Page 63 of Killer Knows Best

“I made you do it. It’s my fault,” she whispers as her voice cracks. “It’s my fault he’s dead and my fault you had to pull the trigger.”

“Fallon?” Jack says my name low like a warning. But in truth, it almost sounded as if he was saying it to himself, for his ears only.

“It’s okay,” I whisper, pulling my sister in again, holding her as tightly as I can. “You don’t have to run anymore. But just know, you put our family through hell.”

“I do know that.” She wipes her eyes with the back of herhand and smears tears down her cheeks. “I needed to find myself. I wanted to get out and see the world.”

“Through the eyes of a cult?” I muse, but my frustration is simmering. I know for a fact eventually she landed in one until it disbanded. “And now you’re working for the mob? That’s not exactly an upgrade.”

Her face hardens. “You have no right to question my choices.”

“I do when they’re stupid, and they’re putting your life at risk.”

“Mylife. My choices.” Her eyes narrow as she takes a step back. “I’m not Fallon Baxter, FBI Barbie. I’m not Riley with the perfect life and a great boyfriend.”

“Riley’s boyfriend was a loser; they broke up. And I’m no Barbie,” I shoot back with a fire igniting in my gut. “I’m the real deal, Erin. And your words aren’t going to hurt me.”

A moment of silence slices by as her gaze sharpens over mine.

“I want them to,” she whispers.

“I know you do.” I can feel the weight of her anger pressing down on us, like the sky before a storm.

“So”—her shoulders bounce in that cute schoolgirl way they used to—“are you going to haul me back to Pine Ridge Falls, kicking and screaming?”

“No.” I lock my eyes on hers as my resolve hardens like granite. “I’m going to arrest you.”

42

SPECIAL AGENT FALLON BAXTER

The next evening the wind howls outside, rattling the windows like a thief trying to break in, but I’m safe here with Buddy curled up next to me in front of a fire. His soft snores mix with the crackling of the flames, and for a moment, everything feels still. It’s the quiet after the storm—the storm laden with chaos and killers that had overtaken our lives. But it’s over now. All of it.

I glance at my watch. Ten after seven.

Karen Holt’s arrest this morning feels like a lifetime ago. She received both human trafficking and racketeering charges. Nikki was ecstatic.

Jack and I made a pit stop on the way home and apologized to Phillis Hazelwood for the chaos we’d dragged her into. She didn’t hold it against us, though. In fact, she seemed relieved and more than thankful that we’d put away a killer—especially one who’d taken her daughter away from her.

Erin flashes through my mind, the way she looked last night, standing there like a stranger and yet still very much my sister.

And as for Erin, I let her sit in a jail cell for several hours. Imade sure they did a psych eval on her, too. I’d like to say it was menial and somewhat petty payback for all she put my mother, Riley, and me through these last few years, but alas, it was the law.

She made bail and is happily staying at my mother’s place. We’re all having breakfast in the morning, a twisted family reunion of sorts. We’ll wade through the legal consequences of her arrest together.

My phone pings, and I pick it up, half-expecting it to be Hale, but it’s not. It’s Erin via my mother’s phone.

It’s me. Just wanted to say thank you—for everything. I’m going to make this up to you. To all of you.

I stare at the message for a second before texting back.

How about we start fresh?

The response comes almost immediately.

I’d like that.

“I would, too,” I say aloud as I wrap an arm around Buddy’s warm body. “Thanks for sticking with me, boy. Couldn’t have done it without you.” He snorts softly, already half asleep, but I know for a fact he understands.

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