Page 134 of A Wild Darkness

Neither one of them responds, and it irks me.

“Okay, get out of my office so I can lock up and speak with her.”

Hayden’s boots pound the floor as he leaves, followed by Christian. On their heels, I quickly set the alarm for my office and head to the left toward my bedroom.

When I enter, I don’t see Stevie right away, but her scent is everywhere, and I love it. After a quick scan, I spot her sitting outside on the balcony with a computer on her lap. I step closer, pushing the curtains aside. Her upbeat voice tells me she’s on the phone. But from what I can hear, it sounds like she’s wrapping up the call.

I only have to wait a moment before she says goodbye to the person on the other end, and I take this as an opportunity to join her.

“Hi.” I bend to kiss her on top of the head.

She looks up at me, smiling. “You’re back.”

Lowering into the chair next to her, I glance out at the dense forest. “Sorry about that. I had to meet with Hayden and Christian.”

“I was able to get a lot of things done for Nevermore while you were gone. I actually just got off the phone with Kristine. She’s handling everything well.” She closes the computer. “I’m so grateful to have her and Noah while I’ve been away.”

“Good,” I say. My answer is distant, which is not my intention, but with the weight of tomorrow night and the last event of the killing season coming up, the pressure is on for us to close up this project, leaving no loose ends. I pull a single cigarette from the pack in my back pocket and slide it between my lips. I know she hates when I smoke, but I need it right now.

Stevie grimaces as I light the end. “Everything okay? How did your meeting with Christian and Hayden go?”

I blow out a puff of smoke while the nicotine wraps around my body like a heavy blanket. “Good news is we came up with a plan for the last event.”

Her eyebrows raise with interest. “Okay?”

“Remember Silas mentioned at the dinner party that the last event of the season would be at Moore Mansion? Christian and the guys are going to spend the next week checking out the place because we’re going to take out the remaining killers, sniper-style.”

Stevie’s eyelashes flutter. She’s processing what that would look like. “And what else?”

“We believe we can take care of all of them at once that way.”

She nods. “What about the bodies?”

I lean forward, putting out the cigarette on the small tray on the table. “Hayden and the night crew will work it out,” I tell her. “We’ll talk about it more when Hayden and the guys come back with information they gathered during their casing. That also means everything must go smoothly tomorrow night. It’s essential we don’t tip them off.”

Stevie leans back in her chair. “What about tomorrow, then?”

My leg bounces uncontrollably. “Well, we don’t know what it’ll be. We took out three of their members. There’s little chance they won’t be suspicious. If not the others, possibly Silas.”

Stevie shakes her head, processing what we could walk into. “So, we don’t know if they’ve caught on?”

I reach across the small table, running my thumb over her trembling hand. “Yeah,” I say softly. “We could be asked to prove ourselves again.”

“But we don’t know what they’ll have us do this time?”

“That’s right.” I smooth my fingers over her skin. “We can speculate, but there’s no use in trying to plan for something that might not happen.”

“Well, that doesn’t make me feel better,” she says.

“Everything will be fine,” I reassure her. “Like always, Hayden, Christian, and the rest of the night crew will be close by.”

Her eyelashes blink rapidly, then she forces a weak smile.

Stevie is worried, and I understand why. Now that we’ve gone over the heavy stuff, I need to lighten the mood. The last thing I need is for her to get too much into her own head.

“Hungry?”

Her big almond eyes light up. “Yes. I am.”