“As a cop, but...”
“I became a cop after the Marines, you know. And for the record, I’m a federal agent now. That’s different.”
“I respect the Marines. And your work as a fed. But my experience was a little more...”
“HEY!” Edwin roused himself enough to sit up and point a finger at the two of them. Luke didn’t need the rearview to know this. He felt the sharp point of it in his shoulder blade. Jabbing hard. Several times. “Shut up! We’re trying to sleep.”
“Sorry.” Dani shot a look over her shoulder, ducking a little in a way that might have seemed submissive if Luke hadn’t known her.
“Beg your pardon, sir.” Luke waved an apology, focusing a little more intently on the road than was necessary.
Dani looked at Luke. She pointed to herself. Luke shook his head and pointed to himself.
And behind them, Marcus was laughing.
AS THE SUN CLEARED the horizon and back-lit some of the tallest and most spindly palm trees Dani had ever seen, the smell of orange blossoms mixed with industrial pollution let her know they were close. “I haven’t been to Florida in a very long time,” she said, cracking the window open.
“Smells like an old person,” Luke groused, and Dani caught movement from the corner of her eye. Edwin blocked Marcus’ arm, which was suspiciously close to Luke’s head.
“Where are we going?” she asked, to distract Luke from the action in the rear seat.
“I don’t know, there’s a rest home...” He fished in his pocket and pulled out a billfold. “It’s under the license.”
Dani ignored the ID. She’d seen enough, held enough, to know when one was fake—even one as good as the FBI could make. Anything that he would have on him at this point would only be part of the cover. Under the license was a folded slip of paper. It had an address and nothing else. Dani plugged it into her phone.
“Your mother is in a rest home?” Edwin asked from the back, seeming surprised.
Luke shrugged. “She had a place in Colorado, but she wanted to get out of the cold.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“Colorado.” Luke glanced around and rolled his eyes. “What? I call her!” Edwin sat back in his seat and waved a dismissive hand toward Luke. “At least I didn’t run out on her... I mean, when she needed...”
Dani stared out the passenger window as Luke’s high morals disintegrated. Really, she just couldn’t watch.
“Destination on the left,” Dani’s phone announced. As one they all looked. Dani let a low whistle.
“That’s some retirement home,” Marcus said, not quite under his breath.
It was true, the houses looked very unlike a group home of any sort. They were set back from the road, the lawns trimmed to putting-green perfection. Palm trees swayed in the breeze, fountains danced water over naked stone nymphs and cherubs. Flowers were everywhere, more kinds than Dani could even name, lined up in long rows alongside the sidewalks, in giant urns flanking the doors of the main building. In every conceivable planter. The correct address was in front of a building that might more properly be defined as a bungalow. Or a tiny mansion.
“Wow,” Luke said quietly as he pulled up in front and put the car in park. “This is a nice place.”
Dani narrowed her eyes and glared at him when she realized he’d never even seen it, ignoring for the moment the niggling feeling that she wasn’t exactly winning any awards as dutiful daughter this year either.
“All right then!” Luke turned to the others after fumbling with his seatbelt until he’d gotten it undone. Was he nervous? Seriously? Luke was nervous? Dani turned her eyes again to the building, wondering just what dragon lay in that particular lair. “Wait here; I’ll go grab what we came for, and we can be on our way.”
“You really think I’m going to wait in the car?” Dani said, her shock at being expected to stay giving an edge to her tone. She was halfway out the door before he could even form any kind of protest.
Edwin clapped Luke’s shoulder. “Let’s meet the family,” he said a little too cheerfully.
“Last time someone said that to me it didn’t turn out so well, you remember that?”
“But this time, you have me!” Edwin chortled. Marcus bypassed the conversation and opened his door to climb out, meeting Dani’s eyes over the roof of the car as if to say, ‘I’m not missing this for the world.’
“Fine! You people are crazy, you know that? Just for the record. Cuckoo.” Luke twirled a finger by his temple and then threw open his door.
The four of them walked to the front door. After a little mock fight with Marcus for the honor, Luke rang the bell. Dani rolled her eyes. Men.
They didn’t have long to wait. A pattering of feet from inside sent Dani skittering backwards, in a defensive stance. Running? Who the hell—
“LUKE!” The door swung wide and Luke’s mother came flying out like she was set on springs. She hit Luke hard, in a full body blow that ended in a hug so strong Dani could hear the air being pressed out of his lungs from where she stood.
“Mom, this is my fiancée, Dani.” Luke’s words came out strangled. It took Dani a moment to realize what he was saying... and why. A moment later she was the one fighting for breath.
“Fiancée?” the woman half-screamed, enveloping Dani in an embrace that a boa constrictor would be envious of. His mother looked from one to the other in the small group. “That’s a boy’s name, isn’t it? But it’s you he’s talking about. Tell me it’s you...”
“It’s me,” Dani said, forcibly breaking the woman’s grip and stepping out of the embrace carefully, lest she get buried again. She smiled, and held out her hand for a shake. Setting a boundary.
Just remember that. Keep boundaries. Boundaries are your friend.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Luke’s mother said and turned the suffocation hug on her again, if anything squeezing even tighter the second time around. “With that boy, you can never tell anything.”
THE LITTLE BUNGALOW turned out to be beautifully furnished, if a touch busy. Dani wandered around the little displays of sculptures and flowers, the images on the walls, the knick-knacks that dotted the shelves. Although the décor was lovely, and obviously had some quality to it, it didn’t really register to her what she was looking at until a small square piece of paper in an overly large frame caught her eye. It was a line drawing, a hurried sketch, but it was one she’d seen before. In books.
She caught her breath and looked closer. Her heart tried to stop and start at the same time. She turned to their hostess, wondering if she looked as pale as she felt. “Is that...”
Elaina, Luke’s mother, came from the kitchen carrying a tray with coffee and cookies. “Yes, dear, it’s all right. I had it sealed when it was framed; it was almost as expensive as the drawing to have it done, but you must protect the Master, yes?”