1st Street Church_Love's Leading Read online

  “Yes, it’s me. Is everything okay? I tried your cell phone but you didn’t answer.” His concern came through loud and clear, and she marveled at the relief she felt when she heard his voice.

  “Yes, things are okay, but Zee’s having a hard time tonight. She misses you. She’s in her room crying, and I’m worried that our conversation before dinner may have made things worse.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s fixated on the fact that she wants me to stay…forever, and it’s a huge issue for her right now. Honestly, I don’t know how to help her resolve it.”

  “I’m not sure either of us can, Thea. We can support her and be consistent with our responses, but sometimes it just takes time for a child to process something. When that happens, it’s tough on everyone.”

  She was quiet. He didn’t mention her staying permanently—had he changed his mind? She felt disappointed, and fought to stop the tears that sprang into her eyes. She didn’t trust herself to reply.

  “Are you there, Thea?”

  “Yes, I’m here.” She cleared her throat. “I’m on my way back to Mackenzie’s room so you can talk to her. Zee, here’s your dad,” she said as she handed the phone over and turned to leave the room. “Come downstairs when you’re through, Zee, and we’ll eat.”

  12

  TWELVE

  After dinner was over, Thea read several stories to Zee and then helped her get ready for bed. The poor girl was completely exhausted, and Thea hoped she would sleep through the night. She stayed with her until she fell asleep and then quietly closed her door.

  The house felt strangely quiet, and Thea felt unease settle in her stomach. She knew the house was secure, and BRG had a security team outside, but that did nothing to make her feel better. Something was off, and she couldn’t tell what it was.

  She walked downstairs and into the living room where she clicked on the gas fireplace and grabbed a book by one of her favorite authors, hoping to lose herself in the story.

  It was early fall in Sweet Grove and the Texas evenings grew cool quickly. This weather reminded her of fall in New England, where the days were beautiful and often warm, but the nights were cool, and the stars seemed to shine more brightly, happy that the earth was growing cooler.

  Thea couldn’t shake the fact that something felt wrong. She picked up her cell and dialed Wren’s number. She had told her to call anytime she needed to, and Thea decided that even if this were a false alarm, she wasn’t going to ignore the feeling that something was off.

  Wren picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Thea.”

  “Hey, Wren.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know. Something feels off. I hate to bother you, and I don’t want to seem like an alarmist, but I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t right.”

  “You did the right thing, Thea. Stay inside with the doors locked, and I’ll check in with the team, then call you back, okay?”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Two minutes passed, and Wren still hadn’t called back. Thea decided to try to figure out if she could access Thor’s security system. She entered his office and turned the light on, walking toward the bookcase. There must be a trigger here somewhere. She felt along the edge of the bookcase, but nothing moved. Her fingers pressed along the wall to the left of the bookcase, and she found a small square section of the wall that appeared to have a seam. It wasn’t visible, but she could feel it. She tried to pry it open, but it wouldn’t budge, so she pushed on it and the bookcase started to move.

  Her eyes lit up, she may not have had what it took to join the CIA, but she loved the idea of being a spy—she’d had romantic notions about it since she was a teenager. It was the thought of potentially having to shoot and kill someone that made her realize she wouldn’t be able to do it. They’d tried to convince her that they could train her, but that only made her more certain it wasn’t the right career path for her.

  Her cousin had worked for the CIA as a translator, she’d been fluent in five languages, and after two years, she’d had to get out. Athena didn’t know the details, but she had the sense that the contents of the documents her cousin had been translating were graphic—so much so that her cousin seemed to reach a point where she couldn’t handle transcribing those details any longer.

  She felt a glimmer of excitement as the bookcase continued to move. Suddenly she forgot all about her feeling that something was off, wowed at the technology in front of her. That is—until she realized that the cameras covered more than just the entrances into the house. That little… As she looked from screen to screen, she confirmed that there were no cameras in any private areas or the bedrooms, and she breathed a sigh of relief. But there appeared to be audio on some of them, and…what was this? The lower right screen contained a main menu. She clicked it, and the screen filled with options:

  Remote App: Enabled. That creep, he can see everything when he’s traveling, too?

  Infrared: Enabled. Well that’s good, at least. She scrutinized the screens to see if she could see anyone on the monitors. No movement.

  Audio: Enabled. Her eyes narrowed. Double creep. What a relief that she’d done all of her work at the library instead of home. Was he listening in to every conversation she had with Mackenzie?

  Thea took another glance at the screens, and all systems seemed fine, so she closed the menu and pushed the square section to see if that would close the bookcase. It started sliding back into place. Now she was left with deciding how to handle the fact that Thor had been spying on her, without her knowledge.

  Her phone vibrated in her jeans pocket. She glanced at the display, Wren.

  “Hey, Wren.”

  “Hey, Thea. Cox is on the ground, and he said everything looks fine from what he can tell. Are you okay?”

  “Interesting question. I figured out how to gain access to Thor’s security system, and realized he’s been spying on my every move without my knowledge. So no, I’m not okay. But if you’re asking whether or not there’s a serial killer in the house, or we’re in danger, not as far as I can tell. Good night.” She decisively hit End on her phone.

  It wasn’t two minutes before Thor’s name popped up on her phone. She hit the Ignore button, walked into the kitchen, and hit Ignore again when he tried calling back a second time. If he’d talked to Wren, he knew they were safe, and beyond that, he didn’t deserve any more information, as far as she was concerned—or maybe he knew it all anyway. She should probably go disable the “App” option on the alarm system, and see how that would make him feel.

  She started walking up the stairs and heard her phone buzzing on the kitchen counter for the third time. It dawned on her that he could probably hear her. “Mackenzie is safe, Thor,” she said as loud as she could. “My phone is in the kitchen and I’m going to bed.” Her phone stopped buzzing, and she continued on her way to check on Mackenzie before retiring to her room.

  13

  THIRTEEN

  The week passed uneventfully. Thea still wondered why she’d felt so strongly that something was wrong on Monday night—it bothered her—but at the end of each day, she was just grateful Mackenzie and her were both safe. She hadn’t had any more gut feelings that something was wrong, or any feelings of being watched when she picked Mackenzie up at school. And her days at the library seemed like every day before that.

  The fact that it was Friday loomed in front of her as she dropped Mackenzie off at school and watched as she walked inside with her classmates. She had chosen not to speak with Thor at any length when he called each day—she usually just handed the phone to Mackenzie. Was it mature? No, but she was certain he got the point. At the same time, she felt like he’d return home today, and she wasn’t at all sure what to expect from their “come to Jesus” meeting.

  Wren stopped by daily for a Tai Chi lesson with Mackenzie, and Thea decided to join them after day two. It had become a highlight for both of them, which created yet another conflict as Th
ea tried to reason through her feelings for Mackenzie, Mackenzie’s feelings for her, Thor’s invitation to stay permanently, and Thor’s decision to leave critical details of the home security system out of their conversations. She felt violated, and she didn’t know how to resolve that.

  Thor was a good man, there was no doubt about that, but she wasn’t at all sure she could forgive him for his omissions.

  The flip side of all of this was Mackenzie. This sweet, precious girl had won Thea’s heart in ways she didn’t know were possible, and what should she do about the fact that she was just her nanny. No sooner had that thought filtered through her mind, then she heard the front door open.

  Panic rose in her throat at the thought of seeing Thor, but then she took a deep breath and decided to be grateful that it would be at least three hours before she needed to pick Mackenzie up from school. She stayed in the kitchen, waiting for Thor to come to her.

  She didn’t have to wait long. She heard the front door close, footsteps to his office, and a thump of something being dropped on the floor. The footsteps started again, drawing closer to the kitchen. She looked up from the kitchen table where she was working on her laptop. He stopped in the doorway, and she closed her laptop down.

  He stood in the doorway for two or three seconds, then walked toward her.

  She stayed in her chair. “How was your trip?”

  “Productive,” he said as he pulled the chair out next to her and sat down. “You’re angry with me.”

  “That might be an understatement.”

  He nodded and waited.

  “Thor, I’m not one of your clients, nor am I one of your subjects at whatever government agency you whisk off to at a moment’s notice. Please don’t play games with me. Just say what you have to say.”

  “I tried, Thea. You wouldn’t speak with me beyond a ‘hello’ and a quick rundown on Mackenzie’s activities for the day. You’re angry with me because I kept the details of the security system from you.”

  “I’m angry,” she emphasized, “because you did more than keep the details of the security system from me—you specifically led me to believe that the security system was primarily for the exterior of the house and the entrances on the inside of the house. You failed to mention the cameras in most of the common areas or the audio capability or the fact that you have an app enabled on your phone.” She paused and continued in a quieter voice, “I feel like you deceived me, like you were spying on me.”

  Their eyes were locked, and for the first time since she’d met him, she didn’t feel intimidated by the intensity of his scrutiny, but rather she knew she was holding her own.

  “You’re familiar with the concept of a nanny cam?” he asked, his eyes never leaving hers as her eyebrows raised in disbelief. “Agree with it or not, Thea. Despite our extensive interview, there are still many things a person can hide—things that don’t come to the surface until or unless a person thinks they’re unobserved. You may not like what I did, but I did what I felt I needed to do to protect Mackenzie. I had to determine if indeed you were as good and kind as you appeared to come across in the extensive research I did, and in our interview.”

  “And did you discover anything to the contrary?” she asked, fighting to keep the tears that threatened at bay, looking down and away from his eyes.

  He reached across the table and gently moved her face back toward him. She closed her eyes and a solitary tear escaped—he brushed it from her cheek and cupped her face with both of his hands. “I discovered what I believed about you all along to be true, that you are a rare person, and as good and kind and loving as I ever could have hoped Mackenzie would have in her life.”

  And you? She wondered, but didn’t voice it. “What else is out there, Thor? What else haven’t you told me?”

  “Fair question, and I have a few for you, as well.” Her breath hitched as her heartbeat quickened and her eyes narrowed. She wanted to argue with him. To reiterate that her work was none of his business, and that all that mattered was that she took excellent care of Mackenzie; but in the back of her mind she wondered. Did her work or the project she was working on have something to do with the fact that BRG thought someone might be following Mackenzie or her? Could she be endangering Mackenzie despite her best efforts to keep her work and involvement untraceable?

  She looked at her watch. “We have about two hours before I need to pick up Mackenzie—you first.”

  A slow smile spread across his face and she felt the sudden need to fan herself as her skin flushed. He was so sexy, and try though she might, it was impossible to be angry with him when she was with him. And becoming harder and harder to deny how much she was beginning to crave time with him. Who was she kidding? It was harder to deny how much she craved him.

  She bit her lower lip to bring herself back to the present and realized she’d missed more than a few sentences of his diatribe. She picked up with, “and so you can see that when the team needs me, I have to leave within hours or the trail goes cold.”

  How stupid could she be? She had no idea what he’d just said, and she knew she needed to ask some questions—both to figure out what he’d just said and to buy her some time. She had to figure out exactly how to tell him about how she spent her days when Mackenzie was in school.

  “Walk me through it, Thor. Exactly what kind of cases are you working on, and do they pose any threat to Mackenzie?”

  His eyes darkened, and it was as though the sadness was so deep it knew no end.

  “What happened to your wife?” she whispered.

  His eyes filled with tears. She reached out to grasp his hand, to try to bring him back from a despair so strong she nearly lost herself in it.

  “Whatever it was, Thor—you do know it wasn’t your fault?”

  She sat quietly as he struggled to gain control, her hand firm and steady on his. She had no idea how he kept the tears that threatened to overflow from his eyes from doing exactly that, but he did. She didn’t think it was a good sign, and she wondered if he had taken the time to talk with anyone about his grief and obvious guilt. She wondered if the two of them had any hope at all, if he hadn’t.

  His phone rang and interrupted them. His eyes apologized.

  “Go ahead. Take it.”

  14

  FOURTEEN

  The sheer joy in Mackenzie’s face when she saw her father with Thea in the car was absolutely priceless. Whatever else they may face in the future—moments like this made it seem like it would be okay, like it was worthwhile.

  There was so much left unsaid between Thea and Thor. His phone call had consumed the remaining time they’d had before needing to pick up Mackenzie. Thea worried at all that was left unsaid between them.

  Mackenzie begged to go to the ice cream parlor, and neither Thor nor Thea had the heart to deny her. Thea thought about sending a quick text to a few of the mom’s to let them know where they were headed if they wanted to join them. But just as quickly decided she didn’t want to share this moment with anyone.

  Thor found a parking spot, and the three of them walked together to the store, Mackenzie holding her father’s hand on one side, and Thea’s on the other. She skipped the entire way there, and Thea found her joy infectious. Thea laughed as Mackenzie dropped their hands and raced to the parlor door. It was good to see her happy.

  She glanced at Thor with eyes dancing, only to find him staring at her. Her eyes widened, as she looked into his blue eyes, dark and filled with desire. Her heart nearly stopped as her breath hitched, warmth spreading from the top of her head to the very tips of her toes. He took a step toward her when Mackenzie called out from the doorway. “Come on you guys! The ice cream’s melting!”

  Laughter pealed from Thea, and she turned from Thor toward the little girl she had come to love as though she were her own. “I’ll race you!” she offered to Thor over her shoulder as she took off running at top speed.

  How he beat her, she had no idea. Thea was fit, ran almost daily, and was fast—
but Thor was faster. Mackenzie squealed as her dad reached her first, picking her up and swinging her around in the air, hugging her close.

  A motion to the right caught Thea’s attention. And she caught a glimpse of a blonde bun disappeared behind the darkened window of a Mercedes—the window scrolled to the top. The car took off from the curb at a screech. Was that Daisy?

  Another screech from Zee drew her attention back to the parlor, and she smiled as she ran the final steps to join Zee and her dad as they walked inside.

  “I’ll take a Rum-Infused-Pirate, please,” Thea ordered, the moment she reached the counter, well aware of the several second stare from Thor. Clearly he was out of the loop. She bit her lip to keep from smiling.

  “Umm. I’ll take a root beer float, please.” He turned to give Thea a lifted eyebrow glance.

  “I would like a jacked-up carrot cake, please,” Zee ordered with all the innocence of a five-year-old.

  It was all Thea could do to not burst into laughter as Thor shot her a what are you teaching my daughter look.

  She shot him a, oh you haven’t seen anything yet response, as she pulled her wallet from her purse. Thor started to protest, but she stopped him short with a look that could kill. Amusement filtered through his eyes, and then Mackenzie demanded his attention. She had missed him. They both had missed him.

  Thea struggled to enjoy the moment and not give any space to the doubts and concerns that threatened to crowd her mind.

  She was more than just a nanny; she had a master’s degree from Penn for God’s sake, and had applied for the Ph.D. program there. She was working secretly for a Senator in the U.S. government on an assignment that was slated “need to know.” She’d turned down a job from the CIA because she was quite certain she couldn’t perform even a fraction of the things the agency typically required from their agents. And before falling in love with Thor and Mackenzie, she’d thought she could juggle the world of back-seat espionage while keeping it low profile in her life. Boy had she been wrong. She’d fallen in love…