As much as my kids loved nature, they were petrified of the slithering serpent. It was a common denominator in our household and the reason I carried a big walking stick whenever we went out on a hike.
“There’s someone in the woods, Momma.”
I froze solid at his utterance. Duncan did not. He dropped to his knees in front of his son.
“Did you see someone or hear them?”
“Saw them.”
“Was it a man or a woman?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Reagan turned her head enough to share, “Dey had a mask like a ninja.”
“Gotcha.” He reached out slowly, placing a hand on Rogan’s upper arm. “What about their clothes? Do you remember what color they were?”
Ro nodded quickly. “Black.”
“Good job, Bud. One more question. Where were they?”
Even though we were inside, he pointed his finger. “In the corner, by the gate.”
Duncan shot to his feet, grabbed his jacket, and called over his shoulder, “Lock the doors behind me, then call Waverly and tell her what happened.”
“Wait! Where are you going?”
“Hunting.”
Within minutes of ending the call, Waverly and four FBI agents descended on my little house, followed by oneseriously peeved older brother. The kids and I met her team a few days before at the party, so they weren’t exactly strangers. That didn’t matter to Reagan. She slipped back into shy mode, using her uncle like a shield to hide behind. Rogan, on the other hand, was completely enamored with a certain blond agent. News flash: it wasn’t Koen. Poor Lanie had no idea the kind of attention she was about to receive. My boy was a shameless flirt.
Keaton and Noah left soon after arriving, racing to catch up with Duncan. The others set up a makeshift command center on my kitchen table. There were more laptops than people, which didn’t compute until I noticed one was split into four screens, each one showing a different live angle of my backyard. The alarms on the doors and windows were explained to me when we moved in, but someone failed to mention a major component of the security system.
“How long have the cameras been out there?” My question wasn’t addressed to anyone in particular. Finn was the one who answered.
“I had them installed after the break-in.”
“First off, what break-in?”
“Oh.” He looked everywhere except at me. “We must’ve forgotten to tell you.”
Waverly stepped up beside him, patting him on the arm. “There was no we, Finnian O’Lachlan.Youdidn’t want to scare her.”
“Way to throw me under the bus, baby.”
“Anytime.” She rose up on her toes, kissing him on the cheek.
“It’s why Waverly was staying with me. My stalker broke in here and took a shot at her.”
“Whoa, someone shot at you?”
Shrugging like it was no big deal, she replied, “Sort of comes with the job description.”
My soon-to-be sister-in-law kicked serious booty. At thirty-three, I was thankful my career didn’t include deadly projectiles whizzing past my head. The most terrifying things I had to deal with as, CFO for Finn’s company, was the occasional corporate espionage and internal audits. They were the bane of my existence and like Waverly’s bullets, they were part of my job description.
When the FBI lingo started flying, Finn steered the twins to the living room. He flipped on the TV and sat on the couch between them.“Nothing happened. They’re safe,”I repeated over and over in my head. Regardless of the fact my babies were less than fifteen feet away, I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. I couldn’t even blink without my mind racing toward the prospect of what might have been. It scared the bejesus out of me. If Duncan hadn’t been there…
Nope.Pull yourself together, Sloane.