Then I take a deep breath, let it out, and start again…
Dear Wendy,
Do you remember what it felt like when you came home last Christmas?
I pause again. But this time I do it so I can smile and conjure up the memory for myself.
There was snow on the ground, a chill in the air, and a queasiness in my stomach I almost mistook for the flu—until I realized it was nerves.
I was nervous.
This was the make-or-break moment for Wendy and me. I was putting shit out there. I had the whole grand gesture planned. By the time we left the cabin we’d know two things for certain.
One. Whether or not we’d ever see each other again.
And two. Whether or not we could forgive each other again.
Funny, though. Right now I don’t actually know the answer to number one even though I know the answer to number two. Because she stayed all week. We got over things. We started new things. We forgave each other.
But this whole ‘little girl shoots Donovan Couture in the head with a dart gun and sends him into a psychotic coma’ kinda put a kink in things. Wendy and I aren’t even supposed to meet up again until her birthday, which is a little less than two weeks away.
It’s also kinda curious that I even know she’s missing. Because I have gone years without seeing or talking to Wendy Gale and never thought she needed help. I never looked for her. I always gave her space.
But this time, everything is different.
She’s not avoiding me, she’s trapped.
And I felt it.
I knew it.
Even before I called Adam. Even before I heard about Donovan. Even before I knew he wasn’t dead.
I knew we’d end up here.
I rip the piece of paper off the pad and try for a third time.
Dear Wendy,
Can you blame him for snatching you up and taking you prisoner? If this summer didn’t work out, trust me, babe—I was gonna kidnap your ass myself.
Because you’re just that kind of girl, Wen. You are the kind of girl I want to tie up. You are the kind of girl I want to collar, and leash, and handcuff.
I want to own you. Because I want to hold on to you. Because life without you isn’t worth the fucking hassle.
See ya on the other side,
Nick
I fold the note up into fours, then again until it’s a stubby square between my fingers. Then I unfold it, straighten it out on the table, then fold it again, this time in half. I don’t like pristine paper. A note like this deserves a proper history.
Then I leave the room, go to the lobby, hit Wendell up for an envelope, stuff the note inside, seal it up, and then place it in Wendell’s open palm. “You know what to do,” I tell him.
And he winks. Because he does.
I go back to my room and prepare for Merc.
Because now this shit is real.
We are all part of Central Casting.
And if I want the happily ever after, I need to play my part.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - MERC
TODAY
I end the call and stare at the phone in my hand, taking a moment to appreciate what just happened. Nick Tate is alive. I just talked to him and in a couple of hours, I’m going to be face to face with this guy.
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
But there’s no time to work it out. I push through the door, cross the yard, and watch Harrison tuck his phone away into a pocket on the thigh of his cargo pants.
He’s an old guy now but for some reason, he still looks the same to me. Same neatly trimmed white beard, same athletic build, same tanned and weathered face. He’s been living in the Keys running a private jet service for rich assholes almost this whole time. And he’s come a long way from that little plane he used to cart us around in. He’s got a whole fleet of them now. And some are big enough to fly all the way to Australia.
But this little jet sitting in the middle of the lonely dirt road today was chosen for speed. I can’t be away long. Only a few hours. Mount Pleasant is about a thirty-minute flight from where we’re at right now. Then I imagine it’ll take about an hour to work things out with Nick, and I can be back here in three hours, tops.
It’ll be OK.
My phone buzzes an incoming text. Room 17.
Perfect timing. “You ready?” Harrison asks as I approach.
I nod. “Let’s go.”
“You’re gonna fill me in on the way? Because this whole thing is starting to look a little too much like the old days for my comfort level, Merc.”
“I’ll fill you in. But I want you to go in without this explanation, Harrison. I just want your honest take on it when it’s over.”
“Don’t want me to overthink it, huh?”
“Right.”
We get in the jet, he does his pilot shit, and ten minutes later we’re in the air.
Harrison doesn’t ever talk much when he’s flying, and this little jet is kinda loud, which discourages conversation, so I spend the entire flight just staring out the window. Nothing but farms and the occasional town. But Mount Pleasant has a proper small airport, so when we land, it’s not on a dirt road, it’s a real runway.
It takes longer than I remember to get shit situated with the plane and I realize I didn’t factor this in when I calculated how long I’d be gone. Typically, I don’t wait around for the details of landing. That’s Harrison’s job. But I want him with me when we meet up with Nick. I need his take on things. I need to know if I’m doing this right, because I’m not sure I am.
He knows Sasha. He’s been on her side for a long time now. So he’s gonna see things from that perspective. I need that because right now I’m being pulled in a couple different directions.
On the one hand, I have my family. My girls.
On the other, Sasha.
And then, of course, there’s Adam and his little request. Which I was pretty sure I wanted nothing to do with just a couple of days ago, but now… it’s starting to feel inevitable.
And that’s a little bit… maybe exciting is the wrong word. But then again, maybe it’s not.
It’s been a long time since I did a job. I’m not worried about my skills. I’m good. If anyone can unfuck this Donovan guy, it’s me. I’m not worried about performance. But I am a little bit worried about how this all feels.
I didn’t realize I was gonna feel this way until I found Wendy and things started falling into place. But I do. I miss this life. My girls are growing up. Daphne is almost sixteen. She’s thinking about college and boys. She wants to move to Fort Collins for her senior year of high school. Kinda slide into a more normal life before she leaves us for adulthood.
And I’m OK with that. She’s worked hard to be the girl she is today. She earned her chance at a more normal-looking life.
But then Avery isn’t far behind. Just a couple years and she’s gone too. Then my baby, Lily. It just went by so fast and I don’t know what life without the girls looks like. Will Sydney want a job? Will we move into town? Buy a timeshare somewhere?
Will we be normal?
That’s my question. Because I don’t want to be normal. I’ve never been normal and I’m not just OK with this, I love it. I like living on the edge of society. Because I miss it. And maybe it doesn’t feel good, exactly. But this sense of anticipation I feel is a little bit intoxicating. We’ve been safe for so long. No one tried to kill us. It feels a little bit like no one even cared.