Page 123 of Proof of Guilt

“Obviously, I need to look into this further,” Emory said. “But at this point, Wesley is going back to his office, and, Theo, the sheriff and I decided you should continue with protective custody for Ivy and her son.”

Emory hesitated before “her son,” as if he weren’t sure whether to include Theo in that parent label or not.

Theo thanked his boss, though it wasn’t a very enthusiastic one, and he shot Wesley a glare before he started with her toward the break room. Both Emory and Wesley walked away, but Gabriel stayed put.

“Your dad’s lawyer called first thing this morning,” Gabriel said, stopping Theo in his tracks. “August visited Travis and told him about Nathan. Travis asked if he could see him.”

“No,” Theo answered without giving even a moment’s thought. Then he shook his head, cursed. “Even if it were safe to take Nathan out, I don’t want him visiting a prison.”

Both Gabriel and Ivy added a sound of agreement, though they were in tricky territory here. Nathan was Travis’s only grandchild, but since Travis was also a convicted killer of her own parents, then Ivy didn’t want to give Travis the chance to say anything to the boy that could possibly upset him. Nathan had

already been through enough, and she had told him only a few sketchy details about her folks’ deaths. She certainly hadn’t told him that his grandfather was a convicted murderer.

“The lawyer said he could set up a Skype call with all of you and Travis,” Gabriel added. “I told him if you were interested in that, you’d let him know. I didn’t tell him that hell might freeze over before that happened.”

Theo smiled, muttered a thanks. He turned to get her moving but then stopped again. “What about Jodi’s and your wedding? You were supposed to be getting married today.”

“Yeah.” Gabriel sounded and looked disappointed. “It’s still on hold. Jodi and I are okay with that.”

They no doubt were okay, but Ivy hated that their plans had been derailed because of some sick monster who wanted at least some of them dead. Of course, all the danger seemed to point to Theo, Nathan and her. At least Jodi didn’t seem to be in the path of a killer. After she had already survived not one but two attacks, Ivy didn’t want her soon-to-be sister-in-law to go through anything else like that.

Theo led her to the break room, such that it was. It had a microwave, small fridge and a beat-up leather sofa. Theo had her sit, got her a bottle of water from the fridge and then took out his phone. At first she thought he was going to make another of those calls to get updates on the investigation, but when he put it on speaker, she heard Jameson’s voice.

“How’s Nathan?” Theo immediately asked.

“Fine. Jodi and he are watching a movie. Are Ivy and you okay?”

Since Jameson knew about the attack, he was aware that they hadn’t been injured. Not physically, anyway. “I think Ivy will be a lot better if she can talk to Nathan.” And Theo handed her the phone.

Other than the initial call to the safe house after they’d arrived at the sheriff’s office, Ivy hadn’t considered talking to Nathan. She hadn’t wanted him to hear the fear in her voice, but the moment her son came onto the line, that fear vanished.

“Uncle Jameson taught me to play poker,” Nathan proudly announced.

“Kiddie poker,” Jameson corrected.

Ivy figured it was the real deal since her brother favored that particular game, and she honestly didn’t mind. Nathan sounded excited as if this were some kind a treat, and that was better than the alternative. Plus, he was getting to spend time with his uncle, something that Nathan hadn’t ever had a chance to do.

“Aunt Jodi can’t cook at all,” Nathan went on. “She burned the toast and cut her finger when she was trying to make a sandwich. But Uncle Jameson can make grilled cheese and popcorn.”

“Hey, I’m giving him some fruit, too,” Jameson called out.

“Yeah, fruit and chocolate milk,” Nathan concurred.

Again, her son sounded happy. “I miss you,” Ivy told him. “But maybe it won’t be long before Theo…your dad and I can come back.”

“Okay. Can you bring some pizza?”

Ivy had to smile. “I’ll try.” Even after all the food that was just mentioned, she wasn’t surprised that Nathan had pizza on the mind. It was his favorite. “See you soon, sweetheart.”

Even though she was so glad she’d been able to speak to Nathan, the moment she ended the call, Ivy felt the loss. She had spent so little time away from him that even this short while felt like an eternity.

“I’ve missed so much,” Theo said.

She looked at him, saw the loss on his face, too, but it was far worse than hers. After all, she’d had Nathan all these years that he hadn’t. It hadn’t been a decision to keep Nathan from Theo. At first, it’d been because of the rift between them and then because she couldn’t find him. But after seeing Theo’s raw expression, Ivy wished she’d done more.

Theo had indeed missed a lot.

She stood and went to him, and though it wasn’t a smart thing to do, she pulled him into her arms. At least that’s what she started to do, but Theo did some pulling of his own. Maybe it was the emotion of the moment or the fact that they’d just escaped death. Either way, it was as if he snapped. He dragged her to him.

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