by Sheri Landry
My pen freezes on the page as my eyes snap back to the photo with new interest. The glare from the front window light softens the details of the woman’s face, but that isn’t what has me feeling a sense of loss. The woman behind the counter has dark hair. With one arm on the counter, half of her face is hidden as she leans over with her hands on a display shelf, helping a customer.
“The name of the coffee shop is JD’s.” The cherry on top of all the information Link gave us cuts into my thoughts.
“Okay, that’s enough for me.” My head whips around at the sound of Logan’s voice, and he nods in my direction. I’m not sure I’m hiding my surprise. It still isn’t a lot, but he is giving the go-ahead to check this lead out, and I won’t argue.
“That’s not it, Logan. The guy at the cemetery told me I wasn’t the first person to ask about deliveries to the family grave that day. Someone else has been looking for her. This morning I was scanning some open channels, and I picked up a contract hit offer on Dana. It’s under her real name, and there’s a good chance the buyer is Maxwell. I’m not sure yet why he would be looking for her or wanting her dead, unless he knows about Zane’s program. The contract is sealed, so there isn’t a lot of information to go on. I’m monitoring it, and so far there are two takers. The hit is open, and the value is higher than average. This makes me wonder if it may have come from someone higher up. Maxwell’s finances have been depleted, so if it is from the Sparr group, Matteo may be involved.”
This catches my attention. Matteo had someone close to me executed to prove a point. While I won’t lose sleep over ending his son for his own sins, I won’t rest until Matteo loses his freedom for taking away the lives of so many innocent, good people. Like my father.
“It’s only a matter of time before Jessa finds this information out herself, if she hasn’t already. I’ll update if the hit gets picked up by anyone else. Okay, now this is everything I have.” Link ends his speech, and the room remains silent.
A hit.
The thought freezes me in place. My heartbeat in my ears is the only sound I hear. Link is right—Dana thinks no one is looking for her. She’s walking around with the base code to start Zane up again, and she thinks she’s off everyone’s radar. She’s a sitting duck with no one to protect her.
My blood boils through me and my face warms with anger. Looking across the table, I catch Jack and Logan both looking right back at me as Logan ends the meeting.
“Okay, you heard Link. That’s all he has. Link, we’re disconnecting.” He reaches over the phone and disconnects our call as he looks around our table and continues, “It’s lunch; we’ll meet back here at thirteen hundred hours about this. Grizz, stay behind.” I nod as the guys leave their notes on the table and walk out of the room.
I wasn’t going anywhere anyway. I’m bracing for a disagreement.
When Jessa and Dana were first captured, Logan removed Jack as the mission’s lead. I’m not willing to step down from this op. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I lean back in my seat, waiting for them to tell me I’m out, when Jack swivels his chair in my direction.
“Logan and I spoke briefly before the call. If this ends up being Dana, we need you to take the lead on this with me.” I’m ready to counter him when his words register, and I drop my shoulders in confusion as Jack holds up his hand, asking for time to explain. “We know you and Dana spoke often in the time she was here, and it’s no secret Logan brings out the best in her.” I let out a snort as Logan shifts in his seat with a smirk, and Jack continues, “Our best chance at getting close to her and gaining her trust is you. If I’m too close, she’ll talk about Jessa, and I’m not sure how easily she’ll read me. She can’t know Jessa is alive until we have her out of there and safe. The hit on her escalates everything. Any information divulged out there can put her, Jessa, and all of us at serious risk. Will you take lead with my back—”
My response is out before he finishes his sentence. “Yes.”
“Great. We need to escalate our plan with this additional information. We’ll meet up with the team after lunch and prepare to move out later today. We’ll work out everything en route. And Grizz, both Jessa and Dana are to know nothing for now. Link will coordinate. I’ll give him a call back from my office.” Logan grabs his papers off the table as he finishes his sentence before heading out the door.
Dana is out there alone, and she has no idea what she is carrying around with her. The good news is it’s a professional hit. They’ll stay in the shadows, and we should be able to keep any death counts to a minimum if we find them before they locate her.
Unfortunately, that is also the bad news.
2
Dana
The sun’s rays pick up warm hints of chocolate in my dark brown hair as I twist and twirl it around my fingers. Even after months of this color, I still take a second look when I catch myself in a mirror.
For a moment I wonder who this person is, looking at me, before it hits me: I have no idea. I don’t know who I am anymore.
Just over a year ago, I was sure Jessa and I would still be living under everyone’s radar and working toward our exit plan.
Now I’m living in the middle of nowhere. This town is so small it isn’t officially listed on a map. We get lumped in with Troy, a larger town further up the road. Our main street is a row of five houses that have been converted into surplus stores. My coffee shop was originally a drinking hole before Dale bought a barn and converted it into a bar about ten minutes away. This isn’t a place I ever thought I’d end up in, and my best and only friend is gone. I glance at my unmanicured nails remembering: I haven’t accessed the web in ages.
After downloading my temporary ID off my phone, I hit an internet café and got to work creating my new identity. Choosing a generic name and changing my birthplace to a largely populated city, I became much more difficult to find. And so Dana Pasternak became Kim Johnson of New York. Go ahead, try to find me. When you consider the possibility I might be a Kimberly, the choices are endless.
Once I had a new name, I researched some places to start over. Jessa used to say to go north, because it is always assumed men head north to disappear and women typically go south, where it’s warm. If there’s one good thing about toxic masculinity, its predictability is dependable. She used to say we can always use it for our own benefit.
I followed everything Jessa taught me to the letter, and it has kept me safe all this time. She kept me safe. Following her lessons brought me to the beautiful mountains of Montana.
On my way, I grabbed an external hard drive and downloaded all the other files that came with my marching orders, then destroyed the phone.
There was only one thing I couldn’t do, one predictable thing about me I couldn’t let go of. Even though I have enough money to sit at home and watch movies all day for the rest of my life, I can’t stay still. Thoughts of Jessa and my last days with her play over and over again if my brain isn’t busy. So I did what Jessa and I always said we would do: I opened a coffee shop. I figure I’m allowed one thing. One little thing to remind me of what I love to do and who I left behind.
Everything else is gone.
“Good morning, Ms. Johnson.” Tyler pops his head out from the kitchen as the bell over the door rings on my entry.
“We talked about this, Ty.” I stop in my tracks and look around the coffee shop, nodding at Mr. and Mrs. Grayson in the corner having their morning coffee.
Since I opened the shop nine months ago, they have been my most regular customers. Some days they are my only customers. I’m not complaining though. I don’t want to be popular. I don’t want to be noticed by anyone.
“Sorry, Kim. Good morning. Is Kaley in yet?” He corrects himself, and I smile. He’s a good kid. I sometimes think he’s formal to get a rise out of me.
“Good morning. She’s in the back. I’ve created a monster. She said she couldn’t sleep last night. She had this great idea for a new cookie, and she’s been baking for two ho
urs. Just a heads-up: if she asks you to taste her first two tries, say no.” I stick my tongue out to show my silent distaste, and Tyler chuckles as he points to a plate full of cookies on the front counter.
“This batch is pretty good though. Do you want me to put them in the display?” Tyler reaches over the counter and grabs a cloth, waiting for my answer.
“The usual. Put them out with a sign for free samples. The kids will be in soon to snag a couple on their way to the school bus.”
“They look really good. Is that lavender?” Breathing in through his nose, Tyler’s brows rise in question.
“It is. She got some from the farm on her way in this morning. They are lavender shortbread cookies. I have the school lunches bagged and ready to go too.” I point to the few bags on the counter behind me. “It looks like it’s going to be a quiet day. Not many messages. If you want to take a couple of hours to study now, you can use the back table. I’ll let you know if it gets busy.” I nod my head toward a quiet area at the back. Tyler is retaking his senior year by correspondence, and I know he doesn’t get a lot of time to study on his own.
“Great. Thanks,” he answers. Adjusting his backpack on his shoulder, he walks into the quiet room, passing Mrs. Granger as she makes her way over to the counter.
“Good morning, dear. How are you?” I find her gentle voice soothing. She warmed up to me almost instantly when I first came to town. It took me opening the coffee shop to get almost everyone else to talk to this outsider though.
“I’m well, Gerri. And you? What’s the lowdown from the ladies today?” I lean over the counter as she straightens to look over her shoulder, and I smile to myself. Other than her, there are only three people in here, and she’s married to one of them.
Gerri and the ladies are a small group of older women. They live closer to Troy, for the amenities, but they visit regularly and always seem to know more about what is going on than the people who live here. They’re our version of social media. If you want to know what’s new, you ask one of them. But they have to like you, or you’re not getting an answer.
“Oh, you know me; I’m not one to talk,” she says loudly, and I catch her husband rolling his eyes at his coffee. Then, dropping her voice, she leans in, and I join her to listen to the latest gossip. “It looks like the Millers rented their place out. We drove by on the way here, and sure enough there were some vehicles parked near the cabin. Probably up here to do some fishing since hunting season is done. You might want to drop by with a welcome basket of your treats.” She gives a little wink, and I can’t help but smile as she continues, “Oh, and before I forget, Marge wanted me to thank you for the basket of muffins. She said to tell you she should be back up and around next week.”
Truth be told, that was the information I was looking for. Marge is a widow who lives on her own. She fell in her home last week and was on the floor for a full day before her friends went to check on her when she didn’t show up for their weekly game of bridge. Dropping her voice lower, Gerri continues, “Also, Betty was at the Surplus, and she said she saw a couple of men in there looking around. Said they was good-lookin’. Maybe they are the ones staying at the cabin.” She nods her head and grins.
Mr. Granger stands, straightens his shirt, and drops a tip on the table before making his way toward us. “Come on, Geraldine. I’m sure Kim needs to get to her own business.” He offers me an apologetic smile, thinking I consider our conversation a burden.
Before Gerri objects, the bell above the door jingles, and some of the area kids enter the shop with backpacks. The Grangers offer their smiles and move out of the way.
Tyler jumps up from his seat at the back and saunters to the counter as Kaley walks out from the kitchen and stops in front of the small group of kids who have gathered around her cookies.
All the kids around here know each other. I guess you could say they run in the same gang, but it’s not what you think. The younger kids in and around town are tightly knit. They watch out for each other. Most of them still live with at least one parent, and there isn’t much to do out here. Life is boring but good.
Kaley is basically a chemist. She enjoys baking almost as much as I do, and she takes a crazy scientific approach to it. Her mother was a sex worker who was beaten to death by a client. Kaley was sent to live here with her only remaining family, a grandfather who didn’t know she existed until she showed up on his doorstep.
Tyler was sent to live with a foster family when his father was incarcerated. His last year at school was a rough one. Given his past, he was blamed for all the trouble at his school, and he was kicked out before he could graduate. He just turned eighteen, and he’s on his own now. He’s extremely smart. In addition to studying for his GED, he’s also taking some university-level classes through distance learning to prepare himself for next year. The only thing he was missing was a job until JD’s opened up shop.
The school lunch program was Tyler’s idea. The kids in the area are bussed to the nearest city for class. Bullies and dealers realized that some kids on the bus were sent with money for lunch, as Tyler was. Before lunch, those kids were either beaten up or solicited for their money. Tyler had the idea to give the kids a healthy lunch and keep them safe. So, when the kids come in, they drop off their lunch money, and we give them a bagged lunch with sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, milk, and other snacks. This way, they don’t show up to school with any cash. What they don’t know is, we save the money for them. Each day, after they leave, the money they hand over is recorded and stored. In some instances, it adds up to a few thousand a year. That’s a good head start for them once they finish school.
There are others in town who help as well. First there is Dale, the owner of the barn-turned-bar. He’s been a father figure to many of these kids. The owners of the lavender farm have been a big help as well. During harvest, they hire the older kids, and they often open their doors and their land so the kids can meet up on the weekends. They have some kids of their own, so having everyone on their land for a big fire is better than not knowing where everyone is.
I met the owners, Bonnie and Steven George, when I first came to town. I was looking for a place to stay, and they were kind enough to offer me a small cabin on their land while I looked for a permanent place. This was when I met most of the kids. It was only natural to hire some of them when I opened my coffee shop.
“Okay, that’s everyone.” Kaley pulls me away from my thoughts as the kids file out of the shop and across the street to catch the school bus as it passes through town.
“Thanks, guys. Tyler, your grade-twelve math book isn’t going to learn itself. Get back to it. Kaley, take the cash to the office and record it; I’ll clean up the kitchen. I want to get a couple batches of brownies baked for later today.” I cover the cookies on the counter and make my way to clear the Grangers’ cups.
By the looks of our display case, I have more than enough leftovers to take up to the people staying at the Millers’ cabin. I laugh to myself in reflection. It sounds a lot like Gerri is trying to set me up, but this might be a good way to get a new customer. Having a business that doesn’t make any money will eventually raise some flags.
A bright light flashes into my eyes, catching my attention, and I glance up as the bus pulls away from the curb.
This is a town where nothing happens, and I couldn’t be happier here.
3
Michael
“So this makes a total of four assassins who are about to descend on this quiet little town, if they haven’t already?” Logan hovers his tense body over his computer, speaking into the microphone with an incredulous look carved into his features.
“The good news is, the deadline to accept the hit has passed. It’s now closed. I’ll touch base with Waldo and Tex and check in with updates in an hour.” There is little confidence in Link’s tone.
“And Penny? She’s nowhere near this, right?”
“Affirmative. She’s off doing her thing, and we aren’t drawing
any attention to ourselves.”
“Good. Update in an hour.” Logan taps a key and Link’s image disappears from the screen.
Four hitmen have signed on for this job. Most are driven by money; some may want to prove themselves loyal to the Sparr family. Whatever their reasons, they will all know how many they are up against. This has now become a race to find her first.
Luckily, we already know where she is and who she is now. It’s taken all my willpower to stop from marching into her little coffee shop and dragging her out of there, but we don’t have a handle on any of these contract killers, and we could be walking into a trap at any moment—or leading them straight to her.
In hindsight, we shouldn’t have left Waldo and Tex back on base, but we needed leadership there. When it was only two killers, this operation seemed more achievable. We made the decision to bring Grey along for field training.
But now there are four of them. They know about each other, but hopefully they don’t know about us. So far, Dana’s identity is still hidden, or we would have heard about it by now, which reminds me to check in. I open up communication on the laptop.
“Charlie, how’s the shop?”
Depending on where we are in these hills, connections cut in and out, which hinders our surveillance.
“Shit—one sec,” is his hasty reply, and I listen to a commotion on his end as he mutters something in Spanish. Jack and Logan pause briefly out of concern. “You startled me, and the sun caught my rifle. It may have reflected into her place. Give me a moment.”