Page 137 of The Archer Brothers

“You need to come with me, Penny.”

“I can’t,” I tell her, shaking my head. “I—”

“Ray is with Claire, they’re watching the contest. You’re going walk with me, side by side, and people will be none the wiser.”

I nod and whisper, “Okay.” If Ray has Cl … Chloe—it feels so good to say her name in my head, and to hear someone else say it—if Ray has her, she’ll be safe.

I follow Cara across the street to where her car is parked. She waits until I’m in the passenger seat before she climbs in. I guess she’s waiting to see if I’m going to run or not. I want to, I want to grab Chloe and run far away from here.

“We aren’t going very far,” she says, starting the car and maneuvering into the road. The last time I saw her was maybe a month or so after the guys deployed. I don’t remember everything correctly, but I think she was still in college and just visiting. It seems like she’s doing pretty well for herself.

Thinking about those days brings my mind to Ryley. Oh how I’ve missed her.

“Ryley, how is she? Do you know if she had her baby boy?”

Cara nods as she turns into the parking lot of a hotel about a half-mile from where the Village Green is.

“His name is EJ.”

Evan Junior. Evan has a namesake and he isn’t even around to see him grow up. I wipe away tears that have been steadily falling down my face since I started walking to the car.

“How much does Ray know about your life?”

“Nothing. He doesn’t know anything. He thinks my name is Amy Jones and Claire’s … I mean Chloe’s dad left us. He doesn’t know about Tucker or anything else.” I trail off, not wanting to bring anything up that happened after Tucker deployed. I realize for the first time in years I’ve used my daughter’s given name and it feels good. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can breath just a little bit.

“We know about Lawson and the police report you filed. The last sighting of Frannie was in New York City yesterday, so she’s getting close.”

“How’d you find me?”

“Your storage unit. Buzz was kind enough to give us your name. You’ve been classified as a missing person by the Feds. I had the case assigned to me because of my relationship with Nate.”

“Are you guys still together?”

“We are, but weren’t for a long time. A lot of things have happened to a lot of people. Come on, let’s go inside.”

I hesitantly get out of the car, still clutching the brown paper bag containing my jar of maple mustard. Cara walks up the stairs and opens the door, allowing me to step in first.

My jar of mustard hits the floor when I see Ryley stand up from the bed. Her lower lip quivers as her arms open for me. I rush to fall into them, letting years of tears out while she holds me.

“I thought I’d never see you again.” I’m blubbering, but Ryley doesn’t seem to care. She holds me against her, stroking my back and hair.

“You should’ve told me.”

“I couldn’t. I had to run to protect Claire. He was going to take her from me.”

“Ssh, it’s okay, Penny. Everything is going to be okay.”

“How can you say that? Frannie is close and I’m going to have to run again. Claire, I mean” I take a deep breath and remind myself to call my daughter Chloe. I can’t get in the habit of saying Claire or I might slip. “Chloe is established here and I’m going to have to take her away from her friends.”

“That’s not going to happen. None of us will let that happen.”

“Penny,” Cara says my name to get my attention. “I know this is a lot to take in, but I have to tell you that I have a team of agents arriving very shortly. We want to use you to draw Frannie here so we can arrest her.”

I shake my head vehemently. “No way. I can’t put Chloe in harm’s way.”

“She won’t be, I promise,” Cara states. But she can’t protect us. No one can. I have to disappear again. I have to run, change our names, and find another place to hide. I can’t let Frannie find us because if she does,he’llbe right behind her.He’llwin and I’ll never let him have my baby. I don’t care if he’s in jail. He has people on the outside working for him.

I see the look of determination on their faces and realize that they’re not going to listen to me.

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