason said, shutting off the lights and unbuckling his seat belt. He had insisted they take her car, for authenticity, but then refused to let her drive.
The trust level wasn’t there, and could she blame him?
“What little I’ve read on Anna, or that you’ve told me, she’s not the type to go threatening children.”
“But she and her mom were close, and Anna blamed me for her mom’s failing health.” Harmony swallowed. “I didn’t know her mother had died, which gives us more reason to believe Anna is the one threatening to hurt your family.”
“Still doesn’t make sense to me.” Mason rubbed the back of his neck, something she’d seen him do a few times when he’d been deep in thought. “Sure, I can see her tossing threatening words around, but to go as far as break in and the puppy—”
“The puppy,” Harmony repeated. “A Shepherd just like Oscar.”
“Who is Oscar?”
“He was Lucas’s dog. Anna accused me of stealing the dog when her brother had gotten arrested, before I was taken into protective custody.” Harmony rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. “Maybe she was trying to set me up so that you’d have to fingerprint me and it would come back to—”
“We did get those fingerprints, and nothing came up in the Federal database, so your real name, and your prints, no longer exist.” Mason pushed open the driver’s side door. “We can go five rounds trying to figure this shit out, but its best we go to the source.”
“I don’t think meeting her together is a good idea,” Harmony said as she stepped onto the broken gravel. “What about your family?”
“You heard my buddy, they are safe and sound in my parents’ home.” He reached out, taking her hand in his. “Trust me.”
“Because trust comes so easily to either of us.”
He let out a slight laugh. “I trust you are telling me the truth about Lucas and your case, how is that for starters?”
No matter how truthful she had been, this thing with Mason was headed nowhere, fast. “You know I have to leave when this is all over.”
“No. I don’t.” He tugged her along the walkway and pulled open the door. “But we can talk about that later.”
She stepped over the threshold, scanning the restaurant with its dated metal tables with vinyl-covered, orange cushions. A woman with an actual beehive hairdo snapped some gum as she waved.
“Take any seat you like. I’ll be right with you.”
A man with his back to them sat at one of the booths on the right side of the room, but that was it. No Anna.
“We must be early,” she said.
“You’re right on time, Heidi-ho,” the man said as he slipped from his seat and turned to face them with a smile.
Harmony blinked as the room spun around her, blurring out everything but him…
“Come to Daddy.”
***
“That’s your father?” Mason asked. But her parents were dead.
Fuck. Harmony’s parents were dead, not Heidi’s. God damn it. He should have asked that question before they left his house.
“Guess my little Heidi-ho didn’t tell you about me.”
“My name is Harmony, and you’re dead to me.” Harmony squeezed his hand so tight it cut off the circulation. “I don’t even remember you.”
“Consider me back from the dead,” her father said with a smile. The man wore expensive Italian shoes and a designer suit. He looked like a diamond shining in a pile of shit, only he was of the fake cut. “And I know you remember me calling you Heidi-ho.”
“My mother called me that,” she said with a strained voice.
“Ah, yes. Mary. Poor woman. I was deeply disturbed when I found out she’d killed herself. I even thought about coming to get you, but I had some things to take care of.”
“What are you doing here, George?” Harmony asked with venom spewing from every word.
“I’ve come to reconcile with my Heidi-ho.”
“Don’t fucking call me that,” she said, her chest heaving up and down with each heavy breath. “I haven’t seen you since I was a little girl. What makes you think I want to see you now?”
Mason took a good look around the restaurant. The waitress had disappeared and not a single soul was in sight.
Not good.
“I don’t care if you want to or not, but you’re coming with me.”
“Like hell she is,” Mason said, snapping his attention in George’s direction.
George laughed, waving his finger. “Deputy Sherriff Mason, you are so damn predictable, and you’ve made this way too easy, taking away some of the fun.”
“What are you blubbering about?” Harmony asked, leaning against Mason.
“Gathering his family together. Smart, but stupid at the same time.”
He reached for his phone, but George pulled out a pistol.
“They are safe, for now, but if my little girl and I don’t walk out of here, the entire house goes up in smoke.” George made a poof motion with his hand like a magician would.
“What do you want with me?” Harmony asked, taking a step forward, but Mason tugged her back, pushing his shoulder in front of her. “You ran out on me and Mom when I was little and you never looked back. And now you show up out of the blue, in your fancy clothes, and if you think I’m going anywhere with you, you’re nuts.”
“I’m not nuts, and you are leaving with me. Together, we are going to run some major poker tables.”
“How do you know about that?” Mason asked. A hard object pushed against her hip.
His gun.
“The world is a tiny place and her ex, Lucas, and I, we had some business together, so when my little girl—”
“Call me your kid again and I’ll—”
“What? Heidi? What are you going to do? Run to the Feds? Well, I got news for you. Your handler, he’s in my pocket.”
“Sterling?” she asked in a long breath that sounded like defeat.
“No. Your new one, Ricko. He and I have a deal. And now I’ve got the best poker table runner this side of the Mississippi, one who had been right
under my nose all along.”
Mason’s pulse surged. He’d hemmed and hawed about who to call in the FBI, besides his friend’s wife. Alice had recommended they contact the agent who had known her the longest, since she suspected the leak might be new, otherwise, why wait this long?
Made sense.
So, perhaps Sterling was close by, but if it was Ricko, they were fucked.
“That’s all you want from me is to run a few poker games?” she asked.
Mason could tell by the tone in her voice that she was ready to bolt, and not because she wanted to.
But because she had to.
A faint flash of light caught his attention from outside. He couldn’t see through the dirty windows to the darkness of early morning, but he did understand Morse code.
Hit the deck.
“She’s not running any poker tables with you,” Mason said.
“You really want to leave this place in a body bag, don’t you?” George said, taking a step forward, the beam of light flashing between him and Harmony, landing on George’s chest.
“That’s not how it’s going to go down.” He grabbed Harmony and tossed her to the ground, covering her body with his. A single shot rang out, hitting the glass, shattering it into a million pieces. Three or four grazed Mason’s back.
He gritted his teeth, keeping Harmony protected as he heard someone race through the front door.
“FBI, don’t move,” a man’s voice rang out.
“Mason, you okay?” a familiar voice asked.
Alice.
“I think I’ll live,” he said, lifting his head and brushing Harmony’s hair from her face. “What about you?”
Her eyes went wide as she struggled to breath.
“Get the paramedics,” he yelled, jumping to his knees, ignoring the tearing of his skin as he moved.
“You’re going to need some serious stitches,” Alice said, tucking her gun into her holster while some other agent cuffed George, holding a towel to his wound.
