Page 67 of Smoke Screen
Ash left the room and Cruz let out the mother of all heavy breaths. “Nice job, Ace.”
After a restless night,Maddy woke at dawn, threw the bedroom curtains open to a barely glowing sky, and took full advantage of the patio by watching the sunrise.
Doing nothing had its advantages. Who knew? Typically, if she weren’t moving, thinking, beingproductive,she considered it wasted time.
Until now.
Until she took the time to stop and look out over the mountains surrounding Steele Ridge. Towering trees stood everywhere she could see, their lush green leaves absorbing morning mist while the call of a Carolina Wren cleared Maddy’s embattled brain.
Another bird called—tufted titmouse? She wasn’t sure. She’d have to look that one up.
Her life was basically being dismantled, and she wanted to research bird calls?
Call it stress management.
Just as she picked up her phone to start said research, her stomach grumbled. She needed fuel and the only way to get it would be to walk to the kitchen.
What was the protocol when crashing in on people? Should she text Phin and ask if she could go to the kitchen? Last night he’d told her to make herself comfortable. And the last thing she wanted was to burden them with making her breakfast.
Having had enough of her stalling, her stomach didn’t just grumble, it roared. Time to go.
She slipped out of her pajamas and into leggings and a yoga top she’d bought two weeks earlier. Casual, but cute.
Next came her hair. The absolute horror of morning curls that stuck to her head on one side and frizzed straight up on the other. Mad-scientist-on-steroids hair that she’d temporarily tame with a silk hair tie.
Satisfied that she looked presentable should the hottie known as Phin appear, Maddy quietly left the suite, her sneakered feet falling softly as she moved through the long hallway. As soon as she hit what Phin called the Great Hall, the aroma of something baking assaulted her.
Her stomach’s roar eased to a purr.
In spite of her body’s demands, she paused for a few seconds by the stone fireplace admiring the antique sword hanging there. Interesting piece that would be lovely to stare at while enjoying a roaring fire.
Growing up, she’d yearned for this setup. Their home didn’t have one, so Mom bought a fire pit for the yard, where Maddy spent countless hours missing her father and working through what she’d learned were the stages of grief while Harry Potter transported her to another world.
She tilted her head back, taking in the full breadth of the wide wood planks that climbed to the high ceiling. She set her hand on the stone face and a cool, craggy surface massaged her palm. How she’d love to sit here with Harry and company.
A man’s voice, definitely not Phin’s, followed by Lynette’s came from the kitchen. Thinking back to the night before, Maddy cocked her head, tried to place the voice. Which brother?
“What happened?” Lynette asked.
Rather than eavesdrop, Maddy turned, ready to head back to her room where she’d check the cabinets for a snack.
“Don’t worry about it,” the man said.
Whoa. Maddy halted at the calm confidence that seemed, from what she’d seen last night, to be a Blackwell family trademark.
“Ash,” Lynette said, “whenever one of my sons tells me not to worry, it means I should worry.”
That sounded like something her own mother would say.
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say you had a fight with one of your brothers.”
A long pause ensued while Maddy stood frozen in the Great Hall.
Spying on her hosts.
Guilt pressed in, but … Special Agent Blackwell was here. Maybe he had news? Maybe they’d found the jewels?
Could she be that lucky?
