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“Me, my boss, my assistant, André, and the NOPD officers and homicide detectives who were searching her house after her arrest.”
She studied him carefully. “How much are you trusting the NOPD to solve this?”
He sighed. “André will do his job. He’ll go above and beyond. I’m not worried about him. But like I said earlier, I’ve already made a lot of enemies within the NOPD.”
“And whoever dropped off Rick was bold. That they didn’t think you’d have security was one of the first things that occurred to me. Which was why I asked Burke—”
A human whimper came through the monitor, followed by a canine whine.
Kaj jumped to his feet with a gasp. “Elijah.”
Val pushed past him. “Me first,” she said over her shoulder. “Czar isn’t barking, so I’m sure he’s fine. Let me give you the all-clear.” Of course, he totally disregarded her warning, following her up the stairs.
Gun drawn but at her side, she opened the bedroom door and relaxed. Elijah lay in his bed curled up in a ball. Czar had climbed up beside him, his huge head on Elijah’s pillow. Distressed, the dog looked up when Val entered. Elijah was still whimpering in his sleep.
The boy woke with a start, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs. “What happened?”
“It’s fine,” Val said, holstering her weapon before crossing the room to sit on the edge of his mattress. She ran a hand over Elijah’s back, then scratched Czar behind his ear. “You were having a bad dream. Czar was whining. It’s what he does when I have a bad dream.”
Disoriented, Elijah nodded. Without his glasses he looked even younger, and her heart hurt. He should never be afraid. But he was. He was also valiantly trying to hold back tears.
She looked over her shoulder to see Kaj hesitating in the doorway. His face was pale and drawn and she wanted to soothe him, too, but Elijah was her priority. “He’s okay, Kaj,” she said softly, then returned her attention to Elijah. “What did you dream, honey?”
“Them,” he said, his voice trembling. “Grabbing me. But Rick, not the other guy.”
Val rubbed the boy’s back soothingly. “The man with the tattoo who told you to run.”
“His eyes were sad.” Elijah blinked. “I saw him. His eyes.”
Val’s hand stilled. “You saw his eyes? In your dream?”
“Well, yeah, but also in real life. Last night. I told the police that I saw them, but I couldn’t see what color they were. But I didn’t remember how sad he looked.”
Val resumed rubbing his back, unsure if this was a real memory or not. “Did he say anything? In the dream?”
“He said ‘I’m sorry.’ But I don’t think he said that in real life.”
“Sometimes your mind tries to re-create or rearrange events to be less painful. It’s happened to me, too.”
Elijah frowned. “Really?”
“Really. Do you think you can go back to sleep?”
“I’ll try.” He glanced up at her. “Will you stay until I do? Dad, too?”
“Of course,” Kaj said, perching on the edge of the bed beside her.
“Of course,” she echoed, tucking the blanket around him, feeling a pang of longing. This was what she’d always wanted. A child to tuck in at night. Which didn’t matter. Elijah was not hers. But I can care for him while I’m here.
She continued rubbing his back, keeping her touch light. Czar pushed his muzzle into Elijah’s neck with a doggy sigh. “He likes it when I sing to him,” she offered.
Elijah peered up at her owlishly. “For real?”
“For real. When he was a puppy, it was the only way to keep him from howling at night.”
Elijah considered this. “You can sing to him. I won’t mind.”
Smiling, Val smoothed her hand over his white-blond hair. “Okay.” She began to sing the old Norwegian lullaby her mother had sung to her and Van. And Val had later sung it to Sylvi, but she wasn’t going to think about her sister. It sent her mind into dark places.
