long to fill the box with the tiny cherry-red globes, and as soon as she was finished, she headed for the door. It was an eye-opening experience for Wyrick to find out she could be spooked like this, and by the time she left the greenhouse, she was running.
She took the tomatoes up to the kitchen and left them on the counter, then went back down to get ready for work. She hadn’t been to the office in days and days, and felt like making a statement.
After a quick scan of her closet, she chose glitter-gold lamé pants, a red V-neck sweater and a white leather blazer. Her white leather half boots had gold metal tips and taps on the heels. An attention getter she didn’t really need. No matter what she was wearing, wherever she went, she was noticed. On anyone else, adding glitter-gold eye shadow and fire-engine-red lipstick would have been overkill, but on Wyrick, it worked.
She already had everything bagged up and ready to take back to the office. All she had to do was stop on the way and get bear claws. Just in case.
* * *
Charlie got up with the sun and turned up the thermostat on his way to make coffee, then headed for the bathroom to shower and shave.
It felt like a normal day as he got dressed. And when he settled his Stetson on his head as he headed out the door, he was ready for Wyrick and whatever else the day might bring. The traffic that usually pissed him off just made the day feel normal, and he needed that.
When he got to the office and pressed the button in the elevator to go to the office, his pulse amped up just a little, like it always did before he used to go out on patrol. Maybe this was a sign that he was ready for this after all.
He smelled coffee in the hall outside the door and sighed—his home away from home—then walked in.
Wyrick didn’t bother to look up, and as usual, her fingers were flying over the keyboard.
“Cinnamon roast coffee. Bear claws. Messages on your desk.”
“Good morning to you, too,” he said.
“Don’t push it,” she muttered.
He sighed. Yes...he could do this shit.
He walked past her desk, grabbed a cup of coffee and a bear claw in the coffee bar and then put them on his desk, before hanging up his hat and coat.
Wyrick closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Charlie Dodge is back. Today, she would ask for nothing more, and went back to sorting through emails.
A half cup of coffee and a bear claw in his belly later, he began going through the messages, and the day began.
* * *
Cyrus Parks had given the phrase lying low a whole new meaning. He took a brief leave of absence from his office in Richmond, but only after he had convinced his associates that the big charity donation in his name had been done by the same hackers who’d recently drained his personal bank accounts.
That satisfied them, but Cyrus was far from satisfied. He had a job to finish, and needed time and information. He realized now that his big mistake had been just assigning one man to follow her. One man to harass her. One man to take her out.
What he needed was a tag team to trace her every step until he found the weak spot in her routine. That would be the opportunity he needed to end her existence for good.
One week later
It was just after 2:00 p.m. when Wyrick got a text from Ora and wasted no time in responding.
If you want to say goodbye to Merlin, come home.
On my way.
Even as she was getting up from her desk to tell Charlie she was leaving, there was a knot in her stomach.
Charlie looked up when she walked into his office, and knew immediately something was wrong.
“I have to go home. Merlin is dying.”
He stood. “Do you need me?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“We’re good here,” Charlie said. “Go do what you have to do, but if there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”
She turned on one heel, went back to shut down her computer, and within a couple of minutes, she was out the door.
Charlie got up and went to the window, watching for her to leave the building.
She came out running.
His stomach turned. He knew that frantic, won’t-get-there-in-time feeling. He watched her take off out