Page 149 of Callan

“You have that woman with you, I imagine.”

I stay quiet for a second.

“What does she have to do with this?”

“You might want to be extra careful if, in fact, you have her with you.”

“What do you mean?”

Something swishes at her end as if she unwraps a candy and pops it into her mouth.

“You’re not gonna like this…” she says around her sweet treat.“You can’t show up anywhere near her building as long as the place is under surveillance.”

“I’m not planning to do that.”

“Fine. Are you ready to tell her why?”

I shift in my seat, press my back into the counter, and look outside, pondering.

“I won’t tell her. And I won’t go to her place again. She’ll have my protection, but I won’t drag her into their stupid investigation. Just because Carmen visited her once doesn’t mean she won’t come back. She and her men have no idea what is going on.”

A few moments pass.

“I’ll have two men at Mackenzie’s building and stay away from it. That’s it,” I comment curtly. “Do me a favor,” I go on. “Pack up your stuff and move. I don’t want them to track you down.”

“Considered it done,” she says, a smile in her voice.

“Don’t tell me,” I say, grinning.

“Forest Hills has never looked better. I moved out last night. Use my old phone number from now on. I’ll destroy my burner.”

A second later, we end the call, and I sit in silence and look out the window, snippets of the past flashing in front of my eyes.

Us, the boys, playing outside.

The grown-ups wheeling and dealing in my father’s office. The long table in the dining room set for a dozen people.

Those were the good times.

The stairs creak before Mackenzie’s voice wafts down from the upper level, pushing away the nostalgic memories.

“Callan?”

I swivel and slide off my seat before moving to the kitchen counter. I pull a drawer open, mute my phone, and slide it in.

The drawer slides closed before I walk to the door and look up the stairs.

“Hi,” she says, wearing an oversized robe. “I’m hungry. Do you have any food in this big house of yours?”

I tip my chin down.

“Breakfast is ready. We’ll eat downstairs,” I say, tilting my head and motioning to the kitchen.

MACKENZIE

I’ve rarely thoughtabout my dream home.

And when I have, it’s never looked like this.

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