Page 68 of Dangerous Chaos

Killion approached and broke up the gathering watching the reunion. “Langley, your investigators are here to clean up and get your case together. I’m letting them in and handing it over. Our hands are out of it now.”

Wit and Hen straightened and broke their embrace, flanking Rainy.

“Killion, uh…” Wit swiped at his tears and cleared his throat. “I’d like you to meet my sister…”

Killion stopped hard, like he’d run into a brick wall he hadn’t seen, and froze. Eyes fixed on Rainy.

In a small voice, Rainy said, “Hi, Killion.”

His mouth moved, but the words didn’t follow, not at first. When Rainy winced once more, and her other hand gripped her pregnant belly, Killion’s eyes went wide at the discovery.

Killion shook his head, trying to shed the confusion consuming him, but he couldn’t. His expression, his body language, everything about his reaction to meeting Wit and Hen’s sister told an obvious tale, and it exposed a truth none had seen coming. Killion knew Rainy… but there was a twist. There was always a twist.

He finally stuttered. “J-Jenny?”

22

“I don’t understand,”Wit said as they stood off to the side, waiting for the scene to be cleared. “All this time, you’ve been nearby. Even helped us in a case?”

“Brodie always told me that if I was ever in trouble, to come here. To find you,” she admitted. “So I did.”

“But you never told me. You could’ve come to me then,” Wit said. “Why didn’t you?”

“Because it was too dangerous. I had to lay low. When C.T. and Detective Truly Payne were working that case a while back, Killion had reached out for help and access at Portland PD where I was working, and it was my way in, but I couldn’t reveal who I was. I’m Jenny Todd here,” she admitted. “If you recall, that case had Chalice running right through the center of it. Working with Killion was how I got a glimpse of both you boys while also helping to alert you to what was happening in the background.”

“You fed us information,” Wit said. “And I’m pretty sure I gave Killion a lot of shit for having the hots for that girl Jenny Todd from the evidence locker. My… sister.”

Ayelish giggled. “I believe you called him Romeo.”

“Don’t remind me,” Wit warned. “I’m feeling a little weird about that.”

“It was the closest I got to you, and knowing Killion, even after the case, was so special…”

Wit put up his hands. “Spare us the details. No matter how many years go by, you’re still our sister, and that’s just gross.”

“I was going to say”— Rainy giggled— “it was special because I felt close to you. Killion talked about all of you all the time. It was like I knew you again and had a relationship with you, as odd as that sounds. I loved hearing his stories.”

“I don’t know what’s more surprising, how close you were all this time or that Killion talks that much,” Wit said.

“You’re all his family. Of course he talked about you. He cares so deeply about every one of you and can tell you in detail what makes you special,” Rainy added. “He loves y’all. So much. And I loved that.”

“So you and Killion had a thing?” Hen asked.

“Uh, yeah.” She briefly looked down at her pregnant belly. “Until things started heating up again. There was chatter, and it involved the two of you. I had to disappear again to protect you. I… hated that.”

“Ah, so that’s why he’s over there scowling. You broke the big guy’s nerdy heart,” Wit said.

“I think so. If it matters or helps, it broke my heart too. I really care for him, but I couldn’t put him at risk or the two of you. Not when we’d come so far, and the end of this nightmare was finally coming to an end.” Rainy looked at Killion and watched him brood in the distance. “I didn’t want to hurt him, but I wanted our freedom more. I thought maybe it would all… work out, ya know?”

“You mean with him.” Ayelish wrapped an arm around Rainy’s shoulders and followed her stare to Killion. “He’ll come around. He’s probably just processing. My brother is insanely literal, and matters of the heart are hard to process because there’s nothing literal about it.”

“Yeah. The big guy doesn’t hold grudges,” Wit said. “Give it time. He’ll come around. Is the baby…?”

Rainy nodded, and a tear spilled over.

“Then that’s what’s got him flustered,” Wit said. “He’s probably done the math in his head a hundred times and run all the variables and potential scenarios trying to figure out how you got pregnant and if he helped.”

The small group laughed.

---