Chapter Twelve – When This Is Over #2
He always fell asleep in the guest room, which I’d done my best to turn into a kid’s room, but most nights, he still ended up crawling into my bed. It was the only thing the books had said I shouldn’t allow that I’d ignored. If the kid needed me to feel safe, I’d continue to let it happen.
I stared at him, curled around his stuffed animal, for a long moment, silently promising to do better. Then, I shut off the lights, left the door cracked open so I’d hear him if he called for me, and headed to the kitchen to clean up our dinner mess.
My phone rang before I’d picked up a single dish, and I knew who it was without even glancing at the screen. My parents had called every day—sometimes multiple times a day—to check in and make sure we were still alive and kicking.
“How’d the first day of preschool go?” Dad asked.
When I explained what had happened, Dad cursed under his breath. “Assholes. But just because this wasn’t the right place for him doesn’t mean there isn’t a great one out there, Park.”
“Maybe I pushed him into this too soon. Maybe he isn’t ready yet.”
“Or maybe you aren’t.”
I swallowed, knowing there was some truth to his statement. I’d ignored the panicked feeling I’d had leaving him today, and as a SEAL, I knew better than that.
“You might be right,” I confessed.
My dad was quiet for a moment. “I have an idea. You can help me out and give yourselves a break at the same time. It’ll get you out of San Diego for a few days.”
“Going to Vegas isn’t the answer right now,” I told him. We’d had a similar conversation several times over the course of the month. My parents insisted that visiting them, even if it was just for a few weeks, would be a good distraction, but I wasn’t sure I agreed.
Routine. We had to find a new routine—a new normal. I needed it as much as Theo did.
But then again, scrambling for a routine had led to an epic fail today, so maybe my parents were right.
“Not Vegas,” Dad said. “Rafe’s house in Willow Creek was broken into.
The safe needs to be checked, and I want to follow up with Maddox Hatley.
” Sadie’s brother was the sheriff in the town where Rafe and Sadie lived these days, and his sister’s house being broken into while she was away wouldn’t be pushed to a back burner.
When I said as much, Dad agreed, adding on, “He thinks it was likely teenagers scared off by the alarm blasting.”
“So, you want me to go to Tennessee?”
“No. I want you to go to Rivers.”
My entire body tightened as my mind filled with thoughts of a blond-haired lightning bolt who made me crave things I could never have.
“Why?” I grunted out.
“Two cows were mutilated. The second one had the words ‘You will pay’ cut into its hide.” He hadn’t even finished his sentence before I was moving. Adrenaline flooded me along with a rage similar to the one I’d felt at the preschool. My emotions had been completely haywire since Will’s death.
“I’ll kill JJ,” I growled.
“Calm down. According to the detective in charge of JJ’s case, he’s still in San Diego. His ankle monitor confirms it.”
I scoffed, “Ankle monitors are easy enough to tamper with.”
“Maybe for you and your teammates, not for a regular guy like JJ.”
“What about that coke-head, Ace Turner?” I demanded.
“According to Detective Harris, he and his partner paid a visit to Ace’s place of work, and he was there. Got pissed they were hassling him. But no telling if he drove to Rivers and then back before they got to him.”
“That’s a long haul,” I said.
“It is, but not impossible.” Dad hesitated. “There’s more. There was an accident.”
My heart stopped. Images of Fallon, bleeding, hurt, or worse, filled my head before I shook them away and croaked out, “Fallon?”
“She’s okay. The tractor she was driving blew a tire, and she went into a ditch. I think it scared her more than anything.”
“Fuck.”
Going into a ditch on a tractor would have reminded her of her stepdad careening off a cliff on one ten years ago.
The tractor had landed on top of him in the river, pinning Spencer under the water.
At first, the coroner had ruled it an accident until Fallon had uncovered proof that her Uncle Adam and Theresa Puzo had murdered him.
“Tractor tire had knife marks,” Dad said.
It wasn’t a fucking accident. Someone had done this to her on purpose.
“What the hell is going on with the ranch’s security?” I growled.
“Exactly my thoughts. I was heading to Rivers before I got the call about Rafe’s house.”
My brain whirled. It was easy to say Fallon was under attack from the assholes she’d helped put behind bars, but it didn’t make sense for Rafe’s house to be broken into too. “A damn lot has happened in a short span, especially if you consider the break-in at Rafe’s.”
“The two things might not be related.”
“Interesting timing, if that’s the case.”
“I know,” Dad said. “But Sheriff Hatley might be right. Rafe’s house could have just been local teens who knew the family was gone for the summer.
” We let that set for a second, and he added on, “There’s one more thing I didn’t tell you earlier.
Puzo showed up at the police station the day Fallon was arrested. ”
“Why the hell was he in California at all?”
“Said he had family business to take care of. When Rafe told me, I reminded him that one of the Puzos’ cousins, Tony Cantori, got out of prison back in March.
His wife and daughter were already living in Los Angeles, and he joined them.
He’s working for a construction company there. I’ll dig into the company some more.”
“Is Cantori on the Ike Puzo or Lorenzo side of the family feud?”
“As much as we can tell, he’s on Lorenzo’s side, which is why neither Rafe nor I were overly concerned about him being so close to Fallon,” Dad said.
As much as I disliked Lorenzo Puzo, he’d done nothing in the ten years since his cousin had murdered Spencer and tried to murder Rafe, Fallon, and Sadie to insinuate he was anything but a legitimate businessman. When I said as much to Dad, he agreed.
“The truth is, this might not be about Fallon, Rafe, or the family. We can’t assume it is, or we’ll miss other clues while attempting to pin this on an easy target. Whoever is doing this could simply be a disgruntled employee.”
I snorted in disbelief. “What does Fallon have to say about it?”
“She wasn’t the one who called me. It was Kurt. You know her, she’s trying to handle it all herself, so she’s going to be pissed no matter who shows up. But you’ve always had a good way of handling her.”
More guilt tore through me, thinking not only of one night when I hadn’t handled her well at all, but of all the times she’d had to save herself because I’d been too late.
If I didn’t have Theo, I’d already be in my truck and on the way to Rivers.
But what would happen if I took him with me, and he got hurt while I was trying to protect her? What would happen to her if I didn’t go? Both scenarios were unthinkable.
My jaw ticked as I battled a sea of mixed emotions, loyalties, and duties. But what kept ringing in my head was the oath I’d made to that blond-haired lightning bolt. I had a chance to redeem myself, to be there for her just like I’d promised after failing her one too many times.
When I was quiet for too long, Dad pushed. “Theo will love the ranch.”
He would. The kid adored dogs more than any other creature, but he got a kick out of all sorts of animals .
“He needs a routine,” I said quietly.
“He needs a break,” Dad retorted. “And so do you. Give him some new memories to think about, Park. Let some happiness settle in over the bad before you look to find that routine you’ve been reading about in all those damn books.”
I swiped a hand over my head. I needed a haircut. Maybe I’d just shave it off like I was some rookie frogman at BUD/S again. I felt more like a damn tadpole right now than I had in nearly a decade, fumbling around in the dark, searching for the right direction.
Debate warred in me. No good answer. No good path to take. All the ones in front of me were loaded with land mines I was sure to step on.
“I’ll leave tonight.”
Dad exhaled with relief, and just that single sound eased the tension in my shoulders.
I’d made the right decision.