Page 93 of The System

“I have good news, I think, but never mind.”

“Dylan, what’s up?” she asked.

“I got him,” Dylan said. “Fuck, Carina; I finally got him.”

“Got who?”

“The bastard who killed Noah Cramer. I got him.”

Carina moved back to Kieran, placing a hand on her knee for support, and said, “You got him?”

“What’s going on?” Kieran whispered.

“I’m about to go arrest him, but I have him. He’s the guy. I got a warrant approved for a wiretap and had an undercover talk him up. He’s a pedophile. There’s gonna be a whole child porn case attached to this, but he confessed on the wire. I’m about to arrest him myself, bring him in, and lock his ass up.”

“Dylan, that’s amazing. How’s Ada? Her parents?”

“Her parents don’t know yet. Ada doesn’t want to tell them until he’s behind bars. She’s kind of in shock. I need someone here to watch her because she wants to go with me, but she can’t.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I’m on my way.”

“You said you were on a date.”

“I am. Can Kieran come with me?”

“You’re on a date with Kieran?”

“Dylan, later.”

“Right. Sorry. Adrenaline. Yeah, she can come over. Kenna and Ripley are on their way over, too. I called Hollis and Raleigh, and they have to find a sitter for Eden first, but they’ll be there. Can you just get here whenever you can? I don’t want her sitting here by herself. She’ll get in the damn car and drive around town looking for where we’re arresting this guy, and I don’t want her getting into an accident.”

“Of course. Give me twenty minutes. We’ll be there.” Carina turned around and pressed the off button on the oven.

“Thank you. And tell Kieran I’m sorry.”

“Not necessary. See you soon.” Carina hung up, went to remove the dish from the oven, leaving it on the stove, and said to Kieran, “Dylan is arresting the guy who killed Ada’s brother. She needs someone to sit with Ada, who’s in shock.”

“I’ll get my keys,” Kieran replied as she jumped off the counter.

Carina smiled because she’d never doubted that Kieran would do just that. She corked the wine she’d opened to breathe and slid into her shoes by the door, following Kieran outside to the driveway, where the woman had parked.

“Hey, if you want to park in the garage next time, I got Tinley’s remote back, so I have a spare.”

“This is you pretending like you don’t already want to move in with me, isn’t it?” Kieran joked.

“You’re practical. I’m trying to help you adjust to this whole new thing by suggesting something practical.”

Kieran climbed into the driver’s seat. Carina got in beside her.

“How about you give me that remote when you’re ready for me to have it, and we go from there?” She turned on the car.

“I’ll give it to you when we get back, then.”

Kieran just looked over at her, shook her head a little, and smiled. Carina watched the blush creep up her cheeks and reached for her hand the moment they were on the street. She moved it into her lap and toyed nervously with Kieran’s fingers.

“Do you want to stop by your place and pick up a bag of your stuff so you can stay at my house tonight?” she chanced.

“I already did. It’s in the trunk. I just didn’t bring it in when we got there.”

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