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What problems specifically was I causing them?
Everything I’ve done is because of my family. What exactly are they trying to hide anyway? You don’t ambush and attempt to murder a cop just because they’re snooping around or trying to protect their nephew. But if you’re inadvertently getting too close to something they want far away from the cops, perhaps that could be it.
So what are those bastards hiding?
And for whom are they hiding it?
That’s the real question. My gut tells me it’s related to our police department. Tanaka has been making my radar go off since day one when he arrived in his flashy car. Does he have something illegal going on with those bikers? What could it be?
My mind races around and around in a never-ending circle. It doesn’t help being on pain meds. I can’t think as clearly as I’d like. If only I could put a finger on what’s going on so I could put a stop to it once and for all.
“Babe,” Dempsey says, appearing in the living room again, this time, disappointingly, with his shirt back on. “Don’t be mad.”
Don’t be mad?
I can hear car doors slamming outside. Someone’s here and he doesn’t want me to be mad about it.
“Who?”
He cringes and says, “They came up to the hospital yesterday to see you, but I told them to just come over here today since you were being discharged.”
“Who are they?” I demand, voice tight.
“Your family.”
Before I can process his answer, said family just walks right in, Kaden leading the pack. Though I’m happy to see him, and Lucy too, seeing Mom in my house for the first time ever is a punch to the gut.
“I told your sisters that job was dangerous,” Mom says in her gravelly smoker’s voice in lieu of a greeting. “Been predicting you’d get shot since you told us you joined the academy.”
Rhiannon, whose bruises are fading, rolls her eyes behind Mom’s back. Kaden and Lucy both rush over to me, hammering me with a thousand questions.
“Did you shoot them back?” Kaden asks, eyes wide with curiosity. “I hope you killed all those assholes.”
“Don’t say assholes,” me and Rhiannon both say at once.
“It’s an ongoing investigation, right, Aunt Sloane? I bet you’re not allowed to talk about it, huh?” Lucy squeezes my hand, brows furled together. “We’re just glad you’re okay. We all were really worried.”
I don’t see Nevaeh or her kids, so maybe not everyone was really worried. I’m honestly surprised Mom is here. Rhiannon probably guilted her into coming.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” I tell Kaden. “Like Lucy said, it’s an ongoing investigation.”
“Lame,” Kaden grumbles. “Dempsey, want to play Call of Duty?”
Lucy sits on the floor beside the couch where I’m laid up. Rhiannon sits on the coffee table nearby, while Mom inspects everything in my living room with a critical, judging eye.
“Fancy place you’ve got here,” Mom says, crossing her arms over her ample chest. “Didn’t know cops paid so well.”
“Got a good deal on rent here. Jamie knows the landlord.”
“Of course she does.” Mom flutters her fingers in a dismissive way. “Jamie’s something special now, huh?”
Dempsey, thank goodness, is in an intense conversation with Kaden about the game to even notice my mother bitching about my best friend.
“She’s happy,” I say through gritted teeth. “Have a seat, Mom. Stay a while.”
To my surprise, she sits down in the recliner. Despite Mom being Mom, it’s kind of nice that they came over. Our relationship may be shitty, but they must care, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. For someone who’s spent her lifetime feeling isolated from her own family and as though she doesn’t belong, the feeling is refreshing.
“Some of your friends from the station came by,” Rhiannon says, face scrunching. “Asked me questions about Lenny and Trevor.” Her eyes water. “You didn’t tell me he was there the night of Lenny’s murder.”
