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“I have one question. Who received the package? Will he get it to the police so Carmichael will go to prison for killing Darren? If not, we’ll never be able to return to Seattle. We know who he really is.”
Mac quickly relieved her of that notion.
“You mean you sent it to Scotty? So we can just stay in the mountains for a while and wait until everyone involved is arrested?”
“Yeah. No trip to the Bahamas or Florida or Mexico. All you get is a dirty old cabin.”
Her eyes lit up with happiness. “Oh, Mac!” With a cry of delight, she flipped a switch on the control panel and turned loose of the wheel to launch herself into his arms. “Oh, Mac, I love you! That was brilliant, sending Scotty copies.”
“Mallory...” He pressed his face into her hair. With all his heart, he wished he could hold her forever.
Something in his voice made Mallory draw back. Looking up at him, she felt a sinking sensation. His eyes were dark with emotion, and it wasn’t happiness. “Mac? What is it?”
“Just that I let myself fall in love with you. But there’s no future for us, Mallory.”
She stiffened. “After everything I’ve done, you still—” She licked her lips. “What do you mean, Mac?”
He glanced around the cabin. “This! We’re nothing alike. I could never measure up.” He raked a hand through his hair and moved farther away from her. “I could never make enough money. You’d hate me within a year. You don’t want that for Em. You want to stick her in a middle-income apartment and give her a dad who can’t spell elaborate? Give me a break.”
“Mac... I’m sure you can spell elaborate.”
“If I can, there’s something else I can’t spell.” He turned and flashed her a grin exactly like Danno’s. It was a grin that told her more than a thousand words might have. A vulnerable grin, calculated to hide his feelings. He lifted an eyebrow. “Imagine taking me home to your mother? Or the two of us going to one of your charity shindigs. I didn’t even make it through my sophomore year of high school. I lied about my age and joined the Marines at fifteen. I’d embarrass you. I’d embarrass your daughter as soon as she got old enough to realize what I really am. And after a month or so, I’d bore you to tears, too. You need a man who can stimulate you.”
“I found you wonderfully stimulating.”
He rolled his eyes. “You need someone to share your interests, to talk to you on your own level.”
“Is it because of Randy?” she asked hollowly.
He groaned. “No. I realize how wrong I was about that.”
“Oh, really? But now you’ll turn your back on me because I’m the little rich girl from Bellevue? Why can’t you open your eyes and see me for what I am? I love you. Sell the Mercedes. Give me a red Volkswagen and I’ll be happy. I don’t care if you can spell elaborate! I don’t care if you can spell I love you, just as long as you can say it.”
“It’d never work.”
“So you say. Well, let me tell you something. I was the one born to money, not Em. And I hated it. My father could never show me affection, so he bought me expensive cars and pretty clothes and sent me to schools I hated. And all my mother cared about was making me into the perfect little lady. I want better than that for my daughter. My life was miserable. And now you’re going to toss me back because you don’t think you measure up? If I could give my daughter a father like you who would hug her and hold her when she cried, that would matter. Not what he could buy her! It’s what a parent says to a child, not how well he says it.” She grabbed up the suitcase. “I’ll show you what I think of my dad’s money, anybody’s money.”
“What—Mallory!” Mac raced out the cabin door after her and caught the suitcase in midair, barely saving it from a one-way trip into the sound. He nearly collapsed on the deck when he had it safely in his arms. He put it down behind himself and stared at her. “Are you out of your mind?”
“No, I’m furious!”
“Raving mad, more like. Do you know how many kids this would put through college?”
“Fine, put kids through college with it! Just don’t throw it in my face. I’ve had it thrown in my face for thirty-four years. Take it! I don’t need it. I don’t want it. It was an escape route for us, nothing more. Why do you think there’s so much of it? Because I never spent it.” She brushed angrily at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Put yourself through college with it. Go learn how to spell elaborate if it will make you feel better. I can work as a nurse and buy my own red Volkswagen.”
Mac sighed. There was no doubt at all, she was right. Now he had to find a way to let her know he was convinced. “Mallory, shouldn’t one of us be driving the boat? We might crash.”
“Who cares?”
“I do. If I plan to marry you, I have to survive the trip.”
“It’s on automatic pilot.” She took one last swipe at her nose and blinked. “What did you say?”
“You heard me.” He caught her up in his arms. Leaning back, he studied her, his eyes glistening in the moonlight. “Are you sure? We could date for a while, you know, try each other out for size. You have no idea what a slob I am.”
She grinned. “Nobody’s perfect. As for trying you on for size, I already have. And you, sir, are a perfect fit.”
“Will you marry me?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
He chuckled. “You won’t want an elaborate wedding, I hope?” She encircled his neck with her arms and hung on tight. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and rocked her to and fro. His foot bumped the suitcase and he smiled. “One nice thing, if it doesn’t work out, I can sue you for alimony.”
She nipped his earlobe. “No way. Keith would keep you tied up in court for years. They told me yesterday that he’s improving, and I have a hunch he’ll like having you in the family so well that he won’t let you get away without a fight.”
He groaned happily. “I guess I’m stuck with you forever, then.”
“And don’t you ever forget it.”
* * * * *
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Lara had hoped to come into this new position without dragging any of her past behind her. She’d wanted a clean start, but that wasn’t going to happen now.
“We have to assume that with Lara’s photo out there it’s possible that somebody in Moretti’s ring might see it and know that it was Lara who
infiltrated them two years ago. It’s possible somebody is out there and looking for revenge.” Victoria looked at Lara. “Maybe it’s time for you to disappear again for a little while until we see how this all plays out.”
“No.” The single word fired out of Lara like a gunshot. “I’m not hiding any longer. I spent over a year in a safe house and I’m not going into lockdown now or ever again.” No way. No how. She needed to get her life back on track.
“So, how high might the risk be to Lara?” Xander asked.
“As I said, with Lara’s help we managed to get Moretti and some of his men behind bars, but we don’t know who might have slipped our noose,” Victoria replied. “And we don’t know how far Moretti’s reach might be beyond his prison walls.”
“I’m not backing down,” Lara said firmly. She’d given up enough because of that monster. She wasn’t about to sacrifice another piece of her soul to the man.
She clenched her hands into fists beneath the table. She needed this job. She needed this new assignment to work out. Her undercover work had made her a virtual pariah within the FBI organization. The last thing she wanted was for this new gig not to work. Then she’d be relegated to desk duty for the rest of her career.
“I’ve got her back if any threats come her way,” Nick said, his dark eyes unfathomable as he held Lara’s gaze.
“We all have her back,” Mei said. The same sentiment rang out from everyone around the table.
Lara might have been grateful if these weren’t all new teammates, if she’d developed a trust with any of them. But, she hadn’t had time to build any confidence in them and ultimately knew she could only depend on herself.
Victoria looked at her again, a question lingering in her eyes.
“I’m here to stay,” Lara said grimly. Moretti was in prison, but even while she’d spent so much time in the safe house in the darkest, deepest recesses of her mind, she’d always known somehow that it wasn’t finished…
ISBN-13: 9781460391532
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Copyright © 1990 by Adeline Catherine Anderson
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