Page 102 of Aftermath
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It wasn’t until later that day when I realized some of Len’s distance was anxiety about her parents coming to town. They’d be arriving soon for the upcoming clambake, which I promised to attend.
We still hadn’t heard from the FBI or Mags on how the warrant was going, or about combing through the footage from the warehouse area.
It would be a grueling process, which I knew could take days, weeks even.
The next few days passed, and Len only grew more anxious. There was little I could say to help, my own anxiety starting to take over, worried we’d find nothing tying Ethan to the warehouses.
Trust the process.
I repeated the mantra over and over to myself. If I could control my own fears and nerves, I could help Len as well.
We spent time exploring town, grabbing lattes, and reading through the books in the rental. Len was already on her re-read of the book I gifted her, and I caught her adding little notes of her own to it.
My heart swelled at that.
It wasn’t until the night before the clambake that I finally saw Grey again. Len had gone to her apartment to swap out her clothing and visit Mallory. She insisted on going alone, given Mallory’s distaste for me. The only way she’d forced me into agreeing was that she promised to be less than an hour and would text me every ten minutes. Excessive, but effective.
I had the rental to myself for a while, but quickly, a knock to the front door changed that.
The second I pulled the door open, I knew something was different. Grey’s face looked almost excited.
“What’s happened?” I asked, trying to contain the thoughts running through my mind and manage my expectations.
“The warrant came through, and they finished going through the footage,” he said.
My heart stopped for a second before I forced myself to push forward.
“They found something?” I asked.
A grin spread across his face.
“We got him.”
23
LENNY
My parents,Calvin, and Eloise all sat at a table I spotted as I walked up. The smell of the clambake filled the air, mixing with the salt of the nearby sea. My stomach growled just thinking about it.
A flash stunned me for a second, and I blinked away the brightness from my eyes, realizing a Briarport Chronicle journalist was snapping photos of everyone entering the event.
I gave a smile to the journalist, and they nodded back.
Where was Stone?
We agreed to meet at the festival, but I didn’t see him anywhere. He promised to come, which meant he’d be there. There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind.
I walked over to join my family—the last time we’d been together was the dinner I’d run off from.
“Lenore,” my mother called. “Eloise was just telling us some of the names they’re considering for the baby.”
My sister-in-law smiled warmly at me, one of her hands resting on her tiny bump.
A tiny sting of sadness brushed against my heart, the feeling of having that same bump only a distant memory, but I was also overjoyed for her.
“Lenore is on that list, right?” I joked.
