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“No. These guys look and act like rookies.” Wiz glared at the screen. “I’ll find out who they are, but they’re too young to have any real experience. Figures. Why waste talent on a tiny Montana town in the middle of nowhere when you can send a couple of newbies out to make a scene and scare off the non-existent bad guys since the bakery girl is making it all up as a publicity stunt?” She scowled.
“That’s pretty specific.” Deb frowned at Wiz. “And insulting.”
She huffed. “They told Sam that John Scott is a hard working American businessman who doesn’t deserve to be slandered. She showed them the documents, research and videos we’ve compiled, but they’re still pushing back. I wonder how high up the corruption goes.” She shook her head. “This might be even more dangerous than I thought.”
Deb’s stomach twisted and turned like she was still on the helicopter. “Wiz, if this gets crazier, I’ll go.” She shrugged. “Heck, I’ll just sign the papers and close my business. There’s no sense in anyone ending up in jail for me.”
Wiz shook her head. “If you sign, you can’t close. You have to stay in business as the flagship or you lose everything.” She put a gentle hand on Deb’s arm. “And even if you do exactly what they say, Scott will want revenge because you dirtied his name. It’s too late to turn back.”
“It’s one thing to risk myself, another to risk all of you ending up in jail. I can’t do that to you.”
Wiz snorted. “You’re not doing anything to me. I volunteered, and I knew the risks from the start, probably better than you did. Corrupt officials were guaranteed. I found some obvious ones already, but there had to be more. Scott’s got too much power and wealth for it to be otherwise. He’s almost certainly using a combination of drugs and sex with blackmail, plus good old-fashioned bribery at many levels of government.” She shrugged. “The only question is how high does it go? If it’s really high, then we might all end up dead and discredited. But we’ll have created enough doubt that they can’t erase us entirely. There are still too many uncorruptible people in government for them to win.” She put a hand on Deb’s arm. “Don’t give up. We’ll get through this together.”
Deb sucked in a big breath, and blew out her dismay and doubts. “And even if we don’t, at least we tried, which is more than a lot of people can say. I couldn’t bear to let that man win without a fight.”
“Good.” She nodded sharply. “We’ll let Sam deal with the feds, and keep doing what we’re doing. We’ll have to do more videos—you know the algorithms are hungry. We need to feed them with at least one post a day, preferably three.”
Oh, she knew that. “I can do some that are more normal posts, right? Like something on this cake?” She turned the oven light on to check the progress.
“Absolutely. Entertainment and attention first, then sales. That’s how it works.”
Grabbing a potholder, she opened the oven and spun the cakes. They had to bake evenly or they wouldn’t be level enough to stack well, even with copious amounts of frosting. No one complained about extra frosting, but there had to be a balance. She had to balance her needs with the needs of her friends and the community too. She’d promised unlimited cupcakes to her friends, so why not share the wealth? “If you’ve got a list of supporters in the local area, I could pop in and reward some of them with custom decorated cupcakes. That would be fun, and I’d feel better about asking for help.”
“If it’s a surprise, we could keep you safe by moving fast and having multiple escape routes. And we could take video while you give out the cupcakes. Or maybe we can get Erin to do it for you.” Wiz nodded. “Excellent idea. I’ll look up addresses.” She jogged out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
Deb looked at her to-do list. Mixing fondant was next, so she could make extra, and create some sunflowers for her reward cupcakes after she finished the wedding decorations.
Getting through the nightmare would be difficult, but she owed it to everyone helping her to be strong. To truly create that light, not just talk about it.
And if she didn’t have a strong pair of arms to hold her when times got tough, it wouldn’t be the first time. She’d survived and thrived despite her drug-dealing ex; she could survive mobster Igor too. Maybe if she said it enough—and ate enough chocolate—she’d believe it. The timer dinged, and she pulled the cake layers, testing them. They weren’t perfect, but with a little work, they would be. Just like her.
Just like the cake, Deb’s Bakery would look perfect with a little trimming, frosting spackle, and a little glitz. Or at least good enough for the Russians and the FBI.
Chapter 17
Michael’s tense back muscles—and his heart—protested leaving Deb behind. But Nic needed help, and Michael wasn’t the right guy for Deb anyway. Too old, too broken, too set in his ways. He had to cut the connection quick or dangle high on a cliff, the rope fraying as he swayed.
He walked down the dirt road leading from the Eastside Highway to the Borde’s Rocking B Ranch and Wiz’s compound. The sun shone bright, so Michael slid his sunglasses on; he didn’t need a migraine on top of heartache. About ten minutes later, Nic pulled up in one of their work trucks. Michael opened the door and jumped in, placing his backpack, tactical vest and rifle on the back seat, then pulled a sandwich out of a brown paper bag for Nic. “Told you I’d get you lunch. It’s good stuff.”
Nic shoved an Acer Home Improvement t-shirt at him, then took the sandwich, putting it on his thigh. “Wasn’t worried about that, bro. I’m worried about you. And Deb.” He checked for traffic and pulled out on the highway. “Worried for all of us. You’re taking on some powerful people, and those baby feds aren’t going to help much.”
“You think my involvement will blow back on your family?” Michael pulled off his black t-shirt, and put on the logo shirt. Alarm ratcheted his spinal pain higher.
“It’s a possibility. But we knew that from the start.” Nic sighed. “Kim’s carrying pepper spray and a loud alarm, she spoke to the kid’s teachers and daycare and the kids got the stranger-danger talk again. But you know Sophia. She’s never met a stranger. Isa will help keep her in check, but…”
“I’m sorry, man, I never meant this to impact you.” Michael matched Nic’s gusty sigh.
Nic shot him a glance. “Doing nothing isn’t an option. Because my kids are at risk every day from these kinds of people. They’re adorable and that makes them a target. Standing up to the bad guys might increase the short-term risk, but it’s the only way to make a difference. All of us understand that. Neither Kim or I will make a video, but we’ll support you in every other way.” He chuckled evilly. “And on that note, Kim is scripting a video for you to shoot.”
“What? No way. I’m not going on video.” Michael side-eyed Nic. “Nobody wants me talking to them in real life. I’d be terrible on social media.”
“You’ll be fine with a little coaching.” Nic laughed. “Actually, you will be terrible. But you’re doing it anyway, because it’ll be authentic. And our social media presence is better than you think. Kim took it over a year ago, remember?”
“I guess? I don’t touch it, so I don’t think about it.” He probably should; even in a small town like Marcus, social media was key to discoverability.
“Fortunately, Kim is smarter about it than we are.” Nic pulled into an alley in the middle of a city block and parked behind a Queen Anne-style mansion. “Her posts look like HGTV stuff. It’s great. Especially because it doesn’t show us, just our work. But for this video, you’ll have to appear.” He opened the truck door. “Don’t bring the rifle.”
Michael huffed. It had become part of him; just like the Army. He slid it behind the backseat and threw his dirty t-shirt over it. “You’re carrying though, right?”
