“This was all my fault, Ang.”
“It was the fault of the men who took him.”
“They wouldn’t have had access to him if I hadn’t let him run around with his friends.”
“What were you supposed to do? Keep him under lock and key until he’s twenty?”
“That’s what we would’ve done if Tracy had had her way. At least until he was fifteen, maybe. I’m telling you… She won’t forgive me.”
“It all looks terrible right now, but after everyone gets some rest and calms down, maybe you can try to talk it out.”
“Sure,” he said. “Anything is possible.” That was what she wanted to hear, but he knew for certain that it wouldn’t be fixed that easily.
“Do you want to talk some more?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m all talked out after these last few days.”
Angela led him upstairs to the guest room. “Make yourself at home. There’re towels in the bathroom closet. Help yourself to anything you need.”
“You got any booze?”
“You know where it is, in the cabinet over the fridge. I think Spencer still had some of the good bourbon in there. He’d want you to have it.”
He hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for having me.”
“Oh, Mike,” she said tearfully. “I love you so much. I wouldn’t have survived these last few months without you and Tracy. I’ll do whatever I can for either of you any time.”
“Love you, too, sis.”
After she walked away, he teared up again at the thought of losing her and her kids from his life if Tracy succeeded in excommunicating him. He couldn’t imagine living without the Holland family. They were as much his as they were Tracy’s at this point.
Mike changed into sweats and a T-shirt and went downstairs to help himself to some of Spencer’s good bourbon. He agreed with Angela that his brother-in-law would want him to have it. They’d been friends from the start, and his death had left a hole in Mike’s life, too. Sure, the guy could be insufferable at times, but Mike had loved him, and his sudden, tragic death had been among the worst things to ever happen in Mike’s life.
He downed the bourbon, had a second glass and then went upstairs to try to get some sleep. Before he shut the light off, he accessed the location services setting on his phone and turned it off in case Tracy decided to check where he’d ended up.
She didn’t need to know he was at her sister’s house.
* * *
After a turbulent flight from Minneapolis without Jeremy there to reassure her, Neveah landed in Spokane. They’d exchanged phone numbers before parting company in the Minneapolis airport, and she wondered if she would hear from him.
At the Spokane airport, which was tiny compared to the intimidating massiveness of MSP, she followed the signs to the rental car area and discovered the counter for the company she needed was closed.
“Great, what do I do now?”
As she looked around, trying to figure out her next move, another traveler approached. “Are they closed?” the woman asked. “Sometimes they leave the keys for us if we’re coming in late. Let’s see if we can find them.”
The woman went around to the back side of the desk like she worked there and located envelopes with names on them and keys inside. The envelopes were also marked with the numbers of parking spaces.
Neveah spotted the one with her name on it and said, “That’s me.”
The woman handed it over.
“Thanks, I never would’ve thought to check there,” Neveah said.
“I fly in and out of here a lot,” the woman said. “I’ve had to do this before.”
“Well, I appreciate you showing me the ropes.”
