The next three weeks went by in a blur of activity.
After successfully getting the Volvo out of the ditch and starting it, the group went to the new safe house. The least exhausted and injured drove the Volvo back to the motel and collected bedding and supplies while the others tucked Anson into bed.
Josiah and Molly slept on a pallet on the floor beside him. The pallet was hard and uncomfortable, and they were in a basement again. But Molly settled with her head on his shoulder, and Josiah wouldn’t have traded it away for anything. He fell into a black pit and only woke again when she nudged him up so they could settle more comfortably on one of the new air beds the group had set up.
He took the opportunity to use the bathroom and drink a huge amount of water before sinking back into healing darkness with Molly’s arms around him. The next time he woke, he was alone. Her scent was still on the pillow beside him, and his phone had been plugged into a nearby wall outlet.
A quiet growl of frustration escaped him. Most of the time they had just spent together was while he’d been unconscious, and he missed lying next to her. Picking up his phone, he stared at the date and time and then surged upright. Aside from that one interruption, he had slept for over thirty-six hours.
The new safe house was as big, isolated, and ugly as the first one had been, and they’d had plenty of rooms to tuck people into. He dressed in clean jeans and a T-shirt that had been left by the air bed. Then he exited their bedroom and went in search of the others.
Voices sounded in the basement. He limped down the stairs to discover a couple of card tables had been set up. Several of the group were sitting on folding chairs, eating and drinking while they argued.
Anson wore his favorite old bathrobe, his skin patchy where the burns were still fading. Henry yelled something from the monitor/computer room. A moment later Steven chimed in. They were both in the same room. Richard’s face and hands were scored with light scars. Maria and Molly sat together, a little apart from the men.
Everyone noticed his arrival. Molly’s expression lit up, and she hurried over. Putting his arms around her, he sank into the miracle of her presence. “Coffee.”
“Food,” she told him. “You haven’t eaten anything in days.”
“All right. And coffee.” He sat, and Maria put a fresh cup of coffee in front of him along with a full plate of sandwiches, fruit salad, and hard-boiled eggs. Suddenly starving, he dug in. Molly sat beside him, resting a hand on his back.
Relishing her touch in silence, he didn’t stop eating until he had cleared everything off his plate. Then he reached for his coffee and looked around. “Where are the other women?”
“They went home,” Molly replied. “They wanted to stay, but they have jobs and lives of their own. It wasn’t fair for them to hang around any longer, especially since I’m sort of back in hiding again.”
He gave her a long level look and sipped his coffee. “What do you mean by sort of? Either you are in hiding, or you aren’t. And you’d better be in hiding.”
“I’ve been in contact with Frank and Rubio,” she said calmly. “I told them I was attacked again, this time by magic, which is why I ran from the motel. They confiscated Julia’s toiletries along with the toiletries from the families of other partners who work for Sherman & Associates. After a test for magic came back positive, they brought Russell and other management in for questioning. The firm is denying any knowledge of it.”
“Of course they are,” he growled. His gaze met Anson’s. He asked quietly, “How are you?”
Anson smiled. “I’m good, thanks to you, Molly, and Lauren. Getting better every day.”
He relaxed and turned to Richard. “And you?”
Richard nodded. “Nothing that a little aloe vera gel won’t fix. Lauren said the scratches will fade.” Telepathically, he added,
Henry and Steven left the monitor/computer room to join them.
“And also!” Steven said with a wide smile. “Now that we’re all together and you didn’t die again, Henry and I have figured out that the money hasn’t been coming and going from just one client or company but from several. The main links are the Seychelles and Russian banks. We’re looking at