Page 160 of In the Air Tonight

“To me, it is. Please don’t worry about me or my life or my work or anything else. It’ll all be fine.”

“I should just give them what they want and refuse to testify, so they’ll leave us alone.”

“No way, Red. You’ve come too far to give up now. Soon enough, this’ll be over, and we’ll have the whole rest of our lives together.”

“Did you just give me a nickname?”

“Maybe.”

“Despite having had red hair my whole life and a million nicknames associated with that and my name, no one’s ever called me that.”

“Is it okay if I do?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. What’re you hearing about your mother’s car?”

“Banged up but fixable.”

“That’s a huge relief. I know how much it means to you to have her car.”

“I feel like she might’ve had something to do with keeping you safe.”

Fenway comes into the room and jumps up on the bed next to Blaise.

Before I can tell her to be careful, she drops to her belly and inches in slowly and carefully, as if she knows to be gentle.

“Hi, sweet girl.” Blaise scratches her ears and earns a soft, sweet lick to her wrist. “She’s the best girl.”

“It’s good to know she can behave once in a while.”

“I love her.”

“She loves you, too.” I kiss her forehead. “Get some rest. I’ll be right here.”

Twenty minutes later, Houston returns with the meds, which knock her out quickly. That’s a relief because she was in pain.

“Is there any word on whether they’ve arrested the guy who did this?” I ask him.

“Not yet, but everyone is looking for him.”

Chapter 31

Ryder

NOW

Pounding on the front door awakens me from a restless sleep.What now, I wonder as I go to see what’s happening.

My mom tightens the belt around her robe as she answers the door to cops holding up their badges.

“We’re looking for David Elliott.” The older of the two cops is my high school classmate, Caleb Anders. He doesn’t look at me.

“He’s not here.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t come home earlier.”

“Are you able to track his location?”

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