Page 90 of Before This Ends (Before)

“No, but if we jump the gun and bring him in today, we wouldn’t have enough to hold him.” My fingers flex on the steering wheel. “He’s familiar with the way these things go, so the first thing he’s going to do is lawyer up. And when that happens it’s going to make things more difficult for us to speak to him when we do get the results back from the lab.”

“I just want that motherfucker in a room.”

“And we’ll get him there. It’s just going to take some time,” I say calmly. I know his frustration with this situation is coming from a good place. And like me he’s probably remembering Grace’s mom’s tear-stained face and the look in her eyes after she pleaded for help. “If he did this, we’ll get him.”

“Why do you think he did it?” he asks after a few minutes, and I glance over at him.

“I don’t know, maybe she told him that she was pregnant before she got the chance to take the test and he panicked. He wouldn’t be the first man to kill a woman he didn’t want to have a kid with. And if he couldn’t get Anna alone for whatever reason, Grace could have been collateral damage. I’ve seen men do worse when they feel they are losing control of their lives.”

“Because just ending a relationship isn’t an option.”

“I’m not saying I understand it, but you and I both know it happens more often than it should, especially when a woman is pregnant.”

The last study that came out claimed that women are thirty percent more likely to be murdered during pregnancy or shortly after, and three women a day are murdered by an intimate partner. Even now in the twenty-first century women are considered disposable to some. And raising a daughter, knowing what I do and seeing firsthand the devastation left behind in those types of scenarios is something that will forever keep me up at night.

I come out of my thoughts when my phone rings and glance at the screen on the dash. Seeing it’s Winter’s school calling I press answer.

“Hello.”

“Mr. Thatcher, this is Lisa, the nurse at Rose Crest Elementary.”

Shit.

“Hi Lisa.”

“I’m sorry to bother you but Winter’s teacher sent her down to my office because she’s not feeling great, I took her temp and it’s ninety-nine which isn’t considered a fever but it’s still above normal. I was wondering what you’d like me to do.”

“I’m about forty-five minutes outside of Nashville but I’ll have someone there to pick her up.”

“Sounds good, I’ll have her go get her things from her class.”

“Thanks Lisa.” I hang up and dial Emma’s cell.

“Hey.” Her soft voice sounds over the car stereo and the memory of her using that same tone this morning when I was still buried inside of her, and she asked me once more to tell her something she didn’t know about me. My answer was that I hate avocados. Hers was that peaches are her favorite fruit.”

“Hey baby, are you with a client?”

“I’m just finishing up with my last client of the day, is everything okay?”

“Win’s school called. She’s in the nurses’ office and I’m about forty-five minutes away.”

“Oh no, I’ll go get her. I should be done here in about five minutes.”

“Are you sure? I can see if Clay is around,” I say realizing that I called her first without even thinking about calling Clay or anyone else.

“Of course, should I take her to Urgent Care or her doctor?”

“Maybe check and see what’s bothering her. It could just be a bug.”

“Okay, I’ll call you after I pick her up.”

“Thanks baby.”

“Anytime.” She hangs up after a soft goodbye.

“Girlfriend?” Martinez asks. I glance over at him as the number for the school’s office rings. I want to let them know that Emma will be picking Win up so that there are no issues when she arrives at the school to get her early.

“Yeah,” I mutter even though it feels strange referring to her as my girlfriend. Especially when she’s become so fucking important to not just me but also Win. She’s fit herself into our lives like she was always here and every fucking day I wonder how we survived for so long without her.

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