“I’ve had about enough of the cold,” Ian said, letting go of Kate’s hand and stomping the snow from his boots.
Kate removed her hat. “Thank you for being willing to endure it anyway.”
“There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you,” he said, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
Once they had their coffee and breakfast sandwiches, they sat down at a small table in the corner.
“I have to go back to my place after breakfast,” Ian said. “There are some things I can’t take care of from my laptop.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Come with me.”
Usually whenever Ian needed to work at his apartment during the weekend, Kate occupied herself with a number of different activities: she called a friend to go shopping or to meet for lunch and a movie. She went to Pilates or ran errands or cleaned her apartment. But lately he seemed to want her near him all the time. And since there was no one else she wanted to spend her time with as much as she wanted to spend it with him, she smiled and said, “Sure.”
When they arrived at Ian’s, Kate made herself comfortable on his couch. She’d brought her laptop and busied herself sending e-mails and working on a few things for the food pantry. Ian settled in at his desk, and soon his fingers were furiously tapping the keyboard.
An hour later she walked over and stood behind him, massaging his shoulders.
He groaned. “Ah… that feels good.”
Kate looked at the blinking cursor on one of the computer monitors. “Who’s Phantomphreak?”
“Me.”
“Seriously? That does not sound like you.”
He let out a short laugh. “It wouldn’t be my first choice for a screen name, but I needed something that would fit in. Phreak refers to a type of hacking using phone lines. Phantom is my own little inside joke.”
“So this is the forum?”
“This is it.”
“And you’re monitoring their activity?”
“Yes. Gathering information, engaging when necessary.”
“How did you get them to trust you?”
“A fabricated yet credible backstory that can be verified by a Google search goes a long way. That and patience.”
Kate read the words appearing on the screen. The interactions seemed mostly an exchange of insults interspersed with racial epithets.
“Do they always speak to each other this way?”
“It’s posturing, mostly. Everyone’s a badass on the Internet.”
“Is it tedious?”
“This part is. I greatly prefer the hacking end of it—plugging security holes and intercepting information—versus watching a bunch of low-life thugs brag about all the credit card numbers they just ripped off.”
“So they’re all thieves?” Kate asked pointing to the user names running down the length of the screen.
“Pretty much.”
Kate used her thumbs to gently knead the tight muscle on the back of Ian’s neck.
“Oh yeah, right there,” he said.
“What will happen next?”
“Once we have enough evidence, we’ll round up the worst offenders. Many of them will see jail time. If they’re smart, the ones that are left will scatter.”
He turned his chair around and pulled Kate onto his lap, which was one of her favorite places. His long legs were strong and solid underneath her, and she loved it when he wrapped his arms around her and held her that way.
“Kiss me,” he said.
She pressed her lips to his and dipped her tongue into his mouth. “Like that?”
“Just like that,” he said, pulling her in for another.
For lunch, they picked up sandwiches from Mona’s because Kate won the coin toss after stating she could not eat Thai food one more time. Ian insisted the sound of the TV wouldn’t bother him, so she watched a movie after they finished eating. Kate knew he was telling the truth because he was so immersed in his work he didn’t look away from the screen when the movie ended and she stood up to stretch and go to the bathroom. The sunken whirlpool tub caught her eye when she was washing her hands. A nice, relaxing bath would be an excellent way to pass the time until Ian was finished.
She searched the cabinet under the sink while the tub filled, but Ian didn’t have any bubble bath. She’d have to remember to bring some the next time she visited. When the water reached the level she desired, Kate undressed and lowered herself into the tub, hitting the button to turn on the jets.
Now this was a bathtub.
It was big enough for two, even if one of those people was a six-foot-four-inch man. Kate could see herself buying one of those little air-filled pillows and maybe a tray where she could set a book and a glass of wine. She’d suggest to Ian that they should spend more time at his place, and that he need not look farther than his bathroom if he wanted to find her.
After ten minutes of the pulsing water massaging her body, Kate felt incredibly relaxed. She turned down the jets and rested her arms along the side of the tub, eyes closed. She opened them when she heard the door open.
“You don’t have any bubble bath,” she said, knowing he could see her body clearly under the water.
“Thank God.” He stripped off his T-shirt and unbuttoned his jeans in one fluid motion. After he removed the rest of his clothes, he eased in behind Kate and wrapped his arms around her.
“I wasn’t trying to distract you,” she said. “I just couldn’t resist this tub.”
“It’s okay. I’m officially done for the day.”
She rested her head on his chest and angled her neck so he could reach it. He kissed it and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“I was not specifically invited to join you in the bathroom, but here I am. Pressed up against you, even.” He skimmed his palms down her breasts.
“You are not a good rule follower.”
“The worst,” he said. “It’s the hacker in me.” He kissed her neck again and gave it a little nip that made her shiver despite the warm water.
“Kate, I have to go.”
Her body tensed and he tightened his hold. “When?”
“Soon. Within a month or two.”
That meant the end of April at the latest.
“Once the arrests are made, those who managed to elude us will be extremely motivated to find out who brought down the forum. I’ll be on borrowed time.”
“Do you know where you’ll go next?”
“No. The only thing I know for sure is that I want you to come with me.”
Their commitment to one another was deep enough that Kate had already known he’d ask. She thought she’d been prepared for it. But the reality of packing up and leaving everything behind was something she’d have to carefully consider.
“How would it work?”
“We’d pick a destination. Someplace large enough to get lost in. Preferably warmer this time.”
“Texas?”
“Anywhere but Texas,” he said, and his tone left no doubt about whether he had any desire to return to his home state. “I’d shift to my private-sector clients for a while. You could do whatever you wanted. You could find another nonprofit to work for, although you wouldn’t have to work at all if you didn’t want to. You could volunteer somewhere if that’s what you’d rather do. The possibilities are endless.”
“Would we ever stop moving?”
“I hope so. Living in rented apartments at thirty-two isn’t the same as twenty-two. Someday, maybe soon, I’ll say no to the next government assignment and put down roots somewhere. Buy a house. Share it with a beautiful brown-eyed girl. But even so, the risk of someone finding out who I am will always be there.”
She was silent for a moment. “You said you’d asked two women in the past ten years to come with you. Why did they say no?” Kate knew Ian had been single for about a year when he met her and had been with his previous girlfriend for nine months. But she didn’t know anything about the two women he’d asked befor
e asking her, and she was curious about their reasons for declining.
“I dated the first woman for three years. She’d actually moved with me twice by that point, but when it was time to move again, she said she wouldn’t come unless I married her. I understood her reasoning, but I was only twenty-four and I couldn’t fathom settling down at that point. After we broke up, I dated but didn’t get serious with anyone until a few years later. What I discovered when I asked the second woman to come with me is that the only aspect of my lifestyle she was willing to tolerate long-term was my income, so I moved on.”
Kate did not need an engagement ring in order to make her decision, nor was she interested in Ian’s money. She turned around so they were facing each other.
“It’s a lot to ask of you,” Ian said. “Selfish, even.”
“Wanting to be with someone doesn’t mean you’re selfish. It just means you want them.”
“What do you want, Kate?”
“To be with you.”
“Is there a certain place you’d like to live?” he asked.
“I’ve always thought North Carolina was beautiful.”
“If you decide to come with me, that’s where we’ll go.”
“Just like that?” She sometimes forgot that anything was possible in Ian’s world.
“Sure. Why not? But you still have time to make your decision. I don’t want you to feel pressured.” But his yearning expression belied his true feelings on the matter.
“I don’t feel pressured.”
She owed it to herself and to Ian to make sure this was what she wanted. It wasn’t that her feelings for him were in doubt, because they weren’t. But Kate would be starting down an unfamiliar path, and life as she knew it would change. For all Ian’s talk about turning down the FBI’s next assignment, there was something about it that he loved. She could see it in the way his eyes lit up when he talked about it.
He kissed her then. His arousal had been evident since he’d climbed into the tub and pressed it against her, and now her body responded in kind.
“How do you feel about drying off and moving this to my bed?” He rubbed his thumbs across her nipples, and her skin felt electrified under his touch.
“That depends. Will there be a number seven kiss included with this offer?”
“Absolutely. And if you give me half an hour to recover between them, you can have two.”
“Half an hour? Boy, you’re not fourteen anymore, are you?”
“I can probably cut it down to twenty minutes if you do that thing I really like.”
She smiled. “Don’t I always?”
“I’m a lucky man in more ways than one. Don’t think for a minute that I don’t know it.” He stroked her cheek and looked at her longingly. “Please think about coming with me.”
“Of course I will.”
She would think it over—carefully—because it was a big decision that deserved contemplation. But deep down she already knew she’d go with him. She’d go despite the things she’d be leaving behind. She’d go regardless of what she’d have to give up, because she couldn’t imagine telling him good-bye and watching him leave without her.
He’d stayed because he loved her.
She’d go because she loved him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Kate was sitting at her desk going over her to-do list.
“Can you do a client interview?” Helena asked. “There’s a gentleman asking for you by name. He said he was referred by a friend.”
“Of course.”
She picked up her clipboard and an intake form and walked to the room where they interviewed new clients. It was hardly bigger than closet-sized, but at least it was private.
A young man was waiting there for her. He was wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, work boots, and a worn-looking coat.
She smiled brightly. New clients were often a bit hesitant when visiting the food pantry for the first time, and she wanted to put him at ease. “Hi, I’m Kate Watts.”
“Zach Nielsen,” he said and shook Kate’s proffered hand.
“Please have a seat.”
Kate went through the intake questionnaire. Zach was twenty-seven, lived with his disabled mother, and also cared for a younger brother. The family currently received food stamps but still came up short at the end of the month.
“My little brother is fifteen,” Zach said. “My mom can’t keep him filled up. He’s growing so fast. I’ve got a part-time warehouse job, and I’m trying to get on full-time. Maybe in the next month or so, they say.”
“It’ll be okay,” Kate said. “We can help you.”
Kate noticed the relieved look on his face and the way he seemed to relax in the chair. “Do you have ID?”
His smile faltered. “Yes, but I don’t have it with me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kate said reassuringly. “Just bring it next time, okay?”
“Okay.”
When the interview was complete, Kate helped Zach fill a box with a three-day supply of food for each member of his household.
“Come back next month and we’ll fill the box again.”
“Thank you,” he said.
When she finished with Zach, she started another list, jotting down the things she’d need to take care of if she left with Ian. Breaking her apartment lease and turning in her resignation to her board of directors were the two biggest things she’d need to address. Though he’d mentioned that Kate didn’t need to worry about finding a job unless she wanted one, she knew she wouldn’t be happy without something to fill her days and give her a sense of purpose.
Helena’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Earth to Kate. I’ve said your name three times.”
“Sorry,” Kate said. “I was thinking about Ian.”
“If that man were my boyfriend, I’d never get anything done. I’d just sit and stare off into space thinking about him.”
“Helena Sadowski, listen to you.”
“Well, it’s true.”
Kate walked over and sat down on the edge of Helena’s desk. “Ian may need to relocate for one of his clients. He’s asked me to come with him.”
“It would take me approximately four seconds to make up my mind if I were in your shoes.”
“Did Bert ever ask you to make a choice? Follow him somewhere, do something you hadn’t planned?”
“When we were first married, he wanted to move to California. I thought it was the dumbest idea I’d ever heard. We were so young, both of us barely out of high school. Our families were here. What could California possibly give us that we didn’t already have other than maybe a little more sunshine? Then the babies started coming, and Bert stopped talking about leaving. It wasn’t until much later, after the fog of parenting started to lift, that I realized staying had taken some of the spark out of him. I asked him once if he was unhappy we didn’t go, and he said he wasn’t. But I know California would have been an adventure for him, and who doesn’t want that? If I could rewind time, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation because living in Minnesota would be nothing but a distant memory for me.”
“I feel like we’re doing such good work here. Like we’ve finally hit our stride.” The food pantry was currently in great shape, and not all of that was due to Ian’s assistance. Donations were up, and they were successfully meeting the needs of their clients. Things seemed to have fallen into place, and Kate wondered if the rough patch they’d experienced had been an unlucky fluke. “I guess I’m struggling with the idea of giving up something I already gave up my law career to do.”
“You have the rest of your life to work, and taking a break from something doesn’t mean you’re any less passionate about it. You’ve done a fantastic thing here, Kate. The progress you’ve made won’t disappear because you’re not here to oversee it. People will continue to receive assistance long after you’re gone. But love. Love is not guaranteed. Love will still be there for you when you’re too old to work and the company you worked for all you
r life shuffles you out the door with a nice gold pen. Always choose love. Always choose the adventure. You’ll never regret it.”
That night when Ian came home, she met him at the door. “I’m coming with you when you go.”
“Really?” There was no denying the relief she heard in his voice.
“I love you. I can’t imagine watching you leave and not going with you.”
“I love you too, Kate. So much.”
Okay then,” she said, smiling. “I guess we’re moving to North Carolina.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
March came howling in like a lion. Mother Nature dumped a foot of snow on Minneapolis, and the city came to a temporary standstill. Kate and Ian had decided to ride out the storm at her place and were snuggled up under the covers in bed, eating leftover pizza and listening to the wind rattle the windows. Kate slipped her bare feet between his calves.
“Gah! Your feet are freezing.”
“I know. I’m trying to warm them up. You’re lucky I didn’t wedge them up any higher. They’d be nice and warm there.”
“That would be very… jarring for me. Your toes are like ice cubes.”
“Maybe I should put some clothes on.”
He squeezed her feet between his calves. “That’s crazy talk.”
“What about Charlotte?” Kate had been researching North Carolina cities at work and had decided that Charlotte sounded like an ideal place for them to live. There were plenty of things to see and do, the weather was warm, and the people seemed friendly.
“Charlotte would be great.”
“I’d love to live on Roanoke Island, but it’s probably too small.”
“Bigger cities are ideal, but we can always plan a weekend getaway to Roanoke Island whenever the mood strikes.”
“When do you want to leave? I need to give notice to my board of directors, and I’d like to be involved in the process of hiring my replacement.” Kate had worked too hard on opening the food pantry to leave without knowing it would be in good hands.
“Mid-April? Is that enough time? I really don’t want to stay any longer than that.” Ian had mentioned that the task force had almost all the evidence they needed to start making arrests.