Page 65 of Out of the Shadows
“Yes, I convinced him to stay.”
“That’s one less person I need to worry about,” Margo mumbled.
“I have the house locked down,” Jack said. “Find Charlie, convince him to come back here or stick with him. Aberdeen thinks he still has the jewels.”
“Fine,” Margo snapped, grabbed her phone from Luisa, and hit End. “Dammit.”
“Where are you going to look?”
“I’ll call his friends and check his condo. After that?” Margo thought. “The bar he regularly goes to, then maybe Logan’s resort. As long as he doesn’t do something completely out of character, I’ll find him tonight. But you have to get up to Desert Hills and help Jack.”
“I’ll take an Uber,” Luisa said. “It’ll be the fastest way from downtown.”
“Costs a small fortune,” Margo said.
“I’ll expense it. Logan’s good for it.”
Luisa was trying to make light of the situation, but Margo didn’t like any of this. She had this bad feeling in her gut and she couldn’t figure out why.
They secured the box in the vault and Luisa called an Uber. Margo waited, because she still had this feeling that something was wrong. She hadn’t been followed, but Aberdeen had proven resourceful, and he could be watching.
As soon as Luisa was safe in the Uber, Margo headed to Scottsdale.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The sun had just set, the fiery oranges and deep reds giving way to purple, the mountains a stark silhouette against the twilight. This was Laura’s favorite moment in the day, and no matter the temperature, if the sky was clear, she would take a glass of wine out to the front porch, sit on her swing, and relax, letting the fast pace and frustrations of any given day fade away with the night. It had been her ritual for as long as she could remember, but after her divorce, her evening routine had become even more important. It was one reason she disliked winter... the days were too short and she often missed being home at sunset, which left her feeling out of sorts.
Summer, with the long, hot nights, refilled her well, so she could be the best mother, the best sister, the best veterinarian possible.
But tonight... Jack said she needed to stay inside. He meant well but didn’t understand her need to decompress. So she paced, agitated, feeling trapped and alone even in a house full of people.
Logan was playing video games with the kids, which helped take their mind off what was going on and their worry for their father. And Jack was out in the yard, walking around, making sure no one was lurking in the shadows.
Laura poured herself a glass of wine. She didn’t want to use alcohol as a crutch, but it had been a really difficult forty-eight hours and her head was pounding with the stress of it all. The fight with Charlie didn’t help, then playing peacemaker between her brother and ex-husband, and then holding her kids while they cried with genuine fear about their dad’s safety after Charlie left—after he selfishly walked out.
Yes, he’d done the right thing, and maybe she had pushed him too hard. His desire to bring the family back together was noble, and she wanted to forgive him, fully, completely, and go back to the way it had been.
But Charlie hadn’t changed. She had. She used to love his dreams. She could listen to him for hours talking about his ideas, that someday they would have a horse ranch, that she could have a dog rescue, which had been her childhood dream. It wasn’t that she resented that none of his ideas panned out; she resented that he hadn’t accepted that married life, the life of grown-ups with kids and responsibilities, needed stability. She would have helped him chase his dreams if he had been honest with her about what he was doing.
Instead, he was like a gambling addict, thinking that the next bet would bring a payday—for Charlie, it was always the next idea. And when he gambled with their kids’ future and home and lost... that was the final straw.
Maybe he now realized that he’d put a wedge in their family; maybe he knew how he had hurt her. But it was too late. She didn’t have the same feelings for Charlie she once had.
But she needed him safe, to be the father their kids loved and deserved.
Jack used a key to get into the back door. That was another thing—they only locked the house at night or when they were away. This rural community was safe—or it had been safe. Laura didn’t know if she would ever feel safe again.
The dogs greeted Jack as if he was a long-lost friend, and he scratched them behind their ears and told them they were good boys. Even Bagel stretched and got up from his bed to claim some of Jack’s attention.
“I checked on the animals,” Jack said. “They seem to be settled for the night. Your barn doesn’t have a lock on it.”
“No need,” she said. “At least, I never thought there was a need. I can’t imagine someone coming in to steal my horses, but maybe I need to think that way.”
“Is that a big problem out here?”
She laughed, though she didn’t feel any humor in it. “No. I’ve never heard of a horse theft here. When I was growing up there was a string of cattle thefts, but the Rangers caught the gang. No one I know ever had a horse stolen.”
“Do you miss Texas?”
