Emma’s face…concentrate on her face, not what happened. Smoke wreathed the room, the air thick with the stench of bodies burning, human flesh left to smolder in the aftermath of hot flames. He adjusted the backpack strap on his shoulder and studied the ground. Small footprints raced alongside larger ones, two child-sized steps for each stride of the adult. Owen looked around, the image of dust and dark dirt confusingly mixing in with the desk and chairs. He shook his head abruptly, casting the memories away physically, hoping Alace wouldn’t have noticed.
“Owen.”
Of course she’d noticed. Not for the first time, he found himself annoyed at her perceptiveness. Get over it, he scolded himself. This is Alace, after all. “I’m good.”
“Let’s table this until I’m there tomorrow.” The document disappeared, Alace’s image expanding to fill the screen. “We can go over Ashworth and Kuellen, bring Doc into the conversation if you want.”
Dry throat scratchy, Owen swallowed hard. He reminded Alace, “You’ll have Lila with you.”
“She’ll be fine. I’m sure I can offer to pay Kelly to watch her while he and his sister do something on the TV.” The skin around Alace’s mouth tightened, and she aborted a headshake as she rejected her own idea. Owen wasn’t surprised when she followed up with, “Or maybe she can stay with us. It’s not like she can understand what we’ll be talking about.”
“Plus, it can always be a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ moment between mommy and daughter later.” He bit his bottom lip then grinned. “You know, just in case she surfaces the memory later in life.”
“Was that everything you had to discuss?”
Owen smiled harder, not trying to hide it. Alace might not often roll her eyes, but she was entirely dismissive in other ways, such as blatantly redirecting conversations.
“I’ve got a good line on the cop. He retired to an island with the money he got from not only my kids, but several others he’d supplied to the auctions. Given everything going on, I don’t think I should take the time to go down and deal with him myself.” He stared at the image of Alace, willing her to understand. “I want to. Make no mistake about that. But I think we can farm this one out.”
“August would be a good fit. Let me look at his schedule quick.” Alace’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and a screenshare popped up of a calendar, there and gone before Owen could register more than a few details. “He was due back into the country yesterday, and I expect he’ll be ready to get back to work quickly. I’ll message him whatever details you can provide, and it’ll be taken care of within the week.”
“Just like that?” Owen glanced down, fingers resting on his own keyboard. He didn’t lift his eyes as he said, “Means a lot, Alace.”
“Get me the info. Let me worry about the details. It’s what I’m good at.” A sound came through the speakers, and Owen looked up to see Alace glancing away from the camera. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.” He noted Alace’s distracted expression, listening closely enough to make out a woman’s voice layered over a male murmur. “Have a good evening with the fam.”
No goodbye, the video disconnected, and he was left staring at the darkened monitor. It slowly resolved into a picture taken during their road trip to Colorado, Owen in the back seat between his sleeping kids, one leaned into each of his shoulders. His head was thrown back, a serene smile announcing his utter satisfaction at being right there in that moment.
The brief glimpse of the calendar had shown Alace had already planned a mission for her other hunter, the red highlighting indicated it was a high-priority case. She was reorganizing things to take care of a target that likely wasn’t going to move, wasn’t suspicious or wary, and wasn’t urgent in any way.
“Totally besties.”
***
Alace
“Oh, I miss you already.” Phoebe wrapped her arms around Alace and Lila, pulling them close to her. Cheek to cheek, they stood just outside the security entrance to the passenger concourse at the Denver International Airport. “You take care of yourself, Alace, my sweetheart. Take care of yourself, and the care and love of Lila will be effortless. You have it in you to be a brilliant mother, and I believe in you.”
Alace didn’t speak; she couldn’t, her throat closed off to words. Something about Phoebe’s complete acceptance of her as Eric’s wife, as Lila’s mother, as a person Phoebe deemed worthy of love, stole Alace’s ability to communicate.
“I know these things are harder for you, darling. That’s okay, truly.” Phoebe’s grip on her tightened in a reassuring squeeze. “You are a loving, caring mother, and my son thinks you hung the moon. I love you very much.”
Teeth clenched, Alace rested her forehead against the side of Phoebe’s neck. “I love you, too.” Her voice was soft enough she thought Phoebe had missed her words, then the arms around her tightened again.
“I know you do, darling.” Lila squeaked and Phoebe laughed, relaxing her hold enough to lean back and look down at the baby in a sling across Alace’s chest. “I hear you, too, my sweet baby girl.” Her lips brushed Lila’s head once, twice, a third time, in an unconscious re-creation of Eric’s caresses from every day. “Bring her to Malibu soon, Alace. Come visit me often and stay long.” An overhead announcement had them both looking up at the departures board, noting the ever-diminishing time before Phoebe would need to move through security and into the gate area, boarding the plane to take her home. “I’ve got a suite all set up for you, Eric, and little Lila. Anytime, no advance notice needed.”
“You need to go.”
Phoebe nodded, then pressed a soft kiss to Alace’s cheek. “I do. I’ll see you again soon.”
Alace stood and watched as her mother-in-law walked through security, jovially chatting with the officers, and then waved at Alace with one hand, using the other to slip her shoes back on her feet. Phoebe blew a kiss off her fingertips, turned, and disappeared from view into the crowds heading into the main concourse.
Lila fussed quietly and Alace soothed her instinctively, palm slipping over the baby’s head. She saw movement in her periphery and sidestepped, her arm coming down to strike the would-be thief’s hand away from the diaper bag. She twisted her hand and gripped his wrist, turning and yanking with precise pressure, releasing him when he yelped in pain. His arm hung useless at his side, dislocated at the elbow.
“Oww, bitch.” He leaned back, mouth open as if to shout at her.
“I’d recommend you walk away.” Alace stared at him, her palm once again slipping over the curve of Lila’s skull in a slow stroke. “Two fingers to your throat and you stop breathing. You don’t want that. I’m not a mark.” She memorized his features, setting them into her memory so she could locate him later, and gave him one sharp headshake. “Walk away.”
Five minutes later, she had buckled Lila into the car seat strapped into the back seat and was driving through the self-pay kiosk to exit the parking garage. She activated the secondary security system in the car and initiated a voice call. When Owen answered, she didn’t say hello, didn’t give him a greeting other than “On my way,” and terminated the call before he could respond.