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“But she still has you,” Elijah said, and Kaj heard Val’s indrawn breath.
Out of the mouths of babes, indeed.
“Yes, she does.” She lifted Elijah’s chin with her finger, smiling down at him. “What’s for supper? Did you sous-chef for Patty this time?”
“I did!” Elijah said proudly. “Patty let Jace do the taste testing. He says that dinner is really good. You’re staying, too, aren’t you, Burke?”
Burke tousled Elijah’s hair. “I would never say no to the Choux’s shrimp and grits.” He hesitated, looking down at Elijah. “Why don’t you go help Patty finish dinner, Elijah?”
Elijah’s eyes narrowed. “What happened?” He looked up at Kaj. “Dad?”
“I don’t know,” Kaj said honestly. “Why don’t you help with dinner and let Burke and me talk. If I can tell you, I will.” Elijah opened his mouth and Kaj shook his head sharply. “There are things you shouldn’t know, Elijah. And it’s not because you’re a kid. It’s because I don’t want you to have some of the same pictures in your head that I do. Please.”
Elijah’s mouth firmed, but he nodded. “You’ll tell me if it involves me?”
“I promise.” Within reason, of course.
When Elijah had returned to the kitchen, Burke sighed. “André called after you’d left for Val’s mother’s house. I was going to give you the news when you called in after leaving there.”
An unpleasant shiver raced down Kaj’s spine. “What happened?”
“Your trap was sprung. Two men in ski masks attacked the safe house where Jace was supposedly holed up. They shot up the place with AR-15s. Injured both cops who were on guard. Camera footage showed two men who fit the physical descriptions of Corey Gates and Bobby Landry.”
Kaj’s shoulders sagged. He’d been afraid of this very thing. “Does Jace know?”
“Not yet. I figured we needed to decide what would happen to him first, because that’s going to be the first thing the boy’s gonna want to know.”
Kaj mentally stepped back from the memory of Jace pleading with them not to send him back to Corey, focusing on the attack. “Could Corey and Bobby have been trying to rescue Jace?”
“Unlikely. They breached the door and one of them—probably Corey—opened fire on the bed where the cops had placed a mannequin under the blanket while the other held off the cops with an AR-15. Cops were outgunned. They should have had rifles, but they didn’t. The one who’d shot up the bed ripped the blanket off and ‘swore violently’ according to the cops.”
“Oh my God,” Val breathed. “Okay, so... first, will the officers be okay?”
Burke nodded. “André said the one was treated and released and the other is in stable condition. They said that the men didn’t seem to want to kill them, just hurt them enough that they couldn’t fight back.”
“But Corey meant to kill Jace,” Kaj murmured.
“Fucking hell,” Val whispered. “Poor Jace. I mean, he believed that Corey would have hurt him next, but... dammit. We’re going to have to tell him.”
Kaj didn’t relish that task at all. “What about the cuffs? Do we take them off?”
Burke shrugged. “Your house, Kaj. Your call.”
Kaj wanted to tell Burke to take them off. He really did. But... “That kid is terrified of Corey—so terrified that he gave Rick over to me, not knowing what I’d do to him. I know Jace was forced,” he said when Val opened her mouth to protest. “I know that, Val, but that’s my point. What if Corey gave him instructions to hurt Elijah if he got into my house? He could still do it because he’s scared of his brother. He’ll be even more scared when we tell him what happened tonight. I can’t risk it. Not yet. The cuffs have to stay on.”
Val slowly nodded. “I don’t like it, but I will respect your decision.” She softened her words with a smile and a brief squeeze of his hand. “For what it’s worth, I think Jace will agree with you. He seems almost comforted by the cuffs. Like if we keep him cuffed, we’ll trust him.”
“Which makes me feel even worse about it,” Kaj said with a sigh.
“Will you let him stay here?” Burke asked. “I think he’d gladly accept the cuffs if you let him stay. I’d take him home with me, but I’ve been here most of the time.”
“I certainly can’t turn him over to NOPD at this point,” Kaj said. “Not if I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror, anyway. Turning him over to children’s services would be just as bad, if not worse. They don’t have the security systems in place to keep him safe. They’d have to cooperate with the police and that would put us right back at square one. So... yeah. Let’s keep him here for at least one more night and then we’ll reevaluate. Let’s tell him about the attack after dinner, but I’ll let him know right away that he can stay another night.”
“Sounds fair,” Val said.
“No, it’s not fair,” Kaj said. “It’s not fair to Jace, if he’s as completely innocent as we think he is. But it’s the best I can offer at the moment.”
“It’s better than any of the alternatives,” Val said, her eyes gentle. “So stop beating yourself up, Kaj. Seriously.” She turned to Burke. “Has Antoine made any progress with the dates from Rick’s calendar?”
