Page 157 of State of Bliss

“She’s given me everything I need to step in for her, so we’re all set. I’m going to skip the beach this weekend so I can stay here and make sure everything is good to go.”

“Thank you for that, but we’ll miss you guys out here.”

“We’ll miss you, too. Rain check?”

“You got it. I hear a gaggle of voices outside. I think the kids are here. I’ll talk to you on Monday—and thank you, Lilia.”

“No problem.”

Nick returned to the room. “Terry says Lilia’s got it.”

“Yep.”

“I feel much better knowing that.”

“Me, too.”

The front door opened, and chaos erupted as four excited young kids came bursting through the door, all talking at once, as they dragged small roller bags and stuffed animals. Brayden had a pillow tucked under his arm.

Scotty, Eli and Candace followed, carrying more stuff, with Skippy bringing up the rear.

Sam and Nick hugged and kissed the kids and handed out room assignments.

“Can we go to the beach?” Alden asked.

“As soon as you stash your stuff upstairs and put on some shorts.”

He took off like a rocket for the stairs, with Aubrey, Brayden and Brock in hot pursuit.

“They’re bonkers,” Scotty said as he allowed Sam to hug him again.

“I missed you so much.”

“You were too busy kissing to miss me.”

She bopped him on the head. “That is not true.”

“The kissing or the missing?”

They shared a laugh that gave her the warmest feeling of joy she’d ever experienced. The joy that came from being his mother was different from all other kinds. “I really did miss you.”

“Missed you, too, Mama. Now, which room is mine?”

When Gonzoand Freddie returned to the interrogation room, Gonzo was relieved that no one immediately accused him of being a liar, which meant their secret about Randy being willing to testify was still safe. He also noted that Tori had been crying, probably because her attorneys had told her she was fucked.

“The Assistant U.S. Attorney said this is a now-or-never deal.” He put the page on the table so Teller and Kerr could read the charges against their client and the proposed sentence of seventeen to twenty years. “You’ve got ten minutes to take it, or we’ll offer the deal to Bryant.”

“What does it say?” Tori asked as tears streamed down her face.

“You’d be pleading guilty to murder for hire and accessory to murder and would serve seventeen to twenty years in prison.” Teller spoke to her as if she were a little girl. “You’d be risking life in prison without the possibility of parole if we went to trial, sweetheart.”

Tori wailed at the wordsseventeen to twenty years in prison. “I never touched her!”

“No, you paid someone else to do it, which is a felony.” Gonzo’s heart beat so hard, it was like a bass drum in his ears. It all came down to this. If Tori didn’t agree to the deal, they might never get justice for Rachel.

She bent over the table, head on her folded arms, sobbing. “I can’t go to prison. I just can’t. I didn’t do anything.”

Gonzo looked to the two attorneys, hoping one of them would explain this to her.

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