Page 82 of My Cruel Salvation

His phone had also indicated that Ronan had pulled up, and he texted his friend the new alarm code, which they had started to change every two hours, so that he could enter the house.

“OK,” he said to Lamar. “Sorry about that. Go ahead.”

“We got some good news after Brandy’s video,” Lamar said. Devlin knew that the detective hadn’t been pleased to learn that Brandy had done that without letting him know. But he’d said he understood why, and he only wished that he’d known so he could have been around to support her when the thing went live.

“What’s going on?” Devlin asked.

“Walt says that someone offered him cash to file the assault charge.”

Devlin sat up straighter. “Who?”

“He doesn’t know. Said it was anonymous. He also said that he agrees it was stupid to take cash under those circumstances, but he stands by his complaint. You did beat the shit out of him.”

“Under the circumstances, I’m not terribly worried about a conviction. Are you putting him in front of mug shots to identify the payor?”

“Yes, but nothing so far.”

“Well, that’s too bad. Keep me posted, okay?” Devlin was about to end the call, when Lamar continued.

“That’s not all of it. I want to get you and Brandy down here to the station first thing in the morning. Apparently Walt wants a sit-down. Are you up for that?”

“It’s a civil case. What’s he doing pulling in the police?”

“His attorney’s been on us to press charges. He must want to address that, too. Honestly, I’m happy to be in the loop. Makes it easier for me to look after Brandy.”

“Well, I don’t know what he expects will happen, but I’m game.” If nothing else, he wanted to look in the bastard’s eyes. And let Walt look into his. “When?”

“I’ll book a conference room for nine tomorrow morning.”

Devlin hesitated.

“Come on, man. This is a good thing.”

“No. I’m not hesitating because of that. I just hate putting Brandy through this again so quickly. But you’re right. I’ll go talk to her. Or have you already called her?”

“No. I can if you want.”

“It’s fine,” Devlin said. “I’ll let her know, and unless she balks, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Brandy leaned forward and rubbed her hand lovingly over the dashboard as they turned out of the neighborhood, the morning sun shining down on them. “I’m so glad you got Shelby restored,” she said. “I missed her.”

“So did I,” Devlin said, not mentioning that he missed his Tesla as well. The fact that it had been destroyed in the bombing was the reason they’d borrowed Shelby, promising Ellie they’d be extra careful with her restored baby.

“They did an incredible job fixing her up,” Devlin continued. “I know how much Shelby means to Ellie.”

Brandy shifted in her seat. “It means so much that you understand that. More important, that you understand why Shelby is so important to her.” She hesitated, then added, “You’re good for her, you know. To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure before.”

He turned and looked at her more directly as he paused at a yield sign. “You mean when she came to town, and I was doing my best to push her away?”

Brandy laughed. “Yeah well, you failed miserably in that regard.”

Devlin grinned. “Deep down, I wasn’t even trying.”

“I get that. But that’s not what I meant. I meant when we were kids. I mean, I liked you a lot. Heck, I liked you from that first day when you offered to go get us pizza for movie night. But then you guys got involved, and I was the only one who knew, and I had to keep it a secret, and that scared me.”

She sighed, her shoulders rising and falling. “I just—I guess I was afraid that you were an older guy who was going to hurt her, even though you seemed so good together. It felt like it couldn’t last. And then you went away, and I pretty much hated you.”

“For that, I hated myself.”