Page 7 of Captured Pawn
“I’m sure you don’t feel like eating much, but I know Matty would want you to take care of yourself.”
Her use of my brother’s name was jarring.
“You knew Matty?”
“Of course. Everyone here knew and loved your brother.” Her warm smile waned. “I’m so very sorry for your loss.”
Tears stung my eyes again. “Thank you,” I replied mechanically.
Her smile was back as she waved me over. “I took a chance that you liked some of the same foods your brother did. He used to beg me to make my mac & cheese every chance he got. I think he’d have eaten mac & cheese every single day if he could.”
My chuckle was genuine. She’d done the impossible… made me smile on the worst day of my life.
“He really did love his carbs, didn’t he?” I added, pushing to my feet, and only then remembering to kick off the one shoe I still had on.
“You could say that. He never met a potato, pasta, or bread he didn’t like,” she confirmed.
My tummy obviously didn’t get the memo that we were supposed to be too sad to eat. Its grumble was loud enough to draw another chuckle from the woman.
The tray was filled with the oddest array of foods I’d seen together in a long time, yet it was absolutely perfect. My vision blurred with renewed tears as I took in the bowl of buttered popcorn, bag of Twizzlers, a plate filled with Oreos and Hershey kisses, a personal-sized pizza with pepperoni covering the top, and as she said… a casserole dish full of delicious-looking baked mac & cheese.
“I think I gained ten pounds just looking at this spread,” I halfway joked, suddenly feeling lighter than I had in days.
The woman laughed while handing me a plate. “That’s the unfair part. The men of this house could eat like this every meal and never gain an ounce. It’s a strange assortment, but I know Matty would approve.”
She was right, but the realization that this was clearly where Matty had spent so much of his time instead of in Providence working at the shop with me was a hard pill to swallow.
“I’m sorry,” I said, turning to her and trying not to cry. “I didn’t catch your name.”
There was no sense trying to be angry with this woman. In fact, maybe if I played my cards right, she’d become an ally and help me get the hell out of this place.
“Margaret, but most everyone calls me Maggie.”
“Nice to meet you, Maggie. And thank you… for… well, showing me that you really must have known my brother well,” I said, waving my hand in the direction of the spread.
A few seconds of awkward silence followed before Maggie turned and started to leave.
“Wait! You don’t need to go, yet. I have so many questions,” I pleaded truthfully.
She paused but didn’t bother turning back to look at me before adding, “I’m sure you do have questions, but I’m afraid it will be Mr. Knight that will need to answer them for you.”
“No! I don’t belong here. He brought me here against my will.”
Finally turning enough that I could see regret on her face, she answered quietly. “I know it must be hard for you, losing your brother and being brought here, but it really is best. Matty would want you safe, and Mr. Knight is the only person that can make sure of that right now.”
“And why is that? If Mr. Knight wasn’t a criminal, engaging in nefarious activities, dragging my innocent brother into situations that got him killed—then I wouldn’t be in any danger in the first place.”
For the first time since she’d arrived, I saw anger in Maggie’s eyes. “I know you are hurting right now, but I promise you, the Knight brothers are not your enemy, Miss Locke.”
I noticed she didn’t bother denying that they were criminals. Still, my beef was with the Knight men, not their otherwise lovely housekeeper.
I changed gears, asking, “I don’t have any of my clothes or toiletries here. If you just let me leave…”
She held up her hand to stop me midsentence. “Mr. Nick sent some of the men to your house to collect the things you will need.”
“And how the hell are they going to get in my locked condo and past my alarm system?”
It was an honest question, but I could see it sounded like a foolish one to Maggie. “Locks and alarms are not something the Knights have problems with,” she added simply.
