Page 66 of Reclaimed

I’ve never felt that I deserve this family. Not once since they took me in when I was twelve. “Nah. I’ll let you know if there’s anything I need, but maybe it’s best if the kids aren’t around to hear what she has to say.”

“Good idea.” He claps me on the shoulder. The brotherly touch eases the nerves some. Anything left lingering I shove down with everything else. “Kids, grab your stuff. Uncle Aiden has to see his girlfriend now.” He smirks.

Whitney struggles to push herself out of the couch. “Is she coming over?” I grab her hand. Her smile is grateful. “Thanks. Can’t wait until I’m no longer the size of an orca.”

“You’re beautiful.” Jack gives her a pointed look and a secret conversation passes between them. He takes over helping his wife, and I lead the kids out to Jack’s SUV.

The sound of tires on the pavement has me looking up from Bennett’s seat buckle. Isla’s car jerks to a stop at the curb. I straighten, and Jack and I exchange a glance over the top of the vehicle.

“Here, Luce. Help him.” I maneuver the buckle into little hands and jog down the driveway to meet her.

Isla slams into my chest so hard I go back a step, but I’m solid as she faceplants. Trembling limbs wrap around my torso, clutching my shoulders from the back. “I’m okay,” she mumbles into my shirt. “I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay.”

“Talk to me, starshine,” I order.

“The serial killer,” she gasps. The fight to keep herself together cracks my heart into two. “He killed someone else.”

“Okay. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” I stroke the back of her head, sifting my fingers through the soft brown strands.

“I knew her.”

My blood runs cold.

“LaLa was a friend, Aiden. I just talked to her a few weeks ago.” Her voice cracks. “We met at my old club, Eve’s. She wasn’t working there anymore, she moved around the same time I did to go to school.”

“Let’s get you inside. Hang on. I’ve got you.”

The danger isn’t anywhere near us but that doesn’t stop me from feeling exposed in the middle of my driveway.

Jack closes his SUV and approaches as we reach my porch. “You good?”

Isla keeps her face buried in my shoulder, no doubt hanging onto her emotions the best as she can.

“Yeah. I’ll text you with an update later.”

“Thanks again for the help.”

“Anytime.”

With that, he departs and I usher Isla inside.

“Sit.” I press her into the couch, the same spot Whitney vacated not even ten minutes prior. As I turn to get her some water, she wraps her fist around my shirt. The solid tug stops me in my tracks.

“Don’t go.”

“I won’t.” There’s not a hesitation to be found as I sit beside her and draw her close. Her body shakes in my hold but surprisingly, she doesn’t cry.

“I can’t believe she’s gone. She just started a nursing program. She was going to school to be able to take better care of her sick parents.”

“I’m so sorry, Isla.”

“I should’ve talked to her more. I should have gone to see her. She isn’t—wasn’teven that far away from here.”

My heart stops beating. “How far away?”

Isla picks up her head. “She was working at a gentlemen’s club in Yellow Creek.” That’s forty, maybe forty-five miles from here.” She sits up straighter. “He’s getting closer.”

I tighten my hold. “There’s still a lot of open space between there and here.”

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