Page 70 of The Killer Who Kept Me

“Okay, sure.”

“Great, meet me out back in half an hour.”

“You got it.”

I tried to find Saros to let him know I was off to have a picnic with Dafni, but he was nowhere to be found. I asked—I think his name was Dean—one of the guys walking the floor if he could get a message to Saros. He agreed, but in the end I just shot a text message off to him.

When I opened the doors, I realized how right Dafni was. The air was cool but not freezing, and the sun was shining. Howwas this December? It was later for lunch than usual, but time seemed to have no meaning in this house right now, and I was hungry.

“Oh, great. You’re here.” I turned just in time for Dafni to hand me Tucker. “You take him; I need to grab the basket. Maeve, honey, come on.”

The little girl skipped outside, giggling at what, I had no idea. I followed her as she danced around the yard. Oh, to be that carefree. I didn’t think I’d ever been, actually.

“We can eat here.” Dafni pointed to a spot near a tree and a small river. “Maeve loves to stare at the river and try and find the fish swimming by.”

It was close to the tree line but still on the property. I glanced left and right and saw Saros’s people, and they were watching us carefully.

She opened a large blanket, and I rocked Tucker while she set everything up. He was a cute baby, blue eyes like his mom and uncle, but I saw a lot of Cosmo in his features.

“Mama, look!” Maeve was pointing to a couple of frogs leaping over the rocks.

“Wow, baby. How about we eat first, and then we can see what else we can find, and you can tell Daddy all about it later? Sound good?”

Maeve’s nose scrunched up adorably, like she wasn’t in love with that idea, but she was probably also hungry. In the end her stomach won out, and she pranced toward the blanket, landing with a plop.

“You can lay Tucker down here.” Dafni patted the blanket, and I carefully laid him there.

Dafni had fruits, veggies, sandwiches, drinks—everything for a perfect picnic. Maeve ate quicker than I thought was healthy, but at least she was eating. Every few seconds, she peeked overher shoulder to the river, her eagerness to get back to the fun almost making her choke.

“Take it easy.” Dafni wiped Maeve’s mouth.

“Do you like fishies and froggies?” Maeve asked me.

“I do. When I was little I loved to jump the rocks, avoiding the water. I wanted to see how far I could get, and one day I found a secret place.”

Maeve’s eyes widened and she whispered in wonder, “Mermaids?”

I chuckled. “No, not mermaids. I found an army of frogs.”

“An army,” Maeve gasped.

“Yeah, that’s what a large number of frogs are called. They were all sunbathing on rocks, and beneath them were more fish than I’d ever seen.”

“Woooow! Where? I wanna go!” She was bouncing again.

“It’s not here, but by the looks of it, your uncle Saros has some pretty awesome things in his river.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Can I go, Mama?”

Dafni sighed. “Okay, go on. But only on the edge. No exploring today.”

She ran off, and we kept our eyes on her until she squatted by the river and watched, probably fish.

“She’s great.” I smiled.

“I tend to agree, but she’s also a handful, that one.” She gently rubbed Tucker’s cheek. “Hopefully he’s my calm baby.”

“He hasn’t fussed once since we’ve been here.”

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