50
Returning to the dining room, holding Ethan’s hand, Zoë took a seat at the table beside him. Her body was still trembling from their kitchen encounter, and her mind afire with everything he’d said before. She’d been so stupid, she should have confided in Ethan long ago. Maybe all of this could have been avoided. Then again, she hadn’t known the offer for her to remain with Ethan was on the table. Why should she have known? She’d closed herself off to him emotionally, he hadn’t known she wanted him as much as he wanted her. She sure screwed this up. Trying to keep him out of danger had only plunged him headlong into it. She’d been right to not want to endanger him, but she almost lost him because she wasn’t forthcoming with him. She’d never make that mistake again, if, indeed, they lived long enough to embark on the relationship they both wanted.
She didn’t take the time to look at Boone and Myles, to see if they suspected why she and Ethan had disappeared for as long as they had. She didn’t care. Trying to tamp down her raging emotions, there was only one thing she need to concentrate on at the moment. Engaging her father’s eyes, she spoke.
“Dad, I know you want the best for me, and I love you so much for that. You always do everything you can to keep me safe. I know you think hiding me away somewhere, and giving me a new identity, will keep me safe. You’re not wrong about that, but it’s not what I want to do. I want to stay here, with Ethan.”
“Caprice—”
“It’s Zoë, and it’s going to stay Zoë from now on. I won’t change my name again, and I won’t leave this ranch. I love Ethan, he loves me, and we want to be together. You’re resourceful, same as everyone else in this room. We’ll come up with a plan to keep everyone safe.”
Expecting her father to argue with her, she was amazed when his eyes filled with tears. While she and he were close, and he was always honest with his feelings when in her presence, he never displayed emotion in front of other people. Ever. It was as if it were only the two of them, the moments when he was truly himself, and nothing but her loving father. His transparency with her allowed her to see the only thought in his head now, a need to not only assure her safety, but also her happiness.
He swallowed before he nodded. “If you love him and want to be with him, then you’re right, we’ll come up with a way to make that happen.”
“Thank you, Daddy.”
His features further melted, and she’d never seen such a serene look on his face. She knew the smile that adorned his face was in response to her address. Despite forcefully putting her foot down, she was still his little girl and wanted him to know it. Always rushing off to start a new case, his visits in the past few years had been short, and periodic, but when he saw her, he pushed work aside and would wear the expression he did now, one that was loving, and proud. Her upbringing hadn’t been normal by most peoples’ stretch of the imagination but she’d never, ever, doubted his love for her.
His phone pinged and he looked to the screen, his expression morphing into his usual one, hard. He was all business now and she hoped the others wouldn’t take offense to the harsh tone she knew he’d adopt. It was his way, commanding, forceful, demanding the best, and protecting those around him. Severe upon occasion, his methods had saved countless lives and she knew everyone present tonight needed the militant version of her father.
“All the men have been approved for this undertaking.” He looked to Boone. “My aide arranged for Rory to use firearms tonight.”
When she looked to Ethan, he appeared not to like the ongoing conversation, practically committing men to risk their lives before asking them if they were willing to do so. Making eye contact with Myles, Ethan spoke.
“You need to speak with your constables and the others, and ensure they understand the risks here, before we proceed any further. As—” his voice trailed off as he looked to her father. “What’s your name?”
“You can call me Charles.”
Ethan cocked his head. “Is that your real name?”
“Does it matter?”
With a slight eye roll, he looked back to Myles. “As Charles said, they need to understand they’re putting their lives on the line. Once we know who is committed to this, we can start tactical planning.”
“Your foreman you mentioned,” her father broke in, “could be used as a lookout, could he not? I understand you not wanting to commit an employee to danger, but we could use lookouts.”
“We could,” Ethan agreed, “and that would be fine. Skip’s sixty-seven years old, I won’t have him being placed in danger, but I know he’ll want to help. And while we’re discussing lookouts, I want the Carson brothers used in those positions as well. They don’t have the skillsets of the rest of the men.”
“Fine,” Charles said, then turned to Myles. “Please call those men and see if they’ll help us.”
Myles left the room, undoubtedly to better hear on the phone. Boone announced he’d call Rory, and then stepped away from the table. Zoë squeezed Ethan’s hand. He flashed her one of his crooked smiles, and then frowned.
“I still want to know how they found you. You did everything right to stay hidden from them. If you only sent one message, to your dad, then how did they find you? You weren’t on social media sites of any kind, were you?”
“Of course not. I have no idea how they found me.”
“I do,” her dad piped up. “It was through a social media post, one made by Murray Muller. I understand he’s an employee of yours, Collins, not that he knew the consequences of posting that, of course. He posted some photos last night. We took down the one photo almost immediately, but it wasn’t fast enough. Apparently Rosati had someone running facial recognition software. That’s how they found her, I’m sure of it.”
He held his phone out and she took it. Ethan peered over her shoulder and huffed at the photos there. They were taken last night, captioned ‘Great night at the Goose’ and mostly of Murray and Jeff, but she clearly saw herself in one. She was in the background, but her face was clear enough to make out. It was unfortunate, but not Murray’s fault. She handed the phone back to her father.
“Unbelievable,” Ethan fumed.
Her father nodded. “Organized crime is just that, organized. They have tech experts that rival ours.”
In silence, they waited for Boone and Myles to rejoin them. Ethan entwined his fingers through hers and flashed her a lop-sided grin. It was meant to lift her spirits but didn’t. Torn between wanting more men involved to ensure the safety of those in this room and not wanting any more people to endanger themselves because of her, she stayed quiet when Boone took a seat at the table and told her father that Rory had agreed to help. The announcement had her stomach knotted and it tightened when Myles returned. He informed them all the men he’d called had agreed to help, and understood the possible risks. As talk turned to how best to utilize the committed men, Ethan squeezed her hand encouragingly. She wondered if he picked up on her tenseness. As grateful as she was for the help, her heart pounded brutally with the thought those men, and especially Ethan, could be injured, or possibly even die, in the hours ahead. If they did, it would be her fault.