Page 121 of Love Bleeds Red
He holds it close to his chest. “Cheese, but I didn’t say I wanted to share.”
She punches him in the arm. “Put it down, dummy.”
They all start chatting back and forth as Jasper finds glasses and pours drinks, but my focus is solely on the woman next to me. They may all be celebrating, but for Bailey, this is only the beginning.
“To taking down piece of shit rapists,” Jasper calls, holding up his glass.
“To justice,” Mum adds.
“To healing,” Blake says.
All their eyes settle on me, waiting for me to add something. I lift my glass and say, “To family,” before finishing every drop in one gulp.
The clock on the mantel chimes twelve times, and Falin’s phone starts buzzing with notifications.
“And there we go,” she says with satisfaction. “An entire empire just went public.”
An hour later, Knapp’s cleanup crew arrives. They’re efficient, professional, and thankfully silent. I meet them at the front door while the others finish gathering their things.
Knapp himself greets me like an old friend, and I show him to a private spot away from his guys. “Thanks for coming. You’re really helping me out of a jam.”
“We’ll handle everything,” Knapp says, shaking my hand. “You were never here.”
I nod, slipping him an envelope thick with Alfred’s cash. “There’s a basement. Don’t go down there.”
He doesn’t ask questions. “Understood. We’ll be out of your hair before sunrise.”
I nod, then find Falin who’s been quietly working on her laptop at the dining room table. “Did you figure out the door?”
She looks up from her screen with a grin. “Of course I did. I’m going to fry the electronic systems from the inside—manual override, backup power, emergency releases. Everything. Once I’m done, this door won’t open for anything short of explosives.”
Her fingers dash across the keyboard, and I watch her with amazement. I know I’m skilled when it comes to hacking systems, but I’m nothing compared to Falin.
“There,” she says after a few minutes. “The system’s completely corrupted. That lock is permanent now.”
We share relieved looks and I let out a breath. “Let’s get out of here.”
Somehow everyone manages to squeeze into the rental SUV, with Damon behind the wheel. Bailey and Mum approach the vehicle, but I hold up a hand, an idea coming to mind.
“Wait. There’s one last thing I need to do downstairs. Do you want to come with me, or would you rather wait here?”
Bailey looks toward the house, and wraps her arms around her chest. She seems to consider my offer for a moment, but shakes her head. “No. I don’t want to see him again. I don’t want to give him any more of my time or energy.”
Mum nods firmly. “I’ll come. There are things I need to say.”
“Are you sure?” I ask. “You don’t have to.”
“I’m sure,” Mum says, squaring her shoulders. “It’s time.”
I look at Damon through the driver’s window. “Give us ten minutes? Bailey, can you wait here?”
They nod. “Take your time. We’ll wait.”
Bailey squeezes my hand before getting into the back seat. “Just... be safe down there.”
Mum and I head back toward the house. There’s one last thing we need to do.
It takes work to climb down those stairs. Everything in me recoils once we reach the bottom again. I’m sure there’s plenty of evidence I could collect down here, more than enough to add to Alfred’s crimes, but I’ll leave that to the police. I don’t want to spend a minute more in this hellscape than necessary.
