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They checked it, and it confirmed the kid hanging from that bridge had no ties to me. I was let go.
I stumbled from the car, the moonlight feeling too heavy on my shoulders as my feet dragged their way to the front door.
I couldn’t even kick off my boots. I saw the couch and beelined for it, collapsing onto puffy cushions.
“Cat!” I called, and the wrong kind of fucking cat jumped up onto my legs and clawed at my jeans. I was too tired to care or flip off Shadow and his persistent nagging.
“Remi! Remi!” Cat’s voice pulled me to the glass doors as she darted through them, Ollie in her shadow and Jolie and Woodrow in his.
“Who knew it took the entire family to feed the pigs.”
Cat sat down next to me, balancing on the edge until I made more room for her.
“Well, they eat a lot, but the whole family wasn’t here.” Ollie smiled. “Everything cleared?”
“Yeah,” Dec said, entering the kitchen and pulling a soda can from the fridge in his preferred flavor. “They got nothing on him. It was a set-up, obviously. So, you know what that means.”
“Rubbichon doesn’t like me.” I laughed. “Fuck him. He never did, anyway. The feeling is mutual.”
“He’s probably on to us all.” Dec continued with the important stuff. “Cops find anything here?”
“Nothing,” Woodrow confirmed. “Yesterday was a busy day for court cases. They couldn’t get the warrant. The lazy bastards didn’t come back today. Your tracker shit is still in the basement, though.”
I nodded, too tired to even talk.
“Are you hungry?” Cat felt over my face, the stubble longer than usual. “I bet they didn’t care about you eating.”
She still cared about me. That was a good sign. She didn’t believe the shit on the news. That was fucking great, but my energy was too depleted to lift a fucking smile.
“He’s not eating until the morning, Cat,” Dec answered for me. “He’s far too tired. He’ll choke. He can barely lift his head.”
“But he’s probably starving.”
“I’m okay. Tired but okay.”
Dec nodded for the family to follow him out, knowing Cat would choose to stay with me when they all left the room.
Woodrow locked the glass doors, Ollie dimmed the lights, and Cat snuggled into my side.
I held her close, sick and fucking tired of all the close calls we’d had this week. She’d missed the appointment with Novaletti because of those assholes. That pissed me off. Those cops would have been my latest victims if something had happened to her.
But it hadn’t. She was here. She was fine.
I was here.
“Stay here with me? I’m too tired to walk to fucking bed.”
“Always. Anywhere you are.” Tight fingers clutched my hoodie, her nails still perfect and pink. “I’m tired, too. I couldn’t sleep without you.”
“Then, sleep with me now.” I closed my eyes and was out of it before I could even pray for no nightmares.
Chapter 39
Catharina
Rough fingers pulled my hair from the roots. The strong arm yanking me tossed my useless body onto a paisley rug, and it shifted from the fireplace as my naked form rolled into someone’s feet.
No scars or deformities marred me as a stiletto tapped my ribs, and the sharp heel twisted through my skin, creating the first. I stared up at a woman the brute called Candee as he kissed her cheek. Her yellow shoes, matching the dress she wore, looked far too innocent, as did the bow in her hair that made her appear childlike. She should have been in black, a more fitting color for someone as vile as her. She smiled down at me, a million lines appearing on her face, proving she was much older than I’d initially thought.
