Page 121 of It Runs in the Family

“I suppose we could, but it’ll probably be expensive to repair and could take days. What are the odds there’ll be anything on it?”

“Good question. I haven’t seen her use it in years, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t.”

“Are there any repair shops in Chaffney, or will we need to take it to Waco?”

“I have no idea. I’ll take a look.” I opened my phone to search and saw a text from Garrett.

Where the hell are you, Iris? I stopped by your apartment and it’s trashed.

I sucked in a breath. “Garrett went to my apartment and now he’s freaked out. I have to call him.”

“Agreed. But what are you gonna tell him?”

“I have no idea.”

“Who would he trust you to be with?”

I shook my head. “After he saw my apartment? I don’t know. He might want me to sit at the sheriff’s station.”

“Maybe you should ask him what he wants you to do.”

“Whatever he wants, we both know I’m not going to do it,” I said in frustration. “He’s scared for me.”

“He has every right to be. What do you want to do?”

I turned to face him. “I want to stay with you but given how he acted when he saw you at the diner, you’re probably the last person he’ll think I’m safe with.”

“Agreed.”

I leaned my temple against the car window. “I don’t know what to do.”

He was silent for a moment. “You have great instincts, Iris. I’ll back whatever you decide.” He took a beat. “Maybe you should go somewhere else for a while.” He cast a glance at me. “You said you lost your job. You could take a vacation?”

“That requires money, Boone,” I scoffed. “I live paycheck to paycheck, and I only have one more of those comin’. People like me don’t go on vacation.”

He was quiet, then said, “I’ll pay for you to stay somewhere, but Waco’s too close. I think you should go up to Dallas.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’re gonna pay for me to stay in a hotel?”

“I feel responsible. I dragged you into this.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “We both know you didn’t drag me into anything. I was already in the thick of it and now we’re workin’ together, but Garrett will not approve or understand.”

I still didn’t know what to tell my cousin, but I called him anyway. The longer I waited, the more he’d fret.

“Iris,” he demanded when he answered. “Where the hell are you?”

“I’m fine, Garrett,” I said, trying to blow off his question. I considered pretending I hadn’t seen my apartment, but I suspected Mrs. Whittleman had already ratted me out. “I took an Uber to my apartment earlier and saw the mess.”

“Why didn’t you call to report it?”

I cringed. “Because I found out the reason you were called in early. And a dead woman on Frontline Road seemed like an all-hands-on deck kind of situation for the sheriff’s department. My apartment was the least of anyone’s concern. Whoever broke in was already gone, and we both know I don’t have anything of worth in there.”

“But you can use the report to file a claim with your renter’s insurance.”

“I don’t have renter’s insurance,” I said quietly, wondering if I should ask him why my kidnapping report hadn’t been filed. But then I’d have to tell him how I knew, and that would open a whole can of worms I wasn’t ready to deal with.

The silence on the line stretched for several seconds. “How bad off are you?” he asked, all anger gone.