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And then she blinked. “Sean, honey, do you want something to drink? I have coffee and Pepsi. And there might be some snickerdoodles from the bakery.”
“Pepsi and cookies would be great,” he said.
She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “For being a good boy when they took out your staples,” she said, and jumped up.
He watched her disappear into the back room and thought,Was this how fast Brendan lost Meg? She just walked out of sight?A sudden wave of sadness washed through him, as ifthey’djust shown him what that loss felt like.
Then Amalie came back smiling, carrying a handful of cookies in a napkin and a bottle of Pepsi in the other.
“Are you warm enough sitting by the window? I can turn up the thermostat.”
“It’s all good,” he said, and then her phone rang.
“Duty calls,” she said, and hurried back to her desk to take the call.
He opened his drink, put half a cookie in his mouth, and kicked back to watch her in action, while coming to the realization that none of their meetings had been by chance. Brendan and Meg lost each other. She died, waiting to be found, and he died without ever knowing where she’d gone.
Until now.
About an hour and a half later, Shirley called to let Sean know she was on the way.
“Okay, I’ll be watching for you,” he said, and began logging out of Amalie’s extra computer.
“Was that your mom?” she asked.
“Yes. Thanks for letting me use your stuff. I got caught up on email and saved one seventeen-year-old gamer from a total meltdown,” he said. “And you know what he said? The best part ever was me saving his score when I got his program unlocked!”
She wiggled her brows. “You are the man.”
“Thanks for the reminder, not that it was needed. The next time I see you, my mommy will not be picking me up, and I will most likely be taking you to bed,” he told her, and then she was in his arms.
The room tilted again, and Amalie felt the rough brush of a beard against her face and a deep chuckle in her ear.
I said you would be okay.
Her heart skipped, and then the feeling was gone, and it was Sean, and he was telling her goodbye, and all she could think to do was keep nodding and smiling.
As soon as the door closed behind him, she dropped to the sofa.
“Oh my god, oh my god. What’s happening to me?” she whispered.
You just came home, Chickie. You just came home.
The file on Ellis Townley’s murder was closed.
Detectives Muncy and Bruner had solved the case, and whatever happened to Vincent Romo now was up to the courts. They had commendations in their files from the FBI for their quick observance of facts adhering to a federal case and sharing their information.
It should have all felt over, but it didn’t. Because they kept remembering how Townley’s death had made the life of that single mother who lived down the hall that much harder.
Muncy still thought of taking the two boys to get food and wondered how the hell they would manage now that they had lost access to a car. Trying to find a way to get one for them wouldn’t work, because they obviously would not have been able to afford the gas or insurance if they had one. He kept trying to forget it—that it wasn’t his job to fix the world—but he couldn’t let it go.
On their next day off, he and Bruner drove by the apartment building to make a welfare check on Wynona Deal and her four kids.
Bruner sighed as they drove up and parked.
“Tell me again… Why the hell are we doing this?”
“You didn’t have to come,” Muncy said, as he got out and went inside the building.
