Epilogue
epilogue
HARLOW
“Can you believe Jasper actually came to the show?” Cal says with stars in his eyes.
“That was over a month ago,” I point out again.
“I know, but Jasper Wentworth came to my show,” he says, looking like an excited little kid. I laugh at him and kiss his cheek. “And he got me tickets to the season opener in April!”
I looked into that game since Cal won’t go without all of us, and I helped Jo book the hotel and flights. “You know that game is against Boston, right?”
Cal rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah. Do you think he’d be offended if I went to his game in the opposing team’s jersey?”
“You think you’d be offended if he wore an opposing band’s shirt to your concert?” I counter. Cal frowns.
“I’m going to be cast out of New England if I wear a Chickadees jersey,” he says, looking a little panicked.
“Why don’t you just wear Shattered Halo merch?”
Cal’s shoulders slump in relief. “That will work.”
“Glad I could help. Now, I have to go over some files that were submitted to the platform with Jo,” I tell him. “I’ll be back in time for Cora’s bedtime.”
“Okay, wife,” he says, kissing me longer and with a lot more tongue than is appropriate for a goodbye.
“You’re not convincing me to stay and have sex on the new couch.” We had to get a new one after Cora got into some markers I didn’t hide high enough. My girl is growing a lot faster than I like.
“Aww. Come on, Firecracker. It’ll be fun,” Cal says, trying to pull me closer to him.
“Yes, it will. Tonight,” I say, freeing myself and quickly walking to the door.
“Fine,” he says, pouting. “I’m going to go over to Mav’s. Kai is already there. So that’s where I’ll be if you need me. Or you miss me.”
I snort and shake my head.
“I love you, wife,” he says, smiling sweetly.
“I love you too, husband.”
I quickly make my way out the door and down the sidewalk to Willa’s house. The temperature has turned cold quickly, and I can smell winter in the air.
Jo is at the door when I get there. “I think we got something!” she yells and turns to run into the house. I follow quickly behind her, stopping to discard my shoes at the door. Willa and Belle went out to dinner. They invited us, but I was already cooking dinner for my little family and Jo was busy. So it’s just us here right now.
Willa’s house is brighter than the others. She has large windows throughout the bottom floor and all the walls are white where you can even see the wall. She kept the natural wood on the window frames and the beams on the ceiling. The warm brown leather sectional and thick blue rug in the living room are inviting. I haven’t been in too much of the house, but I imagine it’s the same style.
I take a seat on the couch next to Jo and wait while she pulls her laptop onto her lap. She has an audio clip on the screen that was submitted anonymously.
“I was a reporter at the time of Ezra’s disappearance,” I read the note accompanying it out loud. “I’ve kept this recording as insurance, but I think you could use it more.”
“Ready?” Jo asks.
“They don’t say who the recording is of?”
“Nope.”
“Have you listened to it yet?” I ask her, turning to see her looking annoyed.
“Woman, can you ask all your questions after I play it?”
“Right. Yup. Play it,” I say, miming zipping my lips.
Jo hits play, and I listen.
“ You got rid of the boy?” a voice comes through. It’s muffled, and I can barely make out what they’re saying.
“I told you I did.” That one is Senator Wolfe.
“Then why is his brother trying so hard to find him?” comes the muffled voice again.
“It’s his brother. What the fuck were you expecting?” Wolfe.
“You could’ve left a fucking body,” the muffled voice hisses.
“You told me to make sure no one could connect it to us!” Wolfe.
The other voice makes a strange noise and the recording ends.
I frown. “Can you play that again?” Jo nods and plays it again.
“We can assume this is about Ezra, and Wolfe is clearly the one being recorded,” she says. “But I doubt it was obtained legally, and we don’t know who the other voice is. Whoever that is was calling the shots.”
“Senator Wolfe didn’t kill Ezra. We know that, but now it seems like it was either on purpose, or he was covering up his fuck up.”
“Who is powerful enough to use a senator as a puppet?” Jo asks.
“He was just a judge at that time,” I say.
“Judges still hold a lot of power.”
We sit there long enough for the sun to set and come up with nothing.
“Two things. We need to know what Ezra saw, and we need to know who that voice is,” I say.
“So we need to find Ezra,” Jo says.
“We’re doing that, anyway. I just hope he’s willing to tell us when we find him.”
Jo nods, going to put her laptop away, but I stop her. “Play it again.”
She does without questioning me.
“Again,” I say after it ends. She frowns but plays it again. There’s something in that voice. I know it.
“What are you thinking?” Jo asks after the third replay.
“One more time,” I say, ignoring her question.
My jaw drops as everything clicks. I shoot to my feet and run out the door, not bothering to put my shoes on.
“Harlow! What the hell? Wait up!” Jo calls, chasing after me.
Thank god all their houses are close together, or I would lose a toe. I charge up the front steps and into Maverick’s house.
He comes around the corner at the sound of his door opening, and I almost crash into him.
“Harlow? What’s wrong?” he says, seeing my face.
“Firecracker!” Cal says excitedly as he comes into the foyer too. Then he sees me and rushes to my side. “What happened, baby?”
“I’d really like to know that too,” Jo says, panting as she finally catches up.
“It’s not your dad,” I tell Mav.
Everyone is frowning at me, both confused and concerned. I ignore them, trying to explain as my brain sorts through everything.
“Your dad. He’s a pawn or a scapegoat, or maybe just a cohort. All those charges. I don’t know how many he actually did,” I poorly explain.
“If it wasn’t him, who was it?”
“It’s —” I say, but then the front door slams open, and we all turn to see a woman walk in like she owns the place. Maverick’s frown deepens and turns angry.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”