AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sharlee crossed her arms. “That is cute on paper, but women don’t like to be told what to do without input. I say we bring Mallory in to finish this discussion. Let’s askherif she is going to be cool with this set-up.”
The grumbling around the room showed reluctant consensus. Jac motioned with his head for Sharlee to get Mallory.
“While Charlotte goes to get Mallory,” said Jac, “I need a relief schedule for Garrett.”
“What kind of relief are we talking about? How long are her hours?” asked Levi.
“We can bring lunch, or I can order it in. That isn’t an issue. It's that I’ll need to take a bathroom break at some point and stretch my legs. I guess Mallory could lock herself in her office when I’m taking a break, but I don’t like that as much.”
Jac nodded. “Agreed. Levi will relieve you from eleven to one. That way, you will have a break without compromising our operation.”
“I can relieve Garrett,” said Monroe.
Jac shook his head. “No can do. You might have been seen with Mallory. And I need you and Carter to run down Charlotte and Kaden’s leads. Mark has a job this week. That leaves Levi.”
“Except Fridays. I have a regular assignment on that day.”
“Right, well, Monroe, do your thing and send me the schedule.”
“Roger that.”
The men were talking amongst themselves as they waited. It seemed like a long time to wait, but just as Monroe was standing to go in search of Mallory and Sharlee, the door opened. Sharlee swung a plastic sandwich bag that held assorted business cards.
“The reporters left these at the security desk. They’re from all the people who wanted an interview, preferably with Mallory, but it sounds as though they would take anyone with information.”
Monroe opened his arms for Mallory, and she sat next to him, allowing him to weave his fingers with hers. She leaned on his shoulder. Monroe’s gut had been jumpy all weekend, but he knew Mal was safe. It was the only thing that allowed him to concentrate on the assignment of some rich buggers in a merger.
The business executive had security, and his wife, a little thing about Mallory’s own age, had none. Garrett took her as his responsibility because even though the CEO didn’t seem concerned about his wife, the team was more inclined to protect her first. With Garrett on the job, the rest could concentrate on their client, knowing eyes were on his wife. If anything happened, Garrett would cover her.
Monroe leaned down and kissed Mallory’s temple as he watched Sharlee toss the baggie on the table in front of Jac, who dumped the cards out on the table. Unwilling to touch any of the cards, he used a pen to line up the nine cards in a grid pattern. After perusing the cards quickly, Jac called out the names on each card and their affiliate newspaper or local channel. After reading six cards, he tensed.
“Charlotte, get your tweezers.”
She rummaged in the container that Ivy had previously used to hide her evidence when her life was in shambles and pulled out a long pair of scientific tweezers. Monroe’s body tightened, muscles clenching again. His body was achy often these days. He kissed the top of Mallory’s head before getting up and, in three long strides, was standing next to Jac as he placed the card back into the resealable bag and laid it on the scanner.
Once scanned, Sharlee threw the images up on the screen and what lay in front of them all was a business card of sorts. It was made of a heavy parchment paper, something Monroe remembered making in school as a kid for a project. On one side, there was a hand-drawn hourglass with neatly printed letters that read:
Braylon and Associates
The Timekeepers
And on the other side was an hourglass that was almost out of sand, and it read:
The time for celebrating is almost here
Mallory squinted as though trying to tease the message out. She started to tremble, and Garrett swore before nodding at Monroe, who wrapped his arms around Mallery. Monroe answered the swear with his own curse as he resumed his seat on the middle sofa and pulled her into his lap. Mallory curled into his arms. He rubbed her arms, and someone shoved a crystal glass with a finger of whiskey in his hand. Mallory pushed it away.
Monroe’s voice was full of confused anger. He spoke to the room. “I don’t know what is going on yet, but I think we need to stay in the safe house for a little while longer.” He leaned down to Mallory. “We need you to stay hidden for another week. Then, when you’re ready, we’ll start you going to work to see if you can do it. I’ll explain the plan as we go back to the safe house. But I promise you, if there is any concern, you are out of there. Got it?”
Mallory shook her head in disbelief. “I just need to figure out what it means. Celebrate? Who will be celebrating, and why? I have no clue if this person is friend or foe.”
Jac leaned forward in his chair and rested his forearms on his thighs. “Good point. Honestly, right now, we don’t even know if there is any significance to this at all. It could be something of great importance or none at all. A prank. But whatever the implication, we are not leaving you alone. Anywhere. We won’t expose you to anything that could be harmful if it is in our power to control.”
“I know that. I do, but all these thoughts run through my head. Who is this person, this accomplice? Do they exist? I’m tired of being a victim, but this scares me because I don’t really know what any of this means.”
Jac stared at Mallory. “Mallory, when you go to work, if you go, there is going to be some fencing around you. I won’t budge on that, so don’t try to change my mind. You aren’t going anywhere that someone on the team won’t be with you. You are part of us now, and we take care of our own.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
