wait! Then how are you still here?”
“I healed myself. I think it was rage at what they’d done that triggered something within me. I don’t know the full range of my capabilities. All I know is every so often, something new turns on inside of me and I just know stuff. Or I can do things I couldn’t do before. I guess I’m the ultimate time-release capsule in human form. Charlie knows some of this, and now so do you.”
Merlin sighed. “Well, I’m dying, so your secret is safe with me.”
Wyrick threw a dish towel at him, which made him laugh.
“That soup perked you right up, didn’t it?” she said. “Just for that, you’re going to your room.”
Suddenly serious, he nodded. “I could do with a nap.”
Wyrick pushed him through the house and down the main hall to his room, made sure he got himself safely onto the bed, and then pulled off his shoes and covered him with a blanket.
“Where’s your phone?” she asked.
“Here,” he said, and pulled it out of a pocket.
She put it beside his bed. “Sleep well. Your nurse should be here soon.”
As soon as he closed his eyes, she left.
* * *
An hour later, his nurse arrived with an overnight bag. Her name was Ora Jones, a sweet fortysomething woman with a soft voice, and the bluest eyes Wyrick had ever seen. She brought a little cold air and so much confidence into the house that Wyrick finally relaxed.
“You must be Wyrick,” Ora said. “Just call me Ora. If you’ll show me where Mr. Merlin’s room is, and leave me your contact info, then I can officially relieve you of worries.”
“All of my contact info is on a pad in the kitchen, but my apartment is just downstairs, so if you need help quickly, just call or text, and I’ll come running.”
“Thank you,” Ora said.
“Follow me, and I’ll introduce you to Merlin,” Wyrick said, and then took her through the house, pointing out features and rooms as she went, until they were in another wing.
“This house is huge,” Ora said.
Wyrick nodded, then pointed. “This is Merlin’s room.” She pushed the door inward without knocking. He was still in bed, but he was reading.
“Merlin, your nurse is here.”
He smiled, then put down his book as they approached.
“Ora, this is Merlin. Merlin...this is Ora. I’ll be downstairs if anyone needs me.”
“We’ll be fine,” Ora said.
Wyrick glanced at Merlin. “Do you need me to bring you anything?”
“Next time you get a chance, I have a taste for some of my tomatoes.”
“I’ll get you some,” Wyrick said.
“Thank you, darling,” Merlin said. “Now go make your magic happen and find another lost soul.”
Wyrick took a deep breath and left the room, then went out the back door of the kitchen with a small bowl and straight to the greenhouse.
The air was cold, so she ran all the way, welcoming the warmth and the earthy scents of all things growing as she walked into the greenhouse and shut the door. She paused a moment to orient herself again, then headed for the tomato plants at the back, loaded with tiny green and red tomatoes.
She picked the bowl full, checked the watering system to make sure the timer was on, then ran back to the house and left the tomatoes on the cabinet.
Once she was back in her apartment, she pulled up the tracking app she had on Charlie’s phone. When she realized he was back in Dallas, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief. For the moment, the two men in her life were in their homes, and that was as safe as she could keep them.
Next thing on her agenda was tying a tighter knot in Cyrus’s tail, so she headed to her computer. She had everything ready to go, including a press release. It would be acknowledging Cyrus Parks, the director of Universal Theorem, making a personal donation of forty million dollars toward the rebuilding of the Grand Bahama and the Abaco chain after the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.
She’d already hacked into Cyrus’s personal computer system so that everything she was about to do would appear to have come from his IP address. Then she wired the money she’d moved from his personal accounts into the specific charities involved in rebuilding, knowing they would show up as donations in his name, and then sent the press releases to every major news outlet.
This was going to accomplish two things.
The first, a reminder to him that she could cripple him in