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The monitor that she’d secured on the workstation had fallen and the screen was cracked, but it hadn’t shattered, so there was no glass on the floor. The dog stairs and beds she’d rigged up for Frizzle by the station and in the passenger seat were tossed around, but neither looked damaged.
Most of the cupboard doors hung open. Clothes and hangers lay on the floor along with containers that had fallen out of cupboards.
Rissa’s spine stiffened as she turned to the back. He knew she wasn’t worried about clothes or kitchen equipment. She’d spent countless hours building her science programs and the accompanying equipment.
He looked with her and sighed with relief when he found the floor littered with tubs but no equipment was scattered. The tubs had remained closed.
“Your hard work paid off. The tubs handled the crash.”
She nodded while she blinked back tears. “I bet there are broken pieces inside some of them, but this is so much better than I imagined.”
She turned her face into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her while she battled for control. “We’ll get it all fixed up before your next lesson. We’ve got time to order in replacements for whatever did break.”
She nodded, and he heard her draw in a slow breath. “Thank you.”
He rubbed his hands over her back until Frizzle wiggled between them. Rissa smiled, eyes clear. “You’re right, Frizzle. No one got hurt. This is all fixable. I’m so lucky.”
Burke raised an eyebrow. “You said that yesterday, too.”
“I’ll probably say it tomorrow and the day after, too, because it’s true. Everyone is safe. I never truly believed I’d ever find my place, ever find you again. Yesterday was scary, but Victor is in jail, and he’s going to keep Curt in prison longer than planned. He deserves everything he gets for hurting you.”
Her fierce tone had Burke wrapping his arms around her and kissing her deeply. “I’m feeling very lucky right along with you, Rissa.”
Frizzle’s bark interrupted their kiss and preceded a knock on the RV door. Lawson poked his head in. “Marcus is here. He wanted to save everyone a drive into town, so he’s going to take our statements here and catch us up. Seth and Mara said we’re doing it in the dining room because no one gets to screw up our lunch two days in a row.”
Rissa laughed and shot another look around the RV. “We’re good to go.”
Once they were all in the dining room with tea and coffee, Mara sat. “Business first. Then we can enjoy the meal Seth prepared.
The chef grinned and kissed her. “Mara made several varieties of focaccia, and we’ve got new frittata and soup recipes to judge, all with the dreaded orange vegetable that Ella Mae is learning to love.”
Ella whipped her head towards Seth as she tried to figure out his sentence. Charlie distracted her with a grin. “Want to do a puzzle, Ella?”
When she lifted her arms, Charlie carried her to the other room with a grin. He was an amazing big brother.
Marcus took that as his cue. “Victor Anderson is singing like a spring robin. Before the trial began, Curt contacted his second cousin, Victor, and asked him for help. Curt said his bosses would pay well and that Victor would earn credit with the Clancy family if he wanted to move to Boston to work with them.”
Burke frowned. “But the Clancy family wants nothing to do with Curt. He’s high on their shit list.”
Marcus nodded. “Which proves Curt’s an idiot. Either he figured he’d be able to worm his way back into their good graces, or he used the name as leverage to get Victor to do what he wanted. Even in Albany, Victor had heard of the Clancy family. He didn’t want to get on their bad side. That doesn’t absolve him of guilt for his actions, but gives us more ammunition to keep Curt in prison for longer. I’ve talked to the FBI, and they’re building the case to charge him with conspiracy to commit murder.”
He sipped his coffee, and Burke realized how tired he looked. “Did you get any sleep, Arrow?”
His buddy shrugged. “A little. Wanted to get the charges prepared and everything finalized before the FBI comes to take Anderson with them. He’ll be held in protective custody while they get his full statement and decide where he’s going to do his time.”
“He’ll go to jail?” Rissa squeezed Burke’s hand as she asked her question.
Arrow nodded. “For a long time. He’s facing a huge list of charges, from trespassing to attempted murder. It’s likely the feds will have him serve his time far away from his cousin and the Clancy family. He’s trying to blame Curt, but Victor’s responsible for his own actions.”
Rissa blew out a breath. “Part of me feels sorry for him because he was dumb enough to be Curt’s pawn, but I’m glad he won’t be causing us any more trouble.”
Burke grinned at her use of us. Even when the man had tried to blow up her Q Lab, she’d said Victor had been trying to hurt Burke—this time she’d said us.
The door swung open and Gray ushered Amber through. She carried little Jayna wrapped in a bundle in her arms.
Burke shoved to his feet. “Are you okay? Should you be up and walking? Should you be doing stairs?”
His brothers echoed his questions as they all hurried to her. Gray laughed and wrapped his arm around Amber. “Told you.”
