Chapter 37
We dropped Javi off at his apartment above Ramón’s garage and rolled into South Riding just before dusk. The sun hadn’t yet dipped below the horizon, and the streetlamps in the neighborhood had yet to turn on.
I cruised past our house, ignoring the pull I felt toward it when I saw Nick’s Impala in the driveway.
“Where are we going?” Vero asked. “I thought we were going home.”
“We are. I just have one stop to make first.” I turned at the next street and slowed in front of Stacey’s house. A light was on in her kitchen window, and I could see her kids playing on their trampoline in the backyard. I pulled into her driveway and parked beside her car.
“Oh boy,” Vero said as I put the minivan in park. “Want any backup?”
“No. This won’t take long.”
I walked to Stacey’s front door and rang the bell. Pots and pans clattered in the kitchen, and Stacey hollered at her husband to turn the volume on the TV down. She wiped her hands on a dish towel as she came to the front door. She slowed when she spotted me through the window, her smile faltering.
“Finlay? What a surprise. I didn’t know you were back in town.” Her gaze darted to my van. Vero waggled her fingers out of her open window. I was sure she was listening to every word. “Did Vero have her trial already?”
“Her charges were dropped,” I said. “So you can go back to your little social media parade and tell all your followers that she isn’t going to prison.
She’s coming home with me and the kids, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.
Not at the bus stop. Not at the playground.
And not online. Furthermore,” I said, my anger building to a dangerous crescendo, “the color and cut of my boyfriend’s underwear is none of your business.
Neither is the frequency of his visits to my home, the status of our relationship, or how often he spends the night.
But since I’m tired of all the speculation and gossip and your bullshit polls, I’m going to give it to you straight from the horse’s mouth, Stacey: Nick looks damn good in and out of his underwear, our relationship is doing just fine, and if he ever does move in with me, you’d be the last person I’d tell about it.
You can inform all your followers that the stunning woman you saw leaving my house the other night—the one you and your friends were so eager to dox—happens to be a special investigator in cyber-forensic crimes.
She also happens to be a very good shot. ”
Stacey recoiled. “We didn’t mean anything by it, Finlay. We were just concerned about you—”
“Sure you were,” I said drily. “Next time you’re feeling concerned about my life, bring a plate of brownies to my house and ask me to my face.
Oh, and one more thing,” I said, feeling inspired.
“In case you haven’t heard, Margaret Haggerty and I are working on a book together.
I’m thinking of calling it The Neighborhood Watch.
There’s a scandalous amount of sex in it, plenty of white-collar crime, loads of backstabbing and suburban-mom drama, and a shocking amount of drugs,” I said, listing off the highlights.
“My agent thinks it’s got the makings of an instant bestseller.
I have no idea if all of it’s true,” I added with a shrug.
“Maybe I’ll put it all up to a vote and leave it to my followers to decide. ”
Stacey looked a little sick as I said a curt goodbye and strutted back to my van.
“That. Was. Epic!” Vero said as I got in and slammed the door. “Also, I need to read every chapter of that damn book. Was that true? Are you actually going to help Mrs. Haggerty write it?”
“Sure, why not?” At least then I’d have some control over what she put in it.
I drove to my house and parked beside Nick’s Impala. I leaned closer to the windshield, trying to peek inside the kitchen windows, expecting to see Zach and Delia’s eager faces, but the blinds were all drawn.
“That’s strange. I texted Nick two hours ago and told him we were on the way home.” I checked my phone, surprised to see he hadn’t read any of my messages yet.
I peeked up at the house again. From the outside, everything looked perfectly quiet.
“Quit worrying,” Vero said. “I’m sure Nick has everything under control.”
“But—”
“Everything is fine, Finn. There were no bodies in the shower curtain,” she reminded me.
“Stop letting your mind run straight to the worst-case scenario.” She was out of her seat before I managed to put the van in park.
She didn’t bother to unload her suitcases, jogging straight to the front door as she dug in her purse.
I barely had time to grab my overnight bag before she’d wrestled her house key into the lock.
“I’m home!” she called as she flung the door open.
Two tiny heads popped up from the sofa. Delia gasped. “Vero!” She leaped off the couch and dove into Vero’s arms, nearly knocking her backward off her feet.
“Wewo!” Zach scrambled off the sofa, his little legs pumping as he plowed into Vero’s knees.
“Oh boy, did I miss you two monsters!” She squeezed them tight, fighting back sniffles as she drank them in.
I closed the door and dropped my overnight bag. “Do I get a turn?”
“Mommy!” They raced to meet me, each claiming a side.
It wasn’t until they were locked around me like two tiny octopuses that the weight of the worries I’d been carrying for the last week finally began to slip away from me.
Maybe Vero was right. Why was my mind always jumping to the darkest conclusions?
Not every situation had to be the plot of a suspense novel.
I kissed the soft crown of Delia’s head and blew a raspberry behind Zach’s ear, making him giggle, and I thought I’d never hear another sound quite that sweet.
I held them to me as I glanced around the house.
Toys and crayons littered the living room, but the place didn’t look much worse for wear.
The kitchen table was set for dinner, and there was an empty Wegmans take-out bag left beside the stove.
“Where’s Nick?” I asked Delia.
“Upstairs in the closet,” she said with the tiniest hint of a lisp. “Zach took Nick’s cell phone while Nick was emptying the dishwasher. We looked all over the house for it, but we couldn’t find it anywhere! I tried to get Zach to tell me where it is, but I don’t think he wants to.”
“I see.” I raised an eyebrow at Zach. He giggled, delighted with himself, as I set him on his feet. I knelt in front of him with a grave expression. “Did you take Nick’s phone?”
Zach nodded.
I shook a reproving finger at him. “You know it’s not nice to take things that don’t belong to you. We need to give it back. Nick’s probably very worried about it. Do you remember where you put it?”
Zach turned his chubby hands palms up and shrugged. “I no me-member.”
“Uh-huh,” I said doubtfully. I rose and walked to the pantry. He watched me curiously as I reached for a box of chocolate chunk cookies I’d been saving for Vero’s return. “If I give you one of these, do you think you could remember?”
Zach’s eyes locked onto the cookies like a missile on a target. He ran to me, bouncing on his toes and pulling himself up my leg with grabby hands. “I have dat?”
I held the box out of his reach. “You can have one when you bring me Nick’s phone.”
Zach paused. I could picture the gears in his brain spinning like tiny hamster wheels.
In a sudden burst, he darted out of the kitchen.
We all followed him up the stairs. He made a sharp left into his bathroom and zoomed to the commode.
I cringed, remembering my last fishing expedition for my keys, but instead of pointing inside the toilet, he reached for the box of baby wipes on the tank lid.
Something heavy rattled inside as he handed it over to me.
I pried the plastic box open.
“Cookie?” Zach’s voice was strained. I sensed the thinly veiled threat of a tantrum in it.
Vero scooped him up and nudged Delia into the hall. “Come on, you two. I’ll take you downstairs for some cookies while your mom gives Nick his phone.” She winked at me on her way out of the bathroom.
I dried the damp phone on my sweatshirt on my way to my bedroom. A light was on inside my closet. I peeked my head in and found Nick on his hands and knees on the carpet, shining a flashlight under the shoe rack.
“Looking for this?” I asked.
He sat up fast and smacked his head on a shelf.
He winced as he turned around, relief washing over his face when he saw me.
I wasn’t sure if his smile was for me or the phone in my hand until he took it and dropped it into the laundry basket on the floor.
He drew me against him, his mouth hungry on mine as he backed me into a rack of hanging clothes.
I was pretty sure he hadn’t shaved since I left.
His beard was thicker than I was used to, the unkempt waves of his hair almost feral.
It made kissing him feel a little wild, like I was experiencing a strange new side of him I hadn’t seen before.
Judging by what was happening in Nick’s pants, he was enjoying it, too.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” he said when we came up for air. “Jesus, Finn. You scared the shit out of me.”
“I didn’t mean to. I texted you when Vero and I left Norma’s.”
Nick pulled back sharply. “Vero came with you?”
I nodded, unable to contain my wide, triumphant grin. “She’s downstairs with the kids.” The color drained from his face, and I laughed. “Don’t worry, her departure from Maryland was perfectly legal. They dropped the charges this morning.”
Some of the tension left his shoulders. “You found your witness?”