Page 104 of A Little Taste
Mom walks out with Owen, and Edward lunges forward to meet his little friend.
“You did it, boy!” Owen drops to his knees and hugs the dog. “You helped Dad find the bad guys. Didn’t he, Dad? Did Edward help you solve the case?”
“He sure did.” I scrub my hand on the top of Owen’s head, looking up to where Doug and Holly wave from the entrance to the courthouse.
Stepping past the Brewer-Bailey reunion, I go to where one of the Beaufort deputies and a state trooper are watching, arms crossed and almost smiling.
Waving for them to head inside with me, I quickly fill in the team on what we’ve been able to piece together, from what we knew going in and the things Stan confessed to Britt while he was holding her captive.
It appears he’d originally planned to kidnap Gwen and force her to say all the things he wrote in his deranged email live on some social media platform. The vandalism and the thefts were distractions to send us hunting for Gary Blue instead of him when she went missing.
“But why kill Gary? It blew his whole cover.” Piper sits on the edge of Doug’s desk, quickly making notes for the Tuesday edition of the gazette.
“He told Britt it was because he caught Gary conspiring with Gwen.” My jaw tightens. “He thought killing Gary would send Gwen a message. Then he decided taking Britt would scare her into compliance.”
When we’ve finished documenting what happened, Doug calls the coroner’s office, and a crew is sent to recover Stan’s body and process the scene.
With the case wrapped and Britt safe, exhaustion hits me hard. I’d like to talk to her some more. I’d like to do a lot of things with her, but when I walk to the door and look out, she’s still surrounded by Gwen and Edna.
Owen yawns, and my mother hugs him to her side looking tired herself.
“We should head home.” I pat my son’s little back. “It’s late, and you've got school tomorrow.”
We walk Edward out to where the three women are rehashing everything. Owen skips forward, hugging Britt around the waist. “Edward missed you while you were out of town, but I took good care of him for you!”
“Thank you, Owen.” She bends down, hugging him tight. “I know you did a good job.”
She looks up at me, and my jaw tightens with all the things I want to say to her. I love seeing her here, safe, hugging my son, and I loved having her in my arms again, even if it was too brief and we were flying on adrenaline.
“Thank you again for rescuing me.” She’s so pretty.
My arms can’t get enough of her, and I want to surround her body with mine and never let her go. Still, I can see the exhaustion lining her eyes as well.
“Get some rest. We can talk tomorrow.”
Her smile dims, but she blinks it away. “Okay.”
Taking Owen’s hand, I help him and my mom into the truck. Hesitating, I watch her with her family. The aching pain in my chest is healed. The world is right, and magic or faith or whatever you want to call it has restored her to me.
For the first time in years, I can imagine something bigger than us, something I can’t see or feel, that protected her from a madman and put her safely in my arms again.
Or maybe I’m simply exhausted from a long week of tension and fear and the successful conclusion of a desperate search. My son and my mom are waiting for me, and I have to get them home. Then we’ll rest and see how it all looks tomorrow in the light of day.
* * *
I’mout of bed before Owen, showered, dressed, and ready to head to the courthouse. When Owen’s finally up, I help him get dressed and brush his hair before grabbing a go-gurt and hurrying us out the door.
The mob at the courthouse has dispersed, and today it’s the usual crew, Edna, Doug, and Holly. Doug is leaning beside Holly’s desk holding a donut, and it’s almost like nothing happened. Except Britt isn’t at her desk, and Gwen is leaving Edna’s office.
She’s back to wearing her wildly patterned silk kimonos and scarves on her head with all the rings and bracelets and shit, but on her way past me, she stops.
“Mom said you stated for the official record Stan was killed in self-defense.”
“That’s exactly what happened.” I sit at my desk, opening my laptop. “He fired multiple shots at Britt, you, and me. You were well within your rights to defend yourself and your daughter. Hell, you defended me.”
“Thank you.” She puts her hand on my arm briefly. “You stayed until the end, and you brought my daughter home.”
“We both did.”