Shame the Devil (Portland Devils #3) - Rosalind James Page 0,99

not sure how you’ve kept track of the time with that much on your mind, but yes. About that.”

“So we do it on the way.” He stopped eating, raised his head, and looked at her like she’d just come into focus. “Hey. Would you come with me?”

“Uh … what?”

“There’s going to be a lot. My sisters. The police. The social worker asked me if I was there when my mom disappeared. I wasn’t, but my sisters were, and I’m pretty sure the cops will have questions. And there’ll be …” His hand was shaking again. Even as she noticed it, he tightened it around his coffee mug like he was trying to make the shaking stop. “Details. I’m going to have to stay somewhere. My sisters will have to stay, too. And Bug.”

“Annabelle.”

“Yeah. She can’t be at the house. I need to move her out. And bring her back here, whatever I have to do to make them let me.”

“I agree,” she said. “And I can’t imagine that they won’t let her brother take her, if her father’s been arrested for murder.”

“I can do this,” he said. “But I need help. I know it’s too much to ask. You’ve got Dyma. Your grandfather. Your job. But I need help.”

Still an hour out from Bismarck, and the thoughts kept circling. He was trying to focus. Next thing. What’s the next thing?

Calling his sisters. Vanessa, first. He got through the explanation, which sounded just as bad for the repeating, said “I don’t know,” a bunch of times, and gave her the address of the place Jennifer had booked.

Vanessa said, “I’m supposed to be flying to London tomorrow,” and sighed. “I just can’t wrap my head around this, you know?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I know. I’m supposed to be in L.A. on Monday myself. I don’t think either of us is going to make it. Maybe it’ll be easier if we do it together, though. I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty bad. A lot of … issues.”

“I’ll let you know when I can get a flight,” she said. “It’ll be tomorrow.”

“Let me know,” he said, “and I’ll pick it up. Or if you want me to charter something.”

She laughed, the sound so unexpected, he jumped. “Harlan. I’m a flight attendant. The flight’s the least of my problems. And I’m not exactly …” An exhalation of breath. “Burning to get out there, you know?”

“Yeah,” he said, his throat trying to close, the dread trying to take him over, to suck him down. “I do.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Thanks for rushing out there, buddy.”

Buddy. How long had it been since anybody had called him that?

His mom had called him that.

Alison next. More, “Oh, my God,” on her part; more, “I don’t know,” on his. Finally, she said, “Uh … we’ll drive down this afternoon, I guess. Steve’s at the hardware store, and Colleen’s at a birthday party. Oh, my God. Mom. I can’t …”

“Yeah,” he said. He couldn’t either. “I’ll reserve a room for you, then.”

“It’d be good if it has a pool, so Steve can keep the kids occupied. And make sure there’s a restaurant, will you? I can’t believe it. I can’t.”

“It does have a pool. Holiday Inn. I’ll pick up the tab.”

“I hope so,” she said. “Or we couldn’t come.”

He wanted to say, Really? What would you have done, then? Stayed home? But he didn’t.

Jennifer had said, before she’d started doing the booking, when she was setting out a little notebook, a pen, and her phone on the fold-down table like a workman arranging his tools, “You need a house, I think, not a hotel. So you can talk and relax a little, and you don’t have to eat meals out. So Annabelle has a space where she feels safe.”

“Oh,” he’d said, and tried to focus. “It’d have to be a pretty big house.”

She’d hesitated, and he’d said, “Go on and say it. Whatever it is.”

“It doesn’t sound like you’re all that close with your other sisters. Just from what I’ve picked up. What do you think about getting them hotel rooms? Otherwise, you’re going to be in a sort of family reunion situation at the most stressful possible time. With kids, too, maybe. I think you and Annabelle will need more quiet than that, and probably your sisters as well. You can have them over for meals if you want. The house could still be a gathering place. Just not so … enforced.”

“You’re right. That sounds good. Do