Page 50 of Perfect Order
“Because seeing my face is just causing more pain. And maybe when I can give you both some closure, you can…”What, Leanne?I mock myself.Look at me? Love me? Or is it maybe I can love myself again.But I keep those thoughts to myself. “Is it okay to take a few pictures?”
His hand comes up as if he’s going to touch me. It drops before it comes close. “Take whatever you want. And regardless of how you’re feeling today, this is your home.” Tears fill his eyes as he speaks the words.
I don’t bother to acknowledge this will never be my home again. If the expression on his face is anything to go by, he already knows that. It stopped being home the day Lee died. Right now, the closest thing I have to a home is spent with a battery-operated Christmas tree. And that’s okay. I never needed much to be happy, despite all of my gung-ho efforts to build my business to incomprehensible levels.
I just need the other half of my heart to share it with. And for a while last night, I had that.
Kane
What’s the best gift you ever received? For me, it was a second chance.
—StellaNova
It’s Christmas Day, and I’ve just uploaded my report, including the unusual text message I exchanged with Kylie Miles, to the server at Hudson Investigations. I kick up my legs to unobtrusively enjoy Beckett Miller’s family Christmas when my phone buzzes with an incoming call from Caleb.
Stepping outside to take it, I growl, “Merry Christmas. Do you ever take a day off?”
“You’ve known me for years. Want to answer your own question?”
“You have three kids and an enormous family. Go do some family crap.”
“Cassidy has already given me the stink eye, so I’ll make this short. You called her ‘Lee’ in your text with Erzulie? Why?” Caleb demands.
“You mentioned she prefers to be called that in the office. I used my gut because it sounded like she needed a friend,” I defend myself, wondering where this is going.
“She needs one more than you know, Kane. She needs to unburden on someone she can trust, and she can’t even do that with the people closest to her.”
I frown, because Caleb’s words make no sense. Then the phone in my pocket buzzes. My hand automatically slips into my pocket, and it’s a message from Beckett.Merry Christmas, Kane! Hope you like your gifts.
My lips part. If Beckett is texting me, then Caleb is calling me on the secure sat phone, which means we’re running hot at Hudson Investigations. “What is it you’re not telling me?”
“Do you feel like you can be read in and keep this data from your principal?” is his only response.
I ask the only question that matters in the moment. “Is it going to endanger his protection?”
I can practically visualize his lips curving across the line. “Merry Christmas, Kane. I’ll call you back tomorrow at 8:30 your time. Be somewhere alone.” Then Caleb disconnects the call.
I pull the phone away from my ear and press End. “Yeah, Merry Christmas. What the hell kind of present are you about to drop into my lap?”
But I know Caleb’s a man of his word. There’s no way I’ll get any information before 8:30 tomorrow morning.
“There are no leads.” Caleb’s voice is filled with the kind of frustration that shouldn’t be there for a man who just celebrated Christmas with his wife, his children, and a family crazy enough to plot taking over the world and actually manage it. “It’s been two months of Lee living—no, I’d say surviving—her identical twin’s life.”
My eyes drift unfocused on the Texas landscape. “Maybe you’re going about this the wrong way. Maybe someone isn’t looking for Erzulie to appear, but…”
“For Lee to step forward and declare she’s gone,” Caleb says slowly. “If that’s the case, then Kylie was trying to leave a clue when she had her sister’s ID on her.”
I’ve seen a lot of death. I’ve even had to kill, to protect my team, but the idea of a young woman in the prime of her life being brutally murdered still makes my stomach churn. “What do you want from me, Caleb?”
“I need you to do your damn job.”
I frown. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Protect the principal. Keep Lee away from Beckett. She’s a powder keg ready to explode. Intercept his next message from her.”
“And do what?”
“And friend her.”
