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“It’s so quiet out here,” she commented, her voice barely over a whisper.
I nodded and lifted my eyes up to the inky blue sky and the expanse of stars scattered across it. “I like it.”
“Me too.”
I dropped my eyes to hers and we held each other’s stare for a long moment before she looked down at her hands. She ran her fingertip over each of her lacquered nails in turn. “How are you holding up?”
She looked up; her eyebrows raised. “I don’t even know anymore.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Understandable. It’s all pretty sudden from the sound of it.”
“Yeah. I mean, yesterday, I was on the verge of a panic attack over the idea of serving him with divorce papers. I knew he wouldn’t take it well. But murder?” Her eyes drifted from her hands off into the distance. “I knew I’d have to leave him soon. I’ve been squirreling away important documents, extra money and got my own secret bank account a while ago. I was just waiting for the last step. The papers. When Matt told me they were ready to sign…I felt…well, I don’t know how I felt. It’s all so mixed up now.”
I reached across the small table between us and set a hand on her arm, pressing my fingers into her sweater so she could feel the warmth of my hand. Her eyes flew to mine, wide and alert. “It’s going to be okay, Melissa. I’ve only known you for twelve hours and I can tell you that you’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. You’re going through this awful situation with your eyes wide open, with a level head, and sense of confidence that most people wouldn’t have in the midst of everything.”
She smiled but I could tell she’d dismissed my statement. “That’s sweet of you. But, trust me, I am the opposite of put together right now.”
I retracted my hand as her eyes lingered on it. “Well, you fooled me then, and I’m pretty damn good at reading people.”
A silence stretched between us as she batted around my statement.
“Tell me about you?” she said after a long moment. “Here I am running away with you and I don’t even know anything about you other than your profession.”
I smiled, liking the way running away together sounded. “What do you want to know?”
She shrugged. “Anything. What do you like to do for fun? Do you have any pets? Are you…married?”
I laughed softly at her hesitation on the last question. “I’m not married. Never have been. I don’t have any pets. It wouldn’t be fair to them with my lifestyle. As for hobbies, let’s see, I like to read crime thrillers and horror novels. I like deep-sea fishing. Well, all kinds of fishing, really. I shoot guns once or twice a week at the range to keep sharp.”
Melissa nodded and I wondered what she was thinking. “What about you? What do you do when you’re not busy being supermom?”
She smiled. “I don’t know if I’m supermom, but I try.”
“Jackson’s lucky to have you. He adores you, it’s obvious.”
“Thanks.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears as the breeze caught it. Most of her brown hair was piled in a complicated looking style on the top of her head, but over the course of the day, pieces had worked their way loose. Personally, I liked it better wild and free.
“You must—”
My phone buzzed in the holster I wore on my belt to keep the phone secured in the line of duty. I held up a finger, hating to interrupt her, and she nodded. “It’s Matt,” I told her right before answering the call. “Hey bro, what’s the word?”
“It’s not good, Chase.”
I glanced at Melissa and saw the stress etched around her mouth in tight, worried lines. “Okay?”
“Where’s Melissa?”
“She’s right here with me. Her little man crashed out. We’re all good.” I didn’t give away any details on the off chance Matt was being monitored. He’d called from his cell phone but there could be a bug in his office. We’d talked about the details on my way to pick Melissa and Jackson up and from the sounds of it, this Henry O’Keefe guy had no boundaries and unlimited resources.
A volatile combination.
“All right, good.” Matt breathed a sigh of relief and I imagined my older brother looked just as frazzled and stressed as Melissa. “Henry sent a couple of goons to try and shake me down this afternoon. They had guns.”
“Fuck…” Melissa jolted in her seat and I cursed myself for not being more careful.
“You’ve got to get her and Jackson out of there. Go far, far away. I’ll be honest, bro. I don’t see this ending any time soon.”
I clenched my jaw but kept my expression neutral. “Got it.”
“Can I talk to Melissa?”
