Page 107 of York

They were why I let myself in through the laundry room door, stripping out of my clothes and tossing them in the wash along with Runa’s clothes from before, adding yet more bleach, and running the cycle before I crept upstairs unseen, taking the long triple-wash shower I’d made Runa do—even though I’d been wearing gloves and a trash bag as PPE.

I changed into pajamas before taking myself back downstairs, smelling something spicy and tomato-based cooking in the kitchen.

“There he is,” Raff said. “How was your walk?”

“Daddy!” Denali called, turning to beam at me, but staying where she was—bent over Raff’s arm to color in what looked like a chuckwalla tattoo. Apparently, chuckwallas were neon green and bright pink.

“Hey, princess,” I said, touching the back of her head as I passed by. “Are you cooking dinner for us?” I asked her.

“I am doing the dirty work, but I am under very strict instructions from Chef Denny,” Raff declared.

“It smells great, honey,” I said as I moved behind Runa, wrapping one arm around her upper chest and the other around her stomach as I leaned down to press a kiss to her head. “You okay?” I whispered.

She gave me a tight nod that I knew she didn’t mean, but we both had to play our parts for Denali while she was still awake.

So we hung out while Raff cooked.

I introduced Crow, Colter, and Dylan.

We ate dinner as Raff mostly held up the conversation—telling Denali about all the animals they had in Shady Valley until she was so excited she was begging to visit one day.

After dinner, there was a bonfire—Denali’s request. But it conveniently worked as an evidence disposal system once she went inside to take a bath. Anything I didn’t bury in the hole—meaning anything that I was wearing or that might have my or Runa’s DNA on it—got burned up while I took Denali up to bed.

Toys were arranged.

Books were read.

Then, finally, her eyes were closed and her breathing was slow and deep.

I crept out of the room and back downstairs, finding the Shady Valley crew in the kitchen, having cups of coffee.

“Where’s Runa?”

“By the fire,” Dylan, Colter’s woman, explained.

I looked out, seeing her wrapped up in a blanket, staring at the flames.

She needed me.

But first, I needed to know that everything went to plan.

“How was the house?”

“Luckily, down a dead-end road, so there was no one around to see us,” Colter explained. “There were no cameras and I scrolled his call log to find that he called the local diner a lot for dinner. So I called there and hung up.”

“I sense there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“He had an obsession room,” Dylan explained. “Lots of pictures of Runa and Denali. I went ahead and took those with us.”

“I appreciate that. Anything else?”

“A lot of expensive electronics and jewelry,” Colter said. “We took the jewelry, because, fuck him. But left the electronics. We could go back for them, if you want. Up to you.”

“I’ll think on that. I think so long as nothing points to Runa as a person of interest, it should be fine. There are no signs of a struggle at his home. If anyone even misses him, he will just get filed as a missing person. I can’t imagine this small-town police force would dedicate too many hours working on something like that.”

They all nodded at that.

“You got yourself a family since the last time I saw you,” Raff said, giving me a smile.