"That sounds perfect, sweetheart."
Lily beams and runs back to rejoin her siblings, leaving me standing with Tempest and trying not to let my feelings show on my face.
"Like I said," Tempest murmurs."Good for all of you."
Across the room, Hades looks up and catches my eye.The intensity of his gaze makes my pulse quicken, makes me remember the feeling of his thumbs brushing away my tears, the way he looked at me like I was something precious.
The way he makes me feel alive in a way I'd forgotten was possible.
I should look away.I should focus on practical matters like custody arrangements and school transfers and all the mundane details of building a new life for five children.
Instead, I find myself drowning in his dark eyes, wondering what it would feel like to stop fighting this pull between us.To give in to the connection that's been simmering beneath the surface for years.
To let myself want him.
The thought should terrify me.I've just walked away from one relationship, and jumping into another one, especially one this complicated, is probably the worst possible decision I could make.
But as I watch him with the children, as I see the gentleness in his hands and the love in his eyes, I can't bring myself to care about what's smart or practical or appropriate.
For the first time in years, I'm listening to my heart instead of my head.
And my heart is telling me that this man might just be exactly what I've been looking for my entire life.
CHAPTERSEVEN
hades
My gut churnsas we walk into the downtown precinct, Isaacs leading us through a maze of cubicles.
"I want to be clear about something," she says as we settle around a scarred wooden table."Officially, I'm not showing you anything.Officially, you were never here."
"Understood," I reply.
She slides a manila folder across the table."Crime scene photos, witness statements, what little forensic evidence we managed to collect."
I open the folder, and the first photo hits me like a sledgehammer to the chest.Calla's bedroom, blood on the carpet where my sister died.I force myself to study it clinically, looking for details instead of drowning in rage.
"What about security footage?"Tempest asks."Neighborhoods like that, there's got to be cameras everywhere."
Isaacs nods and pulls out a tablet, queuing up grainy black and white footage."This is from a traffic cam three blocks away.The day before the murders."
On the screen, a white panel van moves through the intersection.No license plate visible from this angle, windows tinted too dark to see inside.
"The same van was spotted on two other cameras in the area," Isaacs continues."Always at the edge of the surveillance coverage, never close enough to get plates or a clear view of the occupants."
"Professional," Tempest says quietly.
"Very.These guys knew the camera locations, knew how to avoid them while still maintaining sight lines to the house."Isaacs flips through the tablet to more footage."This one's from the morning of the murders."
The van is parked across the street from Marcus and Calla's house, positioned where someone inside could watch the front door.The timestamp shows 6:47 AM.
"How long was it there?"I ask.
"Best we can tell, about three hours.Left around 9:30, came back at 11:15.Gone again by 1 PM."
Watching.Waiting.Learning the family's routine.
"What about the neighbors?Did anyone see anything unusual?"
