Page 42 of Night Watch
“Right now, we just have to pray that Erik figures this out and hope that Mom didn’t do something bad to get this cash.”
“I wish I’d never called him.” Finley pouted. “Then we’d be the only ones who knew about the cash.”
“We’d still have the same questions about it, and this way we’ll get an answer.”
“Maybe one we don’t like.” Finley tightened her arms and slumped down.
“FYI, Erik will be reviewing your finances.”
Finley jumped up. “You think I’m lying about something?”
“He’s checking my finances too,” Kennedy said. “He doesn’t expect to find anything. It’s just a task that an investigator needs to check off and move on. But if he finds something questionable, he’ll dig and dig until he gets the answers he’s looking for, so if he’s going to find something, tell me now.”
Finley’s face paled. “He won’t. I want to go home now.”
Again, not the reaction Kennedy expected. Was she wrong to trust her sister? She didn’t think she was making a mistake, but only time would tell.
Erik left Pong crated at Drake’s place and returned to his condo from escorting Finley out of the building. Kennedy was sitting on the couch and looking even more upset than when he’d departed with Finley. Half an uneaten pizza congealed in a box open on the coffee table next to paper plates, and the air smelled like pepperoni.
He wanted to ask what Finley had to say about the money, but with the strain in Kennedy’s eyes, he didn’t want to push. He also wanted to tell her what he’d learned about Finley but that wouldn’t help Kennedy either. So he dropped onto a chair by his computer to patiently wait for her to share. Time ticked past like painful pricks from porcupine quills, but she didn’t speak. Not a word.
Tick. Tick. Tick.Minute after minute. Five. Ten. Thirty.
Okay. Enough.His patience evaporated.
He got up from the dining table and joined her at the couch, where she was staring at her iPad. She glanced up, her eyes glistening.
His heart constricted, and his focus changed. Just like that. He would do anything to make those tears go away.
She turned the tablet to face him. “I shouldn’t be looking at family pictures when I’m already upset, but I miss my mom. So very much. I think each day should get easier, but so far it hasn’t. Something happens, and I keep thinking I should call her and tell her about it, but then it hits me. I’ll never be able to call her again. Never.”
Her chin quivered, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Aw, honey.” He took her good hand and held it. “I want to take your pain away, but I know I can’t. I wish I could find a way to help you through it.”
Her eyes widened, and she took her hand back to swipe at her tears. “I wouldn’t expect that. Not with the way I hurt you.”
He’d felt like he’d made her feel bad since the moment they’d reconnected, and he didn’t want that. Maybe at first. Maybe he’d wanted her to feel how much she hurt him, but not anymore. “You had to end things like you did, and it’s forgiven.”
“But I—”
“Stop.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and held her gaze. “It’s over. Let’s move on and leave it in the past.”
She blinked, her expression questioning. “Does this mean you might consider a relationship with a woman again?”
He let his hand fall. “I haven’t come that far yet.”
She nodded, but a sad resignation lingered in her eyes. “So I still ruined things for you.”
He wanted to offer a comforting answer, not add to her pain, but he couldn’t. “I’m not going to lie and say you didn’t play a part in it, but it wasn’t just you.”
She took a breath and slowly let it out. “Did you come over here for a reason?”
Her change of subject didn’t come with a change in her expression. He’d hurt her again. But he would move on. “It’s Finley. She’s in a lot of debt. She just opened and maxed out two credit cards, and she’s a month behind on her rent.”
“Not good. Not good at all. We’re not allowed under WITSEC rules to open credit in our names. They issue us a card and track our expenses.”
“I’d heard they did that. Kind of big brotherish.”
