Page 31 of Splintered Security
I’ll have to wing that conversation, impersonating Rosen, and hope any omissions or missteps are overlooked. I hate leaving anything tohope.
I need Smith and Conyers out of sight with enough of the contingent that the numbers better favor me.
Murphy provided numbers and addresses. He also found patterns they must not consider liabilities, so we know who goes where and when.
It’s Saturday. Saturday night is the pool hall, followed by a little mayhem at the club house. They do their main partying there; all but a few have other places as well.
There’s a crew who are church goers, if one could believe that. So it’s tomorrow or a week from now, and tomorrow’s a no-go. But I can get some intel tomorrow that will help immensely if I want to peel off that contingent. Heath isn’t one of those, but Conyers is. And he’s the ride or die variety. He’s the one Liam said was smarter than people knew and operates as a mastermind while coming off dumb.
The sun has set by the time I’ve worked out what I need to do. The op isn’t in motion… yet, but a quick Google voice number means I leave a message for Smith as Rosen, baiting him to return the call. I need the two generals away from Heath Giltenhouse, leaving him vulnerable when he’d least expect it—a bright and sunny midday raid after a long night of partying. No one attacks in broad daylight. At least I’ll have surprise on my side.
A week from tomorrow, I’ll make my move.
I’ve given Anni enough time to stew. Either she’ll be over her frustration or she’ll be in beast mode ready to shred me. Is it wrong to hope for the second one? Feisty Anni says what she needs, she owns her shit, and the passion in her makes her beauty that much greater.
She must be starving by now too. Coffee and no food since last night could work to my advantage.
I head to the kitchen and pull out some ingredients and get to work. If the smell of frying bacon doesn’t lure her, the steaks on the griddle should. I’m working on the salad when she pokes her head around the corner. I don’t get spicy Anni, nor do I get an Anni who is past this morning’s argument. I get one who has swollen eyes and a red, puffy nose. She’s practically… defeated.
“Hey, Sunshine. I have spinach salad with fried onions and bacon and a steak ready to go. Didn’t know if you wanted your mashed potatoes loaded or plain and was just coming to ask.”
She shrugs. Well, fuck.
“Trust me?” I don’t know why I ask it. I’m referring to my cooking, but it’s her downcast eyes and tiny shake of her head that gut me.
I leave the counter where I’ve been plating our dinners and move to her, crouching down to get face to face, lifting her chin to look her in the eyes. “Talk to me.”
She shrugs again and ever so quietly says, “Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Thought I could trust you of all people.”
“Baby—”
She continues as if I haven’t even spoken. “Thought you’d be the last person to betray me. And I’m stuck with you. Legally. Trapped in a web of my own making.”
“I—”
“This morning was the happiest I can ever remember being. And I came out here to find you discussing my brother, myAugust, with a guy whose eyes were so cold and who stared right through me like he was judging me. I was relaxed and happy, even … after everything, and you betrayed me by betraying August’s memory. So I don’t care about how I eat the potatoes.”
Even so, her stomach growls. She acts as if she doesn’t hear it and moves around me to the cabinet, grabs a glass for water, and chugs it all in one go. After a refill, she sits at the bar at what has become her spot. Her shoulders roll forward, and a lone tear streaks down her cheek.
I set a plate and fork in front of her and return with my own. When she’s taken a bite of steak, I speak. “Liam Murphy judges everyone and everything. He is gray in the extreme. You want him on your team, mostly because you don’t want him on your opponent’s. I asked him for information on the Lost Mountain Rebels, as well as the three guys who were at your house yesterday.”
She tosses a bite of mashed potatoes into her mouth, and her eyes dilate, but she controls whatever moan she’d normally release.
“I asked about Aug as well because I need to know what word on the street is. It wasn’t to slander his memory, and it certainly wasn’t because I don’t trust you or what you’ve told me. You’ll have to cut me some slack, Anni. It’s been three days. Literally. I don’t know how to do this—” I flick my fingers between us. “I’ve never had a long-term girlfriend, and now I have a wife.”
I hope she can hear the smile in my voice. “I want you to trust me, Sunshine. I need you to trust me. Give me a chance to prove to you that I haven’t betrayed you.”
We eat for a while in silence before I continue. “I need to handle some business. And I really need you to trust that I’m doing what’s best for you. I’ll be leaving very early in the morning and I’m asking you—no, I’m begging you—to stay here and not leave.”
She finishes everything I serve her and heads to the sink to rinse her plate. I keep going with my one-sided conversation. “I want to revisit happy and relaxed. I haven’t forgotten, but now’s not the time.”
A quick jerk of her head and she sets the dish in the dishwasher. She leaves the room before doubling back to offer, “Thank you for dinner.”
It’s no less defeated, but it’s more of the Anni I know, and less of the shell I sat next to for dinner.
Anni
I leave the kitchen and head down the hallway and back to my self-isolation. I’m cried out and ready to sleep. Mostly I’m ready to have this day behind me. From happy and horny to broken and bereft—story of my life.
