Page 171 of Secret Weapon

He was too busy trying to repair his relationship with his wife to screw around with the code, anyway.Ottie swore they hadn’t been having an affair, but José had become as engrossed in Project Marshmallow as she had.The day Laurie’s friend saw them at the hotel, well, that had been a misunderstanding of epic proportions.Timothy Stern had been away in DC, presenting a progress report on his own project to the powers that be, when Ottie had seen a cockroach in her bedroom.And Ottie Marquette didn’t do cockroaches.Rather than stay in Timothy’s apartment—because his asshole brother had moved in “temporarily” after his own marital problems and showed no signs of leaving—she’d simply checked in to the nearest five-star hotel.Timothy had asked José to make sure she was okay and take her a can of roach spray, but Ottie refused to go home until the entire house had been fumigated.The two of them had talked over several project-related issues, and when José arrived home, Laurie was crying and packing her stuff to move in with a friend.Then she’d refused to speak to him, and, well, you get the picture…

Anyhow, that was in the past.Laurie had agreed to try again, and José had promised to reform his workaholic tendencies.

Another happy ending.

Now we just needed to set up Dasha’s new fake life for the win.

Dasha was back in her Darla outfit when we walked into the Craft Cabin, and she mustered up a vague look of recognition that morphed into barely disguised horror when Bradley hugged her.

“I love your dress!Did you make it?”

“Sure did, hun.”

“How’s your sister?”

“She’s doing a little better now, thank you for asking.”

Paulo rushed over with Brooke in tow, and there were more hugs and some squealing.I’d agreed to let Bradley do the talking—he liked to be a part of the team, and this subterfuge had been his brainwave, after all.

After the chit-chat, Paulo made everyone coffee, and then we got down to it.Black and I would provide a retail site at reduced rent.The Blackwood Foundation would offer financial support with the hope that in the future, the new Craft Cabin could stand on its own two feet as a social enterprise offering classes, craft supplies, and a small café.The details had been hashed out with Dasha and Cora, who oversaw the Foundation, over the past few weeks, and we even had two possible locations in mind.The staff at Crossroads, a local women’s shelter Dan had ties with, were keeping an eye out for potential candidates for the job openings.

Bradley spread his arms wide.“The possibilities are endless—a whole network of Craft Cabins, each with their own Thrive group.Don’t you love it?”

Brooke nodded enthusiastically.“More Thrive groups would be amazing.When I started this one in Baldwin’s Shore, I never dreamed so many women would attend.In a way, it’s been sickening.I mean, it’s heartbreaking that domestic and sexual violence is so widespread.”

Didn’t I know it?I’d been a victim too, before I was old enough to defend myself.But my job today was to temper expectations.

“Let’s start with one new store, champ.Then we can scale up if it works, okay?”

“Where?”Bradley asked.“In Oregon?What about Roseburg?Coquille?”

“That’s too close to Darla’s existing store.We don’t want to split the customer base.How about Virginia?If we opened a branch in Richmond, you could oversee the fit-out.”

Brooke and Paulo looked at each other.

“Virginia?”Oh, that dampened Brooke’s enthusiasm.“But that’s so far away.I have a dog, and Luca…”

“I guess I could spend some time there,” Paulo said.“How far is Richmond from New York City?”

“An hour and twenty minutes from Richmond International to La Guardia.”

The boyfriend Paulo pretended he didn’t have lived in New York, so Dasha said.She’d thought he might volunteer.

And now she spoke up.“If anyone goes, it should be me.The Craft Cabin is my brand, and I’d want to make sure things were done right.Plus my sister lives in Maryland, and she sure could use some extra support at the moment.That boyfriend of hers…” Dasha shook her head and sighed.

“You’d really do that?”Brooke asked.“Go to Richmond?”

“Last month, he spent the rent money on new rims for his truck, and my sister just won’t stand up for herself.”

Brooke made a face.“Ouch.What does she see in him?”

“He can be very charming.Toocharming, if you know what I mean.”

“Red flags are waving?”

Dasha nodded.“And I don’t have as many ties to Baldwin’s Shore as you do.We’d have to sort through all the finances, but if that works out and you could take care of Pickle…”

“We could definitely take care of Pickle.”

“And we’d need to keep Everly on if she’s willing.”

“Oh, she will be.She’s already said that she loves working here.”

Another problem solved.And once Dasha got to Richmond, she’d “meet” Alex in a way that didn’t involve helicopters, stolen weapons, or assassination.We could send him into the craft store, or have them bump into each other in a coffee shop, or engineer a coordinated stroll through the park… As Bradley said, the possibilities were endless.

And finally, two of the Ten would be happy.

From time to time, I couldn’t help wondering where Vik was.Would we ever cross paths?Did I even want to?But that was a question for another day.This afternoon, I had Nico to speak with and an apartment to break into, and Dasha had to put on her dancing shoes.

There was no rest for the wicked, and we were as wicked as they came.

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