Page 26 of A Burning Rage

And I’m desperately hoping Tyler can uncover something, anything, to change the outcome.

* * *

That evening, after we’re done with dinner and the kitchen is cleaned up, we play with the kids in the family room until it’s their bedtime. Luke and I build structures with his play bricks, and Ava knocks them down and chortles with glee. Fortunately, Luke thinks it’s funny, too.

Beth watches us with a contented smile on her face. But she won’t be smiling for long. I still have to break the news to her.

When the grandfather clock begins to chime, Luke counts each bell. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.” He frowns. “Aww! That’s not fair!”

“Sorry, buddy. Bedtime calls. Let’s clean up.”

Luke pouts as he helps me clean up his bricks and return them to their storage container. When we’re done, I stand and hold out my hand to him. He climbs to his feet and runs over to Beth to kiss her goodnight before we head to his bedroom.

I get Luke into his pajamas and take him to the bathroom to supervise him getting ready for bed. After we return to his room, I lie down beside him on his Spiderman comforter and read him a short stack of books. Currently, he’s on a shark kick, so we go through several children’s nonfiction books on sharks.

After the third book, he yawns and rubs his eyes. “Daddy, are there sharks in Chicago?”

“No.” Chuckling, I ruffle his shock of blond hair. “I assure you, Chicago is a shark-free zone.”

“Not even in Lake Michigan? It’s a big lake.”

“Lake Michigan is a freshwater lake. Sharks live in saltwater, remember? Like, in the ocean.”

He nods. “Good. I’d hate to get eaten by a shark.”

“That would be bad. But don’t worry, buddy. You’re safe.”

I pick up another book to read him, and halfway through, he conks out on me. I lie here a little while longer to make sure he’s sound asleep. I suppose part of me is procrastinating, as I dread telling Beth about Andrew’s impending release.

Once I’m sure Luke is asleep, I let myself out of his bedroom and walk the short distance down the hall to Ava’s room. The door is ajar, and the nightlight is on, so I can easily peer inside and make out Beth rocking Ava.

I walk into the room. “She’s asleep?” I ask.

When Beth nods, I transfer Ava to her crib.

On our way out of Ava’s room, Beth turns on the baby monitor. I close the door behind us as we leave the room.

A knot forms in my stomach because I can’t put this off any longer.

“Come with me, sweetheart,” I say as I take her hand and lead her to our bedroom. “We need to talk.”

Her smile falls, and I figure she can guess what it is we need to talk about. Once we’re in our room, I sit her on the bed and begin to pace.

“Did you hear something from Troy?” she asks.

I nod. “He stopped by my office today.”

“I’m guessing it’s bad news or you would’ve told me before now.”

I stop pacing and turn to face her. “The board approved Andrew’s release.” I go on to summarize the conditions.

She sits still as the information sinks in. “When is he getting out?”

“Troy’s not sure yet, but probably in a week or two.”

She stares down at her hands in her lap. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

I kneel down in front of her and take her hands in mine. “I will protect you. You have to believe that.”