Heath jammed a hand into his hair. “You know I don’t want to believe any of it, but we gotta look at all the angles. He was a lifelong cop looking at sitting in a cell for a long damn time after they arrested him. None of us would want to go through that. He wouldn’t have been the first cop to . . . take another way out.”

My jaw clenched at the suggestion. “I don’t believe it. Leave my mom homeless so he could avoid being arrested? It doesn’t make sense. If he wanted to end it all, he could’ve walked out of the house with a gun in hand and gone out old-fashioned suicide by cop.” It turned my gut to say it, but it was the truth.

“Your old man was stubborn, there’s no doubt about that. Look, let us do our job. If there’s any evidence to the contrary, it’ll come to light.”

“Yeah, because you can tell me with a straight face that’s really what the department wants.”

Heath’s expression darkened. “We’re not all dirty cops. Some are still in this to protect and serve. You know that.”

“I know.”

“Did you know Ari might be sticking around longer than she’d planned?”

The trajectory of my thoughts did a one-eighty. “Really?”

“She said she’s not going anywhere until we sort out all this stuff going on with Dad, no matter how long it takes.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. As much as I’m glad she’ll be around longer, the reason sucks for you both.”

“Getting old’s a bitch, that’s for sure. I’m hoping for the best, but from what I’ve been seeing the last week, he’s going downhill fast.”

“If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

“Appreciate it. Best thing you can do is keep an eye on Ari.”

The waitress delivered our orders, and the rest of breakfast passed with the same easy camaraderie Heath and I had always had. But as we ate, my mind kept bouncing between two different thoughts.

What the hell actually happened with my dad, and how long would I have with Ari?

18

Ariel

“Ha! I still got it!” I jumped up from the chair and did a little dance around the office where I’d set up shop in the house. I didn’t care that Erik and Esme could see me shaking my groove thang through the live video stream.

“You’ve definitely got something . . .”

My tweaks to the security system had rendered it impenetrable once again, and my top team of internal hackers, along with Esme and Erik, had failed miserably.

“What I don’t understand is why you won’t take one of the hundreds of offers we get for you to do this for other companies? Do you have any idea how much money you could make?”

“She’s already got plenty of money. Why would she want to go work for someone else and follow their rules, even if it were on a contract basis?” Esme pointed out.

“This is something I do for my personal satisfaction, not for money.”

“But . . .”

“No buts. On to the next subject.”

“Speaking of butts . . . did Mr. Hot Former Cop grow a pair and talk to your brother today to get permission to bang you?”

Esme’s question sent a wave of heat up my cheeks. “We’re not talking about that either.”

Heath texted me this morning to tell me that he and Rhett were having breakfast at ten. A glance at the clock showed that it was now noon and I’d received no updates. Not that I was expecting one, or, you know, Rhett to show up with a giant bouquet of flowers and toss rose petals all over my floor as he led me to bed.

Actually, that would be creepy, despite what I thought when I was eighteen. Officially scratching that one off the fantasy list.

But what if we took that next step and it didn’t come anywhere close to living up to what I’d imagined? I’d expended an undisclosed amount of brain power on how it could be between Rhett and me, and the more I thought about it, the more I was terrified of the possibility of disappointment.

“Uh-oh. I recognize that face. I don’t see it often, but that’s the face of hesitation. Maybe even second thoughts,” Esme whispered.

It took all the adult willpower in my body not to flip off the screen. Both Erik and Esme read me too easily.

“What if . . . what if something happens and . . .” I pressed my lips together, not even wanting to put my fears out in the universe.

“What if it’s not as good as you’ve always hoped it would be?” Esme suggested.

“You think you’ve built this guy up to have a Jack-in-the-beanstalk-level magic cock, and he might just have regular beans?” Erik asked.

Neither waited for me to respond, opting instead to discuss it amongst themselves.

“He can’t suck,” Esme said. “I’ve seen pictures of that guy, and he looks like the real deal.”

Erik speared her with a skeptical look. “Oh, and your track record with identifying winners is so good?”

“Shut up. That was one internet dating experience gone bad. It’s not like—”

I hit the End button on the screen and wondered how long it would take them to realize I’d hung up on them.

I gave it three, two, one . . .

They popped up onscreen again.

“Hey, not fair.”

“Moving on now.”

After knocking out a long list of items I needed to discuss with Erik and Esme, I clicked out of the video conference and looked at the time. Two more hours had passed, and still no word from Rhett or Heath.

Okay, I’m just pathetic. I’ve got plenty of things to do to keep me busy, and none of them involve mooning over Rhett Hennessy.

Years ago, I’d spent way too much time up in my tiny room, staring out the window at the Hennessys’ driveway and front yard, hoping for a glimpse of Rhett coming or going from school or practice or . . . ugh, on dates. Instead of studying and preparing to rock my future life, I’d make up stories about how Rhett would scale the chimney and sneak in through my window and tell me he couldn’t live without me. Followed by him carrying me out of my childhood bedroom and down the stairs without getting shot by my dad.

Needless to say, that had never happened. What did happen was watching Rhett bring his senior prom date, Valerie Hebert, to his parents’ house after picking her up so his mom could take pictures of them in front of the blooming magnolia tree out front. The day before, Valerie had spent a good twenty minutes preening in the girls’ locker room after PE, smiling smugly about how Rhett Hennessy was going to try to hit a home run after prom, and she was thinking about letting him.