Page 68 of Smoke Screen
She unglued her feet from the floor and took two steps, ready to give Lynette and her son their privacy.
“Mom, it’s fine. Phin pissed me off. Not the first time, and it won’t be the last. I’ll get over it.”
“Is it because Maddy is here?”
And, hello.Maddy halted again while another few seconds of silence overtook the room. She should keep walking. Just get the hell out of here.
Except … theyweretalking about her. Not that it made eavesdropping acceptable, but …
“I’ll take your silence as agreement,” Lynette said. “Maddy’s presence puts you in a precarious position.”
“What’s done is done. I’ll work it out. But, yeah, Phin screwed up.”
Maddy winced.My fault.All of it.
“You want him to apologize for trying to help her?”
“I didn’t say that. He should have called Zeke and me before bringing her here. She creates a conflict of interest for BARS.”
“From what I’ve heard, she’s a decent woman. The press will gobble her up. Pick the flesh right off her bones. You know that. Phin was trying to do the right thing and—”
“Mom—”
“Don’t interrupt me. It takes more courage to do the right thing than the popular one. Or worse, nothing at all. I know you know that. I didn’t raise my boys to be cowards.”
Go, Lynette.In that instant, Maddy decided she might want to be Lynette Blackwell when she grew up. Strong and decisive and unafraid to voice her opinions.
“I’m confused,” Special Agent Blackwell said. “He screwed up and you’re proud? How’sthata thing?”
“I’m your mother, that’s how. I love my boys and see all sides. Could he have handled it better? Absolutely. But our Phin runs on instinct. Frankly, he learned it from you.”
No matter what the reason for Special Agent Blackwell showing up, this was not Maddy’s business, and she needed to quit this nasty spying.
She fast-walked out of the room, turned the corner into the hallway and …wham… crashed into Phin.
He set his hands on her arms to steady her and gave her that amazing Phin smile. “Good morning. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“I, um,” she shook her head, got her thoughts in order because, yes, she’d just gotten busted spying.
Phin should kick her out on her butt.
Not bothering to disentangle herself from his grasp, she jerked her head toward the kitchen. “Your mom. And brother. I was hungry, but I heard them talking and didn’t want to interrupt. It, um, sounded like they were discussing something … personal.”
Phin narrowed his eyes, studied her for a second, then nodded. “Ah. You heard Ash bitching about me.”
He knew. How the heck? Was he eavesdropping, too? “How did … Never mind. I’m so sorry. I’ll pack my stuff and go to a hotel. This isn’t fair to any of you. I’ll be fine.”
He squeezed her arms. “Whoa, there, sister. Relax.”
“No. It’s fine. Really.”
“Maddy! The argument wasn’t about you.”
Of course it was. She’d just heard Ash admit it. She gave him her best you’re-lying stare.
“Well,” he said, “not totally. I reacted to something he said and basically accused him of being self-involved. That spiraled into a whole other issue and we had a fight.”
“Regardingme?”
