Page 103 of To the Grave

Jace walked over to Arlo’s prone body, the rain beating down on his face and pooling with the blood around his body.

Otis helped Ruth to her feet while I raced to Daisy, slipping in the mud when I reached her, pulling her into my arms.

She sobbed against me, the only sound in the night other than the rain.

Finally she got to her feet and went to Jace, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He stared down at his dad. “He was already dead.”

Chapter 79

Daisy

Iwas sitting on the back of one of the ambulances when I saw my dad get out of his car and race toward the emergency vehicles lighting up the night with red-and-blue lights. He didn’t look like himself. He was disheveled, getting wetter by the minute even though the rain had slowed to a drizzle.

“Daisy! Ruth!” he bellowed.

“Here,” I called out.

He ran toward me and pulled me into his arms, practically suffocating me in his embrace. I started to cry. It had been forever since we’d hugged, and his strong arms and the smell of his cologne made me feel like a kid again, made me feel safe.

I’d forgotten that about him: that I’d always felt safe with him even when we hadn’t agreed.

He pulled back and held my face in his hands, looking me over. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” I said. “Just a little banged up.”

“Ruth…?”

“She’s in the other ambulance,” I said. “She’s banged up too, but she’ll be okay.”

He looked at the other ambulance and I nodded. “Go. She’ll want to see you.”

He hesitated and Wolf appeared at my side. For a long moment they just looked at each other. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what they were thinking: my dad looking at the man who’d both killed his son and saved his daughters, Wolf knowing my dad hated him even though Wolf loved me.

“I’ll stay,” Wolf said.

My dad nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

He hurried to the other ambulance and climbed inside.

Next to it was a black car that I knew belonged to the coroner because I’d seen him get out of the car wearing a jacket emblazoned with the word. He’d hiked up the hill to the cemetery where the police and their forensics team were processing the scene.

To my left, Jace and Otis were in the back seat of one of the police cars. They weren’t cuffed, but I knew this was bad for them — for Wolf too — and I hated that they were being questioned about a crime because of me.

Again.

Wolf sat down and put his arm around me. “How are you doing?”

The silver blanket the paramedics had given me crinkled as I leaned into him. “I can’t get warm.”

“You’re probably in shock.”

“How bad is it?” I asked. “With the police?”

“Hard to say.” He glanced at Jace and Otis, still talking to two cops. “We’ll have to go in, answer some questions.”

“To the station?” The panic in my voice gave me away. I couldn’t stand the thought of them going to the police station. Not again.

---