by Dale Mayer
The trouble was that snick of the door closing was almost like a prison door snapping shut. Unbelievable. She would be here for several hours no matter how much was on her schedule. No way she could get through these massive amounts of towels and bedding and get the ironing done.
With a sinking feeling, she realized it was time to buckle down and get it done. She quickly realized how futile was her hope to find out more about Anna while serving as a maid here. Mercy needed to get the hell away and go home. There was no other option. Maybe that was what this was all about. Maybe she had to get to the point where she accepted she would have to leave this up to the police.
Two hours later she was still working in the laundry room when the housekeeper returned. She carried a sheet of paper and put it on the wall beside the machines. “Here are the instructions.” She walked out without saying another word.
Mercy glanced at her watch. It was almost noon, and she was well past her time allotted to be done with the laundry. Yet, she was only halfway done. She knew at the end of her shift she would get another lecture, if not get fired. She shook her head. Maybe that would be for the best. She was well known to be a hardworking staff member at her real job, but here she had a sense of never doing enough, never being appreciated for what she had done. However, her fighting spirit and her sense of pride remained intact.
It took her another hour plus to get through the rest of the laundry. When she walked into the kitchen looking for some lunch, she found a premade sandwich sitting on the counter, the edges already dry. She glanced at the chef.
He said, his voice full of irritation, “You’re late.”
She nodded warily. “Three and half hours in the laundry room.” She snatched her sandwich and a glass of milk and went outside. She sat down, looking at the immaculate gardens, thinking about security cameras flickering, realizing even with those minuscule and unknown windows of opportunity, there was still no chance for her to find out anything without getting caught. Surely it was time to leave this foolhardy mission. But, if she did, she felt she would be giving up on her sister.
*
Back at the estate Michael changed his plans when he saw repairmen working on the security cameras. He’d done a good job sabotaging the system without making it look like it had been sabotaged. He’d have to do his best to screw up any attempt to fix it. Or at least make this a long-drawn-out process so he could get a secure window of time to search the estate. As it was, he struggled to maintain the whole “Yes, master” syndrome, the obedience here that was demanded.
While in the military he had no problem obeying orders as he’d believed in the system. Now he wanted to punch some heads to get the information he needed. One of these bastards had likely murdered Sammy. Michael wanted to know who. This morning not once did security figure out that Michael had made several tiny slices in the wires, then flooded them with the sprinklers. They were completely drenched and flickering. The security system would short out from the water.
He’d broken the line on a more remote section of the gardens as well to confuse those trying to fix the system. He needed to delay them in repairing the security cameras. The inside security system was a little bit more complicated. He only had access to a small portion of it but had done what he could with what he had.
He was no electrician, but he was pretty damn handy with wire cutters. At the end of the day, the security system was still not resolved, and he headed back to his small apartment over the older garage used mostly for storage and when doing vehicle maintenance. That’s when he caught sight of the new maid again. He watched her. He’d passed her several times as she sat on the small porch, eating what looked like dry bread. He didn’t think she’d last long.
She looked tired, worn out and, like him, frustrated. He had to wonder at that. Back in his apartment he made himself a sandwich. He hadn’t picked up much in the way of groceries but didn’t want to eat at the big house, particularly after seeing the food served to the new maid, Mercy. Thankfully it was a choice for him.
Then he got into his own vehicle and headed into town. There he picked up a few more groceries and stopped in at the coffee shop. With his laptop and secure Wi-Fi, he checked in for any information from the detective. A message from Ice waited for him. He smiled. Ice was an old friend. He knew her better than he knew Levi. But then, Ice had flown Michael’s ass out of trouble more than a couple times.
Michael owed her his life.
She sent him her complete intel files she’d created on Sammy and everyone else in the house. The detective had sent Michael what the commander had already sent, except some files were more extensive. Michael read through them but found nothing new other than the proof of a relationship between Sammy and Anna, the maid.
Obviously the killer decided that, if one was culpable of spying, likely the other was involved as well. So Anna could’ve been an innocent bystander, but, by association, she’d been taken out.
He opened the folder he’d received from the commander on Anna Gardini and froze. Because there in front of him was an image of the woman who looked so similar to Mercy. He quickly searched the family history, found Anna’s name change. Romano was her family name. Further research quickly revealed a sister. Mercy. “How the hell did Freeman’s security not catch this? Or are they fully aware and will just kill her when deemed necessary?”
He settled back and sipped his coffee as he wondered, “What the hell are you doing here, you fool?” He shook his head disturbed.
Was she here by choice? He couldn’t come up with one damn good reason why she had been coerced here … Or was she really out of work and had asked to take her sister’s place?
As he thought about the reasons why he was here, it was a little hard to ignore the fact that maybe, just maybe, she wanted answers too.
But the last thing he needed was a nosy amateur sleuth asking questions around the place, mucking up his undercover investigation, distracting him from his op. And he didn’t give a damn how sexy she was.
Chapter 4
At the end of her shift, Mercy grabbed a light sweater and left to go for a walk. She had a decision to make. She’d just received the harshest reprimand of her adult life. Still smarting, she headed down the driveway to the gates.
There was no reason why she shouldn’t be allowed to leave. She wasn’t a prisoner. With the outside security all messed up as it was, the gates were still open. With her shoulders hunched, and her head tucked down against the blowing wind, she walked down the driveway. She stood in front of the security camera so they could see her for a moment, and then she walked through the open gateway. Out on the main road, she chose one shoulder and kept walking.
It was hard to imagine being as useless as the housekeeper made Mercy feel. The fact that she couldn’t find any information about her sister just compounded the problem. Everywhere she went, she imagined her sister’s hands doing the same work she was doing. Her fingers stroking along the same walls, the same windows.
There was such a sense of connectedness to Anna in the mansion that, for the first time in a long time, Mercy realized how much she had missed her sister’s presence over the years. Had her sister missed her? Or had she written off her mother and sister and not given them a thought? Mercy would like to think her sister had regretted some of her actions. But it was hard to say.
She wasn’t more than a block away when a light rain fell. “Great. Just what I need right now.” She was sore and tired and almost ready to call a cab and to keep on going. But she had her meager belongings in her room which she would prefer not to leave behind. Neither could she afford to walk away from her car. She didn’t want anyone from the Freeman estate tracking her down and finding her. She hadn’t even brought her purse with her. So she had to return.
The light rain became a soaking drizzle. Even knowing it was foolish to keep going, she couldn’t stop. She was desperate to get as many feet between her and the nasty job she’d left behind—at least for a moment. Finally he
r footsteps slowed, and she turned reluctantly to retrace her steps.
She hadn’t been walking toward the house for more than a few seconds when a truck slowed. She froze as it pulled up beside her. Behind the steering wheel was the gardener. She frowned as the power window dropped so he could talk to her.
“Do you want a ride back?”
She shook her head instinctively.
He gave a disgusted snort. “Yes, you do. You’re soaked to the skin. If you want to keep your job, you can’t afford to get sick.”
For a brief moment she thought about that being a lovely way to get out of her job. Obviously they wouldn’t keep her if she was sick. Not these people. A person who worked for them was just a number, and more numbers were easily found. She put a hand on the door handle and opened it, then hesitated.
He shook his head and said, “I’m not worried about the seats getting wet. Hop in, and let’s get you back to dry off.”
Without making a comment, she scrambled into the front seat and closed the door. Reaching for the seat belt, she buckled in. He pulled back onto the pavement of the deserted road.
“What are you doing out here anyway?”
“Getting some fresh air and leaving the oppression behind,” she said quietly.
He shot her a curious glance. “Is it that bad?”
She nodded. “Yes, it is.”
“Time for a new job?”
She stared at the gray skies, the rain now running heavily down the window, and muttered, “I don’t know.”
“Why did you take your sister’s place?”
She gasped. “What are you talking about?”
The look in his eyes made her realize he was no fool. She didn’t know what his role in this business was, but it was obvious he wouldn’t take any excuses.
She stared at her fingers for a long moment, then said, “My sister was murdered. I was hoping I could find out something about her last days. They don’t even have her belongings anymore.”
“Besides the utmost stupidity of your actions, did you ask the police for her belongings?”
She nodded and explained, “The detective said they hadn’t received anything of hers, but they did have Sammy’s belongings delivered by the estate. The detective did say he’d contact me if they found out anything new, but I haven’t heard from him yet.”
On that thought, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and checked for messages, but again there were none. But then, who else would contact her? Her mother was gone, now her sister too. Mercy only wanted to hear from the detective. Of course she wasn’t even on his priority list.
“And, if your sister was murdered, what makes you think you’d find any information here?”
“It’s where she lived, where she worked. And maybe where she had a boyfriend, but I don’t know about that yet.” She looked at him. “You’re replacing a man who was murdered too.”
He nodded. “I know. But I didn’t have anything to do with either of the murders.”
“Neither did I.”
They came up to the gates of the estate, which were still open. He drove through and around to the back entrance to let her out. “Make sure you watch your back.”
She had the door open when she understood the gist of his words. She turned back to him. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, with two dead, a third won’t make any difference.”
With his cryptic words ringing in her ears, she hopped out and slammed the truck door. She didn’t know who he was, but he certainly didn’t appear to fit the role of whatever he’d taken on here. Unless he was also a bodyguard. With eyes that looked like steel and his hard body, he had a panther’s grace and the air of a predator. One that seemed to be in a relaxed state, looking normal, but was always ready for action, with muscles that would bunch and move on demand like the big untamed cat he was inside.
She hurried back into the house and upstairs to her small room. She passed no one on her way, but she had no illusions about being watched. She was always being watched. She’d just never caught them at it.
Once inside her room, she quickly stripped off her clothes and hopped into a hot shower. When she was warm and her hair shampooed, she stepped out and wrapped up in a big towel.
The medicine cabinet in front of her opened easily, and she took out her toothbrush. It was early yet, but she might as well get ready for bed. She needed the extra rest. While she was brushing her teeth, her eyes surveyed the cabinet. It was loose in the wall. She jiggled the corner to see if it would fall. It was only a foot and a half across, but she wasn’t sure how heavy it was, although it appeared to be made of plastic.
She carefully pulled it forward and set it down on top of the sink counter. A small notebook was left in the recessed area. With excitement coursing through her, she picked up the notebook and placed it atop her clean nightie, then carefully replaced the medicine cabinet. She finished brushing her teeth and found herself looking around the small bathroom, searching for cameras.
There was always a chance this room was bugged or under video monitor, and she had to be careful. Though it was illegal, she didn’t think anybody here would give a shit about laws.
She went through the motions as if going to bed—grabbed a book she had on her nightstand, crawled into bed, turned on the lamp. With the notebook tucked inside the book’s pages, she opened both the book and notebook and started to read.
On the first page was her sister’s name—Anna. Not knowing why her sister would have this book and why she had hidden it, Mercy flipped through the pages, finding detailed entries of things going on in the house. Curious, yet disturbed at the same time, she read her sister’s notes about weapons being unloaded in the garage.
Not a gun or two but crates of them. Her heart pounding, she flipped through the pages to find more entries of random unnamed guests but no further mention of guns was made.
When she finally made her way to the end of the book, she found little personal notes about her sister being desperate to leave. She’d hooked up with Sammy, and together they planned on moving. Not around the corner where they would still be close to the mansion and could keep working here, but they would head north to get away. Anna confessed she was in love with Sammy, but something about him worried her.
Secretive, dangerous. And then she wrote the word Trustworthy?
Her last entry was I have to take this chance. I can’t stay where I am. I have to trust Sammy. I love him. I hope I’m doing the right thing.
With her heart pounding and tears in her eyes, Mercy slowly lowered the book and tucked it inside her pillowcase under her head. Hearing the words in her sister’s heart was so damn difficult. Mercy’s own heart filled with regret about all that could have been. This notebook wouldn’t convict anyone, but it could help. Except … with all the eyes on her, how would she get it to the detective?
*
Ice’s intel confirmed that Mercy had used her real name when applying for this maid position. Michael should’ve asked her if her employer knew who she was. It could determine if she was here on the sly or if they were aware of her connection to their previous maid. They might not have cared. On the other hand, they might care in a big way if they hadn’t found out beforehand.
In his days here, he hadn’t found proof of any wrongdoing. Sammy had been a good SEAL. He should’ve left some warning signs somewhere. It was up to Michael to find them. But he couldn’t afford to take time to find something that may not exist.
He drove around to his little apartment and parked in the back. Pulling out the bag of groceries along with his laptop, he headed inside. There, he found the main door still locked to his room. The hair he had placed was still there too. He walked inside, locked the door behind him and placed his items on the counter. He checked to see if the other security measures he had put in place were untouched, and the slivers of invisible tape were still affixed randomly to all the windows—which meant nobody had entered the apartment since he’d left. At least through that
door. He did a quick search of his apartment as he did every time he entered. He couldn’t afford to be sloppy.
Reassured, he made himself a small pot of coffee and booted up his laptop again. He had security measures on his internet connection too that would stop others from hacking in. He’d sabotaged the security system in and around the estate but hadn’t had a chance to deal with Freeman’s internet feed, and he would love to get access to that. So far, he hadn’t been granted entrance into the mansion long enough to even have a cup of coffee.
Now that he knew the name of the previous maid, he did a search to check out more about who Anna Romano Gardini was, what she was, and what she was doing here. The information was fairly limited, and, outside of a few mentions of her name that could be found by anybody on Google, he couldn’t unearth much.
Anna had a clean driving record, no criminal record, and appeared to be in the best of health, with one issue over a decade earlier of note but not connected with gun-running terrorists. There was no explanation for why she had been here at this estate. Worst-case scenario was Anna was involved with the terrorist cell. Best-case scenario was she had gotten pulled in by Sammy and killed because she’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Michael hoped, for the family’s sake, the latter was the case.
It was always hard for family members to understand and accept the murder of a loved one, but it was always way worse when they found out the loved one had been involved in something so terrible.
As he sat with his coffee, a text came through from Levi. One single word.
Nothing.
Michael tossed his phone on the table and walked to the small couch to sit down. Nothing. So there’s nothing in all of Sammy’s belongings to indicate what the hell’s going on here. He shook his head. Come on, Sammy. You knew better than not to leave something behind.
He glanced out the window and saw the light going out in the new maid’s room. It was awfully early for her to go to bed. On the other hand, she might’ve been chilled from her walk in the rain. Not to mention tired. She didn’t look to be having an easy time of it in the house.