“Are you serious?” Her eyes were wide.
“Very.”
“Mom, look. Horses!” Briar was pointing to where one of the stable hands was guiding a quarter horse named Chauncey around the paddock.
Penn rose and opened the front door. “Why don’t you three get settled, and then I can take the kids down to say hello to the horses?”
Monica nodded, and we all moved inside. The kids ran up the stairs once I told them they should each pick a room.
“All of your stuff will be here within the hour. Rita made arrangements to get a delivery driver to bring it.”
“Oh,um…thank you…for everything.” She got settled on the couch, and Penn and I joined her. “What now?”
“Now, you eat because I’m sure the three of you didn’t get anything at the restaurant. Sleep, and in the morning we will talk.”
“You’re staying?” She seemed surprised.
“Just for the night. Once you’re all rested and we’ve talked and gotten the video, I’ll need to go home and deal with Benito.”
“Right.” She bit her lip.
“Monica, you’re safe here. The staff that work here are also trained to protect you. I made you a promise; I won’t break it.”
“Sorry, it’s just when you spend as many years as I have living with a liar, it’s hard to trust.”
“I get that.”
There was a cook on site who prepared an easy and light meal for all of us. Nobody talked much besides Briar and Lucia, who were enamored by all the animals. After dinner, Penn took the kids down to see the horses before bed, leaving Monica and me alone in the living room. Alex, Toni, Danny, and Raff were on a security schedule and doing their thing.
“I really do want to thank you, Gideon.”
I shot her a small smile. “You’re welcome. You can stop thanking me, though. You’re helping me just as much as I’m helping you.”
She snorted. “No way this is even.” She sighed and tucked her feet under her butt on the couch. “Benito is a horrible man, a trickster, but he’s incredibly smart and resourceful. He’s patient and plays the long game. He’s also possessive, and once he finds out me and the kids are gone, and the video airs, he will go nuclear.”
“I have no doubt he will. Your video will likely end his campaign run and destroy his long game.”
“Please be careful, Gideon. I’ve seen what he’s done to people who have crossed him.”
I leaned forward and grinned. “But you’ve never seen what I’ve done to people who have crossed me.”
She stared for a beat and was about to say something more, but the kids and Penn barreled back into the house. She pasted on a happy face for them and got up. “All right, kiddos, time to get some sleep.”
I observed Lucia and Briar. You’d have thought being taken away from their home, friends, and everything they’d known would upset them, but they each beamed, laughed, and ran up the stairs as if this whole situation wasn’t turning their lives inside out.
It was close to midnight by the time the house was tucked away and Penn and I were under the covers.
“Do you know what she’s going to say in the video?” Penn asked.
“No, but it’s going to be damning, and that’s what we need right now.”
It didn’t take long for us to fall asleep. It had been an exhausting day, and the last thing I thought about before myeyes closed was the expression on Benito’s face as he watched his dreams turn to ash.
The morning was morerelaxed than I thought it would be. After breakfast, Toni offered to take the kids to see the horses for a guided ride. Monica was grateful since she didn’t want them here while she made the video.
“I wrote down everything I wanted to say.” She placed a few pages on her lap. “Then I realized I didn’t need these.” She looked up from the papers, her eyes brimming with tears. “Every horrible moment is tattooed in my mind, and it never goes away.”
Penn reached over to her and took her hand. “Let us help you get you vengeance.”
