Page 44 of Letting Go
My head snaps up from my notes in surprise to look at Mason. “I take that back; this is now very interesting.”
“Sir, may I suggest something?” Kelly asks.
“Of course, go ahead,” I respond.
“Mason and Tara had the right idea, I think we need to carry this through and expand the networks of the other victims as well. We have preliminary information but it’s quite clear that some information has been overlooked, whether intentional or not by the initial investigators.”
“I agree with Kelly,” Harlow adds. “We’ve been focused on the victims and who would want them dead, but there is a chance that the victims were not the primary focus, but rather the punishment for the primary focus. We need to expand our search to consider any known associates for each victim. I still think it’s odd that the victim in Chicago is the only victim that was not blue collar,” Harlow thinks out loud as she looks out the conference room windows.
“Let’s divide the other cases and deep dive into their social, romantic, professional, and familial connections. Mason and Tara, keep working the leads you have already uncovered, and if anyone finds a potential connection with multiple arrests, or suspected criminal activity we bring to the team, alright?” I ask my team as they agree and we all gather our stuff.
I can feel it, we are close to pulling on the thread that will unravel each and every one of these cases.
Chapter twenty
Vivian
“Your mama loved this song,” Daddy declares with a big smile as he walks into his kitchen from the patio door. Savannah and I have been working on pulling together the sides for dinner while Daddy grills the steaks and Finn finishes smoking the brisket. Finn has mentioned multiple times to everyone and anyone the importance of not rushing the smoking process and it will be worth all nine hours he has been babying the brisket. When he sets his mind to something, it has to be done meticulously and to the best of his ability, regardless if it’s building a house, his hobby of building beautiful bespoke furniture, or smoking a brisket for a crowd.
“I remember, that’s why it’s on the playlist,” Savannah replies with a smile as she cuts up a watermelon. I take the dirty platter from Daddy and start washing it in the sink as I look out the back window. Eloise is playing catch with my brother Ryan, who just said something to make my little girl double over in laughter. I can’t help but smile at how right it feels to be home. Savannah walks up next to me and peers out at what I’m watching. She hip bumps me and puts her arm around me. “She’s happy, Viv,” my sister says. I nod as my emotions tighten my throat a bit. I worry about doing the best for her; I worry about being enough for her, and I worry about how the last eight months have forever changed her.
While I have done everything I can to protect and help her, the fact remains that Eloise was only four years old when she losther daddy, and not only did her father leave her life, his murder stole him from her. Those two facts demolished a piece of her innocence, regardless of my best efforts to shield her from the mess of it all. I hope when his case is solved, we will be able to take a significant step toward healing together, but I also have to be prepared with the possibility that we may never know who killed Trent or why he was shot. I can’t help but wonder if we had answers about why and who, would it help Eloise’s nightmares? Is the unknown highlighting fear that her little four-year-old brain can’t process and finds the only release in her scary nightmares?
“Can I get a hand here?” Jack calls as he walks into the mudroom carrying two large crates of beverages. Daddy grabs the top one and helps him set them on the counter.
“What do we have here?” he asks, pulling a dark glass bottle out of a slot.
“Last month I was in Milan with one of my clients on a leg of their European tour. The lead singer is a big family guy and invited me to join them for dinner. The restaurant had a variety of fun Italian sodas that his kids all loved,” Jack explains.
“So, you found some in the US?” Daddy clarifies.
“I looked but my assistant had to fly these in. I wanted the girls to be able to try a variety of them, thought it would be a perfect fit for a family dinner.” Jack grins, unashamed of how much he loves spoiling his nieces. Flying soda in for a family dinner is a level that only Jack would go to without thinking twice about it.
“Of course you did, this is all very normal, Jack,” Savannah says as she rolls her eyes and laughs at Jack’s ridiculous logic. “You know they carry different flavors of coke down at the grocery store right here on Main Street, right?”
Jack walks over to Savannah and gives her a quick hug hello. “Sure, but that’s not fun and unique. My nieces know I take my role as fun uncle very seriously,” Jack tells her with awink.
“So … Funcle. You want to be called Funcle,” Ryan chimes in as he walks in the backdoor with the girls closely behind him.
“Or Jack the Fun Uncle … Juncle?” Finn adds with a boisterous laugh.
Daddy points at Finn. “I think we have a winner!”
“Alright, that’s it. No Italian soda for anyone mocking my fun idea!” Jack declares in mock outrage.
“Uncle Jack, I don’t want to call you Funcle. It sounds like funky or makes me think you smell bad,” Eloise says as he picks her up to give her a hug.
“He does smell; he just masks it well!” Ryan says.
“Hey now!” Jack gives Ryan his best dirty look before melting as he turns to Eloise in his arms. “Alright, sweetheart, you just keep calling me Uncle Jack then, okay? Ignore these hooligans.”
“The term hooligan allegedly originated from a rowdy Irish family in the late 1800s. How wild does a family have to be to become a term known in another country?” A deep voice says from the doorway to the foyer.
“Uncle Liam!” The girls all cry as they run toward him, attacking him with hugs and squeals of delight.
“I thought you weren’t going to be able to make this one, pal. What a great surprise,” Daddy says as he waits his turn to hug his son.
“I probably shouldn’t have, and I’ll have to take off later tonight. But work can wait a few hours, especially if it means educating y’all on the origins of fun words like hooligan,” Liam says as he sets Lucy down and hugs our father.
