As I approached, my nerves were anything but at peace. Not only was I on constant lookout for any ghosts or even Olena herself, but I was also walking into a lion’s den. I thought back to that day in Melanie’s kitchen and the look of terror on her face when I’d mentioned Montrose, but also the way she looked like she wanted to kill me. My hope hinged on the fact that I knew they were in deep, and I had a way for them to get out of trouble. And—this glimmer was fainter—but I hoped I hadn’t misread that fleeting connection I’d sensed in Melanie’s kitchen when she seemed to understand, and maybe even sympathize with, the fact I was also trapped in a position I didn’t choose.
The three women sat on their blanket, Melanie cross-legged with her back to me, Jana with her baby daughter in her lap, and Sandra with her legs stretched out in front of her and a hand on her belly. The older kids were off on the play structure.
“Well well well,” Jana said when she saw me. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face around here.” She snapped Melanie’s knee with the spit rag she held and nodded up at me.
Melanie slowly turned around, shielding her eyes from the sun with one hand. I saw frown lines immediately fold her brow.
I held up my hands. “I come in peace.”
Sandra snorted. “Yeah, right. You’ve been lying about who you are this whole time.”
The sun suddenly felt very hot on the back of my neck. “I’m sorry about that, but I didn’t have a choice.”
“And you have one now?” Jana said and arched a finely manicured brow.
“Yes. And I’m choosing to help you.”
All three of them shifted, suddenly on edge. Clearly, I knew truths about them too.
Melanie continued staring up at me with her hand shielding her eyes. “How could you possibly help us?”
I kneeled onto their blanket so we were all on the same level. I lowered my voice. “I know about Montrose; I know about the seized shipment. I know you are in enough debt to have put a lien on your house.” I nodded at Melanie and watched all three of them stiffen once more. “I also know of a job that could fix your problems and mine.”
They continued to stare at me, giving nothing away, until Melanie eventually swept her eyes to the other two. They held a silent conversation, Sandra and Jana clearly looking to Melanie for direction. Tension strained between them like a bowstring, but in it, I could also feel the desperation. Something was about to snap.
Finally, Melanie turned her head to me and softly cleared her throat, still with her guard up but letting a hint of vulnerability seep through the cracks. “What kind of job?”
I held her gaze, ignoring the daggers the other two were staring at me. “Stealing a five-million-dollar diamond.”
The three of them stared at me, ears perked like a pack of hungry dogs who’d just heard the wordtreat.
As it turned out, all it took to get into Melanie’s locked office was offering the chance to commit felony larceny. They’d let me follow them home from the park, and once the kids were down for nap time, we congregated in Melanie’s home office.
The space matched the rest of the house in terms of being professionally designed with an imposing and elegant eye. Where I might have expected a dark, high-security surveillance cave, the room was light and bright. The pale jade wallsframed a view of the backyard and white, gold-accented furniture sat atop the cream carpet: sofa, armchair, desk, office chair. The wall behind Melanie’s queen-sized desk was made up of built-in bookshelves holding neatly placed potted plants, books, and several thick binders. A drink cart sat under the window with a small cityscape of tea boxes and an electric kettle.
The setup looked entirely innocent, much like the three women staring at me from various points in the room.
Melanie sat at her desk, Jana perched on the armchair, and Sandra had sat opposite me on the sofa with one leg stretched out between us.
“So, let me get this straight,” Jana said, brow still arched. It hadn’t lowered since the park. “Your dad was a con man who used you as bait, and the night he got arrested, you ended up working for some secret government agency in exchange for protection and not going to prison too, and the people from that night are after you.”
“Correct.” I figured I had to tell them everything, to come fully clean, if I had any shot of getting their help. “I’ve been working with that agency—the DSA—for the past decade. I got assigned to Del Rio, to your case, because my handler was trying to protect me. This area is so safe, and your case is considered low risk.”
Sandra snorted. “I think I might be offended by that.”
“Me too,” Jana said. “Just because we’re women, people think we aren’t dangerous? I mean sure, maybe we aren’t out there punching and shooting people, but our bottom line is obviously enough to send in the secret agents.” She dismissively fluttered her fingers but also glanced at Melanie to make sure she hadn’t overstepped.
Melanie gave no indication she had. Her computer, a shiny silver iMac, sat off to the side on her desk, allowing her to see whoever was sitting on her sofa. She leaned back in her chair behind it.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I disagree you aren’t dangerous,” I said. “Clearly, you are in a dangerous situation. What happened with Montrose?” I looked to Melanie for the answer.
She smoothed her hands over her desk and took a deep breath. I sensed she was still weighing the risk of telling me the whole truth. Her face softened, perhaps realizingIhad just told them my whole truth, and she landed on the side of honesty.
“Long story short, our supplier mixed up shipments and sent us a crate of cocaine instead of strollers. When we said no way were we going to sell it, he said too bad, the product had to be moved like any other. In the time we were arguing, the crate got seized at the port where it had arrived, so then he says we’re on the hook and owe him the cost of the loss.” Her words bitterly faded out.
The story was run-of-the-mill to me, but for a group of neighborhood moms, I could see how that got out of hand. “So, you really did trust the wrong guy, just like me,” I said, calling back to that day in her kitchen.
Her eyes met mine and I saw in them the same connection, the same knowing, I’d seen when standing next to her fruit bowl. “Yes.”
