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“He’s okay?” Sobbing uncontrollably as a tsunami of relief washed over me, I felt my legs give out beneath me. “Joe’s okay?”
“You’re okay, too,” Dad soothed, catching me before I hit the ground. “You’re okay, too, pet.” Turning to Casey, he asked, “Did everyone get out?”
“All the kids got out,” I heard her tell him. “From what I’ve been hearing from the neighbors, Joe and all the kids have been taken to Shannon’s boyfriend’s house. It’s just his mother and father. They’re the only ones who burned—”
“Right, that’s enough,” Dad interrupted, hooking an arm around me and pulling me to his chest. “You’re coming home with me right now. Casey, pet, are you coming? I think Aoife could use her little sidekick tonight.”
“For sure, Daddy-T, I’m coming.”
“What? No, no, no!” Wide-eyed and horrified, I spun around to gape at my father. “Dad, no. I can’t go home. I have to go to him. He’s—”
“No.” Cutting me off, my father wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders and led me back to the van. “You’re not. You’re coming home with me and Casey, and you’re going to stay home. Tomorrow’s another day. You can go and see him then. I promise you faithfully I will take you to the Kavanaghs’ house myself, but right now, I need you to come home and rest.”
“Dad, you don’t understand—”
“No, you don’t understand, Aoife,” he snapped, helping me into the passenger side of the van, and then waiting for Casey to climb in beside me before slamming the door shut and rounding the driver’s side. “You’re pregnant, for Christ’s sake,” he continued, climbing in alongside us and starting the engine. “This isn’t good for you. I know you love the boy, and my heart is breaking for him, too. I’ve indulged you all night. I’ve done everything I can to help and support you, but I’m putting my foot down now. This isn’t good for the baby, and I think it’s high time you start putting the baby first.”
111
Wake Me Up When It’s All Over
JOEY
“How am I supposed to do this, John? How am I supposed to arrange my mother’s funeral?”
“You’re not on your own here, Darren. We’ll support you in every way we can.”
People were talking around me.
“It will be some time before they release the bodies.”
Making plans.
“I presume they’ll release his body to your family, too.”
Making decisions.
“She’s not being buried with him.”
I couldn’t take in a word of it.
“The Gards will take another round of statements, but it’s safe to say it’s looking like arson.”
Slumped against the dining table of a room I’d never been inside, I rested my cheek against the solid oak and held the back of my head with my hands.
“Of course it’s arson. The bastard burned her alive! It’s a murder-suicide.”
Her hand.
“He tried to take the kids out with him.”
Why the fuck could I not get the image of her hand dangling out of that body bag out of my head?
“The doctor is on the way again. He’ll look after them both.”
That’s your mother, asshole.
She’s cold on a slab now.
