Page 200 of Ice Princess

“I’ll get you some water, mom.”

“Let me.” I go to the kitchen and grab three cups, handing all the ladies one.

“Are you okay?” I ask Rebel when I give her the water.

She nods and squeezes my hand.

I brush her hair away from her face tenderly. The adrenaline rush is starting to fade.

“Is it over now?” Rebel whispers.

“Yeah.” I rest my forehead against hers while still cradling her cheek. “It’s over princess.”

Now, it’s time to pick up the pieces that Uncle Stewart and Uncle Clancy left behind and give Rebel the happily ever after she deserves.

CHAPTER

FIFTY-NINE

REBEL

Gunner’s thumbmoves back and forth over my cheek and I nuzzle into the touch.

The moment he swept into the house with his dark hair, pale blue eyes, and dark, intimidating presence, I knew that everything would be okay.

“April!” Chance appears in the doorway out of breath.

“Chance!” My best friend flies into her boyfriend’s arms.

“I was so worried. I heard everything.” Chance twists her head gently up and down. “Are you okay? You didn’t get hit by the bat, did you?”

“No, but… how do you know Stewart had a bat?”

“What do you mean? I heard everything,” Chance says.

I straighten away from Gunner, stunned. “How did you hear… oh?” My eyes stray to the cell phone that April dropped earlier.

“Oh no!” April breaks away from Chance and picks the device off the floor. “Guys! I think my phone was still on the video chat.” She shows us the screen where several rows of elderly faces are looking at us.

April taps a button.

Immediately, an elderly voice croaks. “April, is everything okay? We called the police.”

“Everything’s fine, guys. Thanks for staying on.”

“What happened?” Another voice warbles.

April steps away to assure her audience. Chance slaps Gunner on the back, smiles at me and follows April through the side door.

Mom blows out a breath and I immediately go into panic mode. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Do we need to go to the hospital now?”

“I just don’t understand.” Mom lifts her hands and then drops them into her lap. “Why would Clay Kinsey leave anything for me? All I did was clean his house for a few years.”

“We don’t know why he did it, but it would really help if we could prove that he did,” Sheriff Kinsey says, stepping back into the trailer. “Stewart is talking, but his insight is limited. He’s not the mastermind here.”

Gunner’s expression tightens. “They haven’t found Uncle Clancy? Even with all the checkpoints?”

“He was last spotted near the pier. We think he might have gotten away by boat.”

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