Page 154 of It Runs in the Family

“Sorry,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “It’s been a long day for me too.”

“I gave you a reprieve tonight, but tomorrow, you’re gonna tell me who you spent the day with. As for now, I have to go to work. I’m gonna see if Nate will come sit with you.”

“Nate Corbin?” I asked in alarm. The deputy who hadn’t filed my report? But Garrett didn’t know about that, and now wasn’t the time to tell him. Still, he was the third-to-last person I wanted to babysit me. The one and two spots were held by Nate’s stepbrother, Cal, and my cousin Billy.

“What’s wrong with Nate?”

“He’s probably worked all day too. Maybe I should just go to Granny’s.”

“Tonight?”

“Or I’ll just stay here alone. I’ll lock the doors, and if anyone suspicious approaches the door, I’ll call 911.”

“It’s not safe, Irie.”

“So how about I go to Hannah’s? Or Mary Ellen and Ava’s?’

He made a face. “I love my sister, but you’ll be safer with Mary Ellen and Ava right now.”

“Fine.” I stood. “I’ll call them and ask if it’s okay to go over. Then I’ll text you when I get there.”

He pulled me into a hug. “Thanks for not fighting me on this.”

“For what it’s worth, I had a vision this afternoon, and when I asked if I was murdered, it was hazy.” I shrugged. “So it looks like I might not get murdered after all.”

He frowned. “I’d ask who you had a vision of, but I doubt I’d like the answer, and I’d end up bein’ late to work.” He rested his hands on my shoulders and bent his knees so he was looking me in the eye. “But we’ll be discussin’ all of it tomorrow.”

“Okay. Now go get ready. I’ll call the girls.”

I called Mary Ellen and told her my apartment had been burgled. I’d planned to stay with Garrett, I said, but he’d just gotten called into work, and I was too spooked to stay alone. She told me to come on over.

“Did you get a new job yet?” she asked. “Ava brought an application home from work for you today.”

My throat tightened. My life was an absolute mess, and even though I’d turned them down more than once, they were still trying to help me put it back together.

“That’s so sweet,” I said. “But we’ll discuss it later. I’m about to leave now.”

“We’re goin’ to bed, but we’ll leave the front door unlocked.” Then she hung up.

That sounded dangerous, but I’d make sure to lock it once I got there.

Garrett emerged a few minutes later, wearing a fresh uniform.

“I’m headed to Mary Ellen and Ava’s.”

“Maybe I should follow you to their apartment.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll follow you anyway.”

Part of me wanted to argue with him, but mostly I was grateful. It helped that they only lived ten minutes away, and it was on the way to the sheriff’s station.

He followed me to their parking lot and stayed until I walked into the girls’ apartment.

They’d left a lamp on, and the apartment smelled like the vanilla candle Ava loved to burn. The quiet felt eerie after the day I’d had. For the first time in hours, I thought maybe I could crawl into an actual bed and shut out the world with sleep. I was about to head to the bathroom when my phone buzzed with a text.

I picked it up, hoping maybe it was Boone saying he’d cracked the code and believed me. But the text was even more startling.