“Is it over?” she whispers against my neck, her voice small.
I kiss her tangled curls. My voice wavers, but I steady it for her. “Yeah, baby. It’s over.”
We stay huddled in her room as sirens scream closer, red and blue lights cutting through the curtains—voices thunder in the living room—boots, orders, chaos.
“Where’s Daddy?” Evie asks, eyes wide, searching mine.
“Daddy’s talking to the police.”
She swallows hard. “Auntie Violet is?—”
“Not feeling well,” I say softly. And it’s not a lie.The woman is batshit crazy.
CHAPTER 43
cade
By the time we get to Mav’s place, it’s nearly four in the morning.
His big stone farmhouse glows with light, the wraparound porch lined with lanterns. We needed somewhere to land after the mess back at Blue Rock, and my living room’s still cordoned off by Hugh’s deputies.
Kaz apparently called Mav, and we were going to stay there until my house was livable again. I’m grateful for our friends, even that weirdo Kaz who shot Violet in the shoulder through the window. The man is a good shot; I’ll give him that. And if he’s an IT nerd, I’ll eat my hat. I say he’s law enforcement…or a spy, like James Bond. He’s got the temperament for it.
Sarah sits in the truck with Evie still locked around her neck. Bandit’s wedged on the floorboard, his nose pressed to Evie’s knee.
Neither of them has said much since I told them we’dbe staying at Kincaid Farms for a few days. Sarah just packed essentials for Evie and herself and got the hell out of the house through the back door so as not to walk through the living room.
When I open the passenger door, Sarah looks at me with red-rimmed eyes but shakes her head before I can say a word. “I love you.”
She raises a hand before I can respond. “Let me…. I thought I wouldn’t be able to tell you before she….” She’s gasping for air, and Evie pulls away and wipes Sarah’s tears.
“Don’t cry, Dr. K.”
“I love you, Evie.”
Evie smiles. “I love you, too, Dr. K.”
She looks at me over Evie’s head. “I forgive you,” she whispers.
I get up on the step of the truck and hug them both. “I love you, too. Forever, Dove. Forever, my Evie girl.”
Mav’s already waiting on the porch, arms folded, jaw carved out of granite.
Joy’s beside him, a throw blanket clutched in her hands like she’s been pacing with it.
They tell me Aria is inside—I catch the faint clatter of dishes.
A truck rolls in, and I see Dodge. His usual smirk is gone. I asked him to come over when Hugh said we’d meet here for a debrief.
“Come on in,” Mav says quietly. “We have food and…beds and….”
Joy wrinkles her nose when she looks at me. “Showers.”
I smile despite the occasion. I am filthy as fuck since I never got a chance to shower before bed. And now I’ve got Violet’s blood all over me, too.
We go into the kitchen. It’s large and has a farm table set for breakfast. Aria is at the stove while Joy starts to fill cups with coffee. It’s the kind of domestic noise that makes the world feel normal again, even if nothing about the past hours can be described as normal.
Sarah sinks into a chair, Evie still clinging to her like a barnacle.
