“What about—” She broke off, not wanting to ask a question about the rescued prisoners. Cell phone conversations could be overheard or recorded. Hell, in today’s world, there wasn’t a lot to feel safe about.
“They’re good, too,” Susan told her. “They’re visiting a friend and everyone’s okay.”
“Thank God.”
“Yeah.” Susan paused for a long moment, then said, “I’m not going to be coming back to D.C., Dee. I … can’t.”
“Sue—”
“I’m really sorry, but there’s just no way I can go back there and pick up like nothing happened.” A broken sob carried across the air and Deidre’s heart clenched in despair for her friend. “You’ll have to take over at RFW, Dee. They’ll need a leader and—”
“No,” Deidre said quickly, her voice sounding as lost as her friend’s. She’d been avoiding the members of RFW ever since that night and still couldn’t bear the thought of seeing any of them. “I can’t do it, either, Susan. Someone else is going to have to step up to the plate.”
“I’m so sorry, Dee,” Susan said and her voice broke again on the words. “I ruined everything for both of us. If it hadn’t been for you, I never even would have made it out of there. I really owe you.”
“No, you don’t.” Deidre took a breath and blew it out. “I’m not even sure how we got out, to be honest.” Their escape was pretty much a blur. She remembered running like mad, terrified, the sounds of men shouting and running feet echoing throughout the building. She remembered feeling someone watching her as surely as if that someone had reached out and touched her.
Frowning, she lifted one hand and rubbed a spot between her eyebrows, where a headache that had been born on the night of the escape was still pounding. As a throbbing, incessant reminder of what she’d done and what she’d seen.
Just for a second, she let herself try to remember what had been there in the room with them at the last moment before she and Susan had escaped. But when her friend started talking again, Deidre shook off the memory and listened.
“I don’t know yet where I’m going,” Susan said quietly. “But once I get settled, I’ll call you. Promise.”
“Okay. Just … be careful, Susan. Take care of yourself, okay?”
“Right. You, too.”
When she disconnected, Deidre just sat there, staring at the phone, her last link with her friend gone. She knew Susan wouldn’t be calling her again. She would want to cut all ties to that night at the camp. She wouldn’t want a reminder of what had happened. Deidre would miss her friend, but honestly, this way was better. How could they ever just go out to dinner or to a movie or laugh over guys together again? With this terrible secret haunting them both, normalcy was not an option.
Reaching for her wine, Deidre took another long sip and sighed. She turned her head to the window overlooking the small park in her Capitol Hill neighborhood, and stared through the rain that slid like tears down the glass—and saw something entirely different.
For just an instant, she let herself go back to that night. To the moment when she’d heard the scuffling sounds and spun around prepared to defend her and Susan against whatever came for them.
She remembered the darkness.
The shadows.
And she remembered clearly one more thing.
The pair of gray eyes watching her.
Chapter 45
Teresa made the best use of her time once Rune took off to do his security thing.
She turned her mind away from the fact that she was all alone out in the middle of a jungle, filled with God only knew what kinds of animals and bugs, and focused instead on the moon overhead. Her grandmother had always taught her that witches were rejuvenated by the moon.
What better time to awaken her own mystical connection to the magic? She had learned as a child that the best time for casting moon spells was when the moon was waxing—growing toward its fullness. The time when the moon was waning, slowly fading away and losing its brilliance, was less powerful.
She glanced skyward and saw the waxing half-moon as a thin layer of clouds parted, displaying its pale creaminess against a black sky. Standing up, Teresa took a step or two away from the fire, then lifted her arms high, cupping her hands as if to catch the silvery light in her palms.