by Lexi Blake
Rachel’s hands went to her hips. “Laura picked a book called Her Two Cowboys by the romance author named Libby Finn. It’s a ménage where this dipshit chick thinks she can handle her stalker with kindness or something, but then she finds these twin cowboys in a small town and falls for them. It’s a good book and that woman’s mind is filthy, but damn, the heroine could be a little more trusting, you know. It’s ridiculous that she won’t tell the sheriff the mob is after her. Also, those two men are so much smarter than my husbands. But seriously the fact that the heroine accidently ends up kissing the wrong brother is silly. You can always tell.”
Yep, she would be missing book club again. She was totally skipping out because while she had a thick skin, she did not need to hear about all the ways she’d gotten it wrong. She got enough of that off the Internet.
Everyone was a critic.
“Have you read that one, Nell?” Laura had that suspicious gleam in her eyes.
Nell put on her blandest smile. “I tend to stick to nonfiction and the classics, but you know I would never judge anyone on what they read. You should read what makes you happy.”
“Nonfiction texts about climate change make you happy?” Holly asked.
“Only in that knowledge makes me happy.” Though she had to admit that sometimes ignorance really was bliss.
She needed to back off. If Henry felt better with protection around the house, then she wouldn’t cause a fuss. Of course when the baby came, they would have to talk about better hiding places.
She could imagine Henry’s face when he realized she’d known about them all along. It would make him think twice about keeping things from her.
As for whatever happened at Seth’s cabin, she would drop that, too. Henry seemed haunted by whatever he’d done. He would talk to her when he felt comfortable enough to. If he’d had to do something terrible to protect their friends, then she would help him get through it. Henry was a gentle soul at heart. She simply had to be patient and he would open up to her.
“I find it interesting that the cowboys are named Mac and Ty,” Laura pointed out. “That seems like too close to be a coincidence.”
Well, she couldn’t simply call them Max and Rye. That would have outed her quickly. The fact that the heroine was named Rene was pure coincidence. After all, she’d written it before Rachel had ever come to town. And she thought it was awfully judgmental of Rachel to condemn her poor heroine’s trust issues. “You think someone wrote that book who knew Max and Rye? Someone wrote their love story with Rachel? That would be so interesting.”
She wouldn’t lie outright, but she could hide behind a wall of wide-eyed naïvety.
“It was published before Rachel came to town, but those brothers are awfully close to Max and Rye,” Laura pointed out.
Rachel laughed. “Mac and Ty are much smarter. They figure out Rene’s problems way before she’s willing to talk to them. See, that’s why we need to move the meeting. Max is fine being known for his hotness, but Rye thinks he’s an intellectual. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”
“Because he’ll spank you silly,” Holly pointed out.
Rachel grinned. “In that case maybe I should have it at my house.” She winked. “There’s Callie. See you guys there?”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Holly gave her a wave and her eyes lit up. “Lunch is here. I’m starving. I kind of hoped the fertility treatments would suppress my appetite and I could lose some weight before I gain a bunch, but it hasn’t.”
Stella set the plates down in front of them, and Nell found her appetite was back as well.
“I’m hungry, too.” It was good to let go of her suspicions. “And forget about the stuff I said before. Laura’s right. I’m being paranoid. Eventually I’ll talk to him about the guns, but I’m letting it go for now. He seems shaken by what happened to Seth and Logan and Georgia. I’m going to be supportive.”
Laura reached out and put her hand over Nell’s. “I think that sounds like a Nell thing to do.” She sat back. “But I’m still going to figure out who Libby Finn is. I think you know her. I think you’ve been feeding her stories for years.”
“I would never feed someone stories about my hometown.” Not a lie. She would, however, write them herself. It was good to know Laura wasn’t as close as she thought she was. “Holly, tell me all about your fertility treatments.”
Nell worried about the chemicals, but if Holly thought this was the best way to take her shot, she would be supportive. It was the theme of the day.
Holly started to tell her all about it and Nell settled back.
Everything was going to be okay. She just had to believe it and it would happen.
* * * *
It was all going to go to hell. He could feel it. He needed to hold out a bit longer. Wolf Meyer’s wedding was soon and then…
Then he might not make it to his anniversary. Maybe he should wait for that. Perhaps celebrating their anniversary would soften Nell up. He could plan something lovely—picnic under the stars with chocolate-covered strawberries and her favorite salad. He could gently make love to her and then when she was satisfied, slip in that “hey, I used to be a CIA operative and I killed a whole bunch of people but they’d all deserved it.”
He hoped.
Yeah, that was going to go over like gangbusters.
“Henry, you okay?” Seth Stark was the one who wasn’t okay. He was hooked up to a whole bunch of machines that monitored his every bodily function.
Henry had dropped off Nell at Stella’s and then made the drive to the hospital in Del Norte, where Seth would be laid up for at least another day. He’d texted and been told Logan and Georgia were downstairs in the cafeteria.
Henry sank down on the chair next to Seth’s bedside. “I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you alone. Does Logan know everything?”
Seth’s eyes closed, and he took in a long breath. “I’m sorry about that. He doesn’t know everything, but he knows enough.”
Henry had told Logan the basics, but he needed to know if Seth had filled him in on the rest. “No. Don’t be. I’m only asking because I need to know how much to tell him. He should know what’s been going on for the last several years. Seth, I should never have put this on you.”
Seth’s eyes came open and he winced as he turned a bit Henry’s way. “I didn’t actually tell him, you know. He figured it out. He’s smarter than he thinks he is. You should know that Georgia figured it out, too. The man kept talking about John Bishop, and it wasn’t so hard to connect those dots. Outside of Logan, you’re the person I’m closest to in Bliss. Logan remembers what you were like when you first came to town. I think everyone else has forgotten.”
He was the monster who’d smiled enough that people had forgotten how sharp his teeth were. “There are some new people who have suspicions. I probably shouldn’t have killed Gemma Wells’s ex-fiancé the way I did.”
Seth’s lips kicked up slightly. “Ye old internal decapitation?”
“Force of habit.” He cringed even as he said it. A man’s habits shouldn’t include a favored method of murder. He didn’t want to be this man. “Are you feeling okay? I know how the cartel treats people it wants information out of.”
He’d been on the receiving end more than once.
“It was awful, and now my future wife knows exactly how serious I am about her. She knows I’ll do anything to protect her, even take a beating.” Seth always found a way to look on the bright side of a situation. “It’s weird. I think it was way harder to sit there and let them beat on me than it would have been to do what you did. Not that I could have. Really it was best that I was the one tied to a chair.”
“You did everything perfectly. You gave Logan time to come get me.” He didn’t want Seth to think for a second he’d been less than heroic. “I was proud of how you held up.”
“Thanks. I knew Logan would save us. It was good to have faith. I haven’t always had it, you know.” Seth turned serious. “But you didn’t come here to
recap yesterday. We need to talk about what’s going to happen.”
It was exactly why he’d come here today. Seth had told him a little, but he’d been in pain and then on drugs. “How bad is the situation?”
“The cartel definitely knows you’re alive. According to the man who tortured me, they found a…somebody who worked at a bar.”
Henry nodded. “Yes, there was a man who owned a bar in Bolivia. He was paid to tell the police what we wanted them to hear. I worried that there would always be rumors. So the cartel knows I’m alive and they connected me to you.”
“They’ve gone high tech. They managed to find the number of the phone you used shortly after you died. You called me,” Seth explained.
Guilt threatened to eat him alive. “Like I said. I shouldn’t have brought you into this. You were a kid.”
Seth snorted at the thought. “If you hadn’t called I would have tried to track you down. I was completely fascinated with you. You underestimate my stubborn will. In the months you were gone, I’d already managed to put some stuff together about you. I had a whole file.”
His heart clenched. “That could have gotten you killed. You’re lucky you didn’t get the Agency on your doorstep. They don’t like having their operatives looked into.”
“Hence it was good you decided to come back and you needed my help. You should take it again now because if you don’t, I’ll try to do it all myself, and it could go poorly. I had Logan bring me my laptop and I did some investigating this morning. This Jones guy, he was looking for information. I have no doubt if he’d found you, he would have taken you in,” Seth explained. “But he clearly didn’t want to be wrong. I think I’ve managed to trace him back. I checked his phone records. He’s had no communication with his employers in the past week. He was a guy looking to move up in his organization. He wanted to walk back into the office with you as an offering.”
“So Jones knew where to look, but no one else knew what he was doing.” He went over the possibilities in his mind. “I assure you if the cartel knows I’m alive, they’ve got feelers out. If they’re looking, eventually they’ll find me.”
“Jones got lucky. I can hide you. He didn’t know the name Henry Flanders. He was only here in town because I was. I think it’s time for John Bishop to resurface.”
He knew Seth wasn’t talking about him going back into business. “I take it you mean to put some rumors on the Deep Web? Maybe fake some pictures of me in another country. If you do that I’ll have more than the cartel looking.”
“The Agency?”
Henry sighed and sat back. “Yes, though I suspect they’re already looking. I assure you the Agency still watches the cartels, especially the ones that work more closely with jihadists. If the Agency knows I’m alive, they will want answers I’m not willing to give them. Or they might simply send someone to kill me.”
And Nell could be caught in the crossfire.
“Let me poke around a bit,” Seth said. “I have a lot of government contacts. I also have contacts that I probably shouldn’t. Don’t do anything right now except watch your back. If someone has eyes on you, anything out of the ordinary could tip them off.”
He wasn’t wrong about that. “I’m out of practice.”
“Then let me help you. Unless you want to reach out to old friends. How about that guy in Dallas? The one you said I should work with when I had that corporate spy problem.”
Seth had been the only one he could talk to over the years. “Taggart. He thinks I’m dead. Ian is oddly the most reasonable of my former…students. I worry I would be dragging him and his family into something they shouldn’t be involved in. He’s got kids now. I think it best I leave him out of this. I’m going to do some research.”
He’d already decided to do it the previous night. He’d gotten next to no sleep, merely sat in bed watching Nell and wondering if he was going to lose her.
He needed to get a lay of the land. He’d completely washed his hands of everything having to do with the cartel when he’d walked away. It hadn’t been hard. It wasn’t like he’d made friends there, but he had felt guilty for leaving a few people behind. Taggart had left the Agency around the same time and he’d done well for himself. Tennessee Smith was another of his trainees, and even he’d left the Agency after some time. Kayla Summers was the one he felt the most guilt over.
“I can help you with that,” Seth promised. “But first you have to decide what you’re going to do about Nell.”
“I’m going to tell her.”
A brow rose over Seth’s eyes. “When? I think it needs to be soon. It was an easy secret to keep when it was only you and me who knew. As soon as I can get out of this bed, I’m going to take Logan and Georgia to New York. I have some things I need to do there. I want you to think about coming with us.”
“That would only put a target on you. And I think you’re right about not doing anything out of the ordinary. My Nell getting on a private jet would be out of the ordinary.” She didn’t like big cities. She was a country girl at heart. Though maybe if he took her somewhere like New York, she would be forced to cling to him.
He hated this. He hated the way his skin felt too tight, like that bastard John Bishop was trying to get out, wanted another taste of what he’d had the day before. Like his old life was a shark that had merely dove deep and now was resurfacing to feed again.
“I want you to stay out of this, Seth.” He already had too many people to worry about. He’d sat with Nate Wright and Cameron Briggs the night before and told them everything he knew about the possible danger that could come to Bliss.
“Like I said, I’m already in it, and it’s hard for me to stop once I’ve started.”
“You have a family now, too.” He couldn’t risk any more people than he already had.
“Yes, he does, and this family sticks together,” a deep voice said.
God, he was out of practice if he hadn’t even heard the door open. He turned and Logan and Georgia had apparently cut their lunch short. Henry stood and faced Seth’s new family. “You should, and I think New York is a good place for you right now. I don’t want you to have to go through anything like this again.”
Logan merely smiled.
Georgia strode in and took her place at Seth’s side. “Well, I thought it was exciting. And I was good. I’m thinking seriously about a job with the CIA.”
Seth groaned. “You would bedazzle the whole place.”
Georgia’s shoulder shrugged. “Shiny objects distract people. I suspect they work on spies too. After all, my boobs distracted that jerk long enough for Logan to save the day.”
Logan’s jaw tightened. “He’s lucky he’s dead because I would very much like to kill that fucker again. Henry, I didn’t get a chance to say thank you.”
Henry shook his head. “No need. You wouldn’t have been in danger without me.”
“That wasn’t what I meant,” Logan corrected. “I meant thank you for taking care of Seth all these years. You’ve been more a father to him than his own.”
“Because my own is an asshole,” Seth offered.
“You kept up with him even when I didn’t, and I appreciate it. Seth brought us all together, and you had a part in that,” Logan continued. “I understand that you feel guilty, but I also understand why you did what you did. You fell in love with Nell and you had to get out in order to be with her. You changed your whole life for her. I get it. I admire you for it. But it’s time to tell her.”
“I don’t think that’s going to go well.” Georgia almost always said what other people were thinking.
“She will understand.” Logan moved close to Georgia. “If there’s one thing I know it’s that Nell loves you. She’ll be okay.”
“I think Henry should count himself lucky that Nell doesn’t believe in violence.” Georgia frowned as though she couldn’t quite believe the “everything’s going to be all right” bit.
He didn’t believe it either. “I’m going to talk to
her, but I would like to push it off a little if I can. If we’ve got some time, I’d like to get through the wedding before I talk to her. I know I have no right to ask…”
Logan held up a hand. “We’re not going to say a thing. This is between you and your wife. And Seth here tells me you probably have time. Nate’s got to be ready, though, and that means telling some of our citizens. Cam’s got to know. So does the mayor. You have to bring in Stef at some point.”
The wedding was only a couple of weeks away. “I need to process this and figure out how fucked I am.”
“We also need to be on the lookout for new people hanging around town,” Seth pointed out. “If your old bosses figure out what the cartel did, they’ll likely send someone in.”
Henry nodded. “I’ll be on the lookout. I know there are a couple of new hires at the lodge, and I think River Lee hired some guy from Canada.”
“And the blonde,” Logan added. “Though I think she’s been here for a while. Name’s Heather and she’s from California. Nate says she’s been helpful. River’s been struggling since her husband walked out.”
He’d met the bubbly Heather a couple of times, but she showed no real interest in him. She talked to Nell at length about granola and the best storage techniques. He hadn’t met River’s other hire at all.
“I need some time. That’s all. After the wedding, I’ll sit her down and tell her. Until then, I’m going to figure out how to protect her. I worry if she knows and I don’t have a plan, she’ll come up with one on her own,” he admitted.
“Or she’ll kick you out and throw, like, tofu at your head,” Georgia said under her breath.
“Hey. Give him a break.” Seth reached for her hand. “He’s been like a dad to me.”
Henry felt the need to point out a few facts. “I am not old enough to be your dad. Could I be like a kindly big brother?”
Georgia’s lips quirked up. “I don’t know. You have serious dad vibes. But I’m on Nell’s side here. And I think she’s hiding some serious rage under all that happy-earth talk.”
He was okay with having dad vibes. He wanted to be a dad, wanted the chance to raise a child with the woman he loved.