Page 79 of Romeo

Jules tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.“You too.Thanks for getting Riley out.And for dealing with Odie.”

“All in a day’s work,” Beckett replies.“It was quite exhilarating, actually.You should have seen his face when I showed up.”

Jules gets to her feet.“I need some air.I’ll be back in just a few.”

I look after her as she leaves, trying to decide whether or not I should follow.

Does she want space or comfort?

“Are you seriously not going to go after her?”Tucker asks.“Come on, Riley, you’re supposed to be the charmer out of all of us, yet here you are, sitting on your butt.”

That gets me to my feet.“I’m not sitting on my butt.”

“Not anymore,” Elliot murmurs.

“Bleib,Romeo.I’ll be right back.”I pet him as he takes a seat beside the doorway leading out of the kitchen.

I don’t even respond as I head out of the kitchen and toward the back porch.Since the door is partially open, I know that’s where I’ll find her.

Jules is standing near the balcony that overlooks the gardens below.She’d run for her life down there mere weeks ago.Is that what she sees when she looks at the bright blooms?Or does she see a happier past?

Childhood memories of playing hide-and-seek?

Afternoon strolls alongside her grandfather?

“Now that I’m learning all of these things about Odie, I feel like an absolute fool for not seeing them sooner.Just that conversation at the hospital—how did I not know who he really was?”

“You can’t blame yourself.He was your family.You wanted to see the best in him.”

“He never treated me with anything but contempt.”Jules turns toward me and crosses her arms.“I was trying so hard to have whatever family I could, and now I can’t help but wonder where I’d be if I hadn’t put him up on a pedestal.”

“You can’t spend your present in the past, Jules.”

“I know that.”She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.“My grandfather tried to get me to leave.”

“What do you mean?”

She turns toward me.“Before he died.He’d been pushing me to start over.To have grand adventures.I told him I liked our life.That I was happy.”She sniffles.“Now that I know he was just trying to get me away from Dodger and Odie, I can’t help this crushing weight on my heart.I’d tried to protect him and move on, and he found out anyway.”

“What’s hidden in the dark always comes to light,” Riley says.“One way or another.”

“Do you think Dodger is the one who hired Fletcher?”

“More than likely.We’re looking into it.With a suspect to zero in on, we stand a chance at finding the truth sooner.”

She nods and faces out toward the gardens again.“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“What do you mean?”Of course I know what she’s aiming for, just not whether or not she’s ready to hear it.

“You’re holding back.”

“I think Odie may or may not have had something to do with what happened to you.Either because he was trying to get you out of the picture, or he didn’t know ahead of time but used what you told him to blackmail Dodger afterward.”

“You think he might have used it to blackmail him?”

“It’s a possibility.But one I won’t be able to prove until I have some evidence.He won’t answer any questions now.”

“Not for you.But I can go.”

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