Page 89 of The One for Forever

I look up to see Lark crossing the living room toward me. Lia is right behind her. “Not so bad, actually,” I say. “Who knew a dangerous car chase would boost my mood?”

I hug each of them. “Uh oh,” Lia says, “sounds like we have a daredevil on our hands.”

I laugh. “Hardly. It’s funny, I used to be the cautious type.”

“But love makes us daring,” Lark says.

I think of everything Rex and I have been through. “If you want to hold on to it, yeah.”

Lia folds her arms over her chest. Her lustrous brown hair is pulled up in a high ponytail, and she’s wearing a West Oaks SWAT T-shirt. “We heard you’re planning some kind of op?”

I wave them over, and we all sit down on the couch. “I’m not that far yet. I just got off a conference call with the district attorney and our team from the trial. I assume you know what happened? The not-guilty verdict?”

They both nod. “The trial has been hard to avoid on my newsfeeds these days,” Leah says. “Plus everybody at the stationhas been talking about it nonstop. Your witness changed his testimony? Are you going after him for perjury?”

“That’s something that I discussed with Lana. It’s her call as DA. She’s considering it, but it would be nearly impossible to get a conviction. Not after Amber was acquitted.”

Lark’s face scrunches up. As usual, her long black hair is spilling over her shoulders, and her elaborate botanical tattoos are visible beneath her black tank top. “But there must be some way to challenge that not-guilty verdict, right? Can’t you show that Amber influenced Diamond somehow? That has to be what happened.”

I shake my head. “That’s what we think too, but proving it is another matter. Double jeopardy prevents us from ever trying her on the murder charges again. But we can still try to figure out what really happened. And if there are any other charges we could bring against Amber or anyone else who’s been exerting undue influence.”

Danny walks in and goes to stand behind Lark, rubbing her shoulders. “Don’t mind me,” he says. “Just listening in.”

Lark glances up at him and smiles. “I was about to say, it would be nice for the world to know the truth about Amber, even if she manages to avoid prison.”

“Exactly my feeling. And then there’s the fact that her crazed fans continue to come after me. If we can uncover the truth and show everyone who Amber really is, it could stop the harassment.”

Lia nods, ponytail bobbing. “So you’re putting together an investigation team. I know Detective De Luca has been supervising the investigation into the attacks on you.”

“Right,” I say. “She’s been trying to find out if someone is coordinating the threats and attacks. They’ve seemed random, inspired by Amber’s social media posts but not coordinated. But I’m convinced there’s organization behind it. I just don’tbelieve random actors can keep getting this close. And I think what happened at the trial, with Pete Diamond changing his testimony, could be connected to the harassment campaign as well. We know Amber Printz is the link, but we’ve been looking at things piecemeal. I want to go back to the beginning and look at the whole picture again. Find new leads.”

Cliff and Rex join us in the living room. I share a glance with my man, feeling the contentment and affection radiating from him. And I notice that he and Cliff are standing close to one another. Cliff looks happy too.

Rex gives me a small nod. I take that to mean he and Cliff have made up and talked through some things. I knew it would happen, but I’m relieved for Rex. I know that was weighing on him.

“Can we eat now?” Cliff asks. “The pizza’s ready, and I’m starving.”

“When are you not starving?” I say with an eye roll.

The doorbell rings, and Cliff perks up. “That must be Shelby. I forgot to mention I invited her and Nash. I figured you would appreciate all the brainpower you could get.”

“Absolutely.” Madison and Nash Jennings know plenty about investigating tough cases on a less-than-official basis. Besides, it’s been too long since I saw them.

Cliff and I go to meet them at the door. “Look at you!” I say when Madison walks in.

Madison’s older brother Aiden used to be my roommate at the Pink House. But since Aiden moved to Colorado, I haven’t had as many excuses to run into Madison or her family, which includes Nash’s daughter Emma. Career success and a happy home life look very good on her.

She used to be Madison Shelborne, hence the nickname “Shelby.” Even though her last name is Jennings now. She’s a hostage negotiator for West Oaks PD, while Nash is a SWATsergeant. She’s also tall and blond with model looks, and she’s got the cutest baby belly.

Maybe that’ll be me someday.

Then I have a brief moment of shock at the mental image. Not so much the career part as thepregnantpart. Rex and I haven’t talked about if he’d want more kids. But the idea of us having a baby together sets off waves of longing in my chest. Somehow, Lana’s pregnancy didn’t trigger that same desire in me. Probably because I’ve known Madison since she was single and watched her life change. She’s my age, married to an older guy who already had a kid…

Shaking off those thoughts for later, I give Madison a hug. “You look amazing. And you have excellent timing. Pizza just came out of the oven.”

“Good, I’m starved.” Madison pats her stomach.

“Quinn gave me crap when I said that,” Cliff complained.

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