Gratitude and confusion settled in my chest. I barely knew this woman. Why was she going out of her way to do this for me? I wasn’t sure if she sensed my uncertainty, but she stepped closer.
“You know…when I was digging into the Shadow Stalker case, back before he was caught, I was afraid too.”
I gave her an incredulous look. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
From what had been reported, he had been threatening her, stalking her, and she kept on working to catch him.
Emersyn laughed dryly. “Because I’m a stubborn woman and thought I could handle anything by myself.”
A familiarity I didn’t want to acknowledge gnawed at me. “Catching a cold-blooded killer isn’t exactly a stroll in the park.”
Her brows rose. “Neither is solving a decades-old murder.”
There was a protest on my lips, but I sealed them shut. Something about Emersyn made me feel…seen. A part of me recognized something in her. She wasn’t telling me what to do or feel. She was simply offering understanding.
My shoulders sagged, as if some invisible weight had been lifted.
“I guess you’re right.” I let out a heavy breath.
“And if I can help you with this, I’m going to. Not because you’ll owe me something, but because I want to.”
That lump threatened to return, but I swallowed it down. “How did you do it?” I asked, curious and desperate.
She knew what I was asking. How did she keep going, even when she was scared? Even when she was exhausted and drained and the world was telling her she shouldn’t.
Emersyn glanced down at the files in her hands. “I don’t know where I would’ve ended up if it wasn’t for August,” she said, so quiet I leaned in closer to hear. “At first, I didn’t want anything to do with him.” She shook her head. “Again, I’m stubborn, but he never gave up on me.”
A warmth bloomed in my chest. I was so glad August had found someone like her—someone smart and strong and loyal. He deserved her. August was one of the best.
I’d missed him.
Emersyn pushed back her shoulders. “All that to say,” she said. “Not being alone helps.”
The corner of my lip lifted. I was about to thank her one last time, for everything, when a loud pounding on the door made us both jump.
Our gaze shot to the entrance.
“Em, it’s me.” August’s muffled voice drifted through. “Open up.”
Emersyn immediately headed to the door and unlocked it.
August and Fox stepped inside, much sooner than I expected.
August looked around like the walls themselves were a threat—eyes flicking to the windows, the corners, the back door. He threw his twin brother a look. “You left them here. Alone?”
Emersyn lifted her chin. “What? You think I can’t protect her?”
August gave her one of his easy smiles, but it was more hollow than usual. “You can do anything,” he said. “But the thing you struggle with most is taking care of yourself. That’s my job.”
Emersyn’s face softened. “You make it hard to argue with you when you talk like that.”
He walked over to her and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “You manage to argue with me enough most of the time.”
I watched the two of them, a bittersweet ache building in me.
The way Emersyn looked at August was so familiar. It was the way I used to look at Fox.
I glanced away from the two of them, focusing on a random spot on the far wall. “Honestly,” I said, shifting the conversation. “We weren’t alone long enough for any trouble to happen.”
