Page 85 of Finding Home with You

But none of that makes any of this any easier.

By the time I pull into the station, I feel anxious and on edge, my nerves frayed as I walk inside, signaling to Joe and heading straight for the captain’s office.

“Morning,” he says as we both walk in.

“She’s in,” is all I say, in no mood for pleasantries.

The captain and Joe both look at me. “Good,” is all the captain says, nodding once as he gestures for us to sit down. “We should make this happen quickly,” he continues, oblivious to the shit I’m currently going through. “Before we lose the advantage.”

“There’s one other thing,” I say, my words flat and unemotional.

“Oh?”

“Erin told me something else this morning,” I continue, swallowing hard. “About a possible murder some ten or so years ago. She didn’t see anything, but she’s fairly sure that’s what happened.”

“And it was Anthony?” the captain asks, connecting the dots.

I nod. “Yeah, but like I said, she didn’t actually see it.”

The captain nods again before turning to Joe. “Can you look into this?” he asks. “Get the details and see if we can’t trace it back to a body or missing person’s report?”

“Yep, no problem,” Joe says, turning to me.

“I’m heading straight back to Rockport,” I continue “She’ll make the call, but I want this to happen up there.”

“You don’t have jurisdiction up there, Ryan,” the captain says. “It’s better if we can make it happen in Boston.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s too dangerous down here, too many connections and ways the shit could hit the fan. I know the chief of police,” I continue, knowing Finn will back me on this. “We can make it work.”

The captain stares at me, not saying a word as he takes in my request. Eventually, he nods once, letting out a long breath. “Alright,” he says. “Make it happen. And keep Chris in the loop,” he adds. “You’ll need back-up and I want all possibilities covered.”

“I’m in too,” Joe says immediately. “I’ll come up with you.”

The captain and I both nod before the captain asks, “When are you planning on having this all happen?”

I take a deep breath, scrubbing a hand down my face as I suddenly realize how exhausted I am. “Today,” I eventually say.

On our way back to Rockport, I fill Joe in on everything that’s happened. Afterwards, I call Finn, fill him in on the plan and arrange to meet him at Erin’s place. He suggests bringing Beck in and while it crosses my mind it would be a huge advantage to have my old partner in on this, I also know he’s not a cop anymore and there’s no way I want to risk fucking this up by involving people who shouldn’t be involved. So we agree not to tell Beck, instead bringing in a couple of Finn’s crew.

Finally, I call Erin, fill her in on everything that’s about to happen.

“Okay,” she says, letting out a long breath. “What about Sarah?”

“Shit,” I curse softly, forgetting again that my sister had come down to visit. “I don’t want any unnecessary people involved with this,” I say.

“I agree,” Erin replies. “Do you want me to send her home?”

I exhale loudly, knowing that getting Sarah to do anything she doesn’t want to do is next to impossible. “Do you think you can?” I ask, glancing at Joe who’s silently listening to this entire conversation play out on speaker phone.

Erin chuckles a little, but it’s humorless. “Yeah, I can,” she says. “If you’re okay with me filling her in with a little more detail.”

“Shit, I guess you probably have to,” I concede, knowing the truth is the only possible way we have to convince Sarah she doesn’t need to be around for this. “Get Chris to help, okay?”

“Okay,” Erin says quietly.

“We’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” I add, suddenly acutely aware of how quickly this is all happening.

“Okay,” Erin says again.

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