Mariah Stewart - Coming Home

“Why did your brother want Connor dead?”

“Brendan was involved in some very nasty business in Central America, and he thought that Connor was onto him. So he planned to use this op as a means to get Connor out of the way.”

“Except at the last minute, Dylan went in Connor’s place.”

Grady nodded. “Brendan was afraid that Melissa had caught on to the fact that he’d fired the killing shot. His way of dealing with her was to make her disappear. Unfortunately, Brendan’s partner-Luther Blue, another agent-wasn’t convinced that Melissa would keep her mouth shut, so he killed her.”

“But there was still Connor…”

“By then, Luther had figured out that Brendan had lost all interest in killing close to home, so he was a liability. Luther set up Brendan, then killed him.”

“And then he would have killed Connor, too?”

“There would have been no need for that. Connor had seen Brendan, not Luther. He had no reason to connect Luther to Brendan’s dealings in Santa Estela.”

“Where’s this Luther guy now?”

“He’s in a maximum-security federal prison serving several life sentences. He offered to name names-give up all his international contacts, from the very top of the trafficking organization to the bottom, in exchange for life in prison and the guarantee that he would not be turned over to any foreign government for prosecution.”

“Trafficking? You mean, as in, people…?”

“Kidnapping and selling kids from Central America on the international black market.”

“That’s just…” She shook her head. There were no words.

“Yeah. Tell me about it.”

“But if Melissa didn’t tell you all this, who did?”

“It came out in Luther’s confession.”

“And it bothers you that you had to hear the truth from him.”

“The consequences of her lies bother me. If she’d told me the truth, she’d still be alive. Brendan would have been brought to justice along with everyone else in that organization. The operation would have been shut down sooner.”

“I understand all that. But didn’t it hurt you on a personal level that she hadn’t been truthful with you?”

“Well, yes,” he admitted. “That, and the fact that after I realized that she’d known that Brendan was the one who’d bought her silence, I couldn’t help but wonder if she thought that marrying his brother might not have been a form of cheap insurance in case he got the idea later on to shut her up permanently.”

“Oh, Grady, you don’t really think…”

“It’s crossed my mind. The whole let’s-run-off-and-get-married thing was her idea, and while at the time it seemed spontaneous, now I have to ask myself if maybe she hadn’t seen it more as a survival tack than anything else. But…” He slapped his hands on his thighs, then stood. “I guess I’ll never know for certain.”

“Your story makes mine sound like a soap opera.”

“We’re not comparing. I hope you don’t think I was trivializing what happened to you.”

“I didn’t for a second think you were. I thought you were sharing things that mattered with the person you sleep with.”

“That’s exactly what it was.”

“Then maybe you should finish it.”

“I did finish it. I told you everything that happened.”

“But you didn’t talk about what didn’t happen.” She tugged on his hand to pull him back down to the bench. “You didn’t get to confront Brendan and ask him why he did what he did. You didn’t get to ask Melissa all the questions you think you have answers to but want to hear her say that you’re right. You are so angry that they both died before they could fess up.”

He sighed and leaned against the back of the bench, his hands in her lap since she held both of them.

“You may not want to hear this, but it’s something that I have to say. And remember that you opened the door for it with what you just told me.”

“Go on.”

“Sometimes people do things that hurt us so deeply, we’re certain that we’re never going to be right inside again. We want justice for the wrong that’s been done to us, but we can’t always make that happen. So then we have a choice. We can hold on to those questions that can never be answered and those feelings that hurt us so much, and we can make them a part of our lives forever. Of course, if we do that, we’ll always hurt, and we’ll always be looking for answers that we’ll never get.”

“Or…?”

“Or we can put them aside, and make them not matter anymore.”

“Excuse me, but are you the same woman who wanted to do a happy dance when I told her that her ex-husband was dead?”

“That would be me. But here’s the thing. I started to put him behind me the day I put him in prison. Yes, I still have scars, inside and out, but they remind me to never let anyone else take charge of my life ever again. And yes, I have issues, but I don’t let them define me. I’ve made a life for myself, and I’m very happy here. I could make having been abused the most important thing in my life, but I’ve chosen to put it aside and focus on what I’ve done to take control of my life.”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is, that you might want to think about what it’s costing you to hold on to the anger you feel toward your brother and your wife. You can’t change what happened in either of those relationships. You will never know what motivated either of them. Do you know that you can’t seem to mention your brother without your jaw going tight?” Before he could respond, she added, “And why do you stay in that house, Grady? Your wife was murdered there. Why would you want to stay?”

The bells from the church two blocks away began to chime.

“It’s seven,” he told her after all the bells had rung. “We’re supposed to meet Hal and Maggie now.” He stood and took her hand.

“All right,” she told him. “I’m sorry if I went too far.”

He held up a hand as if to stop her from saying anything further. “No need to apologize.”

They walked hand in hand to Walt’s at the end of the pier. When they were almost to the door, Grady said, “So I’m guessing this whole leave-the-anger-behind thing doesn’t apply to Maggie?”

“Well, of course not. That only applies to old stuff that you have no chance of resolving.” She swung the restaurant door open. “Maggie’s going to be a thorn in my butt for a long, long time…”

“There they are.” Maggie elbowed Hal. “They’re just coming in the door now.”

“I see them.” Hal patted her arm. “I want you to calm down, now. Take a deep breath.”

Maggie inhaled deeply several times.

“One more for good measure,” Hal whispered as Vanessa and Grady approached the table.

“Are you all right, Maggie?” Vanessa asked as she hung her bag over the back of the chair next to Hal’s.

“I just…” Maggie paused. “I just had the hiccups.”

“Oh, I hate it when I get those.” Vanessa turned to Hal. “So what happened to your cruise around the Bay?”

“Aborted.” Hal smiled. “Old Carter was having trouble docking that whaler of his, so I had to give him a hand. Then we started talking, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, we were seated out there at the bar having a cold one.”

“How is Carter?” Vanessa took a sip of water from the glass the attentive waiter poured for her.

“He’s doing better. Misses the wife, of course, but he’s keeping it together.”

“Glad to hear it. I always liked him.”

The waiter handed Grady and Vanessa menus.

“Did you two already order?” Vanessa asked.

“We were waiting for you,” Hal replied. “The specials are on the board there by the door. They have one of your favorites, Ness.”