She hadn’t seen him.
Nate finished his drink and handed it back to the bartender for another. When he turned around, Templeton was waving for him to come over. Missy was still engaged with a couple as Nate approached.
“Missy,” Templeton said, “there’s someone who works for me I’d like you to meet. Nate Romanowski, this is Missy Vankueren.”
It was subtle, very subtle, but Nate noted the bolt of terror that went through her upon hearing his name. She didn’t wheel around or drop her wineglass, and her knees didn’t collapse. It was more of a full-body twitch. She didn’t even turn immediately. But he’d seen her reaction, even if no one else noticed it. Then it was over.
Damn, he thought. She’s good.
“Nate!” She beamed with all her mouth, but her eyes remained cold and meant solely for him. She held her free hand out and he grasped it.
“It’s been so long! How have you been?”
“A lot has happened.”
“No doubt,” she said, shifting her smile from Nate to Templeton before Templeton could react. “Nate and I were acquaintances in a different world… long ago and far away, as they say in the movies.”
Templeton was obviously confused but not alarmed, given the warm reception she’d shown to Nate.
“Nate was close to my daughter when I lived in Wyoming,” she told Templeton. “She thought the world of him. We haven’t seen each other in what — two years?”
Nate said, “Something like that.”
“Does Marybeth know you’re here?”
“No.”
He saw a glimmer of relief in her eyes. She said, “You’re the last person I thought I’d see here.”
Nate grinned in a way he’d been told was cruel. He said, “You too.”
“He’s one of my best men,” Templeton said to Missy with enthusiasm.
She grinned up at him. “No doubt, Wolfie. I don’t doubt that at all.”
Wolfie? Nate thought.
“We met in Davos,” Templeton said to Nate as he drew Missy in close to him. “She was spending some time in Europe between cruises and we found out we had some mutual friends. It’s almost like a small town at that level — everyone knows everyone. We hit it off immediately—especially once we realized we both shared a love for this country out here and the lifestyle.”
Nate said, “Sure.”
“It’s the first time it ever happened to me,” Templeton said, shaking his head. “Love at first sight.”
“What do you know,” Nate said.
“And here she is, right back where she belongs. Isn’t that right, Missy?”
She blushed in a well-practiced way and said, “I don’t want to come across as, you know, too easy.”
It was said as a joke, and Templeton roared in laughter. Nate looked from him back to her. Before he could say another word, Missy shrugged away from Templeton and told him, “Let me catch up with Nate for a few minutes and I’ll be back.”
Templeton agreed reluctantly. “There are still people to meet,” he said. “I want to show you off.”
“You are so sweet,” she said while batting her eyes at him, then grasped Nate by his arm and led him down the expanse of the bookcase to an unoccupied corner.
Her face retained its pleasant glow and her smile was fixed even as she asked, “Who have you told about me?”
“No one yet.”
“Do you swear you haven’t let Marybeth know I’m back?”
“Haven’t had the chance.” Meaning: She didn’t pick up.
“No one knows but you?”
“Nope.”
She softened a little. Ever the seductress, he thought. “Can you keep your mouth shut?”
He didn’t respond because he didn’t like threats.
“Let’s put it this way,” she said softly. “Wolfgang and I are very close. Very close. He listens to me and I’m much better at this kind of palace intrigue than anyone you’ve ever known. Do we understand each other?”
Nate took a sip of his drink.
“See that woman over there?” she said, chinning almost imperceptibly over Nate’s shoulder. He turned his head and saw Liv across the room, checking her clipboard. “The dishy one? She’s worked for Wolfie for years. But one word from me? Gone. And when it comes to you: same thing.”
He took another sip. How could she know his feelings toward Liv, other than Missy’s innate intuition and lizard-like genius for self-preservation?
“I think we understand each other, right?” she smiled chillingly.
“I think I understand you,” he said.
“So as far as you and I are concerned, we’re acquaintances from another time. I’m not aware of your questionable background, and you know very little about my… history.”
It was said as a statement, not a question.
She said, “I better get back to our guests. It was nice seeing you, Nate.”
With that, she turned to rejoin Templeton.
Nate said, “By the way, Joe’s here, too.”
It froze her for a second before she turned back around. He knew he’d hit the target. She took a breath, gathered herself, and said, “Joe is on the ranch?”
“He’s working in this county.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Keep him away from me.”
“He probably feels the same way about you.”
“And keep him away from Wolfgang.”
With that, she turned away to sidle up to Templeton again. Her smile hadn’t lost any wattage.
Nate returned to the bar and found himself eyeing Liv closely, imagining her… gone. He thought that very soon this new world he had entered would blow up. His sudden goal was not to blow up with it.
Or Liv.
Or Joe. Damn him for showing up.
26
Twenty-two miles away, Joe and Latta were outside the cabin in the dark, gathering wood from a snow-covered half-cord under the bobbing glow of Latta’s headlamp. Without electricity, there were two sources of heat inside: the fireplace and a woodstove in the master bedroom. They needed enough of the soft pine to get them through the night, and each had already delivered an armload.
The windows of the cabin glowed with warm pinkish light from the kerosene lamps inside. The sky had cleared and the starlight turned the snow on the ground from white to aquamarine. Emily waited inside at the window, watching them, her head a silhouette. Daisy was beside her with her front paws on the sill and her nose pressed against the glass.
“First real cold night,” Latta observed.
“Yup.”
Since they were out of Emily’s earshot, Latta asked, “So we can expect the task force to show up tomorrow morning?”
“That’s what Agent Coon told me,” Joe said. He needed to knock the snow off each length of wood before stacking it in the crook of his arm. “Midmorning is more likely. He said they’re arming up and getting the vehicles ready tonight and the DOT promises the roads will be open and clear an hour after sunrise.”
“Assuming there’s no wind,” Latta grumbled. “It’s never just the snow. It’s always the damned wind.”
“Yup.”
Latta paused and looked hard at Joe. “What do you think? Am I gonna be okay after this?”
Joe said, “Probably not. You’ll lose your job, for sure. But if you cooperate with the Feds you might stay out of prison. That’s probably the best you can hope for, I’d suspect.”