Page 14 of Before This Ends (Before)

“Are we suddenly friends, Thatcher?” he asks, and I glance over at him. We might have just met, but I already have the impression he’s got more walls up than my brother, Tucker, which is saying something. He lets out a sigh. “Their mom is in New York. She got remarried a year ago, and the kids both hate her new husband.”

“That’s gotta be hard.”

“It is what it is.” He glances to the back seat. “You got a kid?”

“A daughter, Winter. She’s seven going on sixteen.”

“I remember that age, and I gotta tell you—you’ve got it easy right now.”

“That bad?”

“Worse,” he mutters, and I smile. “Her mom?”

“She’s in Colorado. We’re not together, but we are close, and she’s solid. Winter is with me until she’s a little older.”

“Her mom agreed to that?” Everyone is always surprised that Hazel agreed for our daughter to live with me without putting up a fight, and I know it’s far from the norm.

“We both know there’s gonna come a time when Winter really needs her mom, and I’m not gonna have a choice but to let her have that time. Hazel gets that, so Winter is with me until that time comes.”

“I’m a little envious that you’ve mastered communicating with your ex.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but wearefriends, so it’s easier than it could be,” I tell him, and silence falls between us before I listen as he calls his son, who he’s obviously close with, and I drive us back toward the city.

CHAPTER7

miles

Pacing in front of the windows that overlook the fenced-in backyard behind the building—a yard only Clay’s apartment on the fifth floor has access to by a set of stairs—I scrub my fingers through my hair.

I just got off the phone with Karen, who is on her way to her daughter’s house in Mississippi, because her son-in-law had a heart attack and is going into surgery. With four kids all under the age of ten, her daughter was panicked. She couldn’t be in two places at once and wanted to be with her husband but didn’t want the kids at the hospital with her.

I told Karen not to worry, that I would figure something out with Winter. And normally, that wouldn’t be a lie, not with two of my brothers living here in Nashville and in the same building as me. But with both of them out of town and Hazel a flight away, I’ve fucked myself. Last night, I got home after midnight and was up early today with a plan to meet Martinez after Karen got here this morning. Now, I’m going to have to call and let him know he’s on his own, and that doesn’t sit well with me. Not when we’ve got so much work to do on Anna and Grace’s case.

Dropping my head forward, I wrap my hand around the back of my neck, then let it go when my cell rings. Walking to the table where I dropped it after I hung up with Karen, I pick it up when I see it’s Tucker calling.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting on your plane?” I greet, putting it to my ear.

“We’re waiting to take off now, but Miranda is convinced she left the coffee pot on this morning and the whole building is going to burn down.”

“I’ll run over.”

“You’re not working? Did you already catch someone for the case you were working on yesterday?”

“No, Karen’s son-in-law had a heart attack, and she’s headed to Mississippi to look after her grandkids, so I’m gonna have to stay here with Winter,” I tell him while walking to the kitchen to get the keys for his apartment that I keep in the drawer there.

“Fuck, and Clay and I are both gone.”

“And you and Clay are both gone,” I agree and hear Miranda in the background asking if everything is okay and what’s going on. Then I listen to him explain the situation to her.

“Miles,” Miranda says, obviously taking the phone from him. “Do you want me to call Emma and see if she could come over and hang with Winter? She watches Kingston for me whenever I need, and you know her. Plus Winter loves her.”

“Is she working today?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll call her and find out really quick, then have her call you.” We hang up after saying goodbye, and I take the key and head to Tucker’s place down the hall. The coffee pot is off, so I make sure everything is secure, then head back to my place. The moment I step through the door, my cell rings, and it’s a number I don’t have saved.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Miles, it’s Emma,” she greets softly, and I ignore the curl in the pit of my stomach from just hearing her voice.

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