I shoved him off his barstool. He started laughing, “You know I meant me too.”

I bit my lip and slumped back on the chair, “Can you just try acting like an adult and treating me nicely?”

He frowned for a second and then shook his head, “If I let you in, Evie, it’s going to be all the way and then neither of us is ever going to go back.”

He got up and left me there with that. That and blood bucket images.

A week later, I watched the moving truck drive away with all my new things. Jack waved out the window as he rounded the corner. I gave Coop a confused look, “Can he drive anything?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Huge rigs, planes, jets, helicopters, ships, you name it. He’s pretty handy to have around. He was actually at NASA for a year before the whole space program started going tits up and CI grabbed him.”

I scowled, “He’s so young.”

Coop nodded, “He was only fifteen when he started university.”

I laughed, “Luce is his first girlfriend, isn’t she?”

Coop snorted, “Yeah.”

“I like that. He is so in love.”

Coop’s eyes glazed over again. I rolled my eyes, tired of the games he was always up for. Mr. Hot/Cold. Mitch came out of the house with a grin, “So where we going, Coop?”

Coop walked over to him, smacking him in the arm, “If I told ya, I’d have to kill ya.”

Mitch’s eyes gleamed with adoration. Where I was always wrong in Mitch’s, Coop couldn’t be wrong. Jules ran out of the house holding the stuffed bunny Coop had gotten her from the crappy toy store. She jumped at him but looked at me as he lifted her into he air, “Is grandma coming too?”

I nodded, “She is, and then she’s going to go ahead and meet up with Aunty Luce and Uncle Jack.”

“Uncle Fitz?”

I nodded, “Uncle Fitz is flying us somewhere special and then he is going with Grandma.”

She beamed, “I love his plane.”

Mom and Fitz came out of the house. She gave me a hard stare, “I think we have everything.”

I folded my arms and walked to her as Coop wrangled the kids into the SUV. I pointed a finger, “What did you do with him? I want to know.”

She rolled her eyes, “You realize leaving people alive is leaving a loose end for your enemies to use against you?”

I shook my head, “I can't believe you. I can't believe you would have hurt him like that. What did you learn? What could you possibly have learned?”

Fitz gave me a sad smile, “Evie, Steve was not an agent. He was dispatched to find you by MI6 but he wasn’t an agent. I think he truly thought he was doing the right thing. Trying to save Servario maybe or whatever. Anyway, he was just a pawn in it all.”

I frowned, “You keep saying was.”

Mom gave Fitz a look. Fitz nodded and Mom looked back at me, “He is dead.”

I sighed, “You guys are sick. You killed an innocent person.”

Mom’s eyes stayed hard, “I’ve killed dozens of innocent people, Evie. It’s the hard part of the job. You don’t work for a man like Servario and expect to come out scot-free. Steve knew what possibilities his future entailed.” She nodded, “If he had been an agent, your kids lives would have been at risk. He knew enough not to tell them where he was, but he was being tracked. He was being followed. He could have led them here. As it is, he still feels like a loose end to me.”

Fitz nodded, “Me too. I feel like we should expect something bad at any second.”

I had no argument. I just changed the subject, “Do you know where Dad is?”

She shook her head, “He’s hiding, of course. The golden rule of the Burrow is that when you leave, you die. If you resurface, you are dead. That’s how Servario has the whole world fooled about his not being the old Master Key. He has resurfaced after his many deaths and never been killed off. Now he’s back out in the open, living free.”

I shook my head, “How come they haven’t killed him off?”

Fitz smiled, “That is an excellent question.”

Coop honked the horn. I looked back at him, “We better go.”

Fitz nodded, “See you at the plane.”

I gave Mom a displeased look, “You will stay here until the people come for the key?”

She smiled, “I will. Donating the house to the foster system is a great idea.”

I nodded and walked away, “Yeah.”

I didn’t want to talk about it with her. I was still pissed about the skinning and bleeding in the barn, fifty feet from my kids.

Chapter Seventeen

When cougars come home to roost

We walked up the steps of the massive lodge, and I knew the uneasy feeling was showing on my face when Coop smiled at me nicely, “It’s gonna be great. Can you just mellow out?”

I shook my head, “This is a terrible idea.”

He laughed, “Are you scared of my mom, badass Evie Evans?”

I nodded, “Yes. I am mid-thirties and I have two kids. I look like I was out daddy hunting when I found you at the same school my kids go to.”

Coop laced his arm around my back, “My mom is gonna love you. She isn’t one of those judgmental people. She isn’t gonna care how old you are.”

I looked at Mitch and Jules walking up to us. Mitch smiled wide. He and Jules loved that Coop and I were dating. They didn’t know we were hiding out at Coop’s parents’ place while Mom and Fitz got the new house ready and Jack and Luce drove our stuff all over the countryside.

Separating had seemed like a great idea. Going to Coop's parents’ had seemed like an awful idea. They owned a massive lodge in Alaska. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he was a country boy. I gripped my parka to me, “Come on, guys.”

The kids bounded up the steps. Mitch beamed at Coop. He had a boy crush on him. He thought Coop was the coolest guy in the whole world. I looked at Coop and sneered. He laughed and kissed the side of my head, “It’s not going to be easy for me either.”

Mitch frowned, “What isn’t?”

I smiled, “Waiting for our new house to be ready.”

Mitch nodded, “I’m pretty excited but this house is super cool, Coop.” Jules beamed, “It is super cool. Look at the logs, I never seen a log house before.”

I bent down and kissed her cheek, “I have never seen a log house before, not just seen.”

She scowled, “Whatever.”

I gave Mitch a dirty look, “This is your doing. Stop being sassy around her.”

He laughed. Coop knocked once and opened the door. “Mom, Dad?”

A man in his early sixties came around the corner. He was the older version of Coop. Handsome and fit, and obviously an ex-company man. He had CI written all over him. He smiled wide, “John! Come on in, son. This must be your lady friend, Evelyn.”

Coop laughed, “Yeah, this my Evie. These are her kids, Mitch and Jules.” He looked at his dad, “This is my dad, John Senior.”

I smiled harder, my cheeks started to ache. I put a hand out, but he grabbed me and hugged me firmly. He was like a tree trunk.

His mom came around the corner. She looked shocked and then pasted a sweet smile on her lips. Yeah… I had seen that coming. I too had a son. The idea of some older hoochie-breeder coming along and stealing my sweet boy made me psycho too.

She spoke in the fakest voice I had ever heard, “Evelyn, why you are pretty as a picture. And your kids, they’re so big and so old.” Her emphasis on your and old was unmistakable. I was going to murder Coop. Soon.

She hugged me, lightly, like she didn’t really want to touch me, patting my back flatly.

Jules gave her a funny look and Mitch stayed back, this after hugging Coop’s dad. I could tell instantly Coop's mom was older. I almost cocked an eyebrow but I forced my face to stay frozen and sweet. I stepped in close to Coop and pinched the back of his arm through his coat. He laughed when he felt my grip, “This is my Evie, Mom. Evie, this is Suzanne, my mom.”

We all stood there, surrounded by the great, old, white elephant in the room… me.

Coop started to chuckle, I could hear the nerves in his voice, “Mitch, Jules, let me show you to your rooms.”

His mother’s face went red, “No, no let me.”

Jules clung to my arm. Coop picked her up, smiling at her, “I’ll come just so I can see where they are. It’s hard to sneak in later when they’re sleeping and put bugs in their beds, if I don’t know where they are.”

Jules wrinkled her nose, “Coop! Gross.” She giggled. Mitch did too. I smiled and couldn’t even stop myself from swooning.

I would have sworn he was doing it on purpose to make me like him, but the fact of the matter was, he had always been teasing and joking with them. He truly was comfortable with kids.

My kids, desperate for a male role model, latched on for dear life. It was a bit sad. Suzanne gave him a look and nodded her head, “This way. Ignore him, Jules. He’s always been the naughty one. He’s the baby of the family and he thinks that buys him some kind of favor with us.”

Coop gave his mom that smile that melted hearts for miles, “It does and you know it. I’m your favorite.”

She laughed and smacked him in the arm, “You used to be. Now you never come home.”

I watched them walk away but didn’t budge from the front door entryway. John Senior gave me a smile, “He is her favorite. She spoiled him, if you ask me. The military was the only thing that ever saved that kid’s ass. Come on in, Evie. You want a drink?”

I nodded, “I do. Is that bad?”

He chuckled, “Nope.”

I had the distinct feeling he understood my pain or maybe my fake relationship.

He stood at the bar in the massive family room. “You want red wine, liquor, beer, or a fruity drink. I think we have some of them around here.”

He was twangy a bit but very ex-CI. I narrowed my gaze, “Red wine would be amazing. How many years were you CI?”




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