Page 90 of Day Break

“What about your family? Shouldn’t we call them and tell them?” Chloe suggested.

“No, the detective said he was doing that. H wanted to be the one to tell them. He’s going to interview everyone in my family and anyone else who might be willing to kill my grandfather.” Just thinking about the possibilities had my stomach rolling. Then the realization that the man was gone hit me again.

I was thankful I didn’t have to do the job. Talking to my family members was daunting already. The thought of telling them someone had murdered another family member made me sick.

I took Chloe’s hand in mine and locked up the house again, and we headed up the stairs.

Byron greeted us happily, turning several circles, a sure sign he had to go down to the yard to do his business.

“I’ll wait for him. You go clean up and change,” I suggested.

“Thanks,” Chloe said, lifting on her toes and placing a kiss on my lips.

While I watched Byron sniffing around the yard as if he hadn’t witnessed the murder of his master a few hours ago, I thought about what came next.

What was going to happen to Chloe? Would she want to come back to the city with me? Did I want her to? What about Byron? A dog wouldn’t fit into my current life.

There were days I was away from the home from sunup to sundown. Byron had to go out at least three times a day.

When Byron was done doing his business and sniffing around, he went to the back door to the house. I called him and he rushed up the stairs and inside.

He sat at my feet, making a whining noise.

I knelt and wrapped my arms around him.

“I know, buddy. He’s gone,” I said softly.

When we finally climbed into bed, Chloe crawled into my arms.

“What now? Where am I going to go?” she said softly. “Who is going to love me now?”

Her words were slurred, and I could tell she was too exhausted to realize what she was saying.

My arms tightened around her.

“We’ll figure that out tomorrow. For now, just know that whatever happens, I’m here.” I kissed her forehead, brushing her blonde hair slowly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

It was the truth. As I felt her drift off to sleep, my mind ran over the possibilities.

The fact was, I wasn’t ready to head back to the city. I’d arranged with work to stay remote until the end of summer, so I wasn’t due back into the office until August. That gave me another month and a half.

No matter what happened with my grandfather’s estate, I was going to make sure that Chloe was taken care of. She wasn’t family, but she was better than anyone I was related to.

She loved my grandfather more than any of my relatives had.

It wasn’t until I finally settled in my mind that I was going to ensure Chloe was not only safe but happy that I finally fell asleep.

We slept until just after noon, when my phone rang and woke us up.

I knew it was my parents without even looking.

I tried to sound awake, but I was still groggy when I answered the call.

“We’re on our way up there,” my mother said quickly. “We’re meeting with the detective.”

“Okay,” I said, sitting up and wiping my hands over my face. I really wanted a cup of coffee and something sugary to help wake me up.

“Did they interview that girl? The one that is staying there?”