ELEVEN

Meredith heard the words, but they didn’t make sense. Why would someone bug her van? Tracking her wasn’t enough? Why did they want to hear what she had to say?

Or did they want to hear what she said to her patients when no one was supposed to be listening? “That could be a problem.”

“What do you mean?” Her dad set his fork down with a clink.

She cleared her throat. “Sometimes, I tell people who look like they might need some help that they can call me. I give them my phone number.” She tried to find the words that wouldn’t make everyone at the table freak out, but she wasn’t sure those words existed. “I might tell them there are safe places in Gossamer Falls if they decide they need to escape.”

Everyone at the table closed their eyes as they absorbed her words.

“Merry-girl”—her mom sounded tired—“you know how much I love your big heart, but you can’t save the whole world.”

“I’m not trying to save the whole world. I’m trying to save a few people who live less than twenty miles from me and who I believe are being abused. I can’t walk away without giving them some hope. What kind of person would I be if I did that?” Meredith scraped up the final crumbs of her pie to keep herself from saying anything else.

Her dad reached for her free hand and gave it a squeeze. “We know. And we’re proud of you. We don’t want you to change, but we do want you to be careful.”

“I think that ship has sailed.” Mo took another slice of pie and placed it on Gray’s now empty dessert plate, then put another slice on his own. “Anyone else want more?”

Meredith almost said no, but then she changed her mind. “Me. Chocolate can’t fix everything, but it sure can’t hurt.”

“Well said.” Mo slid the pie onto her plate.

“What’s this?” She pointed from her pie to his. “You gave me a skinny piece.”

“That’s because you’re going to eat half of it and decide you don’t want more.”

She took a huge bite out of spite, put her hand in front of her face to keep anyone from seeing her chew, and spoke around the food. “You just want leftovers.”

Mo blinked at her like a baby owl. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

She took another bite and, to her annoyance, realized that her agitation was leading to an unhappy tummy, which led to the decision that she was done. For now. “I guess we should head over to my place and get this done.”

She spared a glance at Gray. He hadn’t messed around. His second slice of pie was almost gone.

“We can help clean up first. If the house is bugged, an extra thirty minutes won’t change anything.” Gray took a sip of his coffee. “Before we go over there, I need to hear more about these people who are being abused.”

Meredith’s heart, the traitor, swooned at his words. He didn’t doubt her words or her conclusions. How was she supposed to get over him when he kept being sweet and considerate? When he insisted on respecting her opinion and seeing things the way she saw them?

She was doomed.

She forced her wayward thoughts back to the question. “There was a teenager, the first time I went to Neeson. The bruises and the way he flinched from contact ... it gave me shivers to think about what his life must be like. I gave him my card and made up a story about how he shouldn’t hesitate to call if he had any trouble with his teeth.”

Meredith would never forget that boy. He’d been so tough and so scared at the same time. “I almost didn’t go back after that—I wasn’t sure I could take it—but the next time I didn’t see anything particularly problematic. Nothing that I knew in my gut was an abusive situation. Not in Neeson at that time,” she clarified. “I’m convinced there are two girls being trafficked in another county, and there’s a family that I saw a few months ago who had some dental injuries that didn’t match with their explanations. I’m afraid the dad, and maybe the mom, are alcoholic meth users.”

Everyone at the table grimaced.

“But the last time I was in Neeson, I spoke to two women. One was single, and I think she’s a meth addict. I assured her we could help. Gave her my card.”

“And the other?” Gray asked.

“The other was a mother. She was wearing long sleeves, but when she picked up her son, the sleeves rode up and I could see bruises on both arms that looked an awful lot like someone had grabbed her and shaken her. She also had a black eye. It was skillfully covered with makeup. But we were sitting close together in my tiny office, so it was easy to see. And she was moving gingerly.”

The memory made her heart ache. “I’ve seen battered women before, and I’d bet a new dental clinic that she’d been beaten. Probably had bruised ribs. Maybe broken.”

Meredith forced herself to take a breath and a drink. Recounting the visit was making her blood boil. “She’s young. Probably not even twenty-five. She reminded me of Cassie. Blond hair. Blue eyes. But where Cassie, despite the hard things she’s been through, is full of life and laughter, this woman...”

She shuddered at the memory. “Her eyes were ... blank. They lit up when she talked to her son. She’s obviously trying to be the best mom she can be to him. My guess is that her abuser hasn’t been violent with her son. That might be the tipping point. But she’s broken inside.

“I gave her my card, and I put my cell number on the back. Told her I had friends who could hide people who didn’t want to be found and who would be willing to help.”

Gray studied her. “How do you know you have friends who know how to hide people?”

Meredith hesitated, but Mo jumped in before she had a chance to explain. “Because this isn’t Meredith’s first foray into saving people, is it, baby sister? I notice how you left out the other girl you talked to a few visits ago.”

“I was going to mention her next.”

“Sure you were.”

“Have you checked on her recently?”

Meredith hadn’t asked before because she was afraid of the answer.

“I have.” Mo gave her a reassuring smile. “She’s good.”

“Wait a minute.” Gray pointed at Mo, then at Meredith, then back to Mo. “You knew about this? You’re in on it? Helping her?”

“Of course I’m helping her. I wasn’t going to leave her by herself to drive through the state with a nineteen-year-old on the run.”

Both her mom and dad wore similar expressions of shock, but there was something else. Pride maybe?

Meredith jumped in. “She was being forced into a marriage with a man twenty years older than her. I’m not saying all age gaps are bad, but that’s a big one. And, again, she was being forced.” Meredith enunciated the last few words for emphasis. “She came to see me because her groom wanted her to have whiter teeth. He wanted veneers and a bunch of cosmetic stuff, and I don’t do that in my clinic. I told her she’d have to come to my office, and she’d have to pay for it. She did. But that kind of work doesn’t happen in one visit. I talked to her each time. It took a few visits to get her to open up, and when she did, the whole story poured out.”

Mo took up the story from there. “Meredith came to me. So I did some investigating and determined it was all true.”

Meredith didn’t want to implicate anyone who had helped, but it was important that Gray and her parents understood that she hadn’t been reckless. “I have friends in the middle of the state from when I lived and worked in Raleigh. They have experience with helping human trafficking victims. We got her to them, and they took it from there.”

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose. He did that a lot. Usually when he wasn’t happy. “Just so there’s no confusion about anything. In the last six months, you’ve helped a young woman escape Neeson and you’ve given a young mother your cell number and a promise of sanctuary in Gossamer Falls, all while providing dental care from your van?”

“That’s a succinct summation. Yes.”

“And you didn’t think to mention this when I asked you if anyone might have it out for you?”

Meredith took another drink to avoid having to speak. The tactic worked because Gray turned his ire on Mo. “And you? You let her do this?”

“I’m sorry.” Meredith had no trouble speaking now. “Did you ask him if he let me? I am my own person. No one lets me do anything.”

Gray’s eyes sparked with something Meredith had never seen from him before. It might have been anger, but that wasn’t quite right. “I would never let my baby sister take that kind of risk.”

“Then I guess it’s lucky for all of us that I’m not your sister.”

Gray stood from the table. “Jacqueline.” He swallowed hard and forced out, “Doug, would you excuse me for a moment?” He glared at Meredith and Mo. “I need some air.”

He made a beeline for the door and was unsurprised when no one came after him. He heard a low thrum of voices from the dining room, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Not that it mattered.

What was Mo thinking? Meredith was a treasure. She should be protected at all costs, even if that protection meant she was angry. Angry beat dead. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number that he had memorized.

“Hello.” The woman on the other end never used her name, but no one else answered this call.

“A new wrinkle.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Turns out the individual under threat has been aiding abuse victims. She and her brother got at least one out of town. You might know the people who helped her with that.”

“Oh, really?”

“You know anyone in the middle of the state who would be inclined to help someone being trafficked get out?”

He took her prolonged silence as a yes. And he let the silence linger.

She broke it. “Do you have names? Timelines?”

“Not yet. But I think it was only one so far. Shouldn’t be too hard to find out. It was within the last six months.”

“I’ll see what I can find out on my end.” There was a pause, and when the woman next spoke, the concern in her voice was so real, Gray could feel her tension in his bones. “You need to rein her in.”

Gray snorted.

“She’s not equipped for this.”

“I agree with you one thousand percent, but you don’t know her. She’s tenacious. And she...”

“She can’t say no.”

“Exactly!” He’d expected this FBI agent to be a bit more hard-nosed about this. Her reputation preceded her, and everything he’d heard was that she was not someone you messed around with. But from the way she talked, he thought she understood. “I’m not sure if she could live with herself if she did. It’s like she needs to help as much as she needs air.”

“She probably does. And that means you’re in big trouble. You’re going to have to find a way to protect her but also not clip her wings. She’ll never forgive you for it.”

“I’m learning that. I think I made her entire family mad because I made it clear that I think they’ve dropped the ball on her protection.”

There was a hiss of sound. Had she opened a soft drink? “I understand where you’re coming from. I have a sister who I fully intend to blame any and all gray hair on. She has absolutely no sense of self-preservation. But take some friendly advice. You can’t protect everyone. You can try, but if you take it too far, you’ll smother them or stop them from doing what they believe they’re called to do. And they will not thank you for it. They may even turn on you.”

Gray didn’t like the advice, but he couldn’t argue that her words rang true. “I think I may be teetering on the edge of doing that.”

She laughed. “I’d bet you ran right past the edge and don’t even realize it yet. But it’s probably not too late.”

“I don’t know.” Gray looked back at the house where he could see the family moving around, clearing the table, and taking dishes to the kitchen. “As far as I can see, the only real solution is to solve the problem on this end. As long as that exists, she won’t stop.”

“I don’t know your friend, but you’re probably right. The good news is we’re closer than ever to solving that particular problem.”

“It might not be soon enough.”

There was a long pause, and he thought she might be about to end the call. But instead, she said, “We want to keep everyone safe. And that sounds noble. It feels right to us.”

“Yes. It does.”

“But that’s not our job.”

“I’m pretty sure it is our job.”

“We’re to protect and serve and do everything we can to bring criminals to justice. By doing that, we help provide safety for our citizens. But it isn’t our job to keep everyone safe.”

“I don’t mind taking the risks, but I don’t want her to take them.”

“Not your call, my friend.”

“You can be very annoying.”

“I’ve heard that. My husband, sister, and my friends would agree. I choose to see it as them being annoyed because I’m so often right. It’s a burden I’m willing to bear.” Her laughter ruined her attempt at being a snob. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. When this is over and we’ve fixed the mess up there, we’ll have to come pay you a visit. I’d like to meet this girl who has you all tied up in knots.”

“You’re welcome to visit anytime. As for meeting her ...” Gray let the sentence hang for a moment. “That will depend on whether we’re still speaking.”

“You’ll find a way. Good luck. Call me if you need me.”

“Will do.”

He slid the phone into his pocket. Mo came outside and walked toward him. The best offense was a good defense, so Gray started talking before Mo reached him. “I was out of line. I apologize.”

Mo frowned at him. “I’m not so sure that you were. Mom’s ready to make you a chocolate pie every day, and Dad’s ecstatic that someone beside him is on the hot seat with Meredith. You said what he’s been trying to say for a while.” Mo pointed toward the house. “You haven’t been around enough to realize this, but Meredith gets her stubborn nature from Mom.”

Gray tried, he really tried, to keep his expression neutral.

Mo’s unamused snort told him he’d failed. “I know. I’m the most stubborn of the bunch. But that doesn’t change the fact that Meredith is like Mom. Big brains and marshmallow hearts, both of them. Dad and I figure that means they can get themselves into even bigger messes than they could if they weren’t quite so smart or if they cared a lot less. We love them for who they are, but they make life challenging.”

The door opened and Meredith stepped onto the back porch. “You’ve been out here long enough that you missed the cleanup. If you’re done, I think it’s time we went back to the house and checked for bugs.”

“We who are about to die salute you,” Mo muttered under his breath.

“You aren’t gladiators,” Meredith said. “You won’t die. But you might want to.” She disappeared into the house.

“How did she hear that? Does she have super hearing?” Gray followed Mo toward the deck.

“I say it a lot. She probably caught just enough to know what it was. But yes, her hearing is freakishly good. Don’t ever say anything anywhere near her that you don’t want her to hear. I think some of it comes from being a dentist. She spends her whole day translating what people are saying, and somehow, she’s turned that into something she considers a useful life skill. I find it frustrating.”

“Why do they do that?” Gray asked as they walked into the house.

“Why does who do what?” Meredith was gathering up a bag of leftovers.

“Why do you talk to patients when you’re working on their teeth? They can’t answer you.”

“It’s rude to ignore them or leave them out of the conversation.” Meredith said this as if it was the most logical answer and she was stunned that Gray had needed to ask such a question. “I’m good at figuring out what people are saying. Comes with practice.”

Gray nodded, said his goodbyes to Doug and Jacqueline with far less awkwardness than he’d expected, and walked to his car with half a chocolate pie and enough chicken and dumplings to keep him fed for at least three days. Proof that the Quinn legacy lived on in this branch of the family. “Feed your friends and feed your enemies, and don’t worry if they aren’t sure which they are.” He’d heard Granny Quinn say that a few months ago, and he couldn’t decide if it was comforting or terrifying.

He was pretty sure he was still in the friend column with everyone except Meredith. She’d put him in the enemy column, and he should try to stay there. But he couldn’t protect her if she wouldn’t speak to him. For now, he had to stay in her good graces until they took down whoever was behind the bugs, the punctured fuel line, and the rest of the mess in Neeson.

After that? Well, after that, she’d be safe. And he could let her go.