A Little Harmless Fantasy(88)

“We don’t think you’re stupid.”

She sniffed at that and looked back out the window. “Sure.”

He stopped at a red light. “I’m serious.”

“Sure.”

“No, I believe you. There is someone messing with you. But, in my mind, I think it is probably someone with Petersen.”

“It has nothing to do with that. I told you in Hawaii the guy had an Irish accent.”

He pulled up to her driveway and punched in the code. The gate opened. He drove through and parked the car before he spoke.

“Maura, we checked. Anyone who would be after us is either dead or in prison.” Most of them were dead but he wasn’t going to admit that to her. Zeke and Rory didn’t leave behind many people when they were hunting terrorists. It had been one of the reasons they had been paid so well by the British government.

“What?”

“We called around. We talked to everyone. All of our cases are accounted for. No one should be after us. Most of them wouldn’t have had the means to do it by the time they got out anyway. And, just so you know, most of those people didn’t know our names.

She stared at him for a second, and said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes. We called all our contacts, all the officials. No one with a grudge for one of us is running around out there.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He sighed. The strain he heard in her voice was disheartening, and he knew she was near a breaking point. Zeke and he agreed on one thing, they wanted her to get some rest. They knew part of this was the fact she hadn’t slept since their return.

“Zee and I didn’t leave a lot of witnesses, and most people don’t know our names.”

She said nothing for a moment as if she was digesting the information. The door opened beside her and Zee was standing there. She gave him a nasty look but took his hand as he walked her to the door.

“We’re going to put a car on you.”

She said nothing as she pulled the keys out of her purse. They entered the house and Rory followed, knowing that Zee wasn’t going to go home tonight. Neither of them would. They were not about to let the woman stay home tonight by herself.

“Why don’t you take a bath?” Zee offered as they walked into the kitchen.

“Something to quiet the crazy woman?” Her tone had an edge to it and it was getting sharper by the minute.

Rory glanced at Zee. They were both worried about her. From the time she had been attacked she wouldn’t accept their comfort. It twisted something deep in his gut.

“No, but you’ve had a scare and I think a hot bath might relax you. I can get you a glass of wine.”

She looked at them both, then nodded.

“Go on, get the water going and I’ll bring you a glass,” Zee said.

She left them, not saying a word, not asking for comfort. They’d both offered it up the last few days, but she hadn’t taken it.

“She’s not taking the news that no one is after us well.”

Zeke opened the refrigerator. “She needs to work it out in her head.”

“I think you’re not taking this seriously enough.”

Zee set the wine bottle down and looked at him. “Listen, Rory, I’ve known her longer than you. She’s had her world altered. Maura isn’t accustomed with being wrong. She needs time to get herself in order. We just need to be here to support her.”

Anger churned in his belly. Zee was being too laid back, too ready to let her handle things on her own. And he was being too fucking calm.

“Whether something happened today or not, she is skating a fine edge. She needs more than just a couple of blokes checking in on her. She needs to be watched.”

He had seen it up close and personal. His mother had been the same way before she died…before she took that fucking gun to her head. And he would be damned if he would watch another woman he…cared for do that.

One of the bad things about having a lover as long as he had Zee, he knew all of Rory’s secrets.

“She’s not your mother. Your mother was—”

“Weak.”

Zee sighed. “No. She was sick. She needed help and she didn’t know where to go.”

He said nothing to that. Rory couldn’t. Fear for Maura and the memories of his mother were too overwhelming.

“How did I fall in love with two such stubborn people.” When Rory continued to be quiet, Zee threw his hands up again. “I’m not going to rehash this right now. I’m going to get some soup going and then take this wine to her.”

“Eating and drinking, that will help.”

“Dammit, Rory, she needs someone to take care of her. You said so yourself. So, that’s what we need to do.”