things private. No one brought pies over when they moved in. No one hosted barbecues.
The private school had her on file as being against her children’s names or likenesses being used in any public way. The medical institute she worked for had hired her under a company name.
The passports in her purse were for Maevis and Linette Hogan. She had to wonder if Ted would be a Hogan too by the time they boarded the ship. Marie would probably make sure of it. Or BBI would.
It blew her mind to find out that Ted even knew Bad Boy Inc, let alone worked with them. What were the chances? Mae could probably figure it out, she was a whizz at math.
Glancing at Ted, Portia still had a hard time reconciling what she knew. The concept of the Ted who’d caved meekly to Chen, versus the knowledge of him being a soldier. He’d not shown many guts during the confrontation with Chen. A front, or so he claimed. Had she known he would fight, she might have handled things differently, yet he’d basically kowtowed until the very end. Then again, it wasn’t as if she needed his help.
She’d had things perfectly well in hand until he’d shown up. And now, Mother expected her to work with him.
Husband, indeed.
Too late to change now. The plan had been set in motion, and Mother did what she did best. Coordinated.
A fellow with an envelope met them in the parking garage of the airport the moment they arrived. He handed the package over and then kept walking.
Opening it, Ted slid out a new identity: Theodore Hogan. Driver’s license. Passport. Credit cards. There were even matching wedding rings, his and hers.
He held out the circlet of white gold. “May I?”
Portia’s first impulse was to scream, “no,” and hide her hand behind her back. Yet the girls watched with wide eyes. She mustn’t let them know that anything was amiss.
Her hand trembled a bit as he slid the slim metal onto her finger. It didn’t weigh her down like her last ring had. The action didn’t go unnoticed.
“Who sent the rings?” Mae asked. Nothing ever got past her.
“Me. As soon as Ted invited us, I ordered them special for this trip. Just like we all have new names.” No time like the present to tell the girls. She whipped out the passports and handed them to the twins. “Those are your names for the duration of our vacation.”
Mae wrinkled her nose. “Maevis. Really?”
“Lucky. Isn’t that the vampire girl from Transylvania. I sound like an old lady.” Lin’s lips turned down.
“I think Linette is very pretty,” Ted declared. “Let me carry that for you.” He held out his hand for both the girls’ bags. Lin handed hers right over, but Mae hesitated for a second. He put one on each shoulder, then grabbed his duffle in one hand and Portia’s suitcase with the other.
“I can carry it,” she argued.
“I am the man of the family. I’ll do it. It’s my job.”
“It’s sexist,” she remarked. “How come you’re not taking Joanna’s?”
“Because, as my niece, that falls on you.” Joanna gestured to the much larger case. A hefty one.
“What the heck did you pack?” Portia grumbled as she dragged it along.
“Sunscreen.” And probably parts to assemble a weapon. Joanna wasn’t one to go anywhere unarmed, but airports tended to frown on actual guns and knives, so cleverness was required.
Despite Portia’s paranoia—Is that guy by the magazine rack watching us? Is that security guard calling in reinforcements?—they had no problems in the airport itself. This time of night proved rather quiet.
Too quiet.
It made her twitchy. Their flight would be leaving within an hour, taking them to an airport where they’d have only a thirty-minute window to make their connection, and only after they falsely checked in for another flight.
That she’d have to lie didn’t bother, it was the fact that she had the girls with her that caused a flutter. They would ask questions. They would see something was amiss.
With her nerves stretched tautly, she parked the girls with Joanna at their gate and paced the terminal.
To her annoyance, Ted stalked with her.
“Why are you following me?”
“We should take this time to iron out the details of our story.”
“I’d rather avoid talking to people at all.”
“That might work,” he said in a musing tone. “Tell people to fuck off because we’re so in love.”
She almost stumbled. “No one will believe it.”
“They will if we’re constantly caught necking in the halls.”
“There will be