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“Diaz, we’ll probably burst into flames the second we walk inside the building,” she said without a hint of humor.
He stopped pacing and looked to her, the corner of his lips turning up. There was a glint in his eyes she rarely saw, and for a second she thought he was going to burst into laughter. He managed to control himself, but he cracked a grin.
“I can’t speak for you, but I didn’t spontaneously combust the last time I walked into a church,” he said, sounding like he might laugh. “When was the last time you went?”
She shrugged. “I’ve never been. I wasn’t raised with religion; my parents never mentioned God. I’m not an atheist, I don’t suppose, I just never thought much about it and I’ve never picked up a Bible in my life.”
“Well then, I can assure you people don’t spontaneously burst into flames, despite what you might’ve seen in a movie,” he said, still grinning. He tilted his head, eyeing her. “But you’ve seriously never been in a church? Not even for a wedding or a funeral?”
“No,” she said. “But how you didn’t burst into flames is beyond me.”
He threw his head back, laughing. “Sometimes I think I don’t know you at all,” he said through his laughter. “You’re my Anna, my voice of reason, and then you come out with something like this...”
She smiled at his laugher, because when Diaz truly laughed, it was contagious. He had one of those deep belly laughs that rumbled.
She started giggling, which only encouraged him more. “Seriously, when was the last time you were in church?” she asked. He hadn’t gone regularly for as long as she’d known him. He mentioned God occasionally, but Diaz wasn’t what she’d consider a devout Christian... though she didn’t really know what that was, given her nonexistent Christian upbringing.
Still laughing, he seemed to think that through. “My cousin’s funeral, two years ago.”
Anna knew the cousin he was talking about: a cousin Diaz had fed to the lions for his own advantage.
“Oh, you’re definitely going up in flames,” she said.
“Next Sunday, we’re going,” he said, still grinning like a schoolboy.
“It’s Sunday. Shouldn’t we go tonight?” she asked, suddenly curious. And who knew, maybe God would do her work for her and he would burst into flames, she silently thought to herself.
“I’m too tired tonight,” he said, sitting on the couch.
She suppressed her smile. Being too tired wasn’t really a good excuse for God, she didn’t think, but she kept her mouth shut.
“I’m going to use this situation with the Feds to my advantage,” Diaz continued. “I’m going to teach them, and our rivals, that Diaz Smith can’t be taken down.” He nodded slowly, thoughtfully. “I’m going to turn this situation into a positive. My father always told us, ‘Things happen for you, not to you.’ This is one of those moments.”
Anna wasn’t sure this was exactly how his father would’ve meant it, but she understood the concept that difficult things happen to make you stronger—to help you grow. She lived by that motto every day.
“What else are you going to do to throw the Feds off?” Anna asked casually, taking a sip of her tea.
“I’m going to—” He stopped when his phone rang. He answered it and wandered down the hallway as he spoke. She could tell by the light-heartedness of his voice that nothing was wrong, so she went about cleaning the dinner dishes Diaz left in the sink. He had a housekeeper, but Anna liked the housekeeper to be around as little as possible. She never gave anyone the opportunity to get too close to her.
When she first met Diaz, she’d thought it strange he would have a housekeeper for security concerns alone. But then she met Darlene and quickly realized how loyal she was to Diaz. She treated him like another son, even though she had four of her own. She’d been working for Diaz for ten years when Anna first met her, and it didn’t seem like she was retiring anytime soon, which was annoying for Anna. Darlene was sharp; she noticed things, and so far fooling her had been one of Anna’s greatest challenges. But Anna was still alive and in the house, so even if Darlene was suspicious, she hadn’t yet thwarted Anna’s plans.
But someone else might.
Anna thought about the agent again. He was going to be a problem; she could feel it in her bones.
She stifled a yawn as she made yet another cup of tea. She opened the refrigerator to grab the carton of milk, noting it was almost empty. She made a mental note to go to the grocery store tomorrow, then finished the dishes and went to her bedroom.
She didn’t share Diaz’s bedroom because he never slept through the night. At first she’d thought it was stress, but the more she’d gotten to know him, she really did believe he was one of those people who needed little sleep.
Anna was not. She liked at least eight hours of sleep.
She went to her bedroom and washed her face, applying the new night cream she’d just bought.
With no makeup on, she felt more like her old self.
Her mind went back to the conversation in the woods.
Had they been talking aboutherOlivia?
