by Nana Malone
I rolled my eyes. “He’s all right if you like big and bossy.”
"So, you and big-bad bodyguard?"
Oh no, I wasn’t getting distracted. "None of your business."
She held up her hands. "Um, it's absolutely totally my business because he works out shirtless, so I'm well acquainted with exactly what you're working with. And I am not mad at you. Way to get you some. I'm glad my fake death got you laid."
"This is not about me. Can we talk about how you faked your own death?"
"I had to. There were some seriously dangerous people after me, and I'd gotten in way over my head. I never meant to involve you, but I knew that you were the only person on earth who would look after Mayzie properly."
"Maybe you should have told your mother that, because she's threatened to sue me for custody."
She sighed. "Ignore her. She wants money. Lots of it. I have a provision in my will if she does that."
"Willa, she didn't even know you were dead."
"Yeah, well, she wasn't supposed to know. It's not like we’ve talked in years."
"Well, you know, you and I haven't exactly talked in a long time either."
Willa sighed. "I'm sorry about that. Look, I had to cut you out. I knew you were right."
“Willa, you can’t just turn back up and think everything is cool."
Willa eyed me up and down. "Explain to me why you're dressed and he's not? Because if I was in a room with that man and he was shirtless, I’d be naked, honey."
"Shut up."
She grinned at that. "You're not such a goody-goody anymore, are you?"
"Focus. Explain to me why the hell you faked your own death."
"Look, from the beginning, the gallery was a passion. I loved art, you know that. And things were going great. But I didn't have quite enough business acumen. I was never like you. The numbers, they just never made sense to me."
"You could have asked for help at any time."
"Yeah, but you know how it is. My stupid pride."
I crossed my arms, and Willa sat at the tiny dining room table. She eased into a chair and fingered the fake petals of the plant there. "Yeah, so there was this guy. He told me that he would pay me to, you know, to ship things and certain artifacts. The key was I couldn't ask questions. You know, I got some local artists to make these vases. I had a gallery opening for them. And you know how art is. People will pay anything. So, I upped the sticker price. And I made a hefty amount on top of my commission for shipping the item to the owner. So I would get paid by the buyer, and then get paid by the person who wanted their items moved. I was a great middle man. No one was supposed to get hurt. And I didn't know what was in the art at first. You have to believe me."
"But you knew the people you were working with were bad news."
Willa nodded. "Yeah, that's why I got out. I wanted a safe home for Mayzie. But people like that, they don't just let you out.”
“Willa, why is it always something like this with you?”
“You don’t understand. I really wanted to be free. When it was clear that they were never going to let me go, I built my insurance contingency.”
“The ledger.”
She nodded. “It belongs to Alex Vanhorn.”
My jaw dropped. “I’ve seen the news Willa. He’s seriously bad news. He’s into everything from drugs to arms to human trafficking. I knew you sold some pieces to him, but you stole from him too?”
She didn’t answer. “Let’s just say I made some bad decisions. Either way. But if I can crack the code, I’ll have proof of the kind of guy he is, and I can buy myself a little breathing room.”
I stared at her. “So, you used me. You placed me right in the line of fire to save your own skin.”
She frowned. “You’re all I have. Don't you see that? You’ve always been all I had. My parents, as cold as they were to you, they were awful to me. I could only ever depend on you.”
“Don’t. What about your little girl? You placed her in danger. For what? Money? All that money in your accounts. Where did it come from?”
“Look, just because I played in the sand box with the wrong people doesn’t mean it wasn’t lucrative. But I’m trying to do better. Be better. For Mayzie. But the problem is you don’t get out once you’re in. You were all I had, my only chance.”
“What about the police, Willa?”
She shook her head. “They would have sent me to jail. Why can’t you see that?”
“So you chose to risk my life instead.”
“No, I chose to save Mayzie’s. I’m getting out. I just needed help to get there. I want to be the kind of mom Mayzie can be proud of."
“She doesn’t need all that money, Willa. She just needs you.”
Willa shook her head. "I know. I messed up.”
“How did this even start?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jax prowling the bedroom. I knew he was listening.
“When I first discovered the drugs and the diamonds in the pieces I was asked to move, I wanted a bigger cut. I had other vases shipped in their places, and then I asked for more money. One of the buyers refused to pay. Two shipments were supposed to be going to two different places. I held on to them. As collateral."
"Oh my God, you're insane."
"It wasn't supposed to end badly. But then I noticed there were men outside the gallery, sitting in a van, watching me. I could have sworn I was being followed home. That's when I started installing bullet proof glass everywhere. It cost a pretty penny, but I had to keep Mayzie safe."
"Still no police."
"Look, I know. I made bad choices. I know that now. But I realized they weren't going to stop. They wanted their shipments, and they just didn't know where I hid them. And I knew I had to keep Mayzie safe and vanish. I wish I could have thought of a different plan."
"Oh my God, so you used me. Just like always."
"This is different, okay? I'm in real trouble here, and I'm Mayzie's mom. You're my best friend. I need your help. Look, I got in trouble, okay? Michael Satorini, his father is the Italian billionaire. His mom comes from cartel money, rumored to anyway. He is completely untouchable. He and I, we had history. He—he’s Mayzie’s father. He didn’t—I didn't tell him at first. But I asked for his help to get out. He helped me steal the ledger, but we had no one to read it. I just want out, Neela. I need help."
“I’m not sure what I can do.”
“Look, you have one cipher. But there was another one.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?” And then it stuck me. “How do you know we found the cipher?”
She shifted slightly. “I left it for you. I didn't want to give them to you together, in case Michael double crossed me.”
“Nice friends you have.”
“Believe me I know. The first cipher was at the gallery. But there is another one. The pages on the ledger at the end. I don’t know if you noticed. There were a series of indents, symbols. They would have looked like they are part of the paper?”
My brows drew down as I tried to remember. “Yes. Maybe, but just on the later pages.”
She nodded. “Yes. Those are another code.”
My heart rate ticked up, the light injection of adrenaline making me come alive. “Are you sure?”
“I have another cipher. I stole it with Michael. And when I left, I took it with me.”
“Jesus Christ, Willa.”
“Look, I know. I was hoping you’d be able to read the journal and then when I came back I could add the missing piece. I didn’t know all this would happen. But things with Michael became contentious, volatile. He grew more violent, and he never wanted any part of Mayzie. I knew I couldn’t stay, but I knew he wouldn’t let me go. We stole that ledger together but I couldn’t let him keep it. Whatever was in it, he wanted access to it and his cut of the proceeds.”
I was tired of being lied to. Tired of not knowing who to trust.
“Where is he now?”
She swallowed hard. “We, uh, had a litt
le disagreement about Mayzie. He wanted to leave her behind. I didn’t. He wasn’t pleased about that decision. He refused to let me leave. Said he couldn’t trust me.”
Jesus. I had no idea what to believe. If she was telling the truth, then she was in the kind of danger I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
“How did you escape?”
She shrugged. “Took him to bed, drugged him, and strolled out the door. His men still thought we were partners.”
“Let me guess. Those were the men at the safehouse?”
She nodded. “Maybe. I tried to take steps to avoid being followed. No way to be sure though. Right now, I have a lot of enemies.”
I ran my hands through my hair and tried to take it all in. “But the car accident… How did you do it?”
“The car? It was rigged to drive off the road. I faked the tire tread and basically pushed the car off the road. There are no lights out there. At night, no one drives that stretch. It's too dangerous. And there are no guard rails. It was easy pushing the car off the edge. I had a driver pick me up and take me somewhere safe."
"But your blood, it was all over the car."
"I know. Remember I donate blood? Like my good deed?"
I nodded. "Yeah?"
"I had a bag of my own blood. I spread it all over the front seat so everybody would think I was dead, even though they'd never find my body."
"So you risked everything. Mayzie, me, my life, because of money?"
"No, not because of money. I had no choice. They were going to kill me. Kill Mayzie. And I couldn't let that happen."
I stood, wiping my clammy hands on my jeans. “One more question… How did you find us?”
I couldn’t tell what it was that flickered in her gaze, but there had been something. “I followed you.”
I blinked at her. “You followed us?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah. The house security feeds, I heard everything about your locations, and I’ve been watching you since I died.”
“That whole time you could have saved Mayzie the pain and you didn't?”
“I had no choice.”
“I don’t know, Willa. From where I’m sitting, there were a million other choices. The ones you made though, put everyone you claim to love in danger. And somehow I’m not surprised.”
Ten
Jax…
I watched Neela and Willa surreptitiously from the bedroom, Mayzie in my arms. Where had she come from and how had she found us? And what the fuck was she doing coming back?
It hadn't escaped my notice that Willa had barely asked about Mayzie. There was no emotional, tear-filled reunion with her baby. Just stone-cold wanting something from Neela. We'd all been wrong.
Bipps had been worried about kidnap and ransom, but this was about something more. Willa needed Neela for whatever stunt she’d pulled. And she was more than willing to put her own child in danger to get her help.
I already wasn't a fan.
But from the look on Neela's face, my opinion would not be welcome. She looked open and relieved and happy.
No way she was that naïve.
Yeah, but all you see is danger and shadows.
I slipped into the adjoining bathroom with the sat phone and called home base. Ariel answered right away. "What the fuck? Where are you?"
"Well, funny you should ask that. The safe house was compromised."
She muttered a curse. "Jesus Christ."
"We have a leaky boat."
There was a breath of silence. "It's not the team."
"I'm not going to argue with you about whether it's the team or not, or Bipps himself. Hell, it could even be Adam or Bex. But unwittingly, someone did something that pointed to our location. Either way, we have a leaky boat."
"Where are you now?"
I chuckled. "You see, the thing about the leaky boat is, once you plug it, the best way to keep it plugged it is to say nothing. We're safe. That's all you need to know."
"You don't even trust me?"
"Of course, I do. You need me. But right now, I can't trust anyone."
She understood what I was saying. There was no denying it. Clearly, there had been a problem.
"I assume you're on the move?"
"We’ve settled for the moment. But we have other problems."
"Christ. Are you ever going to call me when you have good news?"
"Well, this could be good news in a way."
"What?"
"Are you a true believer? Because you should be. Willa MacKenzie has come back to life."
"What the fuck?"
"You know, those were my sentiments exactly. First, she found us. Her explanation for it is weak. You need to sweep for bugs. She’s been listening in on our conversations in the house. She says that’s how she found us."
Ariel's string of inventive curses was impressive. I knew she had it in her, but some of the stuff she said wasn't exactly anatomically possible. "What in the hell is going on?"
"Do a sweep. Do it now."
"Shit. I’m on it. So, are you gonna tell me where you are?"
"Nope. Right now, I'm trusting nobody. It's easier. Safer."
"I hear you. The clients are safe though?"
"Yeah, they’re right as rain."
"Willa MacKenzie. Jesus. So, she's after the ledger then?"
"Ding, ding, ding. She rolled out some sob story, and I need to keep Neela from believing every word that comes out of Willa’s mouth.”
"She's buying it?"
Even though I couldn't see them anymore, I slid my glance in the direction of the living room. "Let's just put it this way, she wants to buy it. She wants to believe her."
"And you don't."
"Remember that thing I said earlier about trusting no one? Especially not motherfuckers who rise from the dead."
"Okay, keep a close eye on Neela then." There was a pause, and then she asked, "Did Willa even ask about Mayzie at all?"
"Nah. She didn't even seem to notice Mayzie was in the room for the most part."
"Mother of the year that one."
"Maybe she's under duress. I don't know. All I know is that I'm currently roommate with the enemy, and I need to get her as far away from Neela and Mayzie as possible."
"Are you sure you don't want back up?"
"Back up requires telling you where I am, and I'm not ready to do that yet. That ledger, it's safe, right?"
"Yeah, locked up tight somewhere no one else can find it. Why?"
"I think it’s the key to all of this. Keep on alert."
"Okay. We'll be on alert. Check in tomorrow."
"Yeah, when it's safe." I hung up on Ariel and stared down at the phone. The possibilities were endless. Willa could have found us a dozen different ways and not a single one of those ways made me at all comfortable. It was plausible that she’d been listening in.
Either way it made me uncomfortable to have her right under my nose. Sure, I could watch her. But she could easily be working against me. As soon as I had a chance, I needed to separate her from Neela and Mayzie. Now, I just had to figure out a way to make Neela happy about it.
Neela…
"I don't trust her." Jax’s voice was low and deep, nearly a growl.
I knew exactly what he was asking. That niggling, whisper of doubt in the back of my mind wouldn’t stop. But I didn’t give an inch. "What?"
The breeze from the balcony felt cool on my skin.
Jax peered through the open balcony blinds. Willa was holding Mayzie, who was crying. I could tell that Jax wanted to run in there.
"Even Mayzie isn’t buying it. She's not even doing the right move. You’ve got to do the bounce and pat."
I eyed him and lifted a brow. "Look, as sweet as I think it is that you know Mayzie so well, Willa is her mom."
"Her mum who faked her own death. She left her to you."
I knew what he was saying. All night I’d been up tossing and turning with what I knew to be true. "But look, she's back now, okay? There's not mu
ch I can do about it. I can't stop her from seeing her daughter. And hello, she's not dead."
"You're buying it? You're buying her cockamamie story?"
"You know, not everyone is as cynical as you, Jax.”
“How did she even find us?"
"She explained that this morning. She’s been listening at the house. She still has access to the security feeds."
Jax lifted a brow. "Oh really? And that doesn’t bother you at all? That she’s been watching you without your permission?"
I swallowed hard. It did bother me. My brain kept replaying what she’d seen. What she’d heard. “She was worried about Mayzie. Not everyone lies.”
He winced but wasn’t deterred. "She didn't want us to know. Neela, look, I get it. She's your friend. But think about it. Every action she has taken has landed her in this position. Landed you in this position. And Mayzie. I'd be really careful about trusting her, if I were you."
"What do you want me to do? All I can do is accept the fact that she has come back. She's Mayzie's mom."
"Bollocks. You are Mayzie's mum. When she was sick the other week, Willa wasn't there. You were. We were the one holding her, concerned about her. You were the one calling the doctor, getting her into a lukewarm bath. You."
"You were with me."
"Yes, I was. The point is Willa was not. She faked her own death to avoid criminals. Think about it. Her first move was not to call the police, but rather to fake her own death, abandon her child, and drag you into this mess."
How could he not see it was her only option? "She was in danger. She had to do what she did to protect herself."
"Which meant putting you in danger? I love how with all of this protection, none of it included actually calling the authorities."
I opened my mouth, but then I had to shut it quickly. He had a point.
"The point is we have to keep her safe. She’s in real trouble."
"That's an excellent idea. Let's go to the police. Do you think Willa is going with us?"
"Keep your voice down."
Inside, Mayzie only screamed more.
Willa bounced her some more and tried to shush her. And finally, Willa just put her down in the play pen and then went and plopped herself on the couch and turned on the TV.
