Page 24 of Vanishing Point
And here it was, in her high school boyfriend. In all the simple things she probably would have scoffed at fifteen years ago. Letting her sleep in. Coffee made. Baby taken care of.
And she wasn’t eighteen, or even twenty-four anymore. She was a mother in her thirties. She’d been through hell. And hell wasn’t over yet.
But she had to be the one to end it. Once and for all. So she could enjoy all this glorious simple.
She crossed to him, wrapped her arms around him. Enjoyed the strength she found there—physical and otherwise. “I love you very much.”
He wound his arm around her, kissed her head. “Well, I love you too.”
“And if there’s anything I need to do. Answer questions. Get those police reports from Richmond.” She swallowed hard at the way her throat closed up at the next suggestion. “Go through each and every one of those pictures with you. Whatever I can do to end this, I will do it. I’m ready to do it.”
He studied her a long time, then ran his free hand over her hair. “I’m glad to hear it. Right now, you’re just going to sit tight and let me do my job. Okay?”
She nodded, leaned into him. “Okay.”
“I’m going to go into the precinct, check up on those prints. The return address. A few other things. Franny is already on her way to hang with you today. I want you to stay close, but don’t feel like a prisoner. I’ll show you both how to work the security system before I leave. And I’m only a phone call away.”
He handed Magnolia off, who wasn’t happy with the transfer at all. “Tata!”
“Gotta clean up the mess you made out of me, sweets.” Then he gave her a loud kiss on her cheek and disappeared into his bedroom.
For a moment, Vi let herself believe this could be her life. If she could be strong. If she could keep the promises she was making to Thomas.
This could be everything.
The doorbell rang, and Vi opened it up to Franny. Mags squealed in delight and Franny grabbed her enthusiastically. They babbled nonsense at each other, their favorite greeting, and when Thomas came out of the room, he was dressed for work.
He walked Franny and her through his security system, then gave her and Mags a kiss and was off. Vi stood in the doorway watching him go.
When he was out of earshot, she said what the little voice in her head kept insisting. “Am I stupid for trusting him, Franny?”
“You’d be stupid not to, Vi. He’s great. He loves you and Mags. And he’s going to do everything to protect you. What more could you ask for?”
“What if it’s all too good to be true?”
“Seems like if anyone has earned a little too good to be true, it’s you. Besides, your ex-husband is harassing you. That’s not good.”
“No.” She closed the door, turned to the living room, Franny by her side. “I’m sorry you’re getting dragged into this. You have work to do, I know.”
“Are you kidding?” Franny rubbed her hands together. “This is great research. I’m going to poke around his house and see how a real detective lives.”
“You can’t snoop.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” Vi was sure there were a lot of good reasons why not, but she couldn’t think of a one.
“Like, what does a detective keep in his fridge? Am I going to find a Glock hidden in the freezer?”
“I hope not,” Vi muttered, watching as Franny went right over to the fridge and looked through its contents.
Vi got out her phone. Opened a text to Thomas. She didn’t want him coming home tonight and angry about someone touching and moving his things.
Franny is snooping around your house for research.
His response was almost immediate. That’s okay. Nothing to hide. Except in my underwear drawer.
Something inside of her eased, and she realized she sometimes—without realizing it—still expected him to react like Eric would. Which wasn’t fair, and she hated that it still snuck up on her.
