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“She does roller derby with you, right?” He tilted his head. “What’s her derby name?”
She grinned. “Mary Popshins.”
He snorted quietly. “By all means, ask Miss Popshins to bring the small horse.”
“I will. For now, get some rest. I’ll check the alarm contacts on the windows, then I’ll go downstairs and sit with Elijah.”
She watched him go to his room and shut his door, then checked all the contacts on the windows, just as Burke had taught her to do when she’d first joined the firm. One was a little loose, so she tightened it before heading downstairs, where Elijah was staring at his tablet, which had gone dark.
She sat in the dining room chair next to him. Kaj’s house was an open-plan design, so the dining room flowed into the living room, which was classy without being uncomfortable. One wall was covered in photos of a younger Elijah with a petite brunette who Val guessed to be his mother. And against one wall was a very nice piano that made her fingers itch to play.
“Finished talking to your aunt?” she asked Elijah.
“Yeah.”
She studied him. “I told your dad to take a nap. Do you want to do the same?”
He let out a huge sigh. “I can’t sleep. I close my eyes and it’s like it’s happening again.”
“I get that.” She really did. “I wish I could snap my fingers and say that it will be better tonight, but I can’t. That was a really scary thing yesterday. If it doesn’t get easier to sleep, maybe you could talk to someone.”
Elijah scowled. “Like a therapist?”
“Yes. I saw one, back in the day. It helped.”
He blinked, looking surprised. “You did? Really?”
“Really. I, um, saw some things in the military that got stuck in my head.” Big men. Big, powerful men. “I had to talk to someone. And then after my brother died, I had to talk to someone again.”
His eyes widened. “Your brother died?”
“He did.”
He watched her so intently she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. “The man in the picture with you. The one in your office. That was your brother?”
Damn, the kid was smart. “Yeah, my twin brother. His name was Van. He died almost four years ago.” Please don’t ask me how.
“How?”
Dammit. But she wouldn’t lie to the boy. “He was murdered. He happened to be standing near a drug dealer when a fight broke out.”
Elijah stiffened. “Sixth Day. That’s why you know so much.”
Fucking smart. “Yeah.”
His shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.
His adult phrasing broke her heart a little more. “Thank you. And I’m sorry for yours.”
“Thanks. I saw a therapist after...” He sighed. “Afterward. My dad made me go.”
“Did it help?”
“No. It didn’t bring her back.”
“No, therapy can’t bring them back. But it can help you find ways to move forward, and that’s what I needed.”
He nodded sagely. “Your brother died, like, in a surprise. A shock, I mean. I knew my mom was dying. She had cancer.”
