Page 83 of At Midnight Comes the Cry

Lyle squeezed his shoulder. “Look. We know Kevin’s alive and healthy and can walk away if he wants to. That’s what the Flynns asked you to find out. You did it. Now go home. Enjoy the holiday with your family. You and Clare have both done more than enough.”

Russ stood and nodded. Put his parka on.

“Do. Not. Obsess over this.”

He laughed. “You know me too damn well.”

“That I do,” Lyle agreed. “Ranger Terrance, it was a pleasure meeting you. Get him home safe.”

“I will, sir.”

The rectory’s short drive was filled with their two vehicles, tight against the old carriage house, and a car with Jersey plates. Knox’s grape Kool-Aid–colored beater was at the curb. “Looks like everyone’s here,” Terrance said.

“Come on in. I can’t offer you a beer, but there’ll be plenty of cookies. So many Christmas cookies.”

The door opened before he could touch it. Clare. Smiling fiercely, looking thinned out and creased, like wrapping paper that had been used one too many times. He folded her into his arms, and they stood there, heart-to-heart, while the world began to right again. Oscar, tail batting wildly, thumped against his legs, trying to insert himself between them.

There was a gentle cough behind him.

“Oh!” Clare released him, tugging him into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, Paul. Please come in.”

Russ looked around. “Where’s Ethan?”

She smiled. “Take your boots off. I’ll bring him.”

He could hear her running up the stairs as he and Paul shucked their outdoor things. The kitchen smelled like pine and hot mulled cider, and he could feel himself settling back into his life. He walked through the swinging doors to see Knox, and a roaring fire in the fireplace, and a lit tree by the front window, with Yíxin Zhào holding a box of ornaments.

“Chief!” Knox crossed and hugged him. “I’m so glad to see you.”

“That seems to be the consensus. I must have looked pretty bad.”

Terrance grinned. “It was the crusty vomit that got us all worried.”

Russ made a face. Clare appeared at the bottom of the stairs, carrying a very sleepy baby. Russ took his son and cradled him close, while Ethan smacked his tiny lips and rubbed at his eyes.

“He was napping? You shouldn’t have gotten him up.”

Clare put her arm around his waist. “You need him more than he needs a nap.”

He tore his gaze away from his boy. “You got a tree.”

“The drama club and the band at the high school were selling them as a fundraiser. I figured I better buy one before they were all gone. And,” she swept her arm, taking in everyone, “I think we can all use a little happiness right now. Paul, the hot cider’s in the slow cooker on the table. Maybe you can help Yíxin with hanging ornaments.”

Russ plunked onto the sofa, still holding Ethan. The dog leaped up and curled himself against Russ’s side. “You going to join in, Knox?”

“Nope.” She picked up a stack of boxes holding the outdoor lights he hadn’t had a chance to tackle yet. “I’m putting these up on your front porch. This place looks pitiful compared to the neighbors’. Don’t want to embarrass the town.”

Terrance, holding a pair of mugs, crossed to the tree. “Does it even count if you don’t have a giant inflatable Santa on the lawn?”

“You’re in charge of that part, Firefly.”

“Firefly!” Yíxin accepted one of the hot ciders and the ranger began explaining his Mohawk name. Russ looked around at their little group, strangers who had somehow become his people, who had put everything on the line and now had nothing to show for it. Knox, who would spend Christmas Day away from her kids. Zhào, who would almost certainly be reprimanded by her superiors. Terrance, left to bury his uncle with no accounting for his death. And Clare, attacked and left in the snow and slush of his mother’s driveway.

He tugged her hand, and she came, squeezing between him and the sofa’s arm. “Darlin’.” He kept his voice low. “You’ve got to stopjumping in to help every stray soul who comes along. You could have been killed.”

“He didn’t hit me that hard—”

“Not the point.” He kissed the baby’s sleep-dampened cheek. “We’ve got to think about Ethan first and foremost now.”