Cade and I drove back to my mother’s house early the next morning. We were both tired, but there was a subtle shift in our relationship. Something had solidified for me, and I saw the same feeling reflected back whenever Cade looked at me.

Things were going to be okay with us, no matter what we had to do to get there.

After breakfast, Cade motioned for me to follow him through the house. My mother was absently scanning a calendar and cursing a missed luncheon with friends that she’d forgotten about.

When we got to my room he shut the door and kissed me senseless. Like he needed me again. The way he handled me was so utterly possessive, and for a moment I wanted to let him take me on the bed in the tiny room of my youth. Reason won out when he pulled back and started stroking my face with his rough hands.

“You taking her to the doctor today?”

“Yeah,” I said in a low voice. “I think it’s time. I called the office the other day and the nurse patched me through to Dr. Peters. He said she’d missed a few appointments. The last one she had about six months ago was a little concerning. I’m not sure what that means, but he said he would talk to me about it today.”

Cade nodded. “Good thing you’re here for her, baby. No matter what happens today, I’m here for you. It’s probably nothing serious. She might have skipped taking some medication or something. Who knows?”

I smiled and kissed him lightly. “I know. Do you want to come with us?”

He shook his head and kissed my forehead. “I have a few things to take care of and I need to talk to Holden. Nothing big. Maybe the guys found something in that case file last night.”

I nodded. “Let’s hope so.”

“Do me a favor, baby, and gather some things. Maybe just a bag, for you and your mom.”

Sighing, I laid my head on his chest. “Can we talk about this later? We can have some dinner or something.”

He rubbed my back and kissed the top of my head for a minute. “Sure, baby. Tell me you love me again.”

I moved my head to gaze up at him. His brown eyes seemed to be swallowing me up with need and my heart clenched. Maybe it was the moment or the night we'd spent together, but all I wanted to do was take a piece of him and hold it inside of my body forever. He seemed to need this right now for some reason. Although I’d said it over and over to him during the night, I wanted to give him what he needed.

“I love you,” I whispered.

He closed his eyes and kissed me gently.

“Time to go, baby.”

We headed back to the living room where my mother had made a pile of notes on the coffee table. Cade hugged her and said his goodbyes.

He left without saying anything else, and I felt his absence acutely as I got my mom ready for her appointment. She wasn’t thrilled, but she admitted that she’d missed an appointment about a month earlier.

It was strange. My mom had always been so structured with her life. Unlike me who could barely remember birthdays, she’d always, without fail, been the one in the family that had us all neatly organized and well ordered.

When Cade mentioned that she might have missed a medication, it had me wondering if she was supposed to be taking something and just didn’t. She’d never taken anything for as long as I could remember. Maybe a cold medication or something for a headache, but otherwise nothing major. She was, or always had been, very healthy.

My thoughts were very heavy as I waited on her to get out of her appointment. I’d agreed to wait in the doctor’s office while she was in the exam room. Something I found a little strange, since I’d never been in one. An exam room, yes. An office, no.

Dr. Peters walked down the hallway toward his open office door and gave me a quick smile. He was a tall, lanky man with slightly greying hair at his temples. Having met him a couple of times when I’d driven mom to appointments over the years, I’d always thought he must have been a real heartthrob in his youth.

I stood up from his office chair when he came in and shook his outstretched hand.

“Suzanne, it’s good to see you. It’s been a while. How are you?”

I shrugged. Probably not the moment to say I’d been hit, quit my job, got fired, found my dead boyfriend alive and well in a bar, received flowers from a serial killer, and needed a stiff drink.

“I’m good,” I replied.

He smiled again and took a seat behind his desk. He began typing on his keyboard and absently said, “Good, good. So, let’s talk about your mom.”

My phone beeped in my purse, but I ignored it.

“She missed a couple of appointments?”

He leaned back in his chair and tapped the arm rest. “Yes. But I bet she hasn’t told you she’s missed twelve.”

I gasped. “What? I don’t understand. Why would she need that many appointments?”

“She didn’t. She missed them, then would keep rescheduling them. I think your mom fully intended to come to them when she made arrangements, but then the appointment would come and go. Then we'd get another call.”

“Well, yes, she’s pretty organized. Lately, we’ve had a problem with a few things.”

He pursed his lips and studied me. “Like what?”

I sighed. “I hate to say this, but she’s been collecting things. It’s weird, like she has some compulsion to buy things she doesn’t need, then we end up donating half of it or throwing it out.”

“Does she forget that she’s bought something, and maybe she’s just buying duplicates?”

“Not that I know of but it’s possible.”

He sighed heavily. “You’re listed as her medical power of attorney. You’re going to have to start making some decisions soon.”

I frowned at him and my heart dropped to my stomach. “What do you mean?”

“She needs to see a neurologist, but if I were to make an educated guess based on her exam and a few behaviors, I think she has the early signs of Alzheimer’s dementia.”

“What…” I said but couldn’t finish my question. I blinked several times trying to figure out what the right questions were.

Dr. Peters leaned forward and gave me a sympathetic smile. “You’re going to have a lot of questions that I can’t answer right now. And I may be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. But you need to take her to see a neurologist to be sure. And you need to start thinking about some long-term care if I'm right. I’ve gone through it myself, so if that’s what it is, I want you to come back in here and see me. Not as a patient, but as a friend.”

I nodded as my phone started ringing. Ignoring it, I took some pamphlets from Dr. Peters and let his nurse arrange an appointment with a local physician that could see her in a couple of weeks.

When we both got to the car, I made sure she was buckled then sat there staring at her for a minute.

She gave me a small smile, her blue eyes so bright in the afternoon sun. The skin that stretched over her cheeks, always looked so soft, and I knew if I kissed her, she would smell like her favorite rose scented lotion.

“Guess we’ll be going to another doctor,” she said to me. “I can’t believe I made that many appointments.”

I reached out, grabbed her small hand, and kissed it. “Yeah, Mom. But I’ll be right here with you and we’ll do this together.”

“I’m sorry, Suzanne.”

I shook my head, trying not to tear up as my throat tightened. “Oh, Mom. Never be sorry. I love you so much.”

She nodded and stared down at our hands. “Let’s eat something awful.”

“Snickers pancakes?”

She glanced up and grinned. “Perfect.”

The rest of the afternoon was a memorable one. We ate at the same diner that Cade and I had only a few days ago. We laughed, talked about Dad, and ate what we felt like eating. Without guilt or hesitation, we shared what we thought about things, and it was beautiful.

* * *

When we arrived home, a black car was in the driveway. Not something I wanted to deal with today of all days. Whether it was the FBI or Jake, I didn’t care. I just wanted to get my mom settled and see Cade.

We stepped in the house without being approached by anyone, and the tint on the windows prevented me from seeing who the occupants were.

Mom went back to her bedroom to lay down and I pulled my cell out of my purse.

Message from Cade.

I frowned at the message for a minute and checked the missed call. It wasn’t a number I knew so I ignored the waiting voicemail. Probably some solicitor.

There was a knock at the door as I started walking toward the kitchen. I turned back and opened the door.

Holden pushed his sunglasses up on his head and smiled. “Suzanne. Can I come in?”

I frowned at him. “Yeah. Where’s Cade? I thought he was supposed to meet with you.”

He stepped in and studied the room. He was wearing a suit today. Black on black. I’d gotten so used to seeing him in those same suits when he was at Muse that it always surprised me when he wore anything else.

“How did your appointment go?”

I narrowed my eyes at him and set my purse on the kitchen counter.

“Fine. Where’s Cade?”

He glanced down at the floor for a moment, then gave me a hard look. “You need to pack some things. We’ll be moving you both to the compound this afternoon.”

I let out a laugh and glared at him. What the fuck was he thinking?

“No. I can’t leave. My mom’s sick and it’s not happening. Where the fuck is Cade? Did he send you over here to do his dirty work?”

Holden’s mouth twitched a fraction in what I assumed was amusement, but the man never was very expressive.

I pointed at him. “You can tell him to fuck off. We’re not going anywhere. And he’s an asshole for sending you over here and not coming himself.”

He nodded. “He said you’d say something like that. He also mentioned a baseball bat.”

I jabbed my thumb over my shoulder toward my bedroom. “Oh, she’s sitting pretty in a corner in there. Let me know if you want to meet her.”

“It’s a she?”

“Of course—oh for fuck’s sake! Get the fuck out of my house. Get. Out.”

He glanced down at a watch on his wrist. “You have an hour. If you’re not ready, then I’ve been given instructions to get you to the compound by any means necessary. I would like to point out, I’m heavily armed, have Jake and two other team members with me, and have a lot of rope in the trunk that I’m not afraid to use.”

I glared at him and pointed to the door. “Of course you do. None of you scare me. You’re all a bunch of teddy bears. Remember I know your wives. Tell Cade he can come tell me that this is his decision in person.”

He headed toward the door, then turned back to me. “Cade’s been arrested. Agent Kennedy called Aiden a few hours ago. He turned himself in this morning after he spoke with me apparently. Get packed. You have an hour before I bring the entire team in here.”

He slid the sunglasses back over his eyes, examined the area through the window, then stepped out of the house toward the black vehicle.

Fuck. That stupid, stubborn man! I wasn’t sure if I was mad because he beat me to the punch, or had listened to my reasoning last night and had decided that the answer was still no on helping the FBI. I should have known that he would go ahead and do this. But he knew me well, it was possible he’d figured out that I was going to call the FBI today myself. I’d planned on talking with him about it again tonight, though.

I let out a frustrated growl and grabbed my phone.

Fishing Mick’s card out of my purse, I hesitated before dialing. I was going to do this anyway, but it came at the worst time. I needed to take care of my mom right now more than ever, and Mick had said that we wouldn’t have to move her if I agreed.

Then again, did I honestly want her here in the middle of this?

Instead of phoning Mick, I went through the contacts in my phone and called Liv. It rang a few times then went to voicemail. I dialed again, trying one more time, and she finally picked up.

“Hello? Suzanne?”

“Liv, I need your help.”

“What the hell is going on? Aiden took off with the guys, the security team is acting like they’re on alert, no one is telling me shit. Julia’s pissed as hell because Holden won’t tell her anything, and Kate won’t return my phone calls. Andi’s phone has been shut off and we have no idea where she’s at.”

“There’s something, but I can’t tell you right now. I need your help.”

“I’ll try. What’s wrong?” she asked.

“My mom. She’s sick.”

She let out a gasp. “Oh no. What’s wrong?”

“She needs to see a neurologist. Her local doctor is Dr. Peters. I’m going to send some information and a contact number.”

“Send it where? Here?”

“Yes. She’ll be there. I’m assuming later today. She gets confused, forgets to eat. Can you just—”

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask. Consider it done. Are you okay? What’s going on?”

I let out a deep sigh. “I can’t tell you. I’m sorry, Liv. Just please make sure she gets some help and remembers to eat. I have that money you gave me in my bank account, and a life insurance policy. Make her as comfortable as you can.”

“Suzanne…”

“You’re one of my only friends, Liv. I’m so incredibly lucky you came in that day at Muse. I just wanted to tell you that. I have to go.”

“Wait—”

I hung up the phone with a deep sigh. Shit.

When I knocked on my mom’s bedroom door, she answered with a firm voice. I pushed in and saw her with a bag on the bed.

Frowning, I glanced toward the living room then back at her bag. She’d heard everything.

“Mom?”

She glanced up at me with a smile. “I’ll be okay. Was that Olivia on the phone?”

I walked into the room and helped her pull some nightgowns out of her dresser. “Yeah, I have to do something. Olivia said she would help you get to some appointments. It’ll be in Lakefield, though. Uhm, do you remember me telling you about her husband, and Julia’s husband, Holden?”

“Sweetie, I know you have to do something with Cade. I don’t know what’s going on, but I always wanted to visit Lakefield. I’ll just think of this as an adventure.”

“Oh, it’ll be an adventure alright. Holden's going to take you to Olivia and yes, I need to do something with Cade. I’m not sure how long this is going to take, Mom. You can trust Olivia, though, okay?”

“I’ll be perfectly fine. If Cade’s friends are half as cute as Mick, I may even find a boyfriend,” she said with a giggle.

I shook my head and laughed. “We have an hour, but I need to call someone and get things going with Cade.”

She patted me on the cheek and gave me a kiss on my forehead. “Go kick some ass, honey.”

I smirked. That was more like my mom.

I stepped out of the room and paced in front of the large bay window staring at Holden’s car parked in my driveway. Oh, he would be taking someone away in an hour, it just wasn’t going to be me.

Fishing Mick’s card out of my pocket, I dialed his number.

“Suzanne?” he answered.

“Hey, Mick.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Not really,” I said. “So, I’m sure you know that Cade is in custody.”

“Yeah, I saw him this morning. He’s fine. Not too comfortable, but he’s fine.”

I glanced out at the car in my driveway. “So, I have an issue. I have Holden in my yard and he says I have an hour to vacate with him, tied in his trunk or not. I’m sending my mom, but I have a feeling Holden isn’t going to take no for an answer. Cade told him to make me leave by any means necessary.”

“Sounds unlawful.”

I smirked. “It sure does. Especially since I’m officially working with the FBI on a project. That is, if you let my boyfriend out of jail, give him a free pass and let him help.”

He cleared his throat. “Look, that’s not really—”

“Mick, make it happen. You’re the man, I believe in you.”

He groaned. “And you’re just as crazy as he is. Alright, you said an hour?”

“Forty-five minutes. Tick-tock, tick-tock.”

“Give me twenty. Sure you want to do this? He’s going to be pissed.”

I let out a small chuckle. “How do you know he won’t be happy? He’ll be out of jail.”

“I would flip my shit if you were my girl and agreed to do this.”

I frowned. “Then why did you ask me to do it?”

“It’s my job, Suzanne. I don’t have to like it all the time. Twenty minutes.”

He hung up suddenly and I stared at the phone hoping Mick could pull off a miracle. He was an interesting man. Someone I suspected that the guys didn’t give much credit to, or just didn’t know very well.

Right now, I didn’t really care whether Cade was going to be pissed or not. He would be out of jail, and he might even be able to help, which would make me feel a lot safer in the long run. It wasn’t something Mick mentioned yesterday as an option, but if they could negotiate, it might keep Cade from going apeshit while I was doing whatever they needed me to do. And if it took a while, at least he’d be there with me.

Twenty minutes from now I would know the answer. I watched the car in the front yard and hoped that Mick could help.