by Maris Soule
Passenger door open, Shannon stood next to the car without moving.
Mary hoped there wasn’t going to be a problem. ‘Get in,’ she urged. ‘We need to get you home.’
‘I …’ Shannon shook her head.
‘I’m not going to bite.’ Mary had no idea what her granddaughter thought of her after what she’d heard from David, but they’d have to deal with that later.
‘I know. I didn’t think …’ Shannon sniffed and looked at her. ‘I wet my pants, Grandma. I was so scared, I peed all over myself. If I get in, I’ll get the seat wet. All smelly.’
‘Oh, hell.’ Mary started to laugh, then stopped herself at a warning stab of pain. ‘Don’t you worry about the seat, Shannon. Your dad’s right. It’s time I got a new car.’
With her granddaughter in the car, Mary headed back to Rivershore. She drove as fast as she could within the speed limit, but every bump and jolt in the road caused a pain in her side. She didn’t realize how often she gasped until Shannon said, ‘Are you OK, Grandma?’
‘I’ve definitely had better days.’
‘So have I.’
Mary looked at her granddaughter. ‘I’m so sorry, honey,’ she said. ‘I never thought he would kidnap you, that he’d use you to get to me.’
‘He was so nice at first, said he wanted to talk to me about you, that he was worried about you and wanted my opinion.’ She shuddered. ‘And then he got nasty and pulled out that gun.’
‘Did he do anything to you? I mean, besides tie you up?’ That was one thing they hadn’t discussed before the police arrived, and Mary had no idea what Shannon had told the police who interviewed her.
‘You mean like rape me? No. But he was mean. He wouldn’t let me go to the bathroom, wouldn’t give me anything to eat. I’m starving.’
Mary glanced over at her granddaughter, amazed by the girl’s resilience and relieved that food was Shannon’s main concern at the moment. ‘I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until you get home to get something to eat.’
‘Yeah, I figured as much.’
Mary wasn’t sure what to say next, or how to broach the subject of what David had said. Shannon resolved the problem. ‘He said a lot of nasty things about you, Grandma. How you were the director’s favorite and that’s why you were allowed to leave the agency. Did you really kill people?’
Mary hesitated, and then nodded. ‘All but one were people who deserved to die, but I guess that doesn’t really make it right.’
‘He said you both worked for a secret agency, one I wouldn’t have heard of.’
‘I doubt if more than a handful of people know of its existence.’
‘Why did you quit?’
‘Because the agency made a mistake, and I killed the wrong person. And I think I was getting scared. You can only live on adrenaline for so long. I knew, sooner or later, one of my marks would figure out I wasn’t who I said I was, and I’d be the one who died.’
‘You slept with them?’
Mary wished David hadn’t told Shannon that, but she wasn’t going to lie to the girl. ‘With some.’
‘Do Mom and Dad know about your past?’
‘No, and I’d hoped they’d never find out, that you’d never find out.’ But that wasn’t to be.
Shannon reached over and gave Mary’s leg a light pat. ‘Don’t be embarrassed. I think it’s kinda awesome.’
‘Awesome?’ Mary again glanced her way.
‘Not everyone has a secret agent for a grandmother. And the way you broke his arm with that stick and knocked him down. In a way, it’s not fair that Sergeant Rossini gets all the credit.’
‘I’m perfectly happy to let him take the credit.’
‘My grandma’s a secret agent.’
She said it so proudly, almost like a chant, and that scared Mary. ‘Shannon, that isn’t something I want known. I did what I thought was right at the time, but when I moved here, I wanted to forget that life. I don’t want people looking at me and seeing some sort of James Bond figure.’
‘Yeah, well, maybe, but I think Sergeant Rossini is right, you should tell people about the agency. I mean, if you don’t, someone else might try to kill you.’
For the first time, Mary heard a note of fear in her granddaughter’s voice. When she looked over, she saw tears sliding down Shannon’s cheeks.
‘I don’t want anyone to kill you, Grandma.’ The girl’s voice trembled. ‘They might come after me, too, just like he did. I don’t want to die.’
‘Oh, Shannon, honey.’ Mary pulled over to the side of the road. ‘Come here.’
In spite of the pain in her side, Mary drew her granddaughter closer and kissed her forehead. ‘I am so sorry you had to go through this. I never thought David would do such a thing, and I promise you, I’ll do everything I need to do to make sure no one ever comes after you.’
‘Or you?’ Shannon sniffed.
‘Or me.’ Mary gave her granddaughter’s shoulders a squeeze. ‘Now, let’s get you home.’ The pain in her side made her grit her teeth. ‘And then I think I’m going to go visit the emergency room.’
‘Dad’s going to wonder what happened to you.’
Mary chuckled and pulled back onto the road. ‘We’ll tell him I ran into something.’
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHRISTMAS BREAK WAS over, and life in Washington D.C. was back to its normal, frenzied pace. Snow had fallen the night before, the outside temperature hovering around twenty degrees, so no one paid much attention when a white-haired woman entered the Russell Senate Office Building wearing a hooded, calf-length wool coat. The two senators who accompanied her hustled her through security and into one of the staffrooms. Once they were sure someone would bring her a cup of hot tea and were assured she was comfortable, they scurried off to find the remaining three senators on their committee.
No recording devices were evident. No TV cameras or reporters. When her lawyer had contacted the committee and explained there was a witness who could provide a substantial amount of information about the agency they were investigating, he’d set the parameters for her testimony. She would tell what she knew. After that it would be up to members of the committee to verify or dismiss her information.
The five senators entered the small room, some frowning, some grumbling when they saw her. She didn’t care. She would agree with them that her information was outdated, but one person had considered her a threat to the agency. She hoped what she told these senators would be enough to keep anyone else from bothering her.
‘Good morning, gentlemen,’ she began. ‘I’m here today because for thirteen years I was an agent with America’s Department of Environmental Control, otherwise known as ADEC. During those thirteen years, I participated in the elimination of twenty men and women considered threats to this country. In other words, I helped control the environment we now live in. If you have any questions …’
The phone rang, and Jack looked at the clock. It wasn’t quite 4.15.
Mary? She’d said she’d call and let him know how this first day of testimony went.
He hoped everything was OK. The week before, when they’d had dinner at the Shores, they’d talked about what she was going to say. He knew she would have preferred to put her past behind her, to forget she was ever known as Pandora Coye. But as he’d reminded her, she didn’t really have a choice if she didn’t want another ADEC agent showing up in Rivershore.
From what she’d told him over dinner, her granddaughter was doing well, had seen a trauma specialist a few times, and didn’t seem the worse for her experience. Shannon had vowed to keep her grandmother’s past a secret, but Jack was still surprised that Mary’s son and daughter-in-law had no idea what actually went down in that barn. The day Jack talked to Robert Harrington, telling the man he was putting the final touches on his report about the abduction, he’d nearly laughed when Harrington expressed his concern about his mother’s welfare. It had taken Jack all of his self-control to simply say he thought Mary Harrington wou
ld be all right living alone in her home, and that he didn’t think she’d be bothered by any gang members in the future.
The phone rang again, and he answered, ‘Hello.’
It wasn’t Mary.
‘Hey, Dad, you’re a grandpa again.’
‘Angie had the baby?’
‘Jaxson Rossini – that’s Jax with an x – entered the world at 2.25 p.m. Eight pounds, five ounces and twenty-one inches.’
‘He’s a big one. How’s Angie?’
‘Doing all right. I just left her. She’s a little groggy from the shot they gave her. She did want me to ask if you thought you could get time off and come here next month. She’d like to get Jaxson christened when he’s a month old.’
‘Actually, I’m scheduled to fly into D.C. tomorrow. I have a friend who may need a little moral support. I’d like you to meet her, but if that would be too much …’
‘No. No, that would be great, Dad.’ His son gave a chuckle. ‘You are full of surprises.’
‘I’ve been learning from a pro.’
Copyright
© Maris Soule 2015
First published in Great Britain 2015
ISBN 9780719817878 (epub)
ISBN 9780719817885 (mobi)
ISBN 9780719817892 (pdf)
ISBN 9780719814907 (print)
Robert Hale Limited
Clerkenwell House
Clerkenwell Green
London EC1R 0HT
www.halebooks.com
The right of Maris Soule to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988