Page 79 of Hunter or Hunted

My chest tightened. I wasn’t sure if it was the icy air in my lungs or the realization that Junie could feel the tension gathering around her mom. “Well, when the time’s right.”

“I guess.” A tiny sip of her cocoa. “Do you think Mommy’s sad about Delilah?”

The whiplash of a child’s mind. “Sure. I think everyone’s a little sad.”

“Mommy seems really sad.” She frowned, eyes coming to mine. “Do you think that’s why? Because Delilah’s dead?”

Your mommy’s not sad. She’s terrified.

But I couldn’t say that. “Maybe. But how do you feel? Are you sad?”

“Sometimes, yeah.” She shrugged and took another sip of her cocoa, almost mimicking me. “I was real sad about Delilah, but now I’m sad for Mommy. I don’t know what’s wrong. I don’t know how to help her.”

Definitely not the cold wind, because those words felt like blades through my chest. I remembered being Junie’s age and feeling just the same.

I’m sad for Mommy. I don’t know what’s wrong. I don’t know how to help her.

That was my ethos. My mom putting her burdens on me, parentifying me, led me to Troy. It led me to killing David. I cared for my loved ones to my detriment, as Rhiannon pointed out, no matter what it cost me.

It was too late for me. It’s who I was now. There was no going back, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to be a Rhiannon. I wanted to help. That’s all that brought me peace anymore.

But it wasn’t too late for Junie.

“It’s sweet you care so much,” I said. “But you’re just a kid. It’s not your job to make your mom feel better.”

She shrugged, the same way I would’ve if someone had told me that at her age.

The same way I would’ve if someone had told me that now.

“How about we go do something fun until Mommy wakes up?” I gently bumped my shoulder into hers. “How’d you like to spend your last couple days of Christmas vacation?”

“I don’t know.” Giggling, she shrugged. “Mommy said we’d go swimming one day before school started back, but we haven’t yet. Maybe we could do that?”

The pool was in the gym, and my last few days of travel had me tighter than a drum. “That sounds like fun. We’ll leave your mommy a note and head down when we finish our drinks. How’s that sound?”

Grinning again, she nodded fast with excitement.

Junie and I stopped at her apartment for her swimsuit, then went to the gym. Honey lay lazily beside the pool while we swam. Junie showed me all her backflips, and her handstands, and some of her other “cool tricks.”

By then, I was ready to get out of the pool and see if Simone had woken yet, but a few moms came in with their kids. Junie knew them all but considered one little girl, Maggie, a best friend. Maggie’s mom, Alice, said she didn’t mind keeping an eye on Junie if I wanted to get out.

Supposed my pruned fingers gave me away.

Since Alice and Simone were friends, and I knew Simone wouldn’t mind, I thanked her and said I’d stay close. The gym overlooked the pool anyway, and I desperately needed to get some cardio in.

Axel was the only other person in the gym when I walked in. We nodded at one another in greeting. Honey lay on the floor beside the treadmill while I ran, a watchful eye on Junie—still showing off her tricks—through the windows to the pool.

I’d just finished a four-minute, high-speed sprint when Axel approached. If I hadn’t seen his reflection in the windows, I would’ve fallen off.

“Should really consider weight and resistance training.” He wiped some sweat from his brow with a damp towel. “Cardio’s good for your heart, but not heavy lifting.”

I hit the red X on the treadmill and stepped off, panting. “I’m a baker. Don’t really need to lift much heavy shit.”

He licked his teeth and arched a brow. After a guzzle from his bottle, he turned around and headed back for one of the machines.

Only then did the dots connect.

After I realized the anonymous texter had been Sebastian, Axel had fallen to the back of my mind. It wasn’t him. Axel hadn’t gotten rid of David’s body.