Page 26 of Seven

“That’s a good idea.” Detective Joyner nodded. “I’ll have officers patrol the area and keep an eye on things.”

“That would be great. Thank you, Detective.”

“Not a problem. Just let me know if anything comes up, and I meananything.”

“We certainly will.”

Mom rushed upstairs to pack a bag, and the entire time, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It wasn’t just the mess that unnerved me. It was the intent behind it. Someone had come into our home, and they hadn’t just taken Dad’s papers and books. They’d taken a piece of our peace of mind.

Once she had everything she needed, we drove over to the neighbor’s and picked up Ford. He’d barely gotten settled in the backseat when the questions started rolling in. “Why were the cops at Nana’s?”

“They were checking Papa’s office for clues that might help them with their case.”

“Why did you tell Ms. Glenda that we were going to a hotel?”

“Because we are.”

“But why?” Ford pushed.

“Because I need some time away from the house.” Mom’s eyes skirted over to me, and I knew she was just trying to protect Ford when she told him, “It’s hard for your mother and I to be there without your grandfather.”

“But why do Mom and I have...”

“Because we do,” I cut him off. “It’ll just be for a few days, and then, things will start to get back to normal.”

“I wanna go back to New York,” Ford grumbled in the backseat.

I felt sorry for the kid. He’d been through a lot over the past few years. He’d moved countries, lost all friends, made new ones, only to lose them when we moved back home, and he’d done it all with an absentee mom. I was constantly in class, and when I wasn’t, I was in the studio working on my next big project. I was hoping things would settle down now that we were back home, but that hadn’t been the case. If anything, it was worse.

When we got to the hotel, Mom got us a suite, so Ford and I would have our own room. Ford seemed pretty hesitant about the whole hotel thing until he saw that they had hot chocolate and fresh cookies in the lobby. The second he spotted them, his whole demeanor changed. “This place is awesome.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, they have a pool and everything.” He stopped and crinkled his nose with a pout. “Oh, man. I don’t have my trunks.”

“I can go grab them.” I looked over to Mom as I said, “I need to grab a few things anyway.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, there’s no need in that. I’ll just run, get what we need, and come right back.”

“It’s an hour there and back.”

“Which is why you guys should stay here.” I reached over and gave her arm a tender squeeze. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Please be careful.”

I nodded, then knelt in front of Ford. “Be sweet to your grandmother and do whatever she tells you.”

“What if she tells me to jump on the bed?”

“Well, you gotta do what you gotta do.” I gave him a wink before kissing him on the forehead. “I’ll be back when I can.”

With that, I turned and headed back out to my car.

I was running on empty.

Over the past couple of days, I felt like I’d been through hell and back, and I had. It was bad enough to witness my father’s murder, but I’d also been questioned by the police, followed by a strange car, and we had someone break into the house. I felt like I might crumble under the weight of it all. I just wanted to crawl into my bed and let the grief and exhaustion pull me under.

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