by Jen Blood
“You think that’s changed over time?” I said.
“Think about it. He lost Cameron. Adam. And as much as we might not approve of Jenny’s tactics, there’s no question that they were effective in at least dealing a blow to the organization.”
“Not to mention the fact that Isaac was a complete psychopath, all about taking what he wanted—it doesn’t seem like he could see past his own needs or twisted desires to run an organization well,” I said. I noticed that Kat remained quiet, her gaze off in the distance. Jack continued, oblivious.
“I think he was trying to change that—or at least give the impression that he was changing it. Willett’s theory was that he’d be making a bid soon to expand his influence—gather new followers.”
“Which he couldn’t do if I showed up with evidence that he’d raped and murdered a nine-year-old girl,” I summarized grimly. “People would have a hard time buying into a guru with that on his resume.”
“Exactly,” Jack said, equally grim.
Kat got up abruptly. “I’m just going out for some air.”
“We can change the subject,” I said.
“No—don’t bother. I’ll just be outside.”
I looked at Maya after Kat had gone. “Has she talked to you at all about what happened on the island? When she was with my father?”
“No. She doesn’t really do that.” Before I could say anything, she added, “She is trying, though. It doesn’t come naturally, but she’s working at not shutting me out. That’s something.”
I shared the woman’s genes; had lived under the same roof with her for eight years. Not shutting someone out wasn’t just something—it was damned close to everything.
“I’m gonna go out for a minute,” I said. I looked at Jack. “Don’t eat my fries.” He looked at me with wide eyes and a devil’s grin. If it had been Diggs, my fries would be history before I hit the front door. Jack wouldn’t steal a single one, I had no doubt.
When I found her, Kat stood off to the side of the parking lot staring in the direction of the clinic, her jacket pulled tight around her.
“We’ve stopped talking about it,” I said. “You can come back in.”
“Okay. Be right there.” She didn’t move.
“Have you heard anything from Cameron?” I asked.
“He called last night,” she said, to my surprise. “He’s on the run again.”
“But he was working with Jenny on this, then? The two of them were killing the J. operatives? They planned to lure Isaac out together?”
“You knew he wasn’t a saint,” she reminded me. She turned to look at me, wide green eyes serious. I thought of everything I’d learned over the past two years—about her. My father. Me. I couldn’t believe how wrong I’d had it, all these years.
“He’s in love with you, you know,” I said.
“I know,” she agreed without argument. She seemed sad about it.
“So, this past few months when you were running…”
She rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Erin, can’t you let anything go? He’s a complicated man. And I’m in love with someone else.”
I figured I shouldn’t push any further, since I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know all that had gone on between her and Cameron, anyway.
“Listen, everything that happened with Isaac…” I began.
Her eyes darkened. Flashed fire. And then, the deepest regret I’d ever seen. “Your father told me he would keep you safe. And if I hadn’t left…”
“Isaac would have killed you,” I said. I nodded. “Dad kept his promise, you know—or he tried, anyway. Isaac never touched me. Never came near me. I saw what he did to the others, but I was always off limits. At least, I was until I saw what he did to Allie.”
“Your father did love you, you know,” she said after a few seconds. She lowered her eyes. Seemed almost shy, suddenly, and I imagined who she had been, what she had been, at seventeen years old. Just venturing onto Payson Isle for the first time.
“He had more demons than anyone I’ve ever met,” Kat said. “But he wanted to be a good man. He tried so many times to get away from them. It just never took.”
Until his last resort had been a gun to his head, in a rainy jungle in Coba.
“I know,” I said. “Or I think I do, anyway. I’m starting to.”
Kat shook off the mood abruptly, with a hearty shiver. “All right. Enough talk about the psychotic mind fucker who was Isaac Payson. Next subject.”
“That being?” The look in her eyes made me uneasy.
“Diggs,” she said. I got the sense she’d been planning this. May have even lured me out here, for exactly this reason. Tricky bitch. “You need to stop putting the man in mortal danger.”
“It’s not always my fault.” She leveled me with a glare. “Okay. A lot of times, it’s my fault.”
“He’s got a serious addiction,” she said, all trace of mirth gone. “And I’m not talking about you. Every time something like this happens, every time he ends up in the hospital again, you put his recovery at risk. So far, he’s managed to do everything without anesthesia or pain meds, but if I hadn’t been there this last time to advocate for him, that wouldn’t have been the case. He’s a strong man, but once you trigger those cravings, those behaviors, you run the risk of losing him down the rabbit hole again. You understand what I’m telling you?”
“No more mortal danger?” I said.
“Or at least start carting some Kevlar around with you. I know I didn’t raise an idiot—just be smart.”
“Okay.” I was shivering now, arms over my chest, stomping my feet to keep the blood circulating. Kat didn’t even look chilled. “I’ll do my best.”
“Good. Now, come on, let’s get you back in. A few months in the wrong hemisphere and you’ve turned into a pansy.”
“It’s five below zero.”
“Your point being?”
I shrugged. Clearly, there was no point at all. Just before I opened the door to go back in, Kat called after me.
“So, are you and Diggs getting hitched or what?”
I stopped and turned. “You do know we’ve both been down the aisle before, right? A multitude of times, actually.”
“With idiots,” she said briefly. “I’m just asking because Maya was wondering. She doesn’t have any kids, you know.”
The lack of segue had me stymied. Kat tipped her head and tried to look cavalier. She didn’t do a very good job.
“So?” I said. “What does Maya not having kids have to do with Diggs and me?”
“So…she wants grandkids. Nobody else can step up to the plate.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “So you want me to start breeding now?”
“You’ve had worse ideas.” She nodded toward the door. “Come on—get inside. It’s freezing out here.”
◊◊◊◊◊
Later that night, I lay in Diggs’ hospital bed with him—at his insistence, of course. He said if he couldn’t take pain meds, at least I could get his endorphins running with a little physical contact. Very little, mind you, but I understood his point.
“So, Cameron’s gone,” he said.
“And Lilah. Jack’s not happy about that.”
“And the high-ups Willett thought was involved in this…. What about them?”
“My guess? Denial, across the board. There’s no real evidence against any of them.” I thought of Jane Bellows, the senator who had been killed in 2012. As usual, Diggs seemed to follow my line of thinking.
“Did you see the news tonight?” he asked. “Andrew Bellows was killed outside his home in Seattle.”
I didn’t say anything. Couldn’t, really. Cameron was still out there. I got the sense that, whatever else happened in the coming months, he wouldn’t rest until he’d ensured the people who ran J. paid for their sins. As long as he was still breathing, I doubted anyone would be able to reorganize the project.
“I didn’t know,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about Bellows’ si
ster, though—the senator. I think maybe my father went to her for help. Maybe he was trying to take J. down…or maybe he was just trying to get away from them. And it got her killed.”
“It’s possible,” Diggs said. His eyes drifted shut. I lay there beside him, not at all comfortable—hospital beds really aren’t conducive to cuddling—and thought about everything Kat had said.
“You know how I was talking before about us hitting the road?” I said. “Doing our own thing—getting back to being reporters instead of crime fighters?”
I felt him tense beside me. Neither of us had mentioned his mom’s wedding ring since we’d been reunited. Between the pain and the chaos and everything else swirling around us, somehow that conversation had eluded us.
“I remember,” he said.
“Would you like that? Going somewhere warm? No bosses, our own deadlines, our own rules?”
He turned his head and studied me. “You really want to do that?”
“I think so. Once you’re well, I mean.” He didn’t say anything. I shifted. He was making me nervous. “And…we could get married. If you still want, I mean. I understand if you don’t, though—I mean, we were under a lot of pressure before, people about to murder and maim us and the blizzard and you bleeding out—“
“Sol,” he interrupted. He shook his head, and groaned at the movement. “I still want to. If it was just the murder and maiming that prompted the proposal, I would have asked years ago. Probably should have. But…yeah.” He stopped. Appeared to be turning it over in his head. “Let’s get married.”
“Okay, then,” I said. I realized I was grinning—a little stupidly, as a matter of fact. Diggs caught the smile. Smiled back.
“Okay then,” he echoed.
We lay there in silence for a long time after that. I felt Diggs drifting beside me. Found myself doing the same. An image popped into my head: Diggs and me, on a beach somewhere. Diggs tanned, healthy. Smiling. A boy with curly white-blond hair, riding on his shoulders… A kid who would never stand at the edge of a family, looking for a way in.
It was a stupid idea—kids are a ton of work. They cry. They poop. I’d never really wanted one, to be honest. And now, wasn’t even sure I could have one, after my failed pregnancy two years ago. One working fallopian tube. Terrible genes. A whole lot of demons.
What were the chances any of it could work?
Diggs shifted. His breathing evened out. I closed my eyes.
“You’re thinking very loudly,” Diggs murmured. “Care to share?”
“Just wondering what happens next,” I said. I saw a slight smile touch his lips. “In a good way?” he said.
“Yeah.” I took a breath. It was easier, somehow, than it had been. “In a very good way, I think.”
THE END
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Midnight Lullaby
The Prequel to the Critically Acclaimed Series
Readers Can’t Put Down!
Life, death, and the heart of darkness that lies between...
When a Sudanese refugee is killed in a bizarre ritual murder in Portland, Maine, reporter Daniel "Diggs" Diggins attempts to revive his flagging career by investigating the crime. The story becomes personal when a young African girl Diggs has befriended is targeted by the killer, and Diggs himself falls victim to a curse that brings to terrifying light the ghosts of his own past. Working with young protege Erin Solomon, soon the duo finds themselves immersed in a world of dark secrets, crooked politicians, and black magic.
Set during the summer of 2000, this standalone prequel to the bestselling Erin Solomon Mystery Series gives existing fans a front-row seat to those first tenuous days between Diggs and Solomon, as friendship evolves into something infinitely more complicated. And for newcomers to the series, Midnight Lullaby is the perfect introduction to the darkness and serpentine twists that mark every Diggs and Solomon mystery.
Copyright © 2015 by Jen Blood
Published by Adian Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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About the Author
Jen Blood is a freelance journalist, certified dog trainer, and author of the bestselling Erin Solomon mystery series. She is also owner of Adian Editing, providing expert editing of plot-driven fiction for authors around the world. Jen holds an MFA in Creative Writing/Popular Fiction, with influences ranging from Emily Bronte to Joss Whedon and the whole spectrum in between. Today, Jen lives in Maine with her dog Killian, where the two are busy conquering snowbanks and penning the next mystery.