Page 59 of The Art of Dying

Just then, two men in uniform approached us.

“Mrs. Kitsch? I’m Staff Sergeant Torres. We have orders to escort you to your next location.”

Naomi stepped forward, hands in her back pockets. She was confident as she spoke, but still looked tiny standing before a six-foot-plus Marine. “We’re stopping at Caroline’s first so she can pack a bag. We’re all staying at my place tonight. It’s just the next block over.”

Torres grinned. “Seeing what you did to the intruder, I’d have to agree that’s the safest place.”

She turned, his flattering words having no effect. “Let’s go.”

She drove my SUV down the street to Caroline’s, waiting in the dark with the kids asleep in their seats behind us. Caroline was accompanied by two armed officers, and one by one, the lights inside lit the windows.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” I whispered. “It’s so surreal. A normal person would be hysterical right now.”

“Well,” Naomi said following a sigh, “we’re not normal. We’re military wives. And besides, you’re in shock. It hasn’t hit you yet.”

Dread engulfed me, wondering what myriad of emotions would overcome me when itdidhit. “I’m glad you were there. It would’ve ended a lot differently if you hadn’t been.”

“Caroline’s the one who took him out,” Naomi said. “Who knew sweet, delicate Caroline had blade skills?”

She sputtered out a quiet laugh, and I covered my mouth with my hand.

Caroline rushed out, the officers flanking her. With all of us safely inside Naomi’s car, the caravan pulled away and we drove the short distance to the Abrams’s.

Once the kids were tucked away in the spare bedroom, I joined Caroline and Naomi on the sectional. There were three glasses of red wine waiting for us on the coffee table.

When I settled in next to Caroline, I grabbed my glass. Caroline and Naomi did the same. With her free hand, Caroline grabbed my hand. We all took a gulp and then stared at the dark television screen.

A board on the porch creaked as one of the soldiers outside shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Four in front, four in back,” Naomi said quietly. “I guess the commander is taking us seriously now.”

Caroline twisted her wrist to glance at her watch and then cleared her throat. “You think his Russian friend will come back? Do you think he knows where you live?”

“Probably,” Naomi said. “But he’s somewhere planning on springing Mason at the most opportune moment.”

“What?” I said, looking to her.

“They’re either going to kill him or get him back. They won’t risk him being questioned. And something tells me Mason is important to them somehow. He has his own bodyguard. He’s like… part of the family.”

I shook my head. “He’s a wanna-be country singer who couldn’t make it in Nashville.How?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Naomi said. “They’re going to have their hands full keeping him in custody. No one has ever gotten my gun off me. Not since I was ten years old. Whoever he’s in with, they’re the real deal.”

“I don’t care who they are,” Caroline said. “They’re not going to break him out of a military base.”

“The good news is,” Naomi said, “even if they pull it off, they’re going to have to back off for a while and reconvene. Mason will have to heal. They’re going to be far away from us long enough for the guys to come home and the Corps to come up with a strategy.”

“You think Mason is going to escape, don’t you?” Caroline said.

Naomi shrugged.

It was quiet for several minutes, until I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Well, I guess you’d better teach me your knife trick, Caroline,” I said.

Caroline breathed out a laugh and then we all began to giggle. I leaned my head on Caroline’s shoulder, shaking my head in disbelief. Mason Hughes was just an asshole from back home. Now he was a monstrous international assassin, in the custody of the US government. Even with his blood seeping into the cracks of my wood floor, it still didn’t seem real.

Caroline’s giggles faded. “Naomi?”

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