And I did.
The memories still lurked, the fear still sat heavy in my chest, but with his arms around me, the edges dulled. For once, my body didn’t feel like it belonged to Danny’s shadow. It felt safe. It felt like it was mine.
Somewhere in the quiet hours, sleep finally dragged me under, the last thing I heard was Travis whispering into my hair, words meant more for me than for himself.
“You’re not losing them. You’re not losing us. Not while I’m breathing. I love you too fucking much, Shade.”
And with that promise, I let the darkness take me.
I droppedthe kids off at Hal and Maggie’s place for a day on the farm. Both kids were nearly salivating at the chance of doing farm chores and playing on all the fun machinery Hal collected instead of going to school for a second day.
They were less impressed with me when I told them Frankie was sleeping, so they’d have to call her later at some point. Iwas going to have to get more creative with reasons why they couldn’t speak to her if this went on for any longer.
They were like bloodhounds and knew I was stretching the truth.
Plus, I hated lying to them.
But for the moment, they were safe, laughing, blissfully unaware of the turmoil coursing through the family at the moment. Which was exactly how I planned to keep them.
Now I needed to see to my own selfish needs, the desperation clawing inside of me to be near Frankie again. I needed to hold her, and care for her, and remind her how fucking much we loved her.
As soon as I pulled into Lucy’s driveway though, my skin prickled with trepidation as I parked behind a police cruiser that had pulled in right before me.
Chief Weller stepped out, hat tucked under his arm, with a grim look on his face that meant bad news, or worse truths.
“Morning, Elliot,” He said low, “I’m here to see Frankie, you coming in?”
My gut tightened, but I nodded. There was no way in hell he was going in without me.
Travis must have seen the cruiser pull in, because he met us at the door, an impenetrable force of protection standing between Frankie and the world, ready to hold the line, no matter the cost.
I nodded to him and moved around him to where Frankie stood in the living room, wringing her hands together, swallowed up in Trav’s sweater and with worry etched into every line of her tired face.
“Take a deep breath, Black Cat.” I murmured, kissing her temple and pulling her against my side as Lucy welcomed the chief in.
I didn’t miss the respect in the chief’s eyes as he greeted Trav and came in behind me. Trav joined us, taking Frankie’s other side, unified and steady.
“Ms. Blake,” Weller said gently, “I need to ask you some more questions about the alleged break-ins.”
Her throat worked, but she nodded. “Okay,”
I pulled her back to the couch and the three of us sat down, instantly, Travis and I both put our hands on her, his arm over her shoulders, my palm flat on her leg, and she curled into both of us even as she bravely faced the man in front of her.
Chief Weller opened a slim file, flipped to a page, and my stomach churned from all the different vile things we’d heard read off papers identical to that one the last few days.
“In the DCFS report, there’s an allegation that you leave,” He cleared his throat and looked at me briefly then back to her, “adult items out in the open. Around your kids.”
“Adult items?” Trav snapped.
“Toys.” Weller clarified, and I could feel Frankie stiffen in my arms.
“That’s a lie.” She replied.
“I believe you,” He said quickly, holding his hand up as Trav leaned forward in outrage. “But here’s what doesn’t sit right with me. The report is specific. I’ll save you the absurdity of the terms used by the source, but it references something being left on your nightstand.” His eyes narrowed. “Yet in your interview, you told me you haven’t seen the father of your kids in years. So tell me, Frankie—how the hell would he know about something sitting on your nightstand?”
Her breath stuttered, tears flooding her eyes, “Because he—he put it there.”
Travis’s hand shot to hers, steady and grounding as he barked, “You knew he was in there?”
