Faith made a show of checking her watch. “I hate to be the mother hen, but the whole point of us being here is so you can sleep. Ivy, I told you I expected you to be in the bed when we arrived. I’m going to give you a pass since I can see you’ve been putting your time to good use.” She smirked. “But I also promised I would send Gil straight to bed when we arrived, and even with the extenuating circumstances of the two of you being all snuggly on the sofa and looking adorable, I don’t like to break my promises. Off to bed. Both of you.”
“Yes, Mom.” Gil stood and pulled Ivy with him. “Good night.”
Luke followed them out of the room, and Ivy was trying not to be annoyed. She wouldn’t mind some privacy before she told Gil good night. “Ivy?”
“Yes?”
“I have something for you.”
“What is it?”
Luke pulled a small box from the assortment of items Faith had dumped out earlier. “Gil told me you like to shoot a .38. This is Faith’s personal firearm, and it’s usually in her closet. She doesn’t fire it often. We got it out and checked it tonight. You have a concealed carry permit, right?”
“Yes.”
He handed her the box, which she now realized was a gun case. “I don’t know how long it will be before we get your weapon back from the Raleigh PD. I think it would be wise if you kept this on you until things settle down.”
Gil didn’t comment, but she could tell from his body language that he approved. He also took the box of ammunition Luke handed him. “Good idea. Thanks.”
“No problem. Get some sleep. We’ll see you sometime tomorrow.” Then Luke shocked her by stepping close and squeezing her good shoulder. “Sleep, Ivy. We’ve got this.”
She nodded and hoped Luke could read the gratitude in her eyes.
Gil walked all the way into her room—well, it was his room—and set the ammunition on the nightstand, then reached for the gun case. “I know you can do this on your own, but it might be hard to load with your right hand. Do you mind if I do it?”
“That would be helpful. Thanks.”
Gil made short work of loading the weapon. He placed it in the drawer of the nightstand. “Be right back.” He disappeared into his bathroom, and she realized he hadn’t had a chance to grab any of his toiletries or personal items before she’d escaped into his room earlier in the evening.
He was back in minutes, wearing a pair of athletic shorts and an ancient Atlanta Braves T-shirt. “Do you need anything?”
“I’m good.”
He reached for her hand, and she didn’t need any prodding to snuggle close to him. A tremor shuddered through her at the thought of what she currently had with him—and how fragile it was. He placed a feather-light kiss to her lips, then her nose, then her forehead, and finally, her hair, with a whispered, “Good night, Buttercup.”
When Gil left the room, Ivy crawled into bed and closed her eyes. She could hear murmurs of conversation in the living room. Probably Luke hassling Gil, or maybe Faith giving him the third degree about what was going on between them.
She closed her eyes and whispered into the dark, “Father, protectthem. Protect us all. And please, if you could help us figure out who’s after me? That would be amazing. Especially since we seem to be spinning our wheels.”
So much was on her mind and in her heart, she’d expected sleep to be elusive. But the next thing she knew, the sun was streaming in through the transom windows of Gil’s room.
She’d survived another night.
Now to see if she could survive another day.
GIL SIPPED HIS COFFEE,his third cup already, and made another lap through his house. Even with all the caffeine in his system, if he sat down, he’d fall asleep. It was almost 8:00 a.m., and as much as he hated to do it, he was going to have to wake Ivy. Sooner rather than later. She needed to get to work, and so did he.
Not that he was going to give her all the gory details, but he had a game plan for today and was ready to put it into motion. Unless something came up with the body found in Ivy’s bedroom, Gil was looking at a full day in the office, so he was going to do a very deep dive into Ivy’s Marine, PhD, around-too-much ex, Abott Percy, and Preston Johnson, Ivy’s mom’s husband. And the lawyer, although that would be trickier. His gut told him the answers to Ivy’s problems were held by one of those three. Which one remained to be seen.
He’d checked them all out, and there’d been no red flags. But something was there. He would go back through everything until he found it.
His bedroom door opened, and Ivy walked out dressed and ready to take on the day. He grabbed the mug he’d already prepped with her hazelnut creamer and filled it the rest of the way with coffee. “How’d you sleep?” Gil slid the mug across the counter toward her.
“Surprisingly well. I thought I’d wake up when Faith and Lukeleft, but I didn’t hear them. I feel guilty about it.” She took a taste of the coffee and her face morphed into that “first sip” expression most coffee drinkers had right after their first hit in the morning. She took another sip and slid onto the barstool. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
He could get used to this. Fixing her coffee. Talking about their day. Knowing whatever it held, they would be together at the end of it. “Work. Then play.”
“Hmm.”
