Se connecterNick’s POVThe pancake batter slid toward the edge of the counter when I tried to hold the bowl steady with my left hand.“Don’t,” Claire said behind me.“I’ve got it.”“You’ve got batter on your boot.”I looked down. A pale stripe ran from my jeans to the toe. Lilly crouched beside me, fascinated.“It looks like bird poop.”“Thanks, peanut.”She laughed, but it didn’t last. She stood and pulled the hem of Claire’s shirt. “Can we go see Daddy’s flowers today?”Claire’s hand stopped halfway to the paper towels. “Not today, sweetheart.”“Tomorrow?”“We’ll talk about it.”“But the picture could get wet.”“The funeral man tucked it under the ribbon,” I said. “Remember? He made sure it wouldn’t blow away.”“Rain isn’t wind.”“No, ma’am. It isn’t.”Claire put down the towels, crouched, and opened her arms. Lilly walked into them without another word. I used my good hand to drag the bowl away from the edge. My shoulder hurt so badly I wanted to throw the fucking thing across the kitchen.“Pa
Roy’s POVVern put my money on the kitchen table, but he kept his other hand inside his coat.“Driver gets here at eleven. You pay him yourself.”I looked from the envelope to the bulge in his coat pocket. He’d spent eight years hauling for me without needing a gun between us.“Take your hand out.”“You need to finish packing.”My bag stood beside the door. He’d stepped around it coming in.“You bring that in here for me?”He withdrew his empty hand slowly. “I brought it because I watched the news. And because you keep telling me one more night.”The refrigerator clicked off. Without it, I could hear him breathing through his nose.“You called somebody?”“The driver. Like you asked.”I held out my hand for his phone. He looked at it, then at the door behind him.“Roy, I’ve done what I said I would.”“Then give it here.”He unlocked it before passing it over. The local news page was still open, with a photograph taken outside the funeral home that afternoon.Claire stood beside Nick in
Claire’s POV“Mommy, you’re bending it.”I loosened my grip on Lilly’s drawing. One corner had caught beneath the strap of my bag, and I couldn’t get it free while she held my wrist.“Let go a second, baby.”“You’ll drop it.”“I won’t.”Nick took the bag off my shoulder with his right hand. I worked the paper loose, and he settled the strap back over my shoulder. I smoothed the drawing against my skirt, but the crease stayed across the yellow sun.Lilly rubbed it with her thumb. “Now it’s got a line.”“We can lay it flat inside.”She took it back before I could try again.Rafe came up from parking the car and held the funeral-home door. Nick waited while I got Lilly moving, his left arm still supported against his body.“Mrs. Bennett?”The funeral director stood beside the guest book. I had spoken to him four times that week, but it took me a moment to answer.Three weeks had passed since Nick and Teo visited Nadine and Leanne in the hospital. Teo had brought them to their rooms at th
Nick’s POVNadine was sitting on the edge of the bed when the nurse let us in. She looked at my cut, then past me at Teo.“You’re staying?”“Yeah. Move your feet and I’ll sit down.”She took her feet off the chair beside her. He lowered himself carefully, keeping an elbow against his sore side, and I pulled the other chair around with my right hand. The sling caught on the armrest. By the time I’d worked it free, Nadine had stopped watching me and taken a folded piece of paper from beside her pillow.She laid the paper in her lap, keeping her hurt wrist tucked against her stomach. I waited until she looked at me again.“Teo said you needed somewhere to go.”“When they let me leave. I’m not trying to get out of here early.” She turned toward the door as someone walked past. “Leanne’s here too. They brought her yesterday.”“Have you seen her?”“Spoke to her on the phone this morning. She was asleep when I asked again.”The nurse had said she would check with Leanne about a visit. I told
Claire’s POV“Dale too?” I asked.“Both of them,” Ortega said through Nick’s phone. “Glen was arrested at the truck. Dale went behind the trailers, and an officer caught him there. They brought him back in handcuffs and put him in a separate patrol car. Neither man left the yard except in police custody.”I sat down before he finished. Sarah pulled the chair beside mine closer to the table. Across the hall, Evan was helping Lilly gather her markers; I had told her we needed a few minutes with Ortega, and she had made me promise to come get her afterward.“And Leanne?”“On her way to the hospital. Our officers were with her until the ambulance left.”“Have you found Haskett?”“Not yet. We’re looking for him.”I bent forward with my hands between my knees. Nick moved toward me, but I caught the edge of his shirt and kept him beside the chair.“She’s out,” I said.“Yes, Claire.”Ortega asked us to pass any further contact to him and Torres. I looked up at Nick.“He doesn’t have her.”Nic
Leanne’s POV“Put your feet down.”Dale stood in the open door of the SUV, holding a different set of keys. I had watched him go into the building twice while Glen stayed beside me. Now he caught my bag by the strap and pulled it across my knees.“Where are we going?”“Get out.”I put one foot on the gravel. Before I could bring the other down, he took my arm and pulled. I caught the door with my free hand, but my legs folded when he tried to stand me up.“Jesus Christ. Glen.”Glen came around the open door and got his arm beneath mine. Between them, they hauled me upright. I kept trying to find somewhere to put my feet while they carried most of my weight toward a white work truck.“Wait. My shoe.”The heel had folded beneath my foot. Glen let me lean against the truck while I tried to straighten it with the toe of the other shoe. I couldn’t bend far enough to reach it without losing my balance.“Get in,” Dale said.“I need a minute.”He opened the passenger door. The step was too hi







