Heartbreak Bay (Stillhouse Lake #5) - Rachel Caine Page 0,103

my ass.”

“I’ll talk to her,” I tell him. “She’s just scared for you. Hell, I am too. So be a little patient, okay? We’re trying to handle this the best way we can.”

“I know,” he says. “But I really didn’t do anything. That makes me want to break something.”

“I know the feeling. Hardly ever helps. You still feel pretty bad, and then you have to clean up the stuff you broke. Not great.”

“I still want to try it.”

“I’ll hand you some ugly mugs we don’t use anymore. But you’ll be on broom duty.”

He laughs, and it eases the knot in my stomach a little. I reach over and ruffle his hair. He squirms away.

When we pull into the garage, Gwen’s already standing there, spotlighted by my headlights. I kill the engine and close the garage door. Her body language is stiff, but not angry. She’s worried.

“Everything’s okay,” I tell her, which is not quite the truth, but close. “They let him go.”

Gwen silently embraces our son, and looks at me over his shoulder. When did the kid get that tall? He’s nearly her height now. I hadn’t noticed, but in a few years, he’ll make her look small. She says, “Thank you, Sam. God, thank you. I couldn’t have done that.” She lets out a shaky laugh. “I’d have launched myself like a rocket and ended up under arrest. One hundred percent chance.” She pushes Connor back and studies him with that unmistakable tenderness mothers have. Puts her hand on his cheek. “Are you all right? Really?”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” he says. His voice sounds choked and tight. “I—I know I shouldn’t have gone on that board. I just wanted . . .”

“To belong,” she finishes for him when he can’t. “I know. I’m not angry. I’m just worried.” She straightens up and looks at me, then back at Connor. “I called my boss. It took her crack IT guys ten minutes to locate the fake IP redirection and track it back. Guess where it ended up?”

I shake my head. So does Connor.

Gwen smiles slowly. It’s a wicked kind of smile, with an edge that cuts, and I love it. “Remember our two brothers that you and your sister came up with on social media? The vandals?”

“They did it?” Connor sounds shocked, but I suspect he’s just surprised that they were smart enough to pull it off.

“I’m not sure, but Lanny and I gave the cops their names as somebody to look into. Apparently they also called in tips that said you had a gun at school last week. Let’s just say they’re not having a very good night.”

I know it wasn’t them. I’m absolutely certain it wasn’t; they aren’t bright enough to pull this off, by all indications, or one of them wouldn’t have worn school athletic gear to tag our house. What was it Lanny said? They got C grades in a class that should have been a walkthrough A. But I don’t want to raise that right now, not when there’s real relief on Gwen’s and Connor’s faces. Later.

I’m bone tired. But I feel like we’re okay.

And I sleep the sleep of the dead.

19

KEZIA

The nurse was right; I feel horrible the next time I wake up on Thursday morning. Bruised, aching, cranky as hell. But finally my head is clear, and when I groan and squint against the morning light and hit the control to raise my bed back up to a sitting position, I see that Javier’s getting my clothes out of the closet. They’re nasty and bloody, but at least they’re mine.

“I would’ve gotten you fresh stuff, but I didn’t want to leave you,” he says. “How you feeling?”

“Great,” I say. “Better once I’m out of here.”

“The doctor talked to me. They’re pulling your IV, all your head CTs were good, so they’re kicking you out. He says to avoid strenuous activity. I’m going to say that means no sex, no kettlebells, and no foot pursuits. Anything else ought to be okay, right?”

“It bugs me you put sex first in that list, Javi.”

“Love, the way we do it, it deserves to be first.” He grins and kisses me. Long, warm, sweet. A little bit hot, but he’s trying to hold it down. “Good news, I don’t have to go back to training. No sense burning more helicopter fuel getting me back again at this point.” That’s a relief. I like having him here always, but especially right now.

Getting dressed hurts, but it also feels like getting