Page 104 of To the Grave

He pulled me closer. “It’s okay, sunshine. Just a formality. My mom’s got an attorney friend who’s going to meet us there.”

“I can’t imagine what your mom’s going to think,” I said. “If you hadn’t been trying to protect me, to protect Ruth— ”

Wolf stopped me by tipping my chin up, forcing me to look at him. “She’ll think it was a righteous killing. Because it was. No regrets.”

My dad returned from the other ambulance. He and Wolf locked eyes, neither of them speaking until my dad held out his hand. “Thank you.”

Wolf took my dad’s hand. “You’re welcome.”

“I’m going to ride with you and Ruth to the hospital,” my dad said. “I’ll get my car later.”

Jace called out to Wolf from the police car, indicating that it was time for them to go.

“I’m not going to the hospital,” I said, getting to my feet and taking Wolf’s hand. “I’m fine, and… well, I need to go with Wolf, Otis, and Jace. I need to make sure they’re okay.”

My dad hesitated, then nodded. He wrapped his arms around me and I almost thought I caught a sob in his voice when he spoke again. “I love you, kid. I haven’t always done a good job of showing it, but… I love you. We’re going to fix things.”

“I love you too, Dad.” I meant it.

He kissed my forehead, jogged back to the other ambulance, and one of the EMTs shut the door. A few seconds later it was moving down the muddy road with its lights flashing and sirens blaring.

I slid my hand into Wolf’s.

“You sure about this?” he asked.

I wondered if he was asking about the police station or the future. Either way, the answer was the same.

“I’m ready.”

Chapter 80

Daisy

Isat outside the bungalow and forced myself to take deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves before knocking on the door. It was almost Christmas, and the Blades compound was all decked out for the holidays, a giant pine tree outside the main building decorated with outdoor lights, plastic ornaments scattered in the trees on the narrow road to Mac’s place.

I’d gotten a few surprised looks as I’d driven past the main building but no one had stopped me, and I’d bumped over the dirt road for about two minutes before reaching the turnoff to Mac’s house, nestled in the woods.

Jace had told me how to find it. He’d even offered to come with me — all the Beasts had — but this felt like something I had to do alone. Besides, they’d been through enough in the weeks since they’d killed Arlo and Gray. It had taken more than one round of questioning by the police and all the evidence we had — which was admittedly all circumstantial — to get the police to admit they weren’t going to press charges.

The bullet in Otis’ leg and the condition Ruth and I were in had made it pretty clear who the bad guys were in the home invasion.

Rafe and his friends hadn’t gotten off scot-free either. Ballistics tied one of their guns to the bullets that had killed Piers Cantwell, and they’d told the Beasts that the hassle was a debt they’d come to collect one day.

It seemed impossible that Rafe, Nolan, and Jude could ever need anything from anybody, but I couldn’t really blame them for holding it over the Beasts' heads. They’d saved Otis, and for that I owed them a debt too.

I’d spent more than one sleepless night worried the Beasts would get sent back to jail, but thanks to the leads the Beasts had provided on the missing girls and the lawyer my dad had paid for, they were finally in the clear.

Piers’ death was all over the news. The tragic and shocking murder of the business titan and his son in a small mountain town at the hands of three convicted killers was too titillating for the media to ignore, and the internet had gone wild with speculation about the murders and whether they were connected to the missing girls.

For now the police were playing their cards close to their vests. I’d gotten used to hearing, “This is an active investigation.” Eventually, I just stopped paying attention.

The Beasts — my Beasts — were free men. The threats against us — all of us — were gone. For now at least.

That was all that mattered.

Which didn’t mean we still didn’t have questions.

I got out of the car and made my way up the stairs to Mac’s porch. The bungalow was small but well maintained, the white paint fresh, the floorboards on the porch solid. I wondered how long he’d been living alone out here instead of in the dormbuildings with the rest of the Blades. I wondered if he ever missed his old friends Arlo and Michael.

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