“A working mother who was sucked into a particularly difficult situation and handled it as well as she could, as she always does. Ethan needed you this weekend more than our kids did.”
“In the meantime, my kids are at home sick with strep, and I’m nowhere to be found.”
“They’re fine, your mom took great care of them, and I was with them most of this afternoon and evening. They’re much better and will be able to go to school tomorrow.”
Sam sat on the bed, too tired to even get undressed. “That’s good news.”
Nick sat next to her, took her hand and said, “What do you need, love?”
“I don’t even know. I’m all over the place tonight. I’ve just come from seeing Luna Ahern’s parents.”
“I know. I heard.”
“Did Vernon call ahead?”
“Maybe, but I’m glad he did.”
“Me, too. It was a tough one. I also found out that Probation had been looking for them for a long time and had lost track of them while Asher Mayfield was trafficking girls through his storage units.” She shuddered as she said those words. “If only they’d sounded the alarm or said something or tried a little harder or asked for help looking for them, who knows what could’ve been avoided here?”
“So now, on top of everything else, you’re feeling guilty because you weren’t able to prevent this from happening?”
“I’m sad that there’re so many of them and so few of us and that there’re always going be some who slip through the cracks, which allows things like this to happen. I’m not blaming the Probation team. I’m sure they did what they could to find people who knew how to stay missing, but I wish more could’ve been done.”
“The odds are stacked against you, babe, with far more bad guys outnumbering the good guys. You’ll never win them all. That’s just how it works.”
“I don’t like how it works. I don’t like that so many of them slide through the gaps in the system and keep committing crimes that ruin people’s lives forever. Those poor parents… Life as they know it is over, and it’s so senseless.”
“Murder is always senseless.”
“That sounds like something I would say, and it’s probably trademarked.”
He smiled and rested his head against hers. “How about I draw you a bath?”
“That’d be awesome.”
She rested her head against a pillow, processing the events of the day until he returned.
“Bath is ready, love,” Nick said.
Sam walked into the bathroom, dropping clothes as she went, and slipped into the tub a minute later, sighing from the pleasure of the hot water and bath oil. “This was just what I needed.”
“Don’t fall asleep. Not sure I could get you out of there.” He left the room for a few minutes and returned with a glass of wine that he handed to her as he took a seat next to the tub, holding a short glass of bourbon for himself.
He touched his glass to hers, and while she soaked, he silently provided his love and support, giving her space to cope with a difficult day.
“Scotty must be in his feelings about Ethan.”
“He is, and he’s eager to see him. I told him we need to give Ethan a little space right now.”
“Maybe we can arrange a phone call for them tomorrow. I’ll ask Tracy about it.”
“How are things with her and Mike?”
“Not good at all. She’s talking about divorcing him and asking for full custody.”
“No way.”
“Yeah,” Sam said with a sigh. “It’s bad. I’m not sure they’ll be able to come back from this.”
