But the mood has shifted.
Caleb checks his watch. “We should probably get Henry home. We’re trying to stick to a bedtime routine.”
They say their goodbyes. The twins run downstairs to peek at Henry one last time, settled back in his carrier. And then, Emmaline and Caleb are gone.
The kids take their dessert upstairs to finish watching their show, and Sasha and Connelly clean up in silence.
“He’s so cagey,” Connelly says finally.
Cagey’s the right word for it. Somehow, some way, Caleb Rye has details on the 1991 attack.
“If he has a nondisclosure agreement, he could be sued for talking,” she answers.
“So we use the key.”
She loads the plates into the dishwasher. “We use the key.”
Chapter Seventeen
The chance to use the key falls into Leo’s lap almost immediately.
While he’s brushing his teeth, his phone pings with a text from Caleb.
Thanks for dinner last night. Had a great time. Huge favor to ask. Any chance we could borrow your SUV for the weekend?
He drops the toothbrush and grabs the phone.
No problem.
Thank you. We want to take Henry to meet my grandparents in Charlottesville.
I’ll bring it and show you how to install the carseat base. It’s not intuitive.
Give us an hour to get ourselves together. And, thanks again.
Sixty minutes later, he’s standing in front of the row house, the copy of the key tucked into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt.
Caleb opens the door. “We can’t thank you enough.”
“Happy to help.”
They walk to the SUV. Leo demonstrates the carseat base installation—the latch system, the angle indicators, the tension test. Caleb takes notes on his phone.
Emmaline emerges with Henry in the carseat.
“Are you sure about this?” she asks Leo. “We’ll be gone overnight.”
“Positive. It’ll give us an excuse to explore the city by Metro.”
She clicks the carseat into the base while Leo helps Caleb load the diaper bag, an overnight bag, a laptop bag, and a cooler into the cargo hold. Then he hands over the key fob.
“Really. Thank you.”
“Can we at least drop you back at your house?” Emmaline asks as she gives him a quick hug.
He gestures at his sweats and running shoes. “I’m headed down to the Tidal Basin for a run.”
He stands at the curb, stretching, until they drive away. Then, just in case they forgot something, he jogs around the block. When he returns to the sidewalk in front of house, he reties both of his shoes.
