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She sighed as she answered.
“Hello?” Her brain was bleary and groggy, and her voice was low and husky.
When she looked over at the bedside clock, she saw that she had been asleep for almost fourteen hours. And it was almost one in the afternoon.
No fucking wonder.
“Rhiannon? Oh, thank God!” The voice on the other side screeched so loudly that she didn’t recognize it for a second.
“Ellyn? What is wrong? You’ve called me … twenty-seven times?” She went from sleepy to frantic in less than a minute.
Had something gone wrong with the shelter project? Surely that was the only reason Ellyn would call her that many times.
But when Rhiannon glanced at the phone screen, she saw that she had messages from her entire law firm.
“Rhiannon, thank God you’re okay. I thought you were attacked!”
“Ellyn, calm down and tell me exactly what you mean.” Rhiannon swung her feet over the side of the bed, running a hand through her hair.
“What I mean is that someone who looks exactly like you was attacked in front of the building this morning!”
“What?” A thousand thoughts flashed through her mind in a second, and she wobbled on her feet. She’d get psychic whiplash from that, for sure.
“Yeah, they looked so much like you that I almost had a heart attack. She walked up to the building, and her head was down, so I assumed it was you.”
Rhiannon headed out of the bedroom and into the cabin’s extensive kitchen.
“Then, someone jumped out of a black town car and attacked her. But three guys were standing right there, out of sight, and they grabbed the attacker. The woman, whoever she is, was safe. Then the three guys hauled the attackers off.”
“That’s scary,” Rhiannon said as she replayed the scenario in her mind, seeing it exactly as Ellyn described it.
“Yeah, scary for us,” Ellyn intoned. “Every single person in the firm was standing at the windows watching. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see that it wasn’t you. It is eerie how much she looked like you.”
“Yeah, I bet it was,” Rhiannon said grimly. Was it her stalker? Attacking the decoy woman who looked like her? To scare her? To threaten her into giving them something that Rhiannon couldn’t give?
Just then, Mars walked in, looking down at his cell phone. He was smiling faintly, and she wondered why. But then his smile became even broader, and he sidled up to her. She forgot her original question as his heat enveloped her.
“How are you, darling?” He kissed her temple and then took the coffee pot from her.
“Um.” She wasn’t sure where to begin. “I’m a bit freaked out, actually.” Rhiannon finally admitted, exhaling heavily. Mars turned, a frown wrinkling across his forehead.
Rhiannon recounted Ellyn’s story as her friend had told it. She also held up her phone to him, showing Mars every message she had received from colleagues.
To her surprise, Mars didn’t look shocked about it at all. A sick feeling rose in Rhiannon’s stomach as she looked at Mars. There was an expression on his face. One of finality. One of grim satisfaction.
But then she remembered what he had told her.We take him out.
Rhiannon realized now just what that meant. The implications it had for others around her and how wrong this plan had been.
“It was your plan, wasn’t it?” she finally asked. Her voice was devoid of emotion.
Rhiannon didn’t miss how Mars's eyes widened slightly. With fear? Alarm?
“We had to do something.” his voice was low, hoarse. Desperate. “Your life was being threatened. I told you we’d take him out.”
“And what exactly was it that you did? Tell me, what does that mean?” Rhiannon asked.
Her voice was so cold that it frightened even her. What had Mars gone and done? She knew he plotted to use someone as a decoy, and she let it happen. How far had it gone?
