Page 106 of A River of Crows

“She was my best friend,” Libby said, wiping black smudges of mascara from her eyes. “What reason would I have not to trust her?”

“So, what do we do?” Vince asked. “Go to the cops?”

“No!” Libby said. “Are you crazy? We’ll all be in jail. Then what would happen to the kids?”

Vince tapped his foot. “So she’s vindictive, so she lied. That doesn’t mean she won’t take care of her children. We just have to go along with the plan and monitor Ridge and Sloan as best we can. There’s nothing else we can do.”

“Yes, there is.” Libby bit the side of her cheek until she tasted blood. “Ridge wants to stay with us.”

Vince stopped walking and put his hands on his hips. “He what?”

Libby began bouncing a knee. “He doesn’t want to go back to Caroline.”

“You’ve lost your mind!” Vince yelled. “I worried this would happen. You always get attached. Why would you put that idea into his head?”

“I didn’t!” Libby jumped up. “He told me on his own.”

“Oh, come on! Why would he want that?”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself, Vince.” Libby spat out his name. “Ridge!” She called, opening the door. “Come back here for a second.”

“Yes?” Ridge stood in the hallway looking at them, a ring of chocolate circling his lips.

“Earlier, you told me you wanted to stay with us. Now, we won’t be mad if you’ve changed your mind. But—”

“I haven’t changed my mind. I want to live here.”

Vince sat on the bed and patted the space beside him. “Come sit down. Tell me why.”

Ridge shuffled over beside Vince. “Because this feels like an actual family. Like the way my family used to feel. But dad was lying then. He had another family. You don’t. You guys love me. We have fun. Mom doesn’t even care about me anymore. She wanted me to lie, and now, she wants me to change my name. I don’t want to change my name. I like being Ridge.”

“Those are all good reasons, bud. But this is something we need to really think about.”

“I have been thinking about it, and I’m sure. Do you guys not want me?”

“Of course, we want you.” Libby knelt in front of him. “We love you. Always, forever and no matter what, remember?”

Ridge shrugged. “Okay. Then, it’s decided. But two things. First, can I get Blue? And second, can we ask if Sloan wants to live with us too?”

Libby turned to Vince. He rubbed the beard on his chin. “I can’t make any promises,” he said, “but we’ll see what we can do.”

Chapter 30

Mallowater, TX, 2008

Sloan woke with a buzzing head to a buzzing phone. It took a few minutes to orient herself. She was on the couch, and a gaudy Christmas tree stood in the corner of the living room. Her brain felt slushy. The blurry details of the night before came into focus just as the lights of the Christmas tree did. She silenced the alarm on her phone and noticed a text she’d missed from Noah the night before.

How about tomorrow night for dinner? Vickie will make barbecue sandwiches.

It was too early to respond. Sloan needed longer to sleep this off, but her mom would wake up soon. That’s when Sloan realized she hadn’t heard Ridge leave.

The headache behind Sloan’s eyes intensified as she trudged down the hallway. Both doors were open. She glanced into her room and noticed the bed was rumpled and unmade, but the window remained locked from the inside.

“Mom?” She walked across the hallway to Caroline’s room. A small cardboard box sat on the bed—the box of ammo Sloan had found in the attic with Grandpa Radel’s gun. It was open, and a few bullets were scattered across the comforter. Sloan didn’t need to check the attic to know the gun was gone.

The room spun. Sloan grabbed the headboard for stability. Where had Mom gone with the gun? Where was Ridge? Sloan checked outside, expecting to see Caroline’s car gone, but it was still parked on the curb. The creek, Sloan guessed. She grabbed her keys but threw them right back down. She was too dizzy and disoriented to drive, so she ran, calling Noah on the way.

“Good morning.” Noah’s voice was scratchy in that just woke-up way. “Did you get my text last night about dinner?”