“Inviting people inside instead of making them stand on your doorstep just isn’t a habit that comes naturally for you, is it Eden? This is the second time I’ve shown up at your house, and you just stood there saying nothing. I’m not even in uniform, or here to take a report this time.”
I looked to Drew, who’d stepped through the door and snaked an arm around my waist as his mom and uncle came inside.
Closing the door behind them, I asked, “What’s going on?”
Drew’s smile faded, and I knew that whatever it was, chances were I wasn’t going to like it. We followed Sara and Tony into the kitchen, where Dad was cleaning up the last of our breakfast dishes. When he looked up from the table, his expression was all business.
“I see you got my message. Come on in and have a seat—all of you.”
With everyone but Dad sitting around the kitchen table, he got right down to it.
“Eden, after Drew came to me about what was going on with you, I talked with Sara about it, and I’m not gonna lie, she was skeptical at first. I trust Sara, and I would hope that you trust my judgment. Now that we have all the information the contents of that box put into our hands, I feel a revisit to my sister’s case would be a smart move, which brings me to why Officer Graves is here.”
Tony nodded. “Yeah, Sara already told me what is going on, I’m not going to act as if I buy into the whole paranormal level of this, but the discovery of this box she told me about is a solid enough reason to reopen the Echora Garrows case. Now that the man she was seeing has come to light, we have a new suspect. So, if what you are asking is for me to talk to the higher-ups and present them with the box to enter into evidence, I can, but they will have to come here to collect it. I suggest that you come up with a different version of how you came to know about the box than the one I was told.”
For once, Echo didn’t react, didn’t lash out, and didn’t utter a word. I’d braced myself for the onslaught of rebellion that was sure to come, but rather than get irate, all I felt from Echo was sadness and acceptance. She knew there was nothing else she could do to protect Danny. Too many people knew about their relationship now.
“Fantastic, I would like to work on the case as well, if at all possible,” Dad said with a grateful nod.
Tony frowned and looked genuinely uncomfortable, “Daryl you know I have no say in this kind of thing, I’m a beat cop. You’ll have to take it up with the captain, but I can tell you right now exactly how that conversation is going to go.”
Dad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose like he always did when a stress headache was threatening to ruin his day.
“I guess I am just gonna have to take my chances then. How much can Jon be reasoned with these days, Tony?”
Tony laughed, a sarcastic and bitter sound, “Jon? Oh, he’s as reasonable as he’s ever been, but he is also retired, as of about three months ago. Now Megan—our new captain—yeah, man, good luck with that, she’s a real female dog if you know what I mean.”
Dad chuckled and rolled his tongue around the inside of his lower lip, “Well, is she single?”
Tony made a strangled sound and started laughing, “Seriously? Are you really going to go there?”
“Hey, a little charm,” he gave a nonchalant shrug, “never hurt no one, and if she’s good looking, I might get a date out of it.”
I rolled my eyes and rose from the table. This conversation was turning into nonsense faster than I would care to admit.
“Well, some of us have to be at school in less than thirty minutes! Are you ready, Drew?”
I didn’t have to ask him twice, he was out of his chair and heading toward the garage in less than a second. He kissed Sara on the cheek while I hugged Dad on the way out to leave for school. In the car, Drew was uncharacteristically quiet—even for him.
“What’s wrong, Drew?”
I stared at our linked hands as he drove us to school.
“Nothing’s—wrong, I just have a bad feeling about all this. Something tells me that shit is gonna hit the fan! I’m pretty sure opening this case again is going to set certain things into motion, Eden. Once word gets out, whoever is responsible for Echo’s death could very well come after you. I just think that the “Grown-ups” may be making a stupid mistake.
“Drew, I’m pretty sure whoever wanted Echo dead would have done something by now if they wanted me dead too. I mean seriously, look at it like this. If the ultimate goal were to kill both Echo and me, then it would stand to reason that they would have at least checked back—made sure that the baby died with the girl. Don’t you think that Echo’s brother suddenly having a days-old baby would toss up a red flag! That story Grams and Pop came up with about his fiancé dying the day after giving birth in a terrible car accident…come on, it would have seemed too coincidental to the murderer. So I am going with whoever it was just wanted Echo dead. I mean honestly, how could a baby living threaten anyone. Who knowingly sits on finishing what they started for almost twenty years? That’s just crazy.”
He took his eyes completely off the road for a moment to look at me, and the expression he wore was grave when he said, “Someone who
