Chapter 30
Thirty
Sometimes I have to turn off the news and put on a serial killer documentary so I can relax.
—Sage to Gentry
Sage
Ten days later
Dean giggled as he threw a ball for Neo and Neo nudged it back across the yard to him.
His muzzle was still in place, but only when Dean was near.
In the ten days that Van had been gone, Dean had flourished. He spoke to Van on the phone every single day, talking to his father for an hour about everything that had happened that day.
He’d officially come out of his shell.
Dean and Gentry had a great relationship, too.
One that seemed to fit perfectly.
Uncle and nephew.
“Can we take the muzzle off, please?” Dean begged.
“Uh-uh,” I said distractedly as I frowned down at my phone.
Gentry opened the door and said, “Sage?”
I looked back at him. “Yeah?”
“Come here.”
I did, my phone still glued to my hand. “Did you see this?”
He pointed to the wall where his TV was mounted.
My mouth fell open as I stared at the screen.
I read the subtitles despite the woman speaking out loud.
Irish Mob leader Sean O’Sullivan and underboss, Dario O’Neal, found dead downtown.
Okay, so I hadn’t been seeing things on my phone.
I showed it to him.
It was a video of the live feed of a crime scene where two distinct body bags were laid out on the streets of downtown Arkansas.
Gentry’s phone rang, and he answered it absently. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Van said. “You catch the news?”
Gentry and I blinked at each other. “Sure did.”
“Good. I’ll be there by Friday.”
Then he hung up.
Gentry pushed his phone back into his pocket.
“Earlier, Van asked if he could move into your RV.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“There’s that bunk in there for Dean. And for now, we think it’d be best to be close just in case.”
I nodded. “That’s perfect.”
“He’ll be home in two days. He said he’s cleaning out his apartment now.”
“Good,” I breathed. “Do you think it was him?”
Gentry looked back at the screen where the ticker at the bottom of the screen said “Chaos in Arkansas.”
“I think that he’s a fucking badass, and if anyone could get rid of Dario O’Neal and Sean O’Sullivan and get away with it, it’d be him.”
Squeals of laughter had us staring out into the backyard where Dean threw the ball again for Neo, who tore across the yard in the snow and skidded before pushing it back to Dean with his nose.
“Everyone is healing,” I found myself saying.
Gentry curled his arm around my shoulder before saying, “So we are.”
I leaned my head against his chest as I said, “What’s next for us, Gentry?”
His arm squeezed me in tighter before he said, “I guess we could move in together. Seeing as you’re being kicked out of the RV.”
I snorted. “I’ve been practically living with you for weeks now, Gentry.”
He chuckled. “So you have.”
Dean laughed and barreled into the house, heading for the fridge where he yanked it open and pulled out a Capri Sun.
He shoved the straw into the middle instead of through the top and sucked it down.
I looked at Gentry and said, “He totally learned that from you.”
Gentry shrugged.
Then we both held our breath as Neo walked inside as if he’d done it every day of his life.
He walked straight to the fire, laid down with an exhausted huff, and dropped his head to his feet.
He rolled over onto his side, then let out a doggy sigh.
“See?” Gentry teased. “Everyone is healing.”
“I see.”