He glanced at Sunni. “I wanted to put them away for good. But I also needed to protect Sunni and...” His eyes cut to Sunni on the couch. “Daniel.”
The name hung in the air between them.
Sunni made a small sound. “Gabe, don’t—”
“Our son.” The words fell like stones. “He’s five now.”
The room tilted sideways. Harley’s hand found the back of the couch. “Your ... son?” She had anephew? Even the howling wind outside couldn’t compete with the roaring in her ears. “When was he born?”
“It was after Gabe’s ‘death.’” Sunni finger-quoted the word. “I was only a few month’s pregnant at the memorial—”
Harley stared at Sunni. “How did I not see—you saidnothing.”
“I told her not to,” Gabe said.
She rounded on him. “How could you not tell me that you had a kid?” She pressed her hand to her mouth. “How could you—”
“It wasn’t supposed to be forever.”
“It’s been five years! Five.Years!”
“It was supposed to be five months! Mars gave me drugs, yes, and I was set to testify again, but then he vanished. Disappeared to Anchorage, or maybe Juneau, and I had no choice. I had to die.”
She had nothing.
“Five years I’ve been hiding, while Sunni raised our son and, of course, she helped me, so she knew I wasn’t dead.”
“But you letmethink you were dead—”
“You were gone, Harley! You barely stayed in town long enough to attend Mom and Dad’s funerals, and you didn’t look back. And if it weren’t for Sunni—and God—I would have been back to using and maybe dead for real. So, yeah, I didn’t tell you. Because”—his voice fell—“you would have looked for me.”
She stilled, her throat thick. Shoot, he wasright. She would have turned the world over looking for him. “So you told Sunni and then what?”
“I vanished. Showed up now and again, avoiding Mars, keeping an eye on her. I drove the ice highway, did some work on the slope, sent her money. Sometimes we worked it out to see each other, but I mostly stayed away. And then, Conan was arrested a couple weeks ago, and I thought,Now. Now Ican reclaim my life.”
He walked over to Sunni. “Except Mars is still out there, and I know Sunni isn’t safe.” He crouched next to her. Took her hand. “So I sent her the berries a few days ago. It was my way of telling her that I was still watching.” He looked at Sunni, so much love in his expression, it made Harley ache.
And then, wait—“You sent me flowers on my birthday last year.”
His mouth pinched. “Yes, I did. I just ... you were...” He glanced at Jericho, back to her. “You were so alone.”
Jericho stood solid, a sort of sentry, arms folded, mouth tight. And now, he looked away from her, as if the words hit him too.
Shehadbeen alone. Terribly, brutally, achingly alone.
“Harley?” Gabe said.
She couldn’t—no ... no...
She whirled and headed for the door.
“Harley?” Jericho’s voice, then Gabe’s.
“Sis—”
She shook her head, took a step back, then turned and stumbled into the coatrack. Grabbed her jacket. Shoved her feet into her boots.
“Harley, stop.” Winter now, heading toward her.
