My jaw tenses. “It is scary.”
“I don’t mean that in offense to you, you know. Saying we’ve got nothing…I’m not implying anything against you.”
“I know.” I offer a smile. If only she knew… “Whoever is behind the murders is taking extra care not to be found.” Some of themwon’tbe found. They died. Twice.
Tiffany sighs. “We haven’t had a good old-fashioned serial killer in a while. That didn’t come out right.” She rolls her eyes at herself. “You know what I mean. I think. I hope.”
“I do.” I chug more coffee, needing the caffeine high to kick in, and look at Tiffany. I want to tell her to stay inside at night, to keep her doors locked and to carry a wooden stake soaked in holy water just in case.
But I can’t, andnottelling the few people I care about how to protect themselves leaves me with a nasty taste of guilt in my mouth. If something happens to the members of my team, I’ll never forgive myself.
18
Igrab a bottle of red wine and add it to my shopping cart. It’s the last thing I have on my list, and I think I got enough food to last the guys a few days. Well, nights, technically. Having been single my entire adult life, I’ve never bought this much food at once. It’s weird.
After taking two steps forward, I come to a sudden halt and backtrack. Two more bottles of wine go into the cart. I look at my phone—I’m making good time—and head to the checkout lane. I get in line and a familiar voice calls out my name.
“Hey, Ace!” Tiffany pushes her cart up behind me.
“Tiffany, hey.” I turn around, eyes going to the car seat snapped into the front of the cart. “And Mavis. I can’t believe how much bigger she is since the last time I saw her.” I smile at the sleeping baby.
“I know. She’s growing so fast. Everyone told me how fast it would go by, and it turns out they were right.” She laughs.
“Go ahead of me,” I tell her before I move up in line . “I have twice as much.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I have a lot and you don’t.”
She peeks into my cart. “You do have a lot. Stocking up?”
“Uh,” I start, glancing down into my cart. Is it even possible to keep all this stuff for that long? I don’t know. My cooking skills are close to nothing. And I hate lying to Tiffany. I’ve lied so much the last few days, and I know the more I lie, the more likely I am to get caught. And what happens if she sees me here again next week? “Actually, no. My cousins are in town.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widen and she leans back. “I didn’t know you had any cousins in the area.”
“I didn’t either.” I pull my cart back to let her through. “I just found out about them, and they’re not from around here.”
She starts putting her groceries on the conveyer belt. “Oh my God, was it because of the house?”
“The house?” The blood might have drained from my face just a little.
“Are they trying to take it from you?”
“Oh, right. And, uh, no. They heard about my aunt—ouraunt—passing and we got in touch. Now we’re just catching up.”
Mavy lets out a cry, taking Tiffany’s attention off me. She puts the rest of her groceries up and moves down toward the register. “That’s great. Are they staying long?”
“A while.”
“I love my cousins. More than my sisters at times, but don’t tell my sisters that.” She pulls her wallet from her purse. “Hopefully you guys get along and stay in touch.”
“I have a feeling we will.” I unload my groceries.
Tiffany takes her bag and pushes her cart forward. “Thanks again for letting me go ahead. Mavy’s at her limit. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Tiff.”
I pay the biggest grocery bill I’ve ever had in my life and make it to the estate with an hour to spare. The closer we get to summer, the later the sun sets. It’s usually something I enjoy, but right now I find myself missing the short days and longer nights, for obvious reasons.
