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“After a few days? No, you aren’t going unless you’re ready, which you are not. It hasn’t been long enough. Besides, we haven’t found the second person, so talk to me after that happens.”
“You don’t get to dictate things surrounding my career.”
“I’m not, but if I am to be in charge, take the burden off you for now, then that is a big stressor, and I am saying no work for right now.”
Mallory tried to take her hand from his again. This time, he let it go to her chagrin. “I think we need to negotiate this over lunch.”
“I think that sounds like a good idea. Soup and sandwiches, okay?”
Over lunch, Mallory fought hard for her idea of what giving Monroe the lead meant, but she won little ground. “Why do I feel like I’ve been overruled or outmaneuvered on all the big things, and you’ve given in on a few small things to make me feel like I won something?”
“It’s military strategy, sweetheart, and it might go better for you in the future if you didn’t challenge everything I said before I explained myself.”
She huffed and crossed her arms. “I should have safe worded.”
Monroe laughed out loud. “You can’t safe word when we are negotiating.”
“I don’t see why not, especially since I wasn’t winning much in the way of concessions.”
“Mal, look, you are under a lot of stress right now, and you want me to take as much as I can off your shoulders. I agreed. In fact, I was relieved when you asked. But with that added responsibility, I am also awarded extra control.”
Mallory answered in a frustrated tone as she conceded defeat. “Fine, I know. You already made your point. When are we going to review the CCTV?”
“Now, if you’re ready,” said Sharlee as she walked into the dining room and handed Storm to Finley. “I saw Ryker visited yesterday.”
“He did, and don’t try to put any clandestine meaning to the visit. We’re friends. In fact, he and Levi and I are going out on Friday. There’s a sci-fi marathon starting at seven.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun, except for the sci-fi part,” said Mallory with a laugh.
“You don’t know what you’re missing. Okay, little mister, it’s time for our nap.”
Mallory watched Finley take Storm to the back of the house and acknowledged she wanted that. She wondered if she could ask Monroe for a child. Maybe only one, no, one was too lonely, so two children. Two would be perfect. She was younger than Monroe by about seven years, and if she wanted two, she’d need to get started soon.
While Monroe was precisely what the women working at the pharmacy would call a ‘daddy,’ she didn’t need a daddy in the lifestyle way, but a man who took control when she wanted it and sometimes when she didn’t. That was definitely Monroe.
They spent the afternoon identifying by first name those she could as she watched them come in and out of the munches. Mallory had hoped that they would find Romaine outside the venues and waiting in a car or on the street corner, something, but no luck. It encouraged Sharlee that she had something to further identify possible suspects in the kidnapping. Searching for full names and backgrounds was fun for Sharlee. She was in her element, but all this was discouraging to Mallory.
Mallory went upstairs to take a nap, exhausted by the flashes of memories of the people and events that may have led up to her being kidnapped. Finally, she fell asleep only to dream of the recent past when she had the world in her hand. She was excited about the next stage of her life. When she woke up, it was with a new determination. She got up and started throwing her things in the duffle bag the women had grabbed for her earlier today. All packed, Mallory turned to carry the bag down the stairs, only to meet Monroe coming in.
“And just what the hell are you doing, and where do you think you’re going? Your answer had better be a good one, sweetheart.”
The best defense was a good offense, so she took the more aggressive stance, putting him on the defensive. She hoped her strategy would get results. “Don’t take that tone with me. I’m sure you can see what I’m doing. Now move out of my way, please.”
He raised his eyebrows, then seemed to measure his words. “No, I can see you have packed and are attempting to leave. What I don’t know is where you think you’re going. What I also don’t understand is that we negotiated all of this. We discussed who made the big decisions when we disagree.”
“It’s too difficult to give in to you and worry about another crazy out there.”
“It’s why you need my help, why you asked me to step in. I am trying to keep your stress down, and when your input is not mandatory, I would take the lead and handle things. This right here, little girl, is not following even the spirit of the agreement. It also is not how you behave with me on any day. Now, I ask you again, where, and why are you going? Mind how you go.”
Dammit. Monroe’s tone made her weak in the knees. He was such a good man. It hurt her heart to go against him, especially since he was doing exactly as they had agreed. She could safe word, yell “red,” but that isn’t how she was feeling. She was restless, antsy, confused.
“I’m tired of the way I can’t settle my mind. I think that if I were at my own home, I could do that.”
“And what about the protection detail we promised to give you? Or that all hell would break loose if you tried to leave the property? Or that the FBI would take over, leaving you with fewer choices than you think?”
She stood straighter. “I don’t honestly know. I’ll take my chances, I guess. Something has to give.”
“If you leave, we have to call the FBI. They will pick you up, and for the foreseeable future, they would take you a good distance from here with no access to your friends, your old life, or me.”
