Chapter 19
“Foxe, where the hell are you?” I demand over the comms.
Alex and I are back in the pool house, and I expected Foxe to be waiting for us.
“Hiding in the back of Alex’s car.”
I give Alex a dry look as I strip off my jacket.
She just shakes her head. “She’s got issues.”
“I can hear you,” Foxe says. “Your nieces are almost done with their movie and will be coming to see you soon. I don’t want them to see me.”
“How do you know they’re almost done?” From the closet, I grab a sweater with a dancing Santa on the front and duck into the bathroom to change. This hideous gift was from my sister two years ago, so now I wear it when we look at lights.
It makes me miss her even more.
“I’m all-seeing,” Foxe says in a singsong voice.
“Whatever, stalker.” But when I stride back into the living space, Fiona is walking in with both Riley and Quinn right behind her. Foxe really is all-seeing.
The two younger girls are hopping up and down with excitement.
Riley has on reindeer ears with little bells on each one, and Quinn is wearing a headband with mini Christmas lights lit up.
All three are wearing Christmas sweaters over jeans, and even red and gold mittens I know were a gift from Cara last year.
It’s so wrong that she isn’t here to see this.
“Daddy’s getting the golf cart and we’re ready to goooo!” Riley basically shouts as she hops around.
“We need hot cocoa too!” This from Quinn, also at full shout.
Fiona simply sighs. “They’re all hopped up on sugar. No more hot cocoa.”
This earns groans from both of them, and a round of only slightly obnoxious begging from Quinn.
Riley goes to stand in front of Alex, who’s watching the girls in fascination. And maybe a little horror.
“Are you Aunt Sloane’s girlfriend?” Riley demands.
Alex shakes her head. “No, we’re partners though. We’re both pilots. And I’m married anyway, to a woman named Rose.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
“She’s a pretty woman.”
Riley prances around, shaking her reindeer headband and making mooing sounds. “Like me.”
“Oh my god, stop being so weird. Reindeers don’t moo, and you’re asking too many personal questions.” Fiona rolls her eyes and grabs her sister’s hand before guiding her outside.
“This is what you have to look forward to soon,” I murmur as Alex and I step outside. I know they’re planning on more kids after their first. Who will be here in just a few months.
She snickers. “I’m weirdly looking forward to it. Your nieces are kinda nuts.”
“It’s all of them, not just my nieces.” Kids are weird, but in a good way. They just say what’s on their mind, and for the most part, you always know where you stand with the twelve and under crowd. Teenagers are a different story—they’re terrifying. I know I was.
The girls start bickering almost immediately as they pile into the seats—Fiona in front and Riley and Quinn in the back seat of the golf cart.
I don’t know why, but I kinda love it. The normalcy of them just acting like kids.
“You don’t have to go see lights with us.
Go home to Rose,” I murmur. “You should get Foxe out of here anyway, before she suffocates in the trunk. Freaking weirdo.”
“I can still hear you,” she says over the earpiece.
“Yeah, that’s why I said it.”
“I’m in the back, under a blanket, for the record.”
“It wouldn’t kill you to meet my nieces.
” I’m weirdly offended that she decided to hide rather than meet them, even though I know how she is.
She hates basically everyone, and hates our “surveillance state.” I mean, she’s not wrong about all the CCTVs and shit, but she takes things to the tinfoil hat level.
“I thought you didn’t want to mix personal and work,” she snarks.
Gah. “I hate you,” I mutter, then turn off the earpiece and slide it into my pocket.
“She’s not wrong.” Alex’s tone is tart.
“Seriously? You too?”
Alex shrugs, but she’s grinning. “We’ve got a solid lead. It’s something.”
She’s right, we do have a good lead. Turns out Thick Neck is a man named Vincento the Tank, aka Tank, and works for a loan shark named Orson Hall.
Hall is the owner of the bar we followed him to—Hall of Fame.
I can’t imagine Cara mixed up with a loan shark, but I know Ethan had gambling problems in the past. It’s not a big leap that there’s a connection.
Still, getting involved with a loan shark is a big jump.
I need to speak with Ethan, but only after the girls look at Christmas lights. Then after that, I’m going to talk to Chesky and see if I can figure out if he knows anything. He was friends with Cara and I need to pull on that thread, especially since it seems like he’s sleeping with Ava.
And Ava… I’m still not sure about her.
“Come on, Aunt Sloane!” Riley shouts.
And Ethan honks the horn of the golf cart, actually grinning. He’s in an ugly Christmas sweater and one of the girls must have convinced him to wear a jingly headband too. Pretty sure he’ll do anything they ask at this point. He holds another headband up and points at me.
“One sec, let me say good-bye.” I turn to Alex. “So, what’s the plan? Because I’m going to reach out to Marcus Chesky tonight,” I whisper. I’m hoping I’ll see him on the drive around the neighborhood. I can ambush him if the opportunity arises.
“Foxe and I will start digging into what you’ve got. Enjoy the next hour with your nieces. I know we’ve got a lot to do, but take one hour. They need you too.”
She’s right, I know that. I can do one hour, then I’m going to talk to Chesky and dive into the files I stole as well. Ugh, and I really do need to talk to Ethan, even if the conversation will be uncomfortable.
One step at a time, I remind myself. Investigations are all about steps and due diligence. And patience, something I don’t have a lot of right now. It’s part of the reason I’m thinking of going down to that sports bar and doing something stupid.
“Nope.” Alex shakes her head. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I hate how well she reads me. “Of course not. I’ll have my phone on me. Reach out if you find out anything,” I add, even though I know she will.
It feels like an eternity since the memorial, but it was only yesterday. I can take one stupid hour and spend it with my nieces.
I think I need it as much as they do. Probably more.
***
After an hour of looking at Christmas lights, talking to neighbors, and drinking way too much hot cocoa, the two youngest girls are fading fast. Fiona’s been on her phone most of the time and even Ethan has been glancing at his screen a lot more than I would have expected.
He’s been sneaky with the screen too, and I haven’t been able to see what he’s looking at from the back seat with the girls, both of whom are exhausted.
But Riley is fighting it even as she lays her head on my shoulder. “I wanna see the Blue Arrow neighborhood lights,” she murmurs.
“I think you’ve both had enough,” Ethan says from the front as he pulls up to the guard gate, already turning around to head back to their house.
“Noooo,” Quinn wails. “It’s not fair! We go there every year!”
Riley starts in then too, so Ethan holds up his hand. “Okay, okay, we’re going!”
When he pulls out past the guard gate, Ellie leans out and holds out snowman cake pops for the girls, who cheer. Oh, Tony has taught her well. The kids will love her forever now.
“Yay, more sugar,” Fiona mutters. “They’re never going to sleep.”
I doubt that, but keep the thought to myself. They are going to crash so hard, and it’s only eight-thirty anyway. Though it’s past their bedtimes.
As Ethan pulls up to the stop sign, I automatically look where that SUV was before, then freeze.
Son of a bitch.
It’s back. Or at least, an SUV that looks a lot like the one from earlier is sitting in that same spot.
I don’t have a weapon on me, though I can’t imagine them doing something to us with so many golf carts and cars around.
Normally the girls do Christmas lights viewing on the weekend, but Ethan had decided to move it up to Wednesday to keep them busy.
And, I’m guessing, to keep their minds occupied with anything other than their grief.
I glance at the front seat and realize Ethan has gone still as he spots the SUV, his knuckles stretched tight as he grips the steering wheel. He clears his throat, then steps out of the driver’s seat. “Sloane, will you take the girls to the Blue Arrow neighborhood?”
It’s the one I drove through this morning as a shortcut to ambush Vincento and his partner. “Ah, sure. Why, what’s up?” I ask even though I think I know exactly what is going on.
“I need to talk to Ellie about something. It might be a minute.”
He’s definitely lying, but I don’t push it, not with the girls here. “Sure, no problem. Buckle up girls, it’s about to get wild.”
They’re obviously already buckled up, but the two youngest cheer and even Fiona tucks her phone away as I slide into the driver’s seat.
I watch Ethan in the rearview for a second, see that he has his phone up to his ear and is clearly stressed as he talks. I need to get the girls away from whatever this is, so I turn left, then right into the other brightly decorated neighborhood.
Luckily the girls don’t sense anything is up and the drive is normal—and Riley finally falls asleep, much to no one’s surprise. By the time we make it through, I’ve looped back out Blue Arrow’s second entrance and the SUV is gone.
But Ethan is standing on the sidewalk next to the curb, just sort of staring at the road in front of him.
I honk as I approach and he jerks back, seems to take a second to see all of us. Then he wordlessly gets into the back seat with the girls and tugs Riley into his lap.
“Everything okay?” I ask, not missing the concerned look Fiona gives him. So clearly she’s picking up on this vibe too.
“Yeah, all good,” he rasps out. “Let’s get the girls home.”
Something obviously happened, and I’m going to find out what.