“Bye, Freckles.”
I stood up and smiled. “Well, this has been an entertaining night to say the least, but I must be going. There’s a guy across town that’s delivering Emma’s beef stew and extra dinner rolls to my front door. I don’t want to be late.”
“Itisa date,” my mom said hopefully.
“Mom, its… I don’t know what’s going on with Elijah and me, but it’s exactly what I need right now.”
“That’s good enough for us, darling,” she said with a sweet smile.
My parents hugged me a little harder and held on a little longer than normal. “I’m going to be okay,” I told them.
“Of course, you are,” Dad said. “You’re a badass, Maegan. That’s why those people didn’t ask how you were holding up. They know that you’re a warrior.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
“I’ll walk you out, Mae,” Milo offered.
When we reached my SUV, Milo pulled me into the circle of his arms. He couldn’t hug me as tight as normal with Lulu tucked between us, but I understood the sentiment. His teasing was to cover up the fear he felt for me.
“I’m going to be okay, Milo. No one has a reason to hurt me.”
“I want to believe that, Maegan. You’re my sister and best friend; I can’t lose you.”
“No one is losing me. Elijah will keep me safe and catch the killer.”
“Don’t letallthe air out of his muscles with sex then,” Milo said then pinched the tip of my nose. “He needs to save up some strength and stamina in case he wants to use that body for something other than pleasing you.”
I thought back to the glimpse of strength and stamina that I witnessed already. I had a feeling it was just the tip of the iceberg too. “Somehow I don’t think Elijah has to worry about that.”
“Now you’re just bragging. Take your lucky ass on out of here and go get you some.”
“Want to grab breakfast in the morning before we open?” I asked once I put Lulu in the car.
“I’ll call you once I’m up and moving. Let’s cross our fingers that nothing goes wrong at Books and Brew because we could both use an easy day.”
“I hear you. Night, Milo.” I pulled the door shut and fired the engine to life. Milo waved when I backed out of the driveway. I glanced in the rearview mirror when I reached the intersection at the end of the street and saw that he was still watching me. I felt his fear as strong as I felt my own earlier in the evening.
I’m going to be okay.I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince Milo or myself, maybe both. I wanted it to be true and decided that’s how it would be. Whoever killed Thom was going to screw up and get caught. I just needed to stay out of his way until that happened.
Elijah was waiting on my front porch with a huge paper bag filled with food. “Aren’t you cold?” I asked when I joined him.
“Focused,” he said, scanning the street. “Take the bag and hand me your keys, Freckles.”
“Why?”
“I’m going in first to make sure things are okay.”
“What if he attacks me on the front porch while you’re checking out my house?’
“You’re going inside with me, but you’ll stay by the front door while I check things out.”
“This is silly,” I said, marching around him and sliding my key in the front door. “I was just here earlier and nothing was disturbed.” I pushed open the door and a blur of black fur darted out the door, scaring the fuck out of me. I cried out in surprise and Lulu barked at the escaping intruder.
“Since when did you have a cat?” Elijah asked.
“I don’t have a cat, and it wasn’t here when I picked Lulu up.” I covered my racing heart with my hand and looked up into Elijah’s eyes. “I can’t be sure, but I think that is the same cat from the alley when I discovered the bloody object.”
“Fuck me!” Elijah said, pulling out his cell phone.
“I had planned on it,” I mumbled.
