She thought about the attorney’s office instead. A private practice in La Jolla, the kind of discreet address that asked no questions and kept its files locked and its clients anonymous for the right price. Maren had thought about that on the drive to the airport in the pre-dawn dark, Colin driving, the mountains growing farther away as they drove east. Ray, disgraced and broke and quietly keeping a dead woman’s promise alive one payment at a time.
Thank you, Ray, she’d thought.I promise you didn’t die for nothing. I’m going to finish it and clear your name.
Elissa dug into the practice. The original attorney had retired about six months ago, leaving his practice in his son’s hands. That worked to their advantage, too—ifthe son had never met Mira. There was no telling.
Maren played the scenario through her mind. She would walk in, tell him that she was Mira Walsh, the code word was hammock, and then he would give her whatever Mira had left there. She wondered if Mira was confident that she would come back for it herself, or if she was certain she was a dead woman walking.
No way of knowing.
Maren closed her eyes.
She could do this. She had Mira’s face and Mira’s voice and a lifetime of knowing exactly how her sister carried herself—the slight lift of the chin, the way she smiled with her whole face before she got her guard up, the way she saidthank youto strangers, warm and direct, like she meant it personally.
She did mean it personally. That was Mira.
I know you, Maren thought.I know you better than anyone. You built this for me even when you hoped you were building it for yourself. So I’m going to walk in there and I’m going tobeyou, and I’m going to bring home what you couldn’t.
The mountains gave way to rocky desert below—red and tan, and stretching as far as the eye could see.
They were getting closer.
Colin squeezed her hand once. She squeezed back.
Okay, she thought.Let’s go finish this, Mira.
Once they landedand exited the plane, any sign of affection between Colin and Maren ended. For all they knew, Voss had someone watching them, trailing them all the way to the rental car. Colin turned stone-faced and would not look at Maren. Maren didn’t have to put on much of an act—she let her fear shine through her eyes, let it turn down the corners of her mouth. The woman at the car rental actually touched her arm as she went around to the passenger side after Colin had rudely gotten in on the driver’s side.
“Everything all right?” she asked, tilting her head ever so slightly toward Colin. “Do you need…assistance?”
Boy, do I, but nothing you can give me.
She smiled. “No, we’re all right. He’s just upset his team lost last night. But thank you so much for asking.”
The attendant nodded, looking relieved. “My boyfriend’s like that, too. Take care.”
Maren got into the SUV.
“Wait until we’re out of the lot before you say anything,” Colin said, his lips barely moving. Maren buckled herself in and looked down at her hands in her lap. Once they left the car rental they headed north for La Jolla, about twenty-five minutes away.
“First, are you all right, baby?” Colin reached across the console and grabbed her hand.
“Yes,” she said, proud of how steady her voice sounded. “I just want to get this over. The attendant back there thought I might need help, that you were abusing me.”
“Good, that’s what we want it to look like, that I’m resentful and you’re scared.” He squeezed her hand. “And not that I’m so in love with you my chest feels like it could burst at any time.”
Maren grinned. “I feel the same.”
“You gonna move in with me?”
Her eyes widened. “I just realized I’ve never even seen your…house? Apartment?”
“House,” he said with a smile. “Kyle pays well.”
“Just so you know, I’m not going to be a freeloader,” she told him. “I’m going to keep my job. I can code from anywhere. And if not, I’ll find coding work at one of the hospitals around Boulder or Denver.”
“You could freeload if you wanted, I don’t care.”
Maren actually laughed. “You’d care when I got bored and started rearranging all the furniture.”
