Page 8 of Peace Under Fire

Jacob’s truck was still squatting there between the white lines like a grumpy gray hulk. Rather like its owner. Most days, Jacob shed a black cloud of habitual grumpiness.

A shiny silver Prius zipped into the space next to the truck and a bird-like figure thrust open the driver’s door and climbed out.

Shit!

It was Kathy Stertz, the biggest busybody and second biggest gossip in the condo complex.

Mandy’s heart stuttered. She hastily stepped back from the bedroom window, letting the curtain fall back into place, until it covered every inch of the glass. Hopefully Kathy had been so busy looking for a parking place, she hadn’t seen Mandy’s face in the window, or the twitching of the curtain.

This particular unit was supposed to be empty as its owner was somewhere in Seattle tending to her cancer-stricken daughter.

If Kathy saw movement at the window, she’d warp on up to the third floor and bang on the unit’s door. When no one answered, the damn woman would probably head straight to the building super.

Mandy grimaced. The super was a slimy, disgusting man. His involvement in the situation would be bad. Very bad—for Mandy. She’d repeatedly turned the man’s advances down, which had left him on the peeved side of surly when it came to her. If he caught her living here without authorization, he’d probably try to blackmail her into sleeping with him, and when she refused, he’d turn her over to the police.

And that, she couldn’t afford.

She winced at the thought of what her sisters would say if they had to bail her out of jail. And that was assuming they managed to get to her first.

Were her fingerprints still flagged? And if they were, would those old ones even match her prints of today? She’d been a child when they’d escaped, barely eight years old. Surely her childhood prints wouldn’t match her adult ones.

Chewing worriedly on her bottom lip, she stepped farther back from the window as if Kathy could see her through the curtain.

Maybe she should have taken a page from Giulia’s messed up playbook and burned the pads of her fingers until nothing but shiny scar tissue remained. Although such drastic measures seemed likely to catch notice and lead to exactly the kind of attention they were trying to avoid.

Besides, there were other ways those inhumane cockroaches from her childhood could track her down. Giulia and Kaylee had warned her about age progression facial recognition software and DNA databases during those heated arguments before she’d left the compound.

They’d also warned her that they wouldn’t race to her rescue if she got into trouble.

Of course, they’d all recognized that for the lie it was. They were family. They might argue and fight, but they’d never abandon each other. If she got caught, her sisters would drop everything to help her, no matter how pissed they were, just as she wouldn’t abandon them.

Which wasn’t necessarily a good thing, because if she were arrested, and brought those white-coated vermin back into their lives, the fall out would engulf all of them, not just her.

Maybe she should take some precautions. She quickly dragged her suitcase onto the bed and packed up the few items lying around the room. If Kathy did start pounding on the door, Mandy would slip out and flee the complex while the other woman went to collect the super.

Of course, Kathy could bypass the door pounding and go straight to the super immediately, but Mandy doubted she’d do that. She’d want to make sure Dolly hadn’t returned early. Still… maybe she should take off while she had the chance.

Except…

She glanced at the window and sighed. She wasn’t ready to abandon her quest yet and this unit had the perfect view. It looked right down on the parking lot. She could keep an eye on him from here—or at least on his truck. And stalking his truck was as good as stalking Jacob since he wouldn’t go anywhere without it.

Besides, Dolly would benefit from the unauthorized occupation of her home. Before leaving, Mandy would drop an envelope full of cash, along with a note of apology on the kitchen counter—just as she’d done at the Pattersons’ condo when she’d fled their home.

Once she was all packed and ready to take off at a moment’s notice, she edged back up to the window and parted the drapes a sliver. Kathy must have vacated the parking lot by now, and it would only take a second to check on Jacob’s truck.

It was still there, the dull gray darkening to the color of an old bruise beneath the twilight wash of the setting sun.

She let the curtain fall back into place and stood there a moment, listening for the sound of knocking. Nothing disturbed the silence. Kathy would have arrived by now, if she’d seen Mandy in the window.

After a few more minutes of waiting and listening, Mandy relaxed and eased into the faded plaid armchair beside the window.

That had been a close call. She needed to be more careful. She should return home. She knew that. This was pure idiocy, keeping watch over a man who’d made it blisteringly clear he didn’t want or need her concern.

But then she’d never been particularly smart when it came to Jacob Moore. Even now, the urge to check the parking lot again was overwhelming. Which was so asinine. She already knew what she’d find. His truck would still be sitting there, just as it had been yesterday. And the day before, and the day before that.

He’d been holed up in his dark condo, curtains drawn, lights off, for weeks now. Quite a departure for a man who’d rarely stayed home before his release from the hospital. He’d always been off somewhere—on one of his missions, or one of his training sessions, or hiking and fishing with his friends.

Until three weeks ago, he’d seemed averse to kicking back at home and relaxing.

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