It took another eight months, but the phone rang. Stella almost hadn’t answered it. She’d really hoped that Diane would never call her again. They chatted for a few minutes where Stella learned of Diane’s husband’s stroke and how Marlee had been doing her own investigating on the side. That made Stella nervous because she knew how good Marlee was at her job.
The fact that Marlee was a police officer had been something Stella had kept a sharp eye on. Because Marlee could ruin everything for her if she looked closely enough. But Marlee hadn’t. Or at least she hadn’t until her sister was killed. Then, Marlee had become relentless, looking into everyone who might have had a connection to Macey, and anyone Marlee deemed relevant.
It was no surprise when Marlee got in touch with Stella. The phone conversation had lasted no more than ten minutes. Still, in that time, Stella became aware that Marlee was weighing every word Stella said—and would continue to do so long after they hung up.
From that moment on, Stella had looked over her shoulder. Marlee had gotten close, but never close enough to take her down. How many more times would Stella get away, though? The business was still doing well. Well enough that she had enemies. No matter what type of business someone had, there would always be competitors. A few of hers had tried to take her down, but Stella was nothing if not determined. She had clawed her way out of the gutter, and she was never going back. Death was preferable to living on the streets, starving and fending off others. So, she’d done whatever had to be done to keep her enemies away—even if that meant killing.
Stella had gained a reputation as someone who got the job done. She had never failed to procure a newborn for someone willing to pay for it. The one thing that kept her from being betrayed was that she kept her business small. Only a handful of people worked for her, and when she needed new hires, she lured them away from her competitors with money. Those who had never been in the business weren’t even considered anymore. There were too many ways they could be undercover Feds. No, she kept to people she knew who had been working for a while and had proven themselves.
It was one of the reasons she did so well. She didn’t trust anyone, and she listened to her instincts. And right now, they were telling her to get out of Texas. Except if she did, it might bring more attention to her than if she stayed put. She’d tested those waters twice, choosing a different option each time.
The time she ran, Marlee had missed her by thirty minutes. The time she stayed, Marlee hadn’t gotten near her. Now that Stella had the same choice again, she wasn’t sure which one to choose. If it were up to Chuck, he’d kill Marlee and be done with it. He thought that was the answer to everything, but it wasn’t. The fact that Marlee was spending time with Cooper Owens, who had ties to not only the Harpers but also the Easts, made Stella uneasy.
She knew firsthand what could be done when someone had money to spend to get—or track down—what they wanted. Chuck would likely argue that Marlee hadn’t had time to develop strong enough ties with any of them. And he was probably right. But Stella also knew how quickly attraction could bind two people, and if that attraction began to shift to love? Well, all bets were off.
“What do I do?” she asked herself.
Just then, her phone rang. To her surprise, she saw Diane’s name. It had been a month since they had last spoken. Stella wondered if Diane could know that Stella was thinking about her daughter. She lifted her phone, debating whether to answer it when it suddenly stopped ringing.
Stella let out a relieved breath and set her cell back on the desk. Her gaze snagged on her planner that showed her appointments for the next week. She had some very wealthy people flying in to meet with her. It was one of the reasons she had set up in the middle of Texas because it was easy to get to Houston or Dallas to meet with those individuals. If she changed things now, they would take their business elsewhere because they’d be scared off. Not that she’d blame them. She wouldn’t agree to another meeting either if she were in their shoes.
That didn’t even take into consideration the client she was meeting in just a few hours. Chuck had yet to arrive with the newborn, but he would. He’d never let her down. The house she was in was far from others, but that wasn’t uncommon in this area. While most people kept to themselves, everyone noticed everything. It was one of the reasons she waited until the dead of night to leave the house to conduct her business.
Stella scratched her cheek near her eye, the pad of a finger brushing against a wrinkle. No matter how much money she had to buy products of all kinds, her body still aged. Granted, she looked younger than most women her age, but that’s not what she saw when she looked in the mirror.
She rolled her eyes and got out of her chair to walk the small house. She had more wealth than most, but she didn’t live lavishly. She couldn’t bring that kind of attention to herself when she rented homes. Though she did have a couple of houses around the world that she got away to whenever she could. And it was definitely time for a vacation. Maybe even one longer than just a couple of weeks. A month, perhaps. She was just getting so tired of it all. And she never thought she’d say that.
“I could hang it up now,” she told herself. “I haven’t been caught, and I have enough money to sustain me for three lifetimes, even spending lavishly. So, why am I still doing it?”
Because she was damn good at it. She might not be on the cover of Forbes magazine or hailed as being the richest woman in America, but there was no denying that she was successful. She had built a company out of nothing, one that gave people what they wanted while keeping ten individuals on payroll and paying them very, very handsomely. They followed her rules, and because they did, none of them had ever been caught.
Why would she give all of that up now?
“Because I’m getting older. And because, eventually, I’ll get caught.”
That was the real reason. Stella had been a prisoner in her own home before she ran away. She’d been free, even if she was starving and homeless at the time. That freedom was something she knew she’d never give up. Ever.
What if she did hang it up and close the business after these final deals? What then? She had employees that would need work. While she left the country and began a new life, they would look for new jobs, which meant that the odds of them working for one of her enemies were good. No matter how good Stella had been to them through the years, the fact that she’d put them out of work would be all they cared about. It wouldn’t be long before her old employees—and their new bosses—started talking.
If she thought she was looking over her shoulder now, it would only get worse if she left. Her enemies would use her retirement to frame her for not only her crimes but also theirs. And for all she knew, her employees would help them. She could either live free, or she could run. All the money in the world might keep her running for a long time, but eventually, she’d stop. At some point, she’d get tired. That meant she would only prolong the inevitable.
“There’s no retirement for me,” she said with a long sigh. “Ever.”
The sound of a car door shutting drew her attention. She walked out of the office toward the back where the sound had come from. As she opened the door, Chuck stood there holding a baby carrier.
“You asked, I delivered,” he said as he walked past her and put the carrier on the table.