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“Okay, let me backtrack. I knew me. I just didn’t allow myself the freedom to be me. That’s still a work in progress.”
“Has your father come around at all?”
“No. I haven’t spoken to him in months. You know that.”
“I hoped it had changed.”
“It hasn’t. We fight when we communicate and we both needed a break. But oddly, Gabe came by to see me and told me he’s proud of me.”
“Wow. That’s huge. He should be proud. They make me so angry.”
“It is what it is,” I say.
We talk about Reese, my family, and her plans for the baby’s room, and after I’ve returned what is left of the ice cream to the freezer, we move to a work session. “I changed my vote to the wife being guilty,” Lauren says.
“I heard, and I’m curious as to what changed your mind.”
“This morning, Walker Security had someone watching Nelson Ward’s house when she left. She and her husband were fighting and he didn’t want her to go. He tried to stop her.” She grabs a folder and hands it to me. “Look at that while I go pee for the hundredth time today.” She stands up and walks away.
I flip through the file and see many shots of the Ward house, as well as shots of the couple this morning. They were fighting, all right. “Royce is on his way back already,” Lauren says as she returns. “Reese just got on a plane with Blake and Kara. One way or another, Reese will have his man back here by early tomorrow.”
“Unless he had a new identity waiting on him in Vermont and he and his wife have now left the country.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have men on the ground in Vermont, so we can’t stop them without alerting the police. And that would be best avoided. Did you look at those photos? The two of them fighting and her leaving—it all reads to me like manipulation. Like she wanted to make him break his travel rules, which implies he’s running from his guilt.”
“Or she was trying to convince him not to run,” I say. “Or she could have found out that he really did it, and she left him.”
“You think he did it?”
“No,” I say. “I think she did it, too, but I’m playing devil’s advocate. And I hope like hell he’s innocent. Reese won’t just take a hit to his reputation. He’ll start to question his instincts.”
“Spoken like a woman who has seen inside his mind,” she says. “What’s happening with you two?”
“I don’t know yet,” I answer honestly. “But it feels kind of wonderful.”
“So you like him.”
“He’s nothing that I expected and different from anything I’ve ever known.”
She narrows her eyes on me. “You just walked around that question.”
“It wasn’t a question. It was a statement: So you like him. That’s a statement. But yes. I like him, but it’s new. Don’t go marrying me off just yet.”
“Just yet. That’s an open door, so I’ll take that answer. Just don’t let Mitch’s actions get in front of you with Reese, Cat.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“Reese trusts you or he wouldn’t have you helping with this case. Trust him, too. And before you say anything, let me add this. I know it’s scary, but if you don’t take the risk, you will never know what might have been.”
“I do. I trust Reese. And I’m a bit stunned by how much I mean those words.”
Lauren swallows hard. “Oh God.”
“What? What is it?”
“It’s happening again,” she says, covering her face. “Make this stop.”
I go down on my knee beside her. “What can I do? Do you have crackers or soda?”
