Page 235 of Midnight Curfew

I feel for my phone. We need an ambulance.

But when I turn around, Anna-Katherine is gone.

“Anna-Katherine?” I call.

Dallas climbs to his feet, and we rush to the railing, watching her close in on my father.

She has the pocketknife unsheathed in her hand as she approaches him, and I finally detect his chest moving with every breath. He’s still alive.

For a second, I hesitate. She deserves her revenge, and all of us would be a lot better off if he were dead. I want her to confront him and win.

I almost think I can put myself in Dallas’s shoes that day with his mother. How maybe just letting things happen after so long trying to manage them is the answer.

I don’t want to take chances with Anna-Katherine, though.

I don’t want her heart fractured any more than it already is.

When I turn to run to her, though, Dallas is already racing downstairs.

Bolting after them, I glance back again as she steps up to my father’s side and leans down, my heart catching in my throat as she rears the knife back.

I watch Dallas rush up and take her hand, stopping her. “No,” I hear him gasp.

“Yes.” She squirms in his hold, and I stand close by, letting him help her. “I want it over,” she cries.

He wraps an arm gently around her neck, pulling her head in close. “I know,” he whispers down into her ear. “But not like this.”

He pries the blade out of her hand and turns her around, hugging her.

“Thank you for saving me,” he tells her. “We got you from here.”

Coming in, I stroke her hair with one hand and hold the back of his neck with the other. Our eyes meet, and I just shake my head, almost smiling, I’m so grateful we’re all in one piece. I have half a mind to scold her for coming here alone, but it’s not her fault. She should be able to go anywhere she wants and be safe.

Gazing down at my father, I watch the motion of his chest. I know I should call the ambulance, and if it weren’t for Grady needing medical attention upstairs, I’d probably wait a few extra minutes before calling 911.

Reluctantly, I pull out my phone.

—

When I enter the Jaeger house hours later, no one is in bed. Dallas, Iron, and Army surround me immediately; Anna-Katherine is making an ice cream sundae with Macon and Krisjen.

“He’ll survive,” I tell the guys. “Broken leg, ribs, concussion, hurt his back pretty bad…”

My father will be in the hospital for a while, but he’s under arrest. Officer Grady suffered a minor head injury, but he didn’t suffer amnesia. Attacking a police officer, not to mention camera footage of my father pulling a gun on him, was more than enough.

That’ll lessen his corporate value to the shareholders.

Army hands me a thumb drive. “This should do it.”

I hold it between my fingers, not excited to see everything on it, but if it’s the nail in the coffin, great. If not, I might be able to blackmail my father into not fighting his charges so he can go away for a little while. I imagine he’s already lawyered up.

“And, uh,” Dallas whispers, stealing glances behind him into the kitchen. “They found a body in the canal.”

A body?

“Milo Price,” Iron says.

What the hell? Milo’s dead?