Page 137 of Deliverance

Maggie begins giving him every scrap of information she can as his fingers fly across the keyboard. Wesley begins doing his techy stuff as Liam suggests we have a movie night. Maggie and I choose to pass, heading up to the room they set up for us before we crawl into bed. It’s only six o’clock or so, but I think we both need the rest. I can feel my body running on only fumes, and almost as soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out.

* * *

When I wake up the next morning, the bed is empty. I frown, looking around for Maggie, but not finding her anywhere. Going in search of her, I slip out of bed and walk down the stairs. I find Maggie and Skyla making pancakes, or at least trying to, while the guys watch on in amusement.

“Morning, baby B.” Maggie smiles.

“Baby b? Aw that’s cute!” Liam says. “What do you think? Should we retire babygirl? Call you baby S?” he says to Skyla, wrapping his arms around her waist as he peppers her neck with kisses.

Skyla fake pouts as she looks at him. “But I like babygirl.”

He grins, practically shoving his entire tongue in her mouth. Their impassioned kiss turns so wild, so fast, Maggie has to dive across the island to save the plates.

“Is breakfast like this every morning?”

“Yes,” the rest of the guys answer in unison.

Liam pulls away with an exaggerated smacking sound kiss, pressing a small one to the tip of Skyla’s nose before grinning like he’s won the lottery.

“Alright! Let’s eat.”

We all dish up, scattering around the kitchen table and island. Wesley is telling us a story about him and Ronan in college when Maggie’s phone buzzes on the table. She looks down at it, face paling as she reads it.

“What is it?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. Random number. It says, ‘I know you’re there, Bridgette. You’ve been a bad girl. Daddy would be so disappointed in his special little girl. Time to face the consequences.’”

Realization hits me as another buzz comes through with an address and a time.

“That’s on the outskirts of town,” Liam says, peering over the screen. “2:10PM. That’s oddly specific.”

“What’s the number? I’ll look it up,” Wesley says.

“No need,” I say, staring at the blank wall in front of me as I speak.

“It’s Thomas. He’s back and he knows about my father.”

“Thomas who?” Skyla questions.

“Booth,” I say numbly. “He is…was my father’s best friend.”

“What does he have to do with anything?” Liam asks.

Maggie flicks her gaze to mine, seemingly asking for permission. I won’t lie; it’s kind of humiliating to admit, but I give her a shaky nod as I look away.

“He’s hurt Bridgette…a lot. When you guys came into power, he fled like the cockroach he is.”

“A lot of people did. A shift in power like that is enough to make anyone skittish,” Ronan interrupts.

Maggie nods. “Bridgette was also engaged to him, Harry’s doing.”

“That’s impossible. How could he know what happened?” Vincent questions.

“Are there cameras in the house? Something he could have hacked into?” Wesley asks.

I shake my head, shrugging my shoulders. “Not that I know of. I…I don’t know.”

“Well, one thing is for sure, you’re not fucking meeting him,” Maggie growls.

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