The moment Val stepped into the Pothead, Stacey sprang up from a table in the back and embraced her in a tight hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Stacey said, eyes wet as if she held back tears. “What happened to that woman who attacked you?”
“Hopefully she’d dead, but I’m not that lucky.” Val rubbed the back of her neck, exhausted and still sore all over from her plunge off the ferry and fight with Eleanor—and looking like shit again.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stay long. I promised Max I’d meet him in a few minutes to take Lydia home from the hospital.” She and Max were already on shaky ground, having never truly reconciled or talked about the horrible pictures. At least he finally believed they were in danger. Without asking her, he’d hired bodyguards to stand watch outside their condo. How was that supposed to help against a woman who could see the fucking future? But he’d just ignored her protests, not even bothering to fight about it. Now she had to tolerate a couple blank-faced goons lurking right outside their front door, and who knew where their true loyalties lay. So things were tense between them, to say the least. Failing to honor her promise to him now could result in a rift they might never be able to close. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Yeah, um, let’s sit down.”
As Stacey fidgeted with the buttons on her coat, Val sat and frowned. Whatever Stacey had to say, she guessed by her friend’s nervousness it wasn’t good. The last thing she needed was more bad news.
“So”—Stacey licked her lips—“so when I told you I was here visiting my family for Christmas, that wasn’t really true. I’m actually here with Kat.”
Did Val hear that right? “Wait—the Kat who lied to you, and then planted a bomb in your car that almost killed a bunch of people?”
“Yeah, but…she had to, okay? Her family forced her to do it.”
“Her family? Who?”
“Uh…Northwalk.”
Val sat frozen for a moment. You have got to be fucking kidding me. “And you’re working for them?” she asked, a new chill in her voice.
“No. I’m Kat’s girlfriend, that’s all—her fiancée, actually.” She scoffed at Val’s angry glare. “Don’t tell me you’ve never compromised for love.”
“I’ve never done anything evil,” Val spat.
“Really? Not even all those times you pretended to have romantic feelings for me? Or that time I died and you didn’t tell me?”
Val gritted her teeth as a pang of guilt shot through her. “So this is your way of getting back at me?”
Stacey sighed and shook her head. “Look, I’ll admit it. I did want to get back at you by running off with the girl of my dreams, like you’d run away from me with the guy of your dreams. But now I realize that was stupid and shortsighted. It was good for a while—really good—but there were strings attached that I’d been ignoring until now, because I can’t ignore them anymore. I love Kat, but her family is up to some seriously evil shit, and I can’t stick my head in the sand and do nothing anymore.”
If Stacey thought her excuse about working with Val’s mortal enemies in the service of true love would garner Val’s sympathy, she was wrong. Those people had manipulated her and Max’s lives as if they played with dolls, killing, hurting, and threatening everyone she loved to fulfill whatever their twisted agenda was—world domination or some other shit. Val thought she’d had her best friend back after five long years, but it’d all been a lie, probably to gain her trust and make her vulnerable. Maybe Stacey didn’t even know she was just another one of Northwalk’s puppets now.
“Where are they?” Val asked. Might was well squeeze her former friend for information while she had the opportunity.
“A giant house in the woods. The head of Northwalk is Kat’s mother, and she’s going to hand the organization over to Kat in a few days, in some sort of succession ceremony thing. Then Kat will make it less evil—I think. That’s what she told me, but—I don’t know what to believe anymore. I need to choose love, so I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt for now. But I found some info on a computer at the Northwalk compound, about—”
“Where’s the compound?” Val’s voice cracked, tears she couldn’t control building behind her eyes.
“They’re only going to be here for a few more days. Why does it matter?”
“Because I’m going to go there and kill them all.”
Stacey’s eyes widened. “Val, come on. That’s crazy. Just wait and let Kat and me turn it into a force for good. Besides, the place is a fortress. There’s an elaborate security system and guards everywhere—”
Val shot up from her seat, nearly knocking over her chair. “Fine, don’t help me. And don’t ever talk to me again.”
She turned and walked out, ignoring Stacey’s pleas for her to come back and curious stares from other people in the coffee shop. When she got back to her car in the parking lot, she slammed the door closed, took a deep breath, and let out a ragged sob. Wherever Stacey had been for the last five years, Val had taken comfort in the hope that they could someday work through their differences and reunite. They’d been friends almost their entire lives. Now, like a punch to the gut, she realized that would never happen. Her best friend was truly gone.
Her phone chimed with a text. Wiping tears off her cheeks, she prepared to immediately delete any texts from Stacey, though it could’ve also been an impatient prodding from Max, wondering where the hell she was. It surprised her to see the sender as “Asshole”—Sten. She’d come to realize contrary to Sten’s laidback, smarmy demeanor, he never did anything only for shits and grins. There was always a method to his madness. He wouldn’t text her if he didn’t have something important to relay.
Had he sent those pictures of their past fling to Max? She couldn’t think of a good reason why he’d do that; maybe he was about to give her an answer.
Dreading whatever it was he had to say, she read the message: Got a big fan here down at the station dying to meet you. Better hurry. She won’t be here long.
Val’s breath caught. Eleanor. Hot damn, he’d caught her! Of course, there was a good chance Eleanor had allowed herself to be caught as another way to lure Val into a trap, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to question the crazy woman terrorizing her family. She’d explain it to Max later. Val started her car and took off toward the Seattle Police Department headquarters.