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I STOOD BACK AND STARED at the bag I'd just finished packing.
Trying to figure out how I felt about the whole thing.
On one hand, I didn't want my mom to leave town. I wanted her here with me so I could keep her safe and take care of her. I wanted her available to give me advice when I needed it. I'd just found her again, and I hated the idea that she was already leaving me.
Then again, she was only going to be gone for a couple of days.
And her leaving town when Tony and Mark were causing trouble and getting way too close to the house wasn't the worst thing. Maybe I was being selfish, wanting her to stay here. Maybe it was safer for her to be somewhere else where they couldn't touch her.
I was sure that latter option was true. But it didn't make it any less true that I didn't particularly want her leaving.
“Everything ready?” my mom asked, wheeling herself into the room.
I turned and watched her as she made her way around, marveling at how good she'd become in the wheelchair. “You look like you've been using one of those things for years,” I said. “You've gotten so fast!”
She made a wry face at me. “Only because I've had to. Believe me, the sooner I can get out of it, the better. That's why this surgery is so important.”
I went and bent down to hug her, giving in to the need for physical comfort. “If you need me for anything while you're gone, I'm only a phone call away. You know that, right? If you need me, I'll jump in the car and drive right to you.”
She pulled back and tipped her head at me. “You worry too much. Are you okay?”
“Just sad that you're leaving when I just got back, I guess.” I dropped onto the bed. “And worried about you going by yourself.”
“I'm not going by myself. My sister's going to be there too. And it's only for a couple of days. But if you want to come visit me...” She pressed her lips together for a moment. “You know, it might not be the worst thing for you to do that. Get out of town for a little bit. You and Warren.”
“Take a vacation together? What are you trying to do, get us to get even more serious?”
She laughed. “Would you blame me if I did? He's a good man. The sort of man you deserve. But that's not what I'm getting at. I just don't think it's safe for you here right now.”
She was right. I agreed with her.
But I also knew that we had a plan, and that Warren's friend Richard was on his way to meet with us today to figure out how we were going to carry it out.
We weren't going to leave town for our own safety. Because by staying, we were going to find a way to take Tony and Mark down—and make the whole town safer. Including my mother.
I picked up the bag and stood. “Come on, Susan's waiting for you. You need to get going. When you get back, things will be better. I promise.”
Could I make that promise? Probably not.
Did I hope I was telling the truth, though?
Absolutely.
***
THE MINUTE MY MOM AND aunt left, I got lonely. Warren was out walking Silver to give my mom and me time to say goodbye, but now that the house was empty, I hated it. I didn't like the shadows in the corners or the wind blowing the trees outside, and every time there was a knock or creak in the walls, I jumped.
I remembered too well the banging at the door that had always heralded an arrival or present from Tony and his gang. The feeling had crept into my guts and sat there, just waiting to jump out at me.
Maybe I had PTSD too.
When the door opened, though, it was Warren and Silver, and my dog came racing in and hurled herself at me, all kisses and cuddles from the short time we'd been apart. I laughed and wrapped her in my arms, overjoyed to see her again, and thought once more about how much she'd saved me. I might have taken her out of a bad situation, but she'd filled my whole world with her excitement, and I couldn't imagine what life would be like without her.
Hopefully I wouldn't have to experience it for a very long time.
“Your mom gone?” Warren asked, looking around the house.
“Yep. Left half an hour ago. Longest half hour of my life.”
He pulled me away from Silver and held me to his body, his face concerned. “Does it bother you to be here alone?”
“It didn't used to. But now, with everything that's happening... Every time you're gone, I feel like something might happen,” I admitted. “Yes, it bothers me to be here alone.”
He kissed me gently, his lips barely a breath against mine, and then pulled me into a hug. “I won't let anything happen to you,” he said against my hair. “And that's a promise, Lily. You can take that to the bank.”
I let him hug me, reveling in the warm, solid feeling of him and the idea that he wouldn't let anything happen. Was it cliché and slightly embarrassing to be so soothed by a big, strong man saying that he was going to take care of me?
Maybe.
Did I regret it?
No. I'd seen too much and felt too much to sniff at the idea of someone saying they were going to keep me safe. And I'd never, ever feel embarrassed about leaning into Warren and depending on him for support. He was one of the first people I'd ever met that I truly trusted, and everything inside me wanted to snuggle into him and let him protect me for the rest of my life.
Though before I could do that, we had to meet with Richard and find out what he'd learned about Tony and Mark McCarthy.
“When is your friend getting here?” I asked.
Warren glanced down at his watch. “Any minute.”
At that moment, we heard the sound of an engine in the driveway and hustled out to see a large black truck coming in way too quickly. The truck jerked to a stop in a cloud of dust, and someone inside threw open the driver's side door. He jumped out a moment later and moved quickly toward us before we'd so much as stepped onto the driveway itself.
I watched him come, confused and interested. This was going to be the first time I'd ever met one of Warren's friends—or anyone else from the military—and I had to admit that I was curious. What sort of person was this Richard guy? Serious and thoughtful like Warren? Or...
“Warren!” the man roared before he'd emerged from the dust cloud. “How the hell are you?”
Okay, not serious and thoughtful.
Big and stomping around in cowboy boots and wearing a cowboy hat, he had a drooping mustache and fierce blue eyes and looked more like a rancher defending his cattle than an ex-special-ops Marine.
I glanced from this giant to Warren, wondering who exactly Warren had been when he was in the Middle East that he was friends with such a person. Then Richard started talking, and I could see exactly why they'd been friends.
“I tell you what, you sure can pick 'em,” he said when he got close enough. “Those names you sent me? Those guys? They've got their hands in so many pickle jars I didn't even try to count them. They're trouble, Warren, and I hope you've got your back covered because you're going to need it.”
“In that case, let's not talk about them out here where anyone might be listening,” Warren said tersely. “You know better.”
I saw the flash of a grin under that huge mustache, and the man's eyes turned to me. “Not until you've introduced me.”
“Richard, Lily. Lily, Richard,” Warren growled. “There. Done. Can we go inside now?”
I pressed my lips together and widened my eyes at Richard, indicating that we'd best keep our mouths shut if Warren was going to be so serious. Richard chuckled and winked at me, then followed Warren into the house.
I hurried after him, not wanting to miss a single thing he said. The guy might look like a rancher, but I was starting to think that it might just be a disguise. Because the way he'd spoken about Tony and Mark indicated that he had more experience than I could ever dream of.
I couldn't wait to hear what he thought we could do with the information he'd found.
“Shell companies. At least ten of them,” he was saying when I got into the living room.
Warren and I dropped onto the couch, and Richard took one of the armchairs, leaning forward to spread a number of papers on the table. “I've also got the receipts for checks made directly to the police department here in town. Enormous amounts. I'm guessing they'd pretend they were just charitable donations, but these are bigger than anything I've ever seen. They're also bigger than the entire PD budget.”
He looked up and met Warren's eyes, something passing between them in the moment. I didn't have to ask. Mark and Tony were writing checks to the police department that were larger than the department's budget.
Which meant those checks weren't being handed to the police department itself.
They were going into someone else's account.
Or multiple someone elses.
“No wonder they've been turning a blind eye to the hijinks of the McCarthy boys,” Warren said quietly.
“And probably helping them with whatever they need,” Richard added. “Anything that comes up on any of their developments probably gets swept under the rug or handled by a local cop. The McCarthy men themselves won't be charged with anything, either. DUIs, drug possession, you name it.” His eyes turned to me and turned several notches warmer. “Assault. Domestic violence.”
I gulped. Right. That was why the doctors had been more interested in what had happened to me than the cops. And if Madison was right, I wasn't the only one who'd experienced that.
“There's more,” Richard said, drawing out one paper in particular. “A restraining order against Tony McCarthy.”
“Restraining order?” Warren asked, reaching for the paper. “For what? From when?”
“Couldn't find what he did, but it's from six years ago.”
That shocked me into speaking. “Six years? So it happened a year before he ran me out of town. Must have been the girl he was dating before me.”
Richard and Warren both turned to me.
“Do you happen to know who that was?”
I shook my head. I'd known about Tony McCarthy for a long time, of course, but I'd never paid attention to who he was dating. But in a small town, anything was possible.
“No. But I don't think it'd be hard to find out. You couldn't find anything on her?”
Richard shook his head. “No. She's a ghost. Took out the restraining order and then disappeared herself. I tell you, I make my living finding people, but her? She's gone.”
Gone.
I wondered if Tony had made that happen. Because he'd already threatened me with something a whole lot like it. And if he found out we were investigating him, if he heard that I was asking around town about the girl he'd dated before me...
I was already in a whole lot of danger, just meeting with Richard.
But if I could find that girl, find out what he'd done to her and why she took out the restraining order, and then find a way to pin it on him in a court outside of my small town, where the judge might actually believe in the law...
I could be free again.
Free to actually live.
