I hope the manor’s liability insurance is up to date,” Colleen said to Simon as they watched Jasper secure the pole to both the ceiling and the floor in the main sitting room after the ballroom had proved impractical.
Shay’s friend Cherry had insisted they hold the Widows Club introductory Strippercise class at the manor instead of the Salty Dog. Colleen overheard Cherry tell Jasper it was on account of the mob looking for Shay.
At least the woman had the good sense not to say it loud enough for Maura to hear. Colleen’s granddaughter-in-law had been on a tear since she’d caught Shay in the library. It’d gotten worse last night when Aidan came by to let them know Michael had been involved in an incident near Driftwood Cove, an incident that Shay had been involved in too.
Aidan couldn’t give them details, only to say the couple was fine and riding out the blizzard together at the Inn at Driftwood Cove. Maura had been in a right state after that. It was a good thing Logan had been here to calm his mother down and confiscate her car keys.
Colleen had sent up a prayer of thanks last night. This was exactly what Michael and Shay needed, time alone.
“Oh, Jaspy, that looks perfect,” Cherry said as she walked into the sitting room with her partner Libby, and Libby’s two children, Teddy and Gabby, the youngest of whom carried a pink poodle. School had been canceled for the day. The two women were dressed in stretchy bra tops and boy shorts. Libby’s had a leopard print, and Cherry’s were, not surprisingly, electric pink with rhinestones.
“I might’ve taken up pole dancing myself if it came with a guarantee my stomach would look like theirs…Holy Mary Mother of God, what were they thinking?” Colleen said when Kitty strolled in with her best friend and fellow member of the Widows Club, Rosa DiRossi. They wore high-heeled boots and black Lycra dresses that skimmed their thighs.
Jasper had turned to address Cherry, and his eyes went wide. He opened his mouth as though speaking but no words came out. Unless Colleen had suddenly lost her hearing. “Is he saying anything, Simon?”
But Simon had left her side to wind himself around Cherry’s and Libby’s long, toned legs. She should’ve known she’d lose his attention. He was a leg man.
Logan walked in with Atticus by his side. He took one look at his grandmother and Rosa, said Jesus under his breath, and then turned around and walked out.
“Hey you, handsome, get back here,” Libby called.
“Mom,” Teddy said, like only an embarrassed teenager could, drawing Colleen’s attention to the pretty girl with the long dark hair and attitude. As her gaze moved from Teddy to the little girl at her side, Colleen was shocked to find light blue eyes locked on hers.
Colleen touched her chest. “Can you see me, little one?” she asked Gabby, working to ensure her expression was as genial as possible so as not to frighten the child.
The little girl gave her a hesitant nod, looking about as though to gauge whether she alone could see Colleen. Simon lifted his head and stared at the child. “You’re a canny lad, aren’t you?” she said to the cat.
Jasper, as though picking up on something, too, drew his gaze from Kitty to glance from Simon to the little girl.
This was it, exactly what Colleen had been praying for. Now that Michael and Shay were well on their way to happily-ever-after, Colleen wanted to seal the deal by ensuring that Shay received a copy of the page in her memoir that Jasper and Kitty had clearly forgotten to give Charlie. If they were going to try and correct the wrongs on her behalf, the least they could do was get it right. Shay needed to know that, in the end, Colleen had tried to make amends by intervening on her behalf with social services.
“I need your help, little one,” Colleen said to Gabby, whose mother had gone off in search of Logan with Teddy and Cherry following after her. Kitty and Rosa weren’t paying any attention to anyone. They were busy examining the pole. Colleen hoped that’s where their focus remained. The last thing she wanted to endure was another attempt at a ghostorcism.
Colleen got up from the chair and walked to within a few feet of the child so that she stood between Gabby and Jasper. “Tell him”—she pointed at Jasper—“That GG says he forgot a page for Shay.”
“GG says you—”
Jasper shot a look at Kitty, who was helping Rosa get her leg up and around the pole. “Morane a mi, not so high,” Rosa exhorted, making the sign of the cross.
Looking relieved that the women hadn’t heard the little girl, Jasper passed through Colleen as she frantically waved her arms. “No, child. Whisper it in his ear.”
Gabby put down the poodle and crooked a finger at Jasper, who obediently crouched in front of the little girl. He nodded, frowned, then nodded again, and said something quietly to the child. Gabby smiled at Colleen and made a zip-it motion with her fingers at the same time Rosa fell off the pole.
“You see, that’s exactly why we need you and your muscles,” Libby said to Logan as she dragged him into the sitting room. Cherry and Jasper hurried to Rosa’s aid while Kitty frantically assured her friend it had been an accident.
Logan, looking uncomfortable, turned as several more members of the Widow’s Club arrived. “You’ve got plenty of spotters now,” he said with a thank God expression on his face.
“Yes, but none of them are as gorgeous as you. You know, I—”
“Mom!” Teddy groaned.
Logan raised a hand to get Jasper’s attention. “Jeeves, you got a sec?”
Now what was that about? Colleen wondered. Thinking her great-grandson might have news to share about either his mother or Michael, Colleen followed him. He waited outside the sitting room for Jasper, glancing around as though something had gone missing. He stepped away to visually search the great room.
“Atticus,” he called to the wolfhound, who was sniffing around two men at the bar.
“You’ll have to retrieve him yourself, Master Logan. His vision is rapidly deteriorating,” Jasper said when he joined them.
“You and Michael are spoiling him. He can hear better than you and I combined, Jeeves. Come here, boy,” he called, offering an apology to the men at the bar, who barely spared him a passing glance.
Jasper pursed his lips. “I think perhaps I should take him for his walk, Master Logan.”
“Yeah, okay. I want to head over to the police station and talk to Aidan, see if he needs another set of eyes on the pub and Shay and her uncle’s place.”
“You’re a fine man, Logan my boy, that you are. You belong here, you know. And once I’ve ensured your brother and Shay have found their happily-ever-after, you’re next, laddie. Though I may have to dust off my matchmaking cap. The woman I had chosen for you has gone and gotten herself engaged. And wouldn’t you know it, she’s getting married at the manor. Oh well, in the end it might be for the best. I think her family had a secret, a big one at that. I may have exposed it…or maybe I didn’t. I can’t be sure anymore.”
Colleen had been so busy having a conversation with herself that Jasper and Logan had already gone about their business. As she drew her gaze from their retreating backs, she caught the two men at the bar watching them intently. She took in their dark clothing and shifty eyes, and it hit her who they were. The mob had come to the manor.
“Simon! Come quick!” she called into the sitting room. As though recognizing the panic in her voice, Simon didn’t saunter as he was wont to do. He hightailed it out of there so fast he was but a blur, the pink poodle chasing after him. “Jasper. Get Jasper, Simon. Trouble has come to Greystone.”
When the manor door closed after Logan, Jasper, and Atticus, the older of the two men gave his companion a nod. The tall, skinny one got up and headed to the door. Colleen knew right away what he was about. He was standing guard. They’d drawn the conclusion that without the presence of Logan and Jasper to protect them, the women wouldn’t put up a fight.
“Little do you know what you’re up against, laddie,” she murmured as the older man headed across the grand hall. Colleen hurried to Gabby’s side and crouched in front of the little girl. “Close the door and bar it, child. Get Teddy to help you. The men looking for Shay, they’ve come to the manor. Don’t you worry, though. I’ll take care of them, but I need help. Go now.”
Gabby ran to where her sister sat in the corner on her phone, whispered in her ear, and pointed at Colleen. Teddy laughed and shook her head. Colleen glanced out the open door. The man was coming their way. Quickly, she knelt beside the coffee table. Centering all her energy on her hand, she slowly closed it around the coffee cup. She didn’t cheer when her hand wrapped around the ceramic and held firm. She stayed focused, concentrating on lifting the cup off the table. She caught sight of Teddy gaping as the cup hung in midair. Colleen’s focus broke, and the cup fell, coffee spilling onto the oriental rug.
Teddy raced to the door with her sister and slammed it shut. “Gabby!” She pointed at the buffet table, both of them hurrying to each grab an end, struggling to carry it to the door.
The women in the room finally took notice and asked what they were doing. Gabby whispered something to Teddy. The teenager nodded, then said, “There’s a man out there. I think it’s the guy who was after Charlie. The one who’s looking for Shay.”
Libby gasped. “Cherry, they’re gonna use you to draw her out.”
Cherry goggled at the woman. “I never thought of that. I thought they were coming after me because I told them at the club I was Charlie’s girlfriend.”
“You what?” Libby shrieked, slapping a hand over her mouth when there was a loud knock on the door. Several of the Widows Club gasped and leaned back on their heels.
As Libby ran to grab her daughters, Rosa said, “Cherry, get on the pole. Not too high. Ladies, gather around like she’s teaching you. Kitty, wait until I say okay, and then open the door.”
“You want me to let him in? Are you crazy?”
Rosa walked to the fireplace and grabbed the brass poker, slapping it lightly on her open palm. “You don’t think I can deal with one measly wise guy? Eh, my father, he was a made man, a member of the Costa Nostra.”
“You always said Marco was telling tall tales when he talked about his great-grandfather,” Kitty whispered as she moved the table out of the way with Rosa’s help.
“Telling tales out of school, more like.” Waving at Kitty to answer the loud banging on the door, Rosa flattened her back against the dark-paneled wall.
“I’ll be right with you,” Kitty said, rubbing her palms on her dress. She mouthed, Be careful to Rosa, her eyes worried as she looked at her old friend, and then she opened the door. “Hello, can I help you?”
“Yeah, I’m looking for someone,” he said, roughly moving Kitty aside to swagger into the room. “Charlie Angel’s broad. Anyone know—” Whoomph. Rosa brought the poker down on his back.
He fell face-first on the floor, and a gun went off. Obviously he’d been holding his weapon in the pocket of his black coat and involuntarily pulled the trigger. His leg jerked, and smoke came out of the sole of his black shoe. It looked like he’d shot himself in the foot.
Worried his partner had heard the gunshot and would come running, Colleen waved to get Gabby’s attention. She mouthed that the man had a partner and that he’d been stationed at the door. The little girl passed along the information to her sister, who sighed. No doubt wondering how she was supposed to share the news. “I think he has a partner,” she blurted. “He wouldn’t come alone.”
“I bet he’s guarding the door,” Gabby added.
Apparently seeing their friend take out a wise guy had triggered the competitive nature—and confidence—of the Widows Club. Picking up weaponry in the form of vases and fireplace tools, the women set off. Rosa reached into the unconscious man’s pocket and carefully removed the gun. “Kitty, sit on him and make sure he doesn’t move,” Rosa said, and marched off after her friends, looking entirely too comfortable with the gun in her hand.
* * *
Standing in the gas station’s parking lot under a red and purple sky, Michael placed his hands on either side of Shay, trapping her between him and her car. “Come on, stay and wait for my rental with me. Jim said he’d look after your car like it’s his own. I promise, we’ll come get it as soon as the snow starts to melt.”
“Michael, I’m fine.”
“Yeah, I know exactly how fine you are, which is why I don’t want to let you go.” He leaned in to nuzzle her neck, his lips warm and teasing. “We can have at least another hour alone together. I’ll take you for dinner at the diner you like outside of town.”
She curled her hands into his coat and went up on her toes to kiss him. She only meant it to be a quick kiss, but Michael had other ideas, which she would’ve been on board with if they hadn’t just received disturbing news from the manor.
As reluctant as she was to break the kiss, she did. “Are you forgetting Cherry was almost kidnapped a couple hours ago? I have to check on her, Libby, and the kids.” The phone lines were still down, but Aidan had gotten in touch with the county sheriff, who’d delivered the news, at the same time informing them the highway had reopened. No doubt hoping to be done with his messenger duties once and for all.
“Of course you do, because you don’t trust my cousins, brother, and the entire Harmony Harbor police force to protect them as well as you.”
Okay, so he had a point. Not that she’d admit it to him. “We just spent nearly twenty-four hours together, and you’re acting as if you’ll never see me again.”
“It’s happened before.”
“Now who can’t let go of the past?” She leaned in and kissed the underside of his jaw, inhaling his warm, spicy sent. “I love you. I’ll see you and Atticus later tonight.”
He opened the car door for her. “I’m holding you to that. But listen, if you’re going to the pub, I want you to call me. I’ll go with you.”
“I thought you were going to headquarters after you stopped by the hospital to see Oliver.” The sheriff had also delivered news that Michael’s partner was having surgery on his shoulder today.
“I should be back in town around nine. I figured you’d be checking in around then anyway.”
“I probably won’t get to the pub before then, but if I do—” she began as she slid behind the wheel, her attention drawn to a cell phone on the passenger seat. It wasn’t hers. She frowned, leaning over to pick it up. She felt a panicked cry working its way up from the base of her throat. She swallowed hard. Instinctively, she dropped the phone and turned her body to block the photo of Charlie from Michael’s view. She cleared her throat, forcing a smile. “I-I’ll check with HHPD.”
“You okay? You got pale all of a sudden.”
“Just cold,” she said, telling him the truth, but not the whole truth. It wasn’t what she should be telling him, and she knew it.
“You sure it’s not something more? You know you can tell me anything. I—”
“I just want this to be over. They’re coming after people who matter to me. It needs to end.”
“And it will. It’s almost over, babe.” He crouched beside the open car door and gave her knee a gentle squeeze. “You have to trust me to take care of this, okay? You take care of yourself, Cherry, Libby, and the kids, and I’ll deal with Costello and his crew. I need you to promise me that your involvement in this is done, Shay. I’m not fooling around.”
“I know. I know.” She nodded, her words strained as she struggled to keep from blurting out the truth. She had to know what she was dealing with first. She’d tell him, she promised herself. She would. She’d tell him once she got the lay of the land.
He curved his hand around her neck and drew her mouth to his. “I love you,” he said as he brushed his lips over hers. “Trust me to have your back and Charlie’s. I won’t let you down. I’ll never let you down again.”
The only person who could save her uncle was her. She knew the minds of criminals better than Michael did, better than his colleagues did. She should; she’d been one. And in her heart, she knew that’s who she would always be.
“I love you,” she whispered, her throat thick with unshed tears. She hated the tears, hated that he’d broken down her walls and found the woman she might’ve been. They’d done this to her. All of them: Michael, her uncle, Cherry, Teddy, Gabby, and Libby. They made her soft and vulnerable. They made her weak. She pulled back. “I’ve gotta go.”
“I’ll see you tonight, right?”
No. “Yeah.”