Pacing was a much more effective tension reliever than he expected. Probably explained why he’d walked a groove into the carpet as he waited for Alex to show up.

Brody ran a hand through his hair. Fuck. Something wasn’t right, and though he had no idea where that thought was leading, he was sure of one thing—it wasn’t an everyday occurrence for an obvious tradecraft drone to do a Justice flyover and then blow the fuck up after being shot out of the sky. Recreational and business drones did not come with self-destruct mechanisms.

Remington Bisset, looking every inch a formidable kicker of asses, stood immobile next to the door. She was wearing a ferocious scowl that verged on a sneer and despite being a female who was slightly on the short side, her physical presence filled the room. He was impressed with her fast actions today and had no qualms about relying on her to be on point—gun drawn—while he investigated the drone issue.

Alex appeared in a burst of frenetic energy and began barking questions. It was an understatement to say the guy seemed pissed off. Not for the first or last time, Brody thanked his lucky stars that he was on the Major’s team cause this dude was a serious force. Crossing him wasn’t a smart idea.

“This better be real fucking good, you two. I was enjoying some family time and the last thing I needed was an annoyed wife who glared at me when I said something was up.”

Remy reacted first. What she said got all of Alex’s attention—and then some. “We need extra security in the family zone.” She held up her phone. “Duke is coming down now. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

The Major’s shrewd, assessing demeanor brought a hush to the room. Remy stood her ground. Brody waited to see where this went. To his utter astonishment, she added a demand that got Brody’s head swinging in her direction as a pained grunt rumbled from his chest.

“And security at all the satellite locations. Jensen’s home. The Sullivan’s. Rafe. Finn. Everyone. No exceptions.”

Duke came bursting into the room followed by one of his security team with a canine from Brody’s program on a tether. The dog performed beautifully. So did the handler. A surge of satisfaction raced through him.

“Permission to initiate Cover-Net, sir,” he roughly grunted.

Brody’s gaze swung to Alex. He had no idea what Cover-Net meant but the Major certainly did. His slight flinch told Brody they weren’t in Kansas any more. Something big was up.

With a look as dark as a moonless night, Alex scowled and gave Duke a slight nod. “Remy was just making the case. Initiate. Level One, Duke. Everybody. Including parents. Understand?”

Chief Winston appeared to hesitate. He felt Remy’s eyes and looked at her. She had a holy shitballs expression. Duke asked for clarification and what he got set Brody instantly to high alert.

“Boston, sir?”

Alex’s angry growl was a sound Brody had not heard before.

“Yes, but tell Paddy. He’s a detective and I’m sure he’ll figure out in no time that he’s being followed.”

“Jesus Christ, Alex,” Brody muttered. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Where is it?” Alex asked.

Remy snapped to attention. “It’s under a tarp in the garage. One of my team is guarding the door. Nobody in or out.”

“It’s going to attract attention if we all go storming into the garage at the same time.” Duke pointed this out while giving Alex a weird look.

A pall fell over the room. Brody noticed the dog’s ears twitch. He was picking up the tension.

“Well, fuck, Duke,” Alex growled. “That is so not what I wanted to hear. Exactly what are you suggesting?”

“I think you know,” the grizzled security chief answered.

“Word of the day,” the Major barked with a menacing bite. “Write it the fuck down and memorize for future reference. Obtuse. Look it up and then don’t do it. Not if you want to be Justice.”

Brody bit back his groan. One of the first things he learned about Alex was his distaste for vague. Being unclear or imprecise got people killed. Where the agency was concerned, he did not tolerate wishy-washy and he wasn’t one to play word games. What the hell was Duke thinking?

Duke took fast action to correct the misstep. “Do over,” he grunted.

Alex nodded with a terse jerk of his head. “Proceed carefully.”

From the corner of his eye he caught Remy quietly smirking. After a great deal of elaboration from Heather, he came to understand the affect Alex Marquez had on women. In a nutshell, he was the Alpha Alpha. It took a lot to stand out and rise above the rest in a group of fellow top dog personalities. When it came to ultimate authority, the man was the undisputed winner.

Duke crossed his beefy arms over his barrel chest and gave off the impression that he wasn’t thrilled to be discussing any of this.

“Look,” he grunted. “We can’t discount the possibility that whatever steps we take now will be subject to an umbrella affect. It takes no genius at this point to acknowledge that somebody is deliberately fucking with us.”

Oh, Jesus, Brody thought. He knew what an umbrella affect was. No matter how much training and effort goes into what you’re doing, there’s always the possibility that your opponent got there first. It was a sniper concept. Something he’d ignored—at his own peril. While they were busy setting up a kill shot, someone else had them in their sight. One mistake that day cost the life of his tracker.

“So,” Alex muttered. “Whatever we send out is likely being monitored.”

Duke nodded. Remy cracked her knuckles.

Major Alexander Valleja-Marquez straightened and growled in a voice that scared Brody shitless, “Just to be clear—someone is going to die.”

He looked straight at him and also at Remy. “If you want out, leave now.”

Leave? He was joking, right? Some asshole was fucking with Justice and Brody was so not down with that.

“All hands,” Brody muttered.

“Word,” Remy agreed.

“Let’s do this,” Alex commanded as he strode from the room. “Split up. No straight lines. Everyone be in the motor pool in half an hour.”

Killing a bit of time wouldn’t be a problem. He had a backlog of emails to weed through and Calder was up his ass about installing a management assistant in the canine program. Brody thought the idea was overkill—he hated the idea of an assistant—Richie was bad enough but Calder was obnoxious on overdrive right now and all because he wasn’t thrilled with his wife working. Calder’s clever solution was for everyone and his cousin’s brother’s mailman to have an assistant. Problem solved—meaning Brody had a pool of applicants to consider.

He mumbled some crap to Remy and by force of habit, tested the guard dog with some sudden but unthreatening movements. The black and gold shepherd eyed him carefully and dug in—ready to rip his arm off if he sensed danger. But he didn’t lunge or break protocol.

Nodding to the handler, he gave an eyeball thumbs up to Duke—letting him know the canine team by his side was top-notch.

Alex was already gone—having disappeared in a puff of angry smoke. The man’s words came back to him. Somebody was gonna’ die. Should it concern him that he didn’t balk for a second? Maybe—but Brody didn’t care what that said about him. Justice was capable of taking care of itself. Throwing the family into the mix changed everything. Some lines in the sand were absolute. To a man, they were all capable of murder if the women and kids were in any sort of danger.

He thought about Bella and what he’d gone through to find her. And Heather. Shit. His girls were everything.

As he exited the room, he overheard Duke in his gruff, no-nonsense Bayou infused patois, laying out a series of directives to his man. Holy cow. He didn’t need a diagram to know this was some serious shit.

* * *

“He’s getting his ducks lined up for the fall term.” Meghan loosed an amused chuckle-snort. “Not even gonna’ tell you how funny it is from my perspective that Da is going to teach at the police academy. He’s taking after me! Not the other way around. How funny!”

Lacey saw her light-hearted point. Paddy O’Brien was the quintessential Irish cop. And like most cops with a long career, the man did not suffer fools or idiots. Throwing him into a classroom full of academy newbs had to be the universal answer to the question, ‘How stupid can stupid get?’

“I love your folks,” she told the vivacious redhead. “They’re so funny together although I think your mom gave Cameron a heart attack when they were here after your wedding. Something about a wet T-shirt challenge. The elders are a naughty bunch and he had no idea how to react to their hijinks.”

“Hijinks?” Meghan laughed. “God, Lacey. This is why I love you.” She pulled out her phone and got busy.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Meghan smirked and gave off some eyeshade. “I’m adding ‘hijinks’ to my Ponytail Notes. Great stuff for the book I’m going to write one day.”

They were strolling along the walkway that would take them toward the stable. Beneath a protective sun canopy, Lily was enjoying the scenery from her fancy stroller. Just like everything else their daughter touched, it was pink. Cameron had procured a special all-terrain carriage with shock absorbers and pneumatic wheels. Nothing but the coolest and most practical stuff when it came to his family.

She smiled to herself. In a reversal of traditional gender roles, it was her husband who spent money like water pouring from a faucet while she scoured the local sales and clipped coupons. Not that she had to. Not at all. After Lily was born and Parker sat them down for a serious conversation about wills, estates and investments she had been flabbergasted to discover just how much money they had.

With her husband having no interest in any of that stuff she took over—balancing the checkbook and making a halfhearted attempt to keep them on a reasonable budget. What a joke! She glanced at Red who was rambling on about Paddy, and snickered. All it took was one afternoon with Meghan, Carmen and Stephanie for Lacey to set her credit card on fire. An embarrassing number of packages were still arriving from a recent afternoon QVC freak-out involving David in the kitchen and shoe shopping with Jane.

The path curved around a clump of bushes and a cluster of twisted juniper trees as they made their way to the barn for a meet-up with Stephanie.

She waited for Meghan to maneuver the twin stroller around the bend and then hurried to catch up.

“Afternoon, ladies,” a rough voice drawled.

It was Duke, stomping along the path in the opposite direction. A no-nonsense looking security guy and his dog followed at his heels. Nothing seemed unusual if you discounted the obvious fact that chief of security was rocking an armed escort.

She sighed heavily. Now what?

“Chief,” Meghan politely replied as he breezed on by. “What the hell is that about, I wonder?”

Lacey shrugged. “Didn’t you say Alex got a call and immediately took off into the compound? Seems to me as if something is definitely up.”

“Has Cam mentioned anything?”

The quiet but evident worry in her friend’s voice triggered Lacey’s protective instincts. They all knew something was going on—Alex was putting off a weird vibe. So was Parker. But so far, her husband was being held out of the loop and since this fact didn’t bother him, she hadn’t wasted any time on wondering.

“No. Mr. Sphinx has his inscrutable mask on again. You know him. He’s a watcher. Until his brain collects all the data and is satisfied, he’ll say nothing.”

“Does it drive you nuts?”

She had to admit that sometimes Cameron’s knee jerk response of shutting down and going inward made things interesting. Especially since she had made it clear from day one that he better cut that crap out.

“I’m used to it,” Lacey sighed. “And it doesn’t bother me. Not like you’d think.”

Meghan’s face registered her interest. “How’s that?”

Lacey laughed and glanced around dramatically and gave the impression that she was about to divulge trade secrets. With a finger at her lips she said, “Shh! Top secret. My husband has a couple of ‘tells’. Don’t let him know this, though,” she giggled. “Jason Cameron wouldn’t like hearing that a chick figured him out without breaking a fingernail.”

Laughing into the sky, Meghan’s amusement rang out. “Do tell!”

“It’s simple, really. My husband has three overlapping settings. The boys, of course, and by boys you know I mean Alex and Drae. Then there’s Justice. Those two overlap. Both are default settings. Number three is family and when it comes to the kids, and me his default is transparent. Only the guys and Justice are opaque. Where this matter is concerned, all I’m getting is blur. Until I sense family is involved, I’m happy to play along.”

“Men,” Meghan mumbled.

“Exactly,” she responded.

Zeus came tearing along the path and blew past with an acknowledging woof. “Alex must be nearby.” Meghan scanned the stable area. “She’s headed to the garage. Look,” she pointed.

Lacey tracked the running black Labrador as she scooted under and around fence posts and hay bales before taking off in a low and go fast maneuver that sent her in the direction of Remy’s garage complex.

“Wanna go check it out?”

Meghan grumbled. “Hell, no. The Major doesn’t like it when I poke my nose in. He tells me what I need to know and, since the twins were born, he goes out of his way to include me in bigger picture stuff. I’m good.”

They picked up speed as they wheeled around the stable buildings and ended up laughing like goofballs when they hit the paved straightaway between two barns and started running. The kids laughed. Sometimes when they all got together, they’d stage stroller races and do rolling chair challenges.

Stephanie met them outside her office with Wolfie cradled in her arms. The boy was a looker with big eyes, a sweet personality and chubby cheeks. Nobody doubted he’d be breaking hearts one day.

She crouched next to Lily’s stroller and softly cooed to her son. “Look sweetie. It’s Lily Rose.” Wolfie gurgled and Lily grinned. Though technically an older woman by two months, Lily had an instant bond with Wolf.

Not happy that he was being ignored, Aiden let out one of his lord of the jungle yells and made them laugh. Stevie squeaked and unless Lacey was mistaken, Aiden’s little sister also rolled her eyes at his attention grabbing antics.

“Come on. Inside. Hurry. It’s nice and cool in my office,” Stephanie said while shooing them through the door.

“This place looks more and more like an advertisement for country baby.”

Lacey agreed with Meghan. The once testosterone infused stable manager’s office had been transformed—courtesy of a redesign and a knocked down wall—into an eye-opening wild west rumpus room. Stephanie’s desk was a work of art made by Draegyn with maple wood from Colorado. The wall behind the desk was a floor to ceiling bookcase filled with trophies, horse sculptures, books and cowboy paraphernalia most of which looked like it had been collecting over time.

But it was the partition covered in a vibrant painting of Sedona’s famous red rocks and gorgeous vistas that took the breath away. Charlie did the artwork and the moveable wall was a stroke of genius from Calder that gave Wolf a private mini-nursery to hang out in.

“Well shugah,” Stephanie drawled, “I don’t mind occasionally slumming but if I’m really going to run this place, a bit of comfort and some targeted spoiling by my husband is necessary. Check out the powder room.”

She and Meghan took a peek into the bathroom and started laughing. It looked exactly like a modern movie set for a classic western bathhouse complete with a vintage steel washtub for a sink and horseshoe towel holders on the wall. The changing table was a repurposed dresser done with every conceivable type of western cowboy hardware.

“Nicely done,” Meghan faintly mocked in a funny drawl. “Maybe at the next squad meeting you can give us a few pointers.”

“Pointers?” Stephanie questioned.

Lacey looked back and forth between the two.

Meghan sniggered. “Yeah, you know. Top ten ways to train your spouse. Secrets to a happy marriage. Guaranteed turn-ons for todays’ modern alpha.”

Stephanie blushed slightly and wrinkled her nose. “A lady never tells.”

Meghan hooted her amusement. “Yeah, right. Fuck the lady thing, Mrs. Dane. Please share what slutterella moves earned all of this.”

“You should talk,” Stephanie smartly countered. “Cristián let slip that Alex is building you a she-shed. Like you need one,” she scoffed. Pfft.

“Oh, gawd!” Meghan rolled her eyes. “Nah. I put the kibosh on that ridiculous plan. My babe cave is the yoga studio.”

Lacey smirked when Red went into full golly gosh, gee-whiz mode.

“However,” she said with droll glee, “I did manage to get an additional room. Since the studio is an adobe modular, it will be easy to stack a second unit onto the first. Room for everyone—including the kids.”

Alex would build her a root beer powered rocket ship from marshmallows and duct tape if she asked him to.

They fussed and organized until all four babies were in seats on the floor with the three of them cross-legged in the center.

Satisfied that they’d have twenty minutes before the kids became rammy, Lacey got started. “Let’s call this meeting that isn’t a meeting to order,” she said.

Stephanie surprised her with an immediate confession. “Truth time, ladies—and if you breathe one word of this to my husband, my reaction will not be ladylike. Here goes. I’m exhausted. For real. This super-woman crap is for you younger gals. I love being around the stable and can run this place with one hand tied but I also have a baby and a husband who doesn’t like to share. It’s killing me to act like all of this is easy. It’s not.”

“Never let ‘em see you sweat,” Lacey muttered.

Meghan nodded.

“And what happens in the autumn when we head to Colorado? Two months is a long time to be gone. Someone will have to step up while I’m away.”

“Cameron loved your cabin, Stephanie. Our time there with Dylan was special. He’s been making noises about buying a vacation home nearby so don’t be surprised if we’re Colorado neighbors too.”

“Sounds to me,” Meghan pointed out, “like we better light a fire under the assistant plan. You need help, Duchess.”

“Heather has some ideas on this subject,” she told them. “The sooner we call a squad goals meeting, the better.”

“I’m going to ask a question,” Stephanie said with a slight nod to Meghan. “And you can tell me to shut up but I hope you won’t.”

Red shrugged. “Give it a shot.”

“Without knowing details,” Stephanie said but she didn’t finish because right away Meghan growled.

“Aw, come on.”

Meghan’s reluctance was obvious but Stephanie plowed ahead. “Domineau and Remington. What’s up with that?”

Lacey knew enough to purse her lips by reflex while her spine stiffened. She’d put up with a lot of crap before Cameron came along and dealt with some pretty scary homeless situations but the cards Remy was dealt were not okay. At all. She wasn’t an aggressive or confrontational person by nature but she knew without question that if Remy’s situation had been left to her and the other Justice ladies, the recompense for what she went through would be … severe.

“It kind of sucks that keeping a secret in Family Justice is next to impossible.” Meghan didn’t sound thrilled. Lacey squirmed. “Remy has enough on her plate without worrying who knows what.”

“Which is why I asked you. The men clammed up big time. Calder wasn’t involved but Alex tells him everything so …”

Lacey tuned in to Meghan. She was getting upset. Big Daddy’s wife was a stern protector when it came to the family.

“You know I can’t discuss it. And not just because she’s Justice. There’s Finn to consider. Those two need all the love and support they can get.” Meghan slowed down and shifted on her butt. She looked at the twins and sighed. “But I know why you’re asking.”

“I like those two,” Stephanie explained. “They got knocked down but dammit if they both didn’t get right back up. I like a gal with balls.”

“Isn’t that how you spelled Bennett?” Lacey innocently asked. “B-A-L-L-S?”

They all laughed because it was true. The Bennett women had serious cojones.

“Look,” Meghan eventually grumbled. “Where all of that is concerned, all I can tell you is this. The boys surrendered operational control of the situation to Domineau. She had carte blanche to handle things in a manner deemed appropriate.”

“Ouch,” Stephanie mumbled.

Yeah, no kidding, Lacey thought. Five minutes in Domineau’s company and she fully understood how the lone female ended up a Justice Brother. The woman was a serious power to be reckoned with. Cameron told her in strictest confidence that if something gratuitously violent or blood thirsty was called for, Smoke was their go-to so she had no doubt whatever that Remy’s vindication would end up one hell of a nasty bitch.

“The Major wants our wagons in a circle with those two. I assured him we were fifty miles ahead.”

Lily was beginning to look bored. Daddy spoiled his little princess so much that their daughter was a bit of a prima donna—preferring to be held than left to amuse herself. Short of carrying her into the shower with him, Cameron covered every other base. She went everywhere with Daddy. Her and Dylan. It occurred to Lacey that her husband was something of a kid Pied Piper. She had a splendid time just last evening watching her hunkerific hubs down on the floor with both kids, teaching Dylan self-defense moves and rolling Lily around like a cat toy. In a flash she wondered if what she was seeing was some of what he learned as a junior camp counselor. It made sense in a way and explained why her previously hermit-like mate had such an easy time around groups of kids.

“We need that squad meeting,” she muttered aloud. “Stephanie—you’ll take care of that, right? And Meghan, one more thing. Don’t believe Sophie’s current sales pitch. She needs an assistant too.”

“I know,” Red grumped. “I’m on it.”

They spent the next half hour coordinating play dates and changing diapers.

According to the calendar, summer was coming to a close but they still had the variety show and Labor Day weekend to get through before fall officially arrived. After that was the highly anticipated, week-long Fall Mega Challenge—Desert Thunder versus Chixie Dicks. Because boys will be boys no matter what age their driver’s license says, this challenge went light years beyond a simple battle of the bands. With a decades long rivalry fueling the fire, they were going full tilt boogie with a baseball game, a chili cook-off, the required musical competition and a field day that was shaping up into something memorable.

Draegyn had taken a crew of apprentice types to the playground and erected a fantastic pergola—perfect for a little sun protection—and Stephanie wanted him to build mini-bleachers for the ball field. She said if we were going to do this, we were going to do it right—which explains why she and Victoria took over designing Team Justice uniforms and cheerleader outfits.

Calder came strolling into the office just as they were wrapping things up.

“Where’s my son?” he barked.

Wolf waved his hands and smiled when he heard his daddy’s voice. Stephanie’s smile was beyond big. “Where were you half an hour ago when I was cleaning up a gigantic poop?”

Calder laughed, grabbed her ass, and kissed her soundly before whisking Wolf from her arms. “Has anyone seen Alex?” he asked. “I stopped up at the house but his study looks like a hoarder’s nightmare and unless he’s trapped under some debris, he wasn’t there.”

“He got a call, looked less than happy, and then headed to the compound. I don’t know if it’s relevant but Lacey and I passed Duke and a bodyguard earlier as they were booking toward the garage.”

All sorts of looks and nods were exchanged. Calder, the girls, even the kids. An advanced degree was not required to figure out that something was up. Lacey glanced at Meghan. She wore a concerned expression. A tingle of worry danced up her spine when it occurred to her that 99.9% of what went on in the compound was Jace’s purview now. If Alex was involved that meant it was either a big deal or did not involve the agency. Neither scenario gave her comfort.

Did Meghan come to the same conclusion at the same time? Maybe. Because she quickly gathered up the twins and took her leave.

Calder and Stephanie were giving each other looks.

“Looks like I’ve been ditched,” she playfully complained. “Feel like going for a walk?”

“Nah, screw that,” Calder drawled. “Three alarm scorcher in progress. Let’s throw Lily’s stroller in my SUV and take you home in comfort. Where’s Dylan?”

Every mention of her beautiful son made Lacey’s heart sing. “Off building something with Daddy and Sinjin. Tori is home with the boys.” She looked at Stephanie. “Ryder is a handful, huh?”

“Very different from Daniel at that age. He’s barely six weeks. Victoria is doing fine despite new baby sleep deprivation. She’s had to shoo Draegyn out of the house though so she can get the baby on a schedule.”

Calder chuckled. He hugged Wolf close and kissed his son’s face. “It still blows my mind. Draegyn St. John as a husband and father. My stepdaughter has magic powers or something because I’ve never seen the guy happier.”

Lacey high-fived Calder with a laugh. “I have the distinct privilege of having seen and experienced the St. John arrogance up close and personal before Tori came on the scene. That man needed a serious ass kicking. I know what you mean, Calder. The change in him is like sunlight to midnight.”

As they loaded baby stuff into Calder’s fancy Range Rover, Zeus trotted by on her way to the main house.

“Oh, that’s right,” she mumbled. “We saw Zeus running to the garage. And Alex. If she’s going in the other direction, that must mean he’s on the move.”

Calder pulled out his phone—frowned—and slid it back in his pocket. “Well, let’s get moving. If he needs anything, he knows how to find me.”

* * *

She’d seen helicopter wreckage in better shape than the torched metal that had at one time been a drone. Remy squatted at one corner of the large tarp and studied what was left. Brody’s carefully applied kill shot blew two of the rotors off and sent the device plummeting to the ground. Initial crash damage hadn’t seemed significant. And then the damn thing self-destructed.

Alex was studying the pictures Brody took when they located the wreckage. Duke, like her, was squatting at the other side of the tarp.

“Scorch pattern tells the story,” he growled and pointed.

She looked where he directed. The core of the drone where the electronics would be located was completely obliterated. Whoever sent the destruct command didn’t want anyone getting a look at the technology. And by anyone, she meant Alex Marquez.

When he was through looking at the pictures, the Major started circling the tarp. His slow, deliberate steps had a menacing feeling that made her swallow hard. He was angry.

No, scratch that. Angry wasn’t strong enough. He was livid with an overlay of hostility that had a sense of foreboding.

“This fucking piece of shit is Russian.”

His voice was incredulous and very, very pissed off. She said nothing and paid attention.

“Do I look like a dumbass?” He shouted.

Brody and Duke exchanged looks.

“I can’t believe this shit,” Alex snarled. His footsteps became heavier as he continued sharking around the pile of metal junk. “This thing is a goddamn insult to my intelligence. Probably came from the Kremlin toy store. What the fucking fuck!”

Brody cautiously interjected some explanation. “So, what you’re saying is, the delayed self-destruct was initialized manually. Long after it went down.”

Alex’s response was a blood-curdling growl.

Note to self—never get on this guys’ bad side.

Duke stood. “They wanted you to see it before they blew it up.” He paused for a moment and added, “A taunt?”

Alex stopped pacing. “This is personal. I’m being played.”

Brushing her pants, she stood and crossed her arms. “We should assume we’re being watched.”

“A mole?” Brody sounded incredulous.

“No way,” Duke grunted.

“Bisset,” Alex barked. “Secure the wreckage. No eyes, understand?”

“Jace needs to be brought in,” she pointed out.

“Duke. Take care of it.” Alex looked at her and stopped. “You and Finn are part of Cover-Net. Like his father will, he’ll figure it out. Let him in Remy but let me handle the details.”

She nodded. Now didn’t seem like the time to say much of anything.

“Whoever is behind this is having either a laugh or is setting us up for something much bigger.”

“Maybe both,” Duke drawled.

Alex’s anger was intimidating. She squeezed her crossed arms for comfort.

“I have to go,” was all he said and then in an implied puff of forbidding black smoke, he was gone.