He nodded. “It gets a lot of tourists so has some of the usual issues, but overall, it’s safe. Safe enough to walk around on your own once you’re familiar with it. And Joey and Charley’s store is downtown, as is their cousin’s gallery, so you’ll always have a place to go if something doesn’t feel right to you.”
“What about school?”
“Another question. There’s a middle school that includes sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. That’s where you’d fit age-wise, but you’re beyond that intellectually. That said, I’m not sure I’m comfortable with you testing into the high school. For that matter, I don’t even know if you want to go to school or if you want to keep studying online.”
Birds swooped in the valley below; a gentle breeze rustled the trees. On a cool, dry day like this, Monk could barely make out the scent of the place, but after rain, or a hot summer day? Those memories were burned into his brain: damp earth mixed with the musky decay of the vineyards or dry oak that’s been baked in the sun. To this day, if he caught a whiff of a similar smell, no matter where he was, his mind instantly flew back to this valley.
“What about Helia?” Kendall asked. “I mean, it’s obvious you two are fu?—”
He swiveled his head and raised an eyebrow at her. She snapped her mouth shut. She hadn’t had the best role models for relationships in her life, but no way was he going to let her paint his and Helia’s relationship with the same brush as whatever she’d seen with her mom.
“That you like each other. A lot,” she finished.
He nodded, both acknowledging her effort and the comment itself. “We do. We haven’t talked about the details yet, though.” They’d have to at some point, but he had no idea how it would all work out.
“But you want to be together?”
He caught a tendril of hope, or maybe even wistfulness, in her voice that he hadn’t expected. His heart tumbled a little more for her. She had every right to be jaded and hard. Shewasjaded. She knew more about the seedy part of the world than most adults—his brothers excluded. And yet she wanted to see, to be a part of, a happy ever after. That she even knew those existed in real life surprised him. That she believed in them made him want to wrap her up and make sure the tender parts of her heart had the same opportunity to grow as strong as her curiosity, intelligence, and wariness.
“We do and we will be. We just don’t know what that will look like yet.”
“If I stay in online school, it’d be easier for us to come down here to visit.”
“First of all, you’re done having to make your decisions and live your life to make someone else’s easier,” he said. “I’m not saying you turn into a selfish beast, but despite the life experience you’ve had, K, you’retwelve. You need a chance to be a kid. I know that’s hard to imagine. You’ve probably never been a kid, not really. And losing your mom is yet one more shittycard you’ve been dealt.” He wasn’t sure he was being totally honest about that part. If Cindy had cleaned up her act, based on what he knew about Kendall, she probably would have been a great mom. But as it was, Kendall had a better chance at building a good life with him than she had being toted around the country to random people’s houses. He knew the kind of people Cindy spent her time with—hell, Roger was the same. He refused to imagine what Kendall’s life would have been like if Cindy had kept dragging her to one party after another once she started maturing.
“But Helia and I are the adults,” he continued. “We will make the best decision we can given both our circumstances. You aren’t an afterthought, though, K. Your life, whether that’s school or if you want to play sports or pick up some hobbies, is as important as Helia’s and mine.”
She slipped her hands under her thighs and rocked back and forth, a subtle but telling motion. “Can we focus on the drug ring and murders for now?”
He couldn’t help it—he barked out a laugh. A wry smile touched her lips.
“You know how many things are wrong about that statement, K?”
Her grin grew into a smile. “Yeah, but I’ll be able to write one hell of a college essay when the time comes.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“Where’s Helia?” Monk and Kendall asked at the same time when they returned to the tasting room.
“She wanted to check in on the two events at Sundaram. Lovell, Dulcie, and Einstein are with her,” Mantis replied.
He trusted his brothers to keep her safe, but he didn’t like her being out in the open. Sure, Kendall was probably right that Kelly had been the target of the lethal dart, but his head and his heart didn’t seem to want to agree. And by the look on Kendall’s face, she felt the same.
Not wanting to give her anything more to worry about, he squeezed her shoulder and moved on to the topic he and Kendall had discussed the whole walk back. “Did you get a hold of Reaper?”
Mantis flashed a smile Monk had seen a time or two. Some unholy hell was about to break loose.
“Turns out Reaper and his team, along with teams from Miami and New York, already have a case against Haines, Pena, and Trish Peterson. They’ve got eyes on all three but need to coordinate with international authorities before they pick them up, since Haines is out of the country.”
“They’ve got someone up here?” Monk asked.
Mantis nodded. “Agent Perry. She’ll be here in about twenty minutes for a briefing on what we have. Leo has already started the transfer of evidence, including the drugs you found, to the agency.”
“It could be over soon?” Kendall asked. Monk wasn’t sure if that was excitement or disappointment in her voice. Judging by Mantis’s head tilt, he couldn’t tell either. Which was concerning, as their MC president usually knew how people felt before they did.
“If all goes to plan, yes,” Mantis said. “We might even be home for Christmas.”
Kendall seemed confused by the idea of Christmas, and Monk made a mental note to drag Helia somewhere private so they could go online and buy her gifts. If they ordered today and he had them rushed, they’d make it to Mystery Lake by Christmas Eve. He could have them under the tree by Christmas morning.
