“Yeah, Ma, fine. I fell over.”
“Don’t you dare lie to me, young man.”
He sighed loudly. She launched forward and hugged him.
The deprivation of my mother’s loss reignited a flare of pain, I looked away.
“What happened?” she asked again pulling away, her hands on his forearms.
“Vanessa, I’m sorry. It’s my fault,” I said, stepping forward.
She let go of BJ and turned to face me with a scowl. I told her what happened. I watched, grimacing, as her face moved from shock, to fury, to bitterness.
She cursed under her breath, glancing at Karson with a sharp look. “Did you have to kill them?”
“They had daggers, inches from both Amelia and Benjamin,” he clipped, “Benjamin was bleeding. Jefferson’s injuries were hot in my mind. At that stage I was unaware it was one of Caron’s pathetic plans. I did not wait to see what they had planned to do with the knives next.”
Vanessa nodded slowly, seeming to come to some degree of acceptance. She drew a deep breath and looked at me. The anger dispersed, but not entirely. “It’s not your fault, Amy, we have been waiting for this day since you arrived.”
Confused, I glanced at BJ.
He sent me an apologetic smile. “We knew ever since you walked into the cafe that day. Well, Ma did.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, blinking behind tired, sore eyes, feeling exhausted and well and truly overwhelmed.
“Come inside, Amy, we have someone who wants to talk to you,” Vanessa said kindly, as she wrapped her arm around BJ and guided him in.
I risked a glance at Karson. His face was unreadable. He indicated with his head to move forward.
“Who?” I mouthed.
“You will see,” he answered, non-committal. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I rounded the corner.
Abruptly, I stopped and stared. My breath caught in my throat. My brain struggled to make any sense of what my eyes were seeing. Were they even real? BJ’s family were witches, was this some witch conjuring effect? The seconds ticked past. I drew in a breath. The scent of freshly baked cookies wafted up my nose. The fire popped. It had to be some kind of witch thing,because they were dead. Burned so violently—or so the report said—nothing was left to find but ashes. And yet they were not dead.
Seated in the lounge, breathing, and very much alive, were both Albert and Wendy Miller. Albert stood up and smiled tentatively. I felt the back of my eyes burn.
“The kids?” I asked on a faint breath.
He nodded. “They’re fine.”
The kids flashed in front of my eyes. Not dead. Fine. Relief and perhaps sheer exhaustion trembled through my knees. I fought to control the tears, but it’d been a hell of a day. The last of my strength drained out of my body like sand tumbling down a funnel. Streaks rolled silently down my cheeks.
Wendy came over and put her arm around my back. “We are so sorry, Amy, we had to let Cole and Jefferson think we all perished. It was safer that way. The fire was deliberately lit.”
I turned to Karson. “This whole time, you knew?” I asked simultaneously annoyed and manifestly relieved.
He nodded, moved his gaze away in a show of guilt. “I did, but it had to be kept quiet. We couldn’t risk anyone finding out about it. If it comes to the crunch over the development they can reemerge and stop proceedings. Until that time we need to make sure they’re safe.”
He’d held me while I’d sobbed into his arms over their deaths. Right before I threw myself at him.
We locked eyes. I’m fairly sure he knew exactly what I was thinking about. Light flickered in his eyes and the day was brighter.
“Did you know too?” I demanded, looking at BJ and wiping quickly at my tears with my sleeve.
He grimaced, “Sorry.”
“Sit down, Amy,” Vanessa indicated a space on the couch. My whole body ached like it was bruised. Page gave me Tylenol for my headache, but I was ridiculously tired.
