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“I’m sorry.” Mom patted her hands. “No, you don’t understand. I was rushing you into things because I didn’t want to be bothered with you. But now that I think on it, you did a good job of hiding it even today when we were out.”
“Yes, I have an allergy to some materials. Wool mostly, but there is this one—I can’t think of it right now—that breaks me out. Your dad, he wrote it down for me, but I don’t know where that might be either.” Rogen told her that they’d figure it out. “Also, Rogen, I want you to not include me in your family things. It’s just not right that I’ve been away from you and you pretend that—”
“Don’t. Don’t do that. I was wrong, Mom. On so many levels. You have no idea…well, I guess you do. But I’ve been shoving you away since you got here. You should have told me, but that’s not your fault either. I more than likely wouldn’t have listened anyway.” Rogen did something that she’d not done in decades, since she was a very small child. Rogen hugged her mom. Hugged her like she meant it.
They were both still teary when they made it to Columbus. The downtown office was nondescript; no one would ever know that it housed a large group of men and woman that kept the country safe. Messaging Winnie again, she told her that they were here and asked where to come in. Only a few minutes later, Winnie was coming out of the building.
“Hello, Mrs. Hall. My goodness, Rogen looks like you.” She hugged Lisha and then Rogen. When she passed a thumb drive to her, Winnie then hugged Thatcher. “It’s been a long time, Thatcher. How is your business going?
Are you still on top of the world?”
Something occurred to Rogen as she stood there. Taking Winnie’s hand into hers, she took it to her mouth and bit down on her finger. The connection was immediate and profound. She asked her friend not to freak out.
No, I won’t. Oh, Rogen, I need to come with you. I can’t stay here. She asked her if she was all right. But instead of answering her, she turned and looked around before pulling her sweater down and showed her the marks. I don’t know who did it, so don’t ask. I was coming out of the printing room when someone grabbed me from behind.
“Come on, we’ll have some lunch.” She looked at Thatcher when he spoke, and he shrugged. “I’m hungry. Come on, ladies. A man with three beautiful women at his side…well, it’s the story of romance.”
Rogen asked him what was going on, and all he needed to do was nod. She looked in that direction and saw someone at the window looking at them. Going across the street, they were all seated right away and ordered drinks first. Rogen wasn’t even sure that she could eat a thing, she was so mad about her friend. It was her mom that spoke first.
“You know, I used to have this friend. He was an odd duck, but he’d follow me around like a puppy. I finally had to tell him that I was married, for the tenth time, and that I couldn’t be his wife. It was like talking to a brick wall with him.” She took a sip of her tea and smiled at Winnie. “Do you work with anyone like that? I mean, just someone that makes you feel like you need to slap him around a few times?”
Rogen was lost, but Winnie nodded. “Yes, I do. His name is Earl Fleming.” Winnie looked at Rogen. “You know the name, don’t you? He used to work with me at DC.”
Winnie had never worked at DC that she knew of, but Rogen pulled out her tablet and began doing a search. Everything that she had that had Internet hookup was secure, and this was no different. After ordering her meal, she handed the device to Winnie.
“Those are pictures of our home. We have a lot of remodeling to do, but it’s nice.” The pictures on the tablet were not of her home, but of the men that were named Fleming that worked in the company. “There is one room that I particularly love, and that’s the greenhouse room.”
“This one is my favorite.” She handed it back to her just as someone came in. Rogen knew him. It was one of the men that she’d had to deal with before. “You really should have me over, Rogen. It’s been too long since we did girly things.”
The man came to their table and stood behind Winnie. The panic in her eyes had Thatcher standing up. Whatever he was going to do or say was cut off when her mom stood up.
“I’m sorry, I must use the ladies’ room.” But when she went by Winnie’s chair, she paused behind the man. “I’m not afraid to use this on you. You either drop the gun or I blow a hole in you that we’ll be able to read a newspaper through. Drop it.” Earl Fleming had just been taken down by her own mother.
Thatcher stood up then and took the gun from her mom. Mom went on to the bathroom while Winnie laid her head on the table and sobbed. Whatever was going on, Rogen was going to get to the bottom of it.
After calling in for some back up from her department, Donaldson came to the little deli. When Winnie went to him, hugging him to her, Rogen watched with shock. Donaldson and Winnie? Who knew?
“I had hopes that she’d call you. It’s been hell trying to pretend to work while this madman was trying to kill her.” Winnie bubbled out as to how Rogen’s mom had saved her, and Rogen realized that Mom had been gone a while. Going to the bathroom, she found her on her knees throwing up.
“What was I thinking?” Rogen waited on her mom to come out of the stall. “I saw the gun and had a feeling that you had no idea what he was doing. So I just poked him in the back with the gun that I had and he did like I said.”
Rogen hugged her mom for the second time that day. “Thank you for saving my dearest friend. And you’re right, I had no idea. Are you all right?” Mom nodded and said she was fine now. “Good. And the next time I’m going on a mission, I’m going to take you with me. You’re badassed, Mom.”
They were both laughing when they came out of the bathroom. Fleming was gone, and Winnie was calmer now. Donaldson was buying them all lunch. It was the strangest afternoon she’d ever had.
~*~
“Yesterday when I was working at my desk, I got this strange feeling I was being watched. You know my routine, Rogen—I go to the gym then I come back to my office, change into my suit, and get to work. But I felt dirty. I was just getting ready to go back and shower again when I saw it. The little icon in the corner.” Thatcher didn’t know what that meant, but they had his full attention. “He had cloned my computer.”
Now that, Thatcher knew what it meant. Rogen had several computers that she had cloned over the years, and could, with a couple of clicks, see a person as they worked. He’d been a little freaked out when he saw someone’s nose hairs enlarged on one of her monitors, but after that, when he moved back, it was funny.
“Why didn’t you call me yesterday?” Winnie handed Rogen her phone. Leaning over her shoulder, he watched as she played around with the phone before handing it back. “It’s fixed now. Is that what all the cloak and dagger was about? And why on earth did you tell me to bring my mom? It worked out for the best, but how did you know that?”
“I didn’t know. I only meant to warn you. I didn’t even know your mother was around. I was just trying to convey how much shit was going down.” Winnie looked at Rogen’s mom. “No offense, Mrs. Hall, but Rogen and I have been friends for a long time and have talked about our families. And if it makes you feel any better, mine are worse than you ever were.”
Thatcher didn’t think that was helping, but Lisha only patted her hand. “It’s all right, dear. I’m turning a new leaf. And Rogen and Thatcher are going to help me. But I must say, if their days are like this, I might be happy to be a little off the beaten path. This was certainly nothing I ever encountered before.” They all laughed, and it sounded like it was well meant. There was no force in it as he’d heard at home with Rogen and Lisha.
After Thatcher examined Winnie, they all went to the offices where Rogen reported. It was smaller than he’d thought it would be. But it was Winnie’s office that he was impressed with. She was painfully organized and had sticky notes all around her computer. He asked her about the colorful notes.
