What Doesn't Kill Her (Cape Charade #2)(68)

He took her hand and held it.

She gently stroked the scabs on his knuckles. “I can do this, Max. It will be faster if I do.”

“All right. But you’ll let me know if you need help.”

“Yes. Anyway, this whole assassin thing doesn’t make sense. Who would want to kill me?” She half laughed. “Wait a little and—” She stopped, but not soon enough. Guiltily, she looked up at Max.

Max stopped his hurried packing. He looked at her.

She looked at him.

That was it, then. Max knew. Kellen supposed she realized that had to be true, but when she tried to put that fact into the cluttered half memories and tragic events of eight years ago, she couldn’t make it fit.

Max said, “Ettore failed. Somehow...somehow the bullet didn’t do what it was supposed to do. It didn’t kill you. You survived and recovered. You’re a miracle. You have the scar on your forehead—” he brushed her bangs aside and touched the scar with gentle fingers “—and no exit wound. I was there. I know what the doctors said. I know what you’re afraid to say. You have a bullet lodged in your brain.”



38


Kellen woke when the vehicle bumped from the gravel onto the asphalt. The ride smoothed out and sped up—and Max’s phone started squawking and pinging and making every noise of which it was capable. She crawled up off the bench seat and straightened up.

He handed her his phone. “You want to see what that’s all about?”

She watched messages and texts scroll past. “Everybody has called you. Everybody has texted you. Everybody’s concerned.”

Without a bit of irony, he said, “It’s good to be loved. Any word from my mother?”

“Rae is fine and back in day camp. Your mother is fine. She wants to know where we are right now and what’s going on right now.”

He grinned. “You want to call her?”

“Good God, no. I mean...there aren’t enough bars on the phone for a clear call. I’ll text.” She sent a reassuring message with the promise to call later. “Birdie’s pretty upset. We text all the time, and I told her I had a security job. Mind if I...?” Kellen didn’t wait for permission, but texted her best friend, It’s Kellen. I’m alive and well. Coming back to civilization.

The return text was funny and stern. When I see you, I’m going to kick your ass.

“What did she say?” Max asked.

“She said she loved me.” Kellen looked around. The late-afternoon sun was in her eyes, and she knew this area. “We’re going to Yearning Sands Resort?”

“Yes. It’s a good idea.” Max glanced at her. “How do you feel?”

“Better.” She yawned. “That going into a brief coma thing is tiring.”

Max didn’t laugh.

All the way down the mountain, as they hiked along, he had worked at not being solicitous and worried. He wasn’t very good at it; he took care of everyone, family and friends, and to hover over her after her bump on the head had been instinct. But she gave him points for trying. Their only real fight had occurred when she insisted on the detour to get Rae’s bag.

“I promised,” she said.

“She’ll understand,” he answered.

“Don’t be silly. She would never understand.”

He couldn’t argue about that, so they got the bag, took it to the truck and headed out. The last she’d heard before she went to sleep was they were going to the Portland hospital where Roderick Blake had been recovering.

“Why the change?” she asked.

“We’re not related to Roderick, so the hospital wouldn’t and can’t give us word about his condition.”

She hadn’t thought of that. “Right. Damn.”

“But I have connections with the Virtue Falls sheriff’s department.”

She knew exactly who he meant. “Sheriff Kateri Kwinault. She can get us information relating to Roderick and his current whereabouts.”

“Exactly. Also, we need to find out who wants you dead and why. Most obviously, you served time in the military.”

“Yes. I was a soldier. I killed the enemy. I directed the transport of men and goods across enemy territory. In some places, I offended by the mere fact I am a woman.”

“A woman who tried to help other women.”

The hard cold mountains of Afghanistan. The smell of charred wood and burned flesh. A metal coil melted in the dirt and the knowledge of young lives ended too soon.

At the memory, she teared up. “Am I endangering Rae by the fact I’m her mother?”

“It’s possible. That’s why we have to find who is doing this and stop them.” Max had taken over the hunt. “Are soldiers often tracked by old enemies into the US?”

“Not that I know of.” A chilling thought. “But in many cultures, vengeance is a long tradition and a deadly act.”

“Another reason to visit Yearning Sands Resort. We’ll talk to your Army buddies, find out if any of them have suffered from accidents. What else?”

Her mind swerved to the dark times during the previous winter. “There’s Mara Philippi.”

“She’s confined in a high security prison.”

“I know. But she was so smart, so corrupt, so cruel, so good at manipulation and camouflage.”