Page 14 of Evidence of a Folktale

“Blaubart told me you found out about my faked death on the news.” Bel wiped the tears from her eyes. Every time Eamon opened his mouth, she understood more and more why he’d mentioned leaving. Was that why they’d spent hours tangled in the sheets last night? Had he wanted to feel her gasping for breath against him so that he knew she was alive? Had he been too afraid to sleep for fear that she’d stop breathing beside him?

“He made that Jane Doe look just like you,” Eamon whispered.

“Thinking about that makes me sick.” She peeled his hand off her leg and pressed it against her chest so he could feel her heartbeat. “I’m still here, though. It will takea lotmore than a madman to steal me from you.”

“Promise?”

“I love you, remember?” She lifted his fingers to her lips and kissed them before returning them to her heart.

“I could never forget.” He leaned across the console and pulled her into a kiss, lingering against her until she was gasping for breath.

“Thank you,” she whispered against his mouth.

“For what?”

“For the car, for being honest.” She kissed him again before leaning back in her seat. “For letting me be honest. I was so mad at you for contemplating leaving… but then Ihearwhat you went through, and Iunderstand.Most men would bottle up their emotions andjustleave.They’d assume they were doing it for myowngood, and I’d be left angry and alone with unanswered questions. But hearing the story from your perspective? I probably would’ve done the same thing in your shoes.”

“The past month has been hell for both of us,” Eamon said. “There aremanythings I wish I could do differently.”

“But we’re still here, and we’re still together. I think we’re going to be okay. We’re the couple that makes it to what’s yoursismine, aren’t we?”

“Detective Isobel Stone.” Eamon smiled.

“Okay, slow down,” she laughed, swatting his chest. “We’re not there yet.”

“Right… gotta convince you to move in with me first.” He winked.

“Exactly. I’m just saying we’ll be okay. If we can survive this, we can survive any fight.”

“We better. Cerberus likes this car,” Eamon said as he glanced at the pitbull who’d fixated on a squirrel outside his window. “He’ll be upset if he doesn’t get to con goodies out of me.”

“That’s low.” Bel captured Eamon’s face in her hands and kissed him. “Using my dog against me.”

“It’s a guaranteed win.”

“You, sir, are good.” She settled back into her seat and shifted the gear stick. “I love you… now can you help mereallydrive this car? It’s so nice, and most of Bajka is residential. I won’t get many chances to test her.”

Eamon leaned closer and brushed a seductive kiss over her scars. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Letme start this morning’s briefing by saying, Happy New Year!” Griffin said as the station gathered fully staffed for the first time since before Christmas. “I hope everyone had an amazing holiday, and I’d like to take this moment to put Detective Emerson on the spot.” He extended a hand to Bel, and she rolled her eyes before joining him at the front of the room, the officers cheering her on except for her partner Olivia Gold, who stood arms crossed and sullen at the rear of the crowd.

“This is Emerson’s first day on the job since her resurrection,” Griffin continued, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “She gave us a horrifying scare, so I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re so thankful to have you back.”

“I’m happy to be back,” Bel said to thesoundtrack of applause. “And to be alive.”

“Here, here!” A deputy cheered, and it stung that Olivia didn’t so much as smile.

“We all love you,” Griffin continued, and Bel could tell his use of‘We’really meant‘I’.“But if I know you at all, you’ll jump in headfirst, so I’d like to ask everyone to keep an eye on our detective here and stop her from working too hard on her first day. Give us at least a few boring days before you take on the forces of evil.”

“I’ll try,” she laughed as her boss captured her in a suffocating hug.

“Don’t do that to me ever again,” Griffin whispered in her ear. “I won’t survive seeing you in the morgue. I feel guilty admitting it, but I’m glad the victim we found wasn’t you.” He pulled back and gripped her biceps, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I don’t care what time of day it is or how ridiculous your hunch is. I don’t even care if it’s not police related.Youneed help? Call me, and I’ll be there. I’m not watching an autopsy on you again.”

“I see you and Eamon exchanged notes.” She cupped his cheek with a smile. “I promise. If he doesn’t answer, you’re the next person I’ll call to help me with my wild goose chases.”

“Thankgodthat man figured out it wasn’t you. And thankGodhe found Blaubart in Venezuela. I disliked the guy for a long time, but now I get his appeal.”

“You don’t say?” Bel teased. “You hid it so well.”

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