Page 95 of The System

“Huh?”

“I like talking to you like this.”

“Like what? Making fun of me?”

“No, like it’s actually going to happen.” Carina kissed Kieran’s hand again.

CHAPTER 28

When they arrived at Dylan and Ada’s house, Carina didn’t wait for Kieran like she usually did, so Kieran locked the car and followed her toward the door, which Carina had opened and hurried through.

“Hi. We’re here,” she said once they were both inside and Kieran had closed the door behind them.

“Who’s we?” Ada asked from her position on the sofa with a beer bottle in her hand.

“Kieran and me,” Carina said, sitting down next to her.

“Did Dylan call everyone she’s ever met to come over and watch me?”

“Possibly,” Kenna replied as she walked into the living room from the kitchen. “And here’s your refill, but that’s your last one until Dylan comes home. The last thing we need is you getting drunk and either passing out or slipping out the back somehow and driving to wherever Dylan is right now.”

Ada took the bottle and handed Kenna the empty one.

“Like she’d even tell me where they were going to arrest the prick. She intentionally left out that all-important detail because she was afraid I’d show up and punch him or something and ruin her arrest.”

“Well, you want him to go to prison, right? Not get out on some technicality,” Ripley reasoned as she walked into the room and stood next to Kenna.

“Hey, we’re ordering pizza,” Raleigh announced as she walked in from wherever she was.

Dylan really had called everyone she’d ever met.

“Did Hollis get her down yet?” Ada asked before she took a drink.

“Yeah, Eden’s out. She didn’t nap today, and she still usually goes down for at least a half hour or so, depending on school, so she can nap now and stay up a little later if she can’t get back to sleep when we get home,” Hollis answered while she came down the stairs. “Sorry, we couldn’t find a sitter last-minute.”

“Don’t apologize. If anything, I’m pretty sure Dylan asked all of you to come babysit me,” Ada noted and turned to Kieran. “Hey, again. My wife called you, too?”

“Uh…” Carina began.

“She called Carina, and we were together,” Kieran helped. “Because we were on a date.”

Carina looked at her and smiled.

“Oh, a date, huh?” Ada turned to Carina. “I thought she was straight as an arrow, Carina.”

“She’s standing right here,” Kieran said, waving her hand. “And she’s… figuring things out.”

“Well, I like her,” Ada replied and took another drink. “Just don’t figure things out with Carina here and end up hurting her, and we’re cool.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Kieran said.

“Most people don’t plan on hurting other people, and yet, they still do. Others, however, definitely plan on it,” Ada added.

Kieran wasn’t sure that Ada needed or even wanted a response to her pretty rhetorical statement right now, so she didn’t say anything and sat on the floor in front of the sofa. Hollis had her phone out and was probably working on that pizza order for them as she sat on an oversized chair next to Raleigh. Carina was focused on Ada. Ripley moved to sit on Ada’s other side, while Kenna sat on the floor at Ripley’s feet. Kieran thought about moving to do the same with Carina but opted not to since now wasn’t the time.

“So, what happened?” Carina asked. “I only got a little of it from Dylan before she had to go.”

“She found this guy a while ago and didn’t tell me at first because this isn’t the first time we’ve had leads in Noah’s case. He was in the area when Noah went missing, though, and was a friend of a friend of the guy who owned the acreage where they found Noah’s body. No one would cooperate with police to give her anything to go on, but Dylan is amazing.” Ada smiled as she looked down at the floor in front of her feet. “She kept at it, and it turns out, this guy ran gun shows. He travels the country, I guess, and just puts on these gun shows where people can walk in and buy tons of guns and not have to go through all the same background checks they have to at shops. Anyway, he ran one a few towns over, and Dylan got a wire based on something. I don’t know what, exactly, but something. She has him confessing on it. I guess that friend of his mentioned that kids liked to play at the lake. There’s this whole rope-swing-and-cliff-diving right of passage thing. Noah and I were there that day. I was in the water, and someone took him. I never thought he ran away. No one did. He was there one second, and the next, I’m coming up for air, and my brother was gone.”

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