Page 57 of Her Forever SEAL

Lettie exhaled again.

“Go home. When she calls you, I’ll come back with you.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Trust me, she’ll be expecting it.”

Lettie gave her one last look. Hopeful. Terrified. Exhausted.

“Go, honey. You’re going to see your daughter soon.”

She waited until Lettie had turned the corner. Then she walked to her car, got in, and sat with her hands in her lap.

She thought about the zucchini bread comment. About the way Mary had delivered it, so perfectly calibrated, so warmly aimed, the smile never shifting. The threat wrapped so neatly in graciousness that anyone watching would have seen two women being polite.

She pulled out her phone and called Lydia.

“It's done,” she said when Lydia picked up. “Lettie got proof of life. Mary has the photos.” She paused. “And Mary wanted me to know she knows exactly who I am.”

“How'd she do it?”

“Zucchini bread,” Sophia said.

A beat of silence.

“So that’s a whole other problem.”

“Yeah, but you’ve narrowed down where she’s being kept.”

“And I’ve got even better news. Get over here.”

The line went dead.

18

Lydia's voice came through the earpiece at ten forty-seven.

“Angie’s target is driving up. It’s confirmed, we’re at the right building.” The satisfaction in Lydia’s voice was palpable.

“Dumbass never noticed me,” Angie said through their comm system.

“Well I should hope not, otherwise we would have to fire you,” Rylie said.

“Are you taking care of him?” Sophia asked.

“Well, I’m sure as hell not going to let him go into the building and let him join ranks with whatever assholes are in there. But first he’s going to answer a couple of questions.”

Sophia saw a Honda Pilot drive up to the building. Angie, in a crappy Toyota Miata, that was thirty years old if it was a day, pulled up around the corner. The guy, who was approximately six feet tall, which put him six inches taller than Angie, got out of his car and headed straight for the door. He didn’t even look around.

Angie yelled out to him, and he turned around. Sophia could see her smile from where she was stationed in the parking structure across the street. It was clear that Angie was flirting, but it wasn’t working. The man was getting irritated.

She sidled up close to him, and then he leaned in and got in her face. Sophia knew that was exactly the in she’d been looking for. What happened next took approximately four seconds.

Angie's hand came up between them, not in a defensive gesture, something faster and more deliberate than that. He pushed forward and that momentum worked against him in a way he clearly hadn't anticipated. Sophia watched him fold. It wasn't dramatic or loud. One moment he was in Angie's face and the next he was going down and Angie was controlling the descent with both hands, lowering him against the side of his own car with the practiced efficiency of someone who had done this before and found it unremarkable.

She crouched over him. Sophia couldn't hear what she was saying but she knew what she was doing. The man’s face shifted from fury to cooperation as her fingers jammed into his neck.

He talked. It wasn't long. Maybe forty-five seconds.