Chapter 43 Poe
POE
Rafe and Lilah were barely out the door when Maeve turned to us, her face flushed with excitement. “He’s there. We can go in now.”
“Hold up,” Bram said. “Let’s think about this.”
“What’s to think about?” Maeve’s eyes were bright. “He’s there. He’s right there!”
“That’s not all there is to know,” Bram said. “I want to look at the footage again, get a handle on how many guards might be there, think about the best approach to the property,” Bram said.
Maeve paced the living room. “All we do is talk.”
“Talking first is what you do when you don’t want to get caught,” Bram said, an angry edge to his voice. “Or killed.”
“Bram is right,” Remy said. “The drone footage is a good start, but this isn’t some small-timer we’re dealing with. We have to be careful. Make plans to get the job done, make plans to clean it up afterwards.”
“Plus, we’re meeting up with the Kings this weekend,” I added. “They might have more information about Todd’s ties to Aventine.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t care about his ties to Aventine. I just want him…” She took a deep breath. “I just want him to pay for what he did to June.”
I didn’t remind her that Ethan Todd hadn’t killed June. I knew what she meant. I also knew how easy it was to blame someone — anyone — for all the things that went wrong in life.
Which wasn’t to say Ethan bore no blame, but I was starting to wonder if Maeve had made him a receptacle for all her anguish over June.
And that worried me, because I also knew no amount of vengeance would ever heal her pain.
I couldn’t help wondering if she’d be left hollow after we got rid of Todd, still in pain with nowhere to put it.
She walked up to Bram and stopped just a couple inches from him.
“Please.” Her voice was small and pleading as she looked up at him. “I’ve never asked you for anything.”
His jaw was tight with restraint. “You know I want to do this for you, Maeve. I will do this for you. My way.”
It was a bigger revelation than Maeve could have realized. I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard Bram say he wanted to do anything, let alone something for someone else.
But Maeve’s face fell, her expression full of despair in the moment before she turned away from him, stomping down the hall toward the stairs.
“Fuck.” Bram ran his hands through his hair and paced toward the big windows overlooking Main Street.
I heard the anguish in his voice and knew he was in trouble.
We all were.