and frustrated. “You don’t sound very happy. I thought that was what you wanted.”
“It was, before I realized how much I love you and need you to be safe.” He rested his nose in her clean, lavender-scented hair. “But go on.”
“I also reestablished my connection with my real estate agent. She swears she can sell my house within a few weeks. If that’s the case, I can sign everything electronically and the money can be wired to that secure account Steven set up for me. I still haven’t figured out how to safely get rid of the Jeep I bought—I assume it’s impounded?”
“Correct.”
She sighed. “And I can’t access the retirement accounts without paperwork, and I don’t know how to get a box of mementos that I’m sure is also in police evidence, but I don’t really have to be here anymore. And Sarah’s sick. She needs my help.”
He tightened his arms. “Yes, you need to go. You’re safer and happier in California. No, I don’t want you to return—but we can cross that bridge if and when we come to it. I just can’t leave quite yet.”
She lifted her head. “I thought you might say that, and I hate it even more than I’ve hated any of this—”
He put a hand gently over her mouth. “I wouldn’t stay to engage. I would only stay to wrap up my affairs and see how my coven wants to proceed, and I can pretty much do all that from this safe house. I need to finish setting up the trust fund for them, if that’s what they want, and Josiah Mason needs to resign while he’s on medical leave. Then he’ll vanish.”
She gripped his biceps and asked telepathically,
he promised.
She replied,
She nodded.
“Then leave it,” he said aloud. “Someday it will be safe for you to access it, but you’ve already proven you’re not dead, and to the police, no less. Nobody can try to seize it without your permission.”
“You’re right.” She straightened. “I don’t have to do anything right now.”
He searched her expression. “So, we have an exit strategy?”
“Yes.”
“One of us will drive you to Birmingham, and you can use your new ID to fly out from there.” He gripped her arms with a suddenness that made her flinch. “I just remembered how mad I am at you.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Then it’s probably a good thing that I’m leaving?”
“It’s never a good thing when you leave,” he snapped. “And don’t you ever fucking hang up the fucking phone on me again!”
She tried to slide sideways as she mouthed at him silently, Fine. Just fine.
But he couldn’t let her go. His skin, his body, his hungry soul hadn’t gotten enough of her, and he was already going to lose her again for days. Pulling her close, he kissed her until it left them both shaking.
When he finally lifted his head, he found that his unshaven beard had rubbed her sensitive skin to a bright red. He touched her cheek gently and cast a small healing spell to smooth the irritation away.
Her gaze grew fierce. She said, “Hurry up.”
He promised, “I’ll be as fast as I can.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
On the long flight back to the Bay Area, Molly purchased Wi-Fi and plowed through some of the immense backlog of emails she had received. Genuine people deserved a genuine reply.
There were several new emails from Julia. She deleted them unread.
There was also an email from Gloria. Raising her eyebrows, she clicked on that to skim through it.
“… I don’t comprehend how my own daughter could treat me so terribly… leave me alone to bury Austin all by myself… and after you had the gall to stay away for months, Molly Ann, all I get is an email…”
Some people clung to their nastiness. She only hoped it gave Gloria some satisfaction, because her own daughter never would. She hit Delete.
She was exhausted and out of sorts by the time she reached Everwood but pulling into the parking lot at the old Victorian house by