“Okay, what’s up?” Milly asked.
David shook his head. He could never get anything past her. So he explained.
“Wow!” Milly gave a low whistle. “Fate really is trying to throw you and Eve together for some reason.” A soft snort. “I’m starting to believe what Dan said. Either the universe is cross with you, and Karma is torturing you. Or as William said, maybe Nancy is looking out for you, and there is a reason she sent fate to throw Eve in your path.”
David froze. His brow furrowed tightly. “When did William say that to you?”
“This morning, when he called to ask if Dan could give a friend of his, Preston somebody or other, a quote on renovating an old house on Anastasia Island, the man is looking into buying,” Milly told him.
A weird feeling slithered into his gut. “Preston who?” David asked. “Since when does William have a friend named Preston?”
“I don’t know,” Milly told him. “You know William better than any of us.”
David put the thought aside. “Can you call Eve, please, and invite Brian?”
“Yes, I already messaged her while we were talking,” Milly told him. “She’s already answered. I’ll ask him. Thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you, Milly.”
“It was my idea,” David mumbled, hating that he felt slighted by Milly taking the credit for his idea that obviously went over well with Eve. Then he gave himself a mental shake.Get a grip, Lawson.
“You really do have it bad for Eve,” Milly teased, laughing. “Don’t worry, tonight you can be all macho lumberjack man, and she’ll forget all about my thoughtful invitation.”
“You are such a brat,” David said, shaking his head. “Do I need to pick anything up from the store on my way home?”
“Nope, Dan is already getting everything we need,” Milly said, sounding a little too excited about having guests. “This is going to be so great. It’s the first time I’m hosting people for real.”
“Just remember they are real guests,” David pointed out. “You can’t subtly interrogate them. This isn’t one of your covert ops.”
“I know, David,” Milly assured him. “You know I was a normal person once.”
“You mean before you were an assassin for an intelligence agency?” David said, climbing into his pickup, remembering how she’d tried to kill him and Dan before Dan took her down.
“You try to kill someone once, and they never let you forget it,” Milly grumbled.
“Well, it was kind of rude,” David pointed out, starting the engine. “But then you did save our lives multiple times since then.”
“Exactly,” Milly said. “And I became a target myself because I did.”
“I know,” David said, feeling bad for making a joke out of what was a deadly time for all of them. “Don’t worry, Milly, hopefully this will be over for all of us very soon.”
“We said by New Year,” Milly reminded him. “Which is what…”
“Three days away,” David said, swallowing, his pulse racing at the thought. “If we can just get the information we need…”
“We will,” Milly assured him. “We know our contact was right about that vile person starting up their operation from St. Augustine again. We have to identify the boat and cargo…”
“Okay, let’s not say more over this line,” David pointed out. His stomach knotted at the thought of catching the villain who, like David, Dan, and Milly, had disappeared and rebuilt himself into someone new. They were all ghosts now — declared dead three years ago by the FBI.
He pulled out of the parking lot.
Everything was converging. David didn’t need any complications in his life right now. Nor did he need people snooping around the Moore family.
The Christmas Inn
The table by the window sat empty for only a moment before someone slid into the chair Eve had vacated earlier.
As they settled in, something beneath the leg of the chair beside them caught their attention. A small rectangle of glossy paper, half-hidden under the table’s wooden support.
The person leaned down and picked it up.
