was gone.
“Congratulations on your one-year pin, Mr. Palmer.”
“Thank you.”
Avery walked out of Tranquility Springs flanked by security and in a cloud of peace.
Liam took the back seat with her.
“What are we doing?” Cooper asked.
Sasha looked over her shoulder.
“You knew he was in there all the time, didn’t you?”
Sasha sighed. “No. Palmer’s name came up in Van’s tattoo parlor’s database with a description of the spider. The profile was exactly as you said. A young man with money who hadn’t been in since the tattoo was put on his arm. Palmer wasn’t on the police radar. No criminal activity. He did turn up on the dean’s list at his current college. There was a link to a term paper on drug addiction and recovery. Without a current address, it was safe to say he was still residing in a private rehabilitation facility. By two o’clock this morning our team narrowed it down to this facility or another one across town. This being the most likely.”
“You could have just told me.”
Sasha shook her head. “No. I could not give you what he just did.”
Avery closed her eyes.
“Babe?” Liam asked. “Are we calling Armstrong?”
She shook her head and leaned into his shoulder. “Take me home.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Armstrong answered Reed’s call as he was walking out to his car.
“Armstrong?”
“No bad news, please. My wife hasn’t seen me in a week.”
He heard Reed laugh on the line. “Avery is on her way back to California.”
“Thank God. We will eventually find this guy. Assure her of that.”
Again, Reed laughed. “I sent you an e-mail. The file is encrypted. Use it if you need to. Avery Grant wants to put this behind her at this time. She’s not going to pursue him.”
Armstrong leaned against the hood of his car. “Son of a bitch . . . you found him. How?”
Reed was silent.
“Yeah, you know what? I don’t want to know.”
“Enjoy your evening, Detective. If you’re ever in LA, drop me a call. We’ll grab a beer.”
“You’re on. Thanks, Reed.”
Armstrong looked at his phone, laughed, and shoved it in his back pocket before pulling out of the parking lot.
Sally was going to freak when he came home early.
Liam had his sister drop off a duffel full of his clothes and a few days’ worth of groceries while Avery was sleeping.
They’d returned to her condo after midnight, and at nearly noon, she finally emerged from her bedroom. The fact that Avery stepped from the shower with wet hair and a lack of makeup was a testament to where they were in their relationship.
Liam swiveled the stool he was sitting on by her kitchen counter and opened his arms for her to walk into. She sank into him like an extension cord into an outlet. “Good morning,” she said against his lips.
Such sweet words. Yeah, she could probably say anything and he’d call it something flowery.
He accepted her kiss and gave one of his own. “Good afternoon.”
He pulled her to sit on one of his legs, and she looked down at his laptop and what he was working on. “What’s that?”
“Invoices, paperwork. Things I’ve been slowly getting behind on.”
“Because you’re chasing your girlfriend around all over the country.”
He knew he was sporting a shit-eating grin. “You said girlfriend without stuttering.”
She placed a lazy arm on his shoulder and moved a strand of his hair more to her liking. “I’m evolving.”
“I approve of your evolution.”
She kissed him again, a little slower this time. “Thank you for being here. For chasing me. I rolled over a couple of times last night and felt you there, all I could think was you’re still here. You didn’t run away, even though I gave you an out.”
“You aren’t getting rid of me that easy, Princess.”
He sealed that promise with a kiss.
She smiled when she pulled back.
“How are you feeling about yesterday?” he asked. The trip home was void of all conversation about Cedrick Palmer.
“Resolved. I went to New York searching for revenge, and look how quickly I let it consume me. I stepped on the scale today. I lost eight pounds. That never happens when I want it to.”
Liam squeezed her thigh.
“I didn’t realize how dim everything felt until I woke up today. I saw the light coming in, heard you in here . . . and the shadows of the past were gone. Vanished. Then I looked at this and thought”—she lifted her arm with the tattoo and traced it with one finger—“I’m really glad I didn’t get anything bigger.”
They both laughed.
Her smile lit up