It was over in minutes as Wade and the officer pushed them into the back of the car. Kipp and I waited while Wade spoke to Officer Johnson about charges before making his way back to us.
“Well,” Wade cleared his throat. “I’ll need to go to the station and fill out the paperwork.”
“Will it stick? They basically admitted it, right?” The words were tight and angry.
“Well, Redhawk has found enough to make fraud stick, but the obstruction charge is probably not going to hold. I’ve got nothing on the assault charge. I’d bet that it was Milton, but unless we can get confirmation from Lila or a confession, then we can’t charge him with that.” Rage was choking me. “But the arson?” Wade said smugly. “Yeah, that was a confession. That’ll stick.”
“Okay.” I could settle for that.
Wade nodded. “Then parole violation. We’ve got Milton cold on that one. He’ll be going back to jail. If we can get Lila to press charges against Derek, we should have enough there on him. He may be the one who’ll be trickier. I’ll talk to you guys later, okay?” He smacked me on the shoulder.
“Thanks for keeping on this. Lila is going to feel so much better now that she can have some closure. She hasn’t felt safe.”
“You got it. Sorry it took so long. Give everyone my love, and for all that’s holy… save me dessert, you dicks.” He smacked me again, tipped his hat at us, and got into his truck.
As Kipp and I were driving back, he asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said after a beat. “Just thinking about what he started saying.”
“That slip he made, where he mentioned land? I caught that too.”
“Yeah.” I looked out over the mist-shrouded valley below. “If Milton’s been working with Derek all this time, there’s more to it than just a grudge. There’s something here they wanted. Something they thought they could get.” I was still puzzling it out. “Maybe there was another piece of property? Something Lila didn’t know about?”
Kipp’s jaw tightened. “We’ll figure it out. Now we can get back to the house and tell her it’s done and they’re in custody. At least she can breathe again for now.”
The adrenaline had faded now, leaving only the exhaustion and the weight of everything I’d wanted to protect her from. There were still a lot of unknowns, but hopefully with the help of my family, we’d navigate it like we did everything else. Thank God for Wade and his tenacity.
By the time I pulled into the Holt driveway, the lights were still on. Through the window, I saw her standing inthe kitchen with Maggie, talking softly. When she saw me through the glass, she froze, and she ran for the door. The second it opened, I caught her in my arms.
“We were so worried.”
“They’re both in custody,” I murmured into her hair.
Her breath hitched, and I felt her nod against my chest. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. Kipp and I were there. Saw them cuffed.” She breathed a sigh of relief, and I tucked her tight against me. God, I loved her.
46
Lila
Three days.
That’s how long it had been since Wade called to say it was done — since Milton Merrick and Derek Burnett were booked, charged, and processed.
You might think the words ‘it’s over’ would bring relief. It had been the phrase I’d been hoping to hear for weeks. But relief came in strange waves. It wasn’t instant. It came in small pieces: the first full night’s sleep, the first time I didn’t check the cameras every hour, the first time I could walk through my cottage without expecting to find something broken or wrong.
The snow had melted into slush around town, while the mountains received another layer of fresh powder. The morning air was cold enough to bite my cheeks as I sipped my coffee by the window, watching the fog roll throughthe valley. My house looked like a real home again. The back porch, the mudroom, even the kitchen — all of it bore East’s mark.
We hadn’t had the “are you moving in?” talk, but it happened naturally. His boots were toed off by the door just like they might be at the Holt farmhouse. In the mudroom, his Carhartt hung from the hook, and in the kitchen, the coffee mug he favored sat by the sink. Every morning, I woke up to find him already moving — checking the porch rail, stacking wood, fixing something that probably didn’t even need fixing. He said it was habit, but I knew better. He needed todothings to keep from worrying about me.
When he kissed me goodbye that morning, his beard softly scraped my cheek, and his voice was that low, steady murmur I loved. “Back through town by lunch. You got this?”
“I got this,” I’d said, even though the idea of going back to full normal still made my heart thump.
Across the street, Sage’s house sat solid and warm, smoke curling from its chimney. Maggie had called earlier, insisting we come for supper again tonight.
She’d also told me I was family now, and warned me that if I showed up empty-handed, she’d revoke my “guest privileges.” I’d laughed then, but the words had stuck.
