Page 30 of Out of the Shadows (Angelhart Investigations)

“I missed all the fun,” Margo said as she walked with Jack and Cody into the barn Wednesday morning.

“Shh,” Cody said. “I don’t want to scare Nimbus.”

Margo pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key.

She had arrived five minutes after the police, and two minutes before the ambulance. She was relieved that no one—except Aberdeen—was

seriously hurt. Jack had a nick, hardly worth a Band-Aid, but it could have been worse.

Once the police were gone, everyone pitched in to clean up the mess in the living room, and Jack and Margo secured plywood

on the front window, while Logan arranged to have it replaced as soon as possible. They swept all the glass, then vacuumed,

then swept again—and still Obi got his paw cut on a shard they’d missed. Laura removed the glass and bandaged it up. The kids

didn’t fall asleep until after two—they slept in the den with the dogs. Luisa drove Charlie home, Logan crashed in Cody’s

room, and Laura finally went to bed at three.

Margo and Jack had stayed up because Margo couldn’t sleep. They talked about Jack’s observations of Luisa; Margo told him

not to worry, that their sister was fine. But she made a note to spend more time with her. Jack had been a cop so he would

understand some things, but being in the military was different. Luisa wasn’t the same kid who had left home at eighteen for

adventure and purpose. She had found both... but sometimes in the discovery of self, truths emerged that you didn’t expect.

Margo asked Jack about Laura, and he admitted he had feelings for her and that Laura was open to exploring them. Margo was

thrilled—she wanted Jack to find someone who deserved him. He wasn’t a man who wanted to be alone, and his failed marriage

had broken him. He was better now, but if he found someone to share the rest of his life, he would be complete. She gave him

two thumbs-up.

Now she was beat and ready to go home and sleep all day, but Cody wanted to show her kittens. “I wish Lu could have stayed,”

he said wistfully, in a tone that Margo heard as, But you’ll do.

They walked down the aisle and Cody touched each horse that had its head out. Margo marveled at how this kid bounced back

after the last couple days of intense stress.

In the last stall, Cody motioned for Margo and Jack to stand in the opening, then he entered and squatted in the middle.

“Good mom you are,” Cody said in a soft, cooing voice. “Good mom taking care of your babies.”

A gray-and-white cat lay on her side while one... four... six kittens nursed. They had no fur and their eyes were closed and they were very, very small.

“My mom will come out and check on you later,” Cody told the cat. “But she says you know what to do.” He poured fresh water

into her bowl. Then he took a can of kitten food from his pocket and emptied it into her food bowl. “Mom says you can have

this.”

He then got up and slowly backed away.

They left the stall and Cody said, “I’m going to take the horses out to the field to graze. They didn’t get to exercise yesterday.

You can come if you want.”

“Do you need help?” Margo asked.

“Naw, I’m good. I like taking them out.”

One by one, Cody brought out the horses.

“He’s a pretty cool kid,” Margo said.

“The whole family is,” Jack agreed.

“Speaking of Logan,” Margo said. “He needs to know about Brittney.”

“What about Brittney?”

“That she’s dating the son of his business partner. The son of Congresswoman Shaw.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s up to something and she doesn’t want him to know she’s dating the guy.”

“Logan is fine. He’s protected himself financially, and he’s not going to put up with any shenanigans.” Jack glanced at her.

“Why are you so concerned?”

“Don’t look at me like that. Logan isn’t my type. It’s Brittney. I feel like she’s gotten away with something, and that just

grates on my every nerve.”

“Maybe she did,” Jack said. “But what goes around comes around.”

“Stop with the cliches,” she said. “Karma’s a bitch and all that.”

“No, not so much Karma, but I generally believe eventually, people like Brittney will have to pay a price. Either now...

or in the afterlife. It helps.”

“So you don’t want to tell Logan.”

“No. If it comes up, I’ll mention it. But I’m not going to go out of my way to do so. He’s put her behind him, a lot faster

than I put Whitney behind me. Why dredge it all up again?”

He had a point, Margo thought.

She hugged him. “I’m going. Give my best to Laura.”

After Margo left, Jack started breakfast and his mom called. She filled him in on a conversation she’d had with John Thornton,

Jr. He didn’t want the jewels—he and his sister felt like they were tainted because his father was killed over them. But he

planned to sell them and Ava would be assisting with that. He also wanted to repay Charlie Barrett for what he’d bid on the

storage unit out of the proceeds.

“I’ll let him know,” Jack said. “Thanks, Mom.”

“You doing okay?”

“Yes, I’m helping clean up around here, so I won’t be in.”

“Take a few days,” she said. “We have nothing urgent, and I know you have Austin for the long weekend.”

“I definitely won’t object,” he said and ended the call. He might even call Whitney and see if he could pick up Austin a day

early. Sometimes she refused, but usually she had no problem. And a long weekend? She likely had made plans.

He was looking forward to introducing Austin to Laura and her kids. He didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but at the

same time, he wasn’t going to drag his feet.

Laura stepped into the kitchen. “I cannot believe I slept so long. It’s after nine!”

“You needed it,” Jack said as he finished getting the pancakes ready to cook. The bacon was already done and warming in the

oven. “Sydney and Logan are still crashed.”

“Where’s Cody?”

“After we checked on the kittens—there are six, in case you were wondering—Cody took the horses to the field. He said they

needed exercise.”

“He’s far more responsible than I was at nine.”

“Me too,” Jack said with a smile.

Laura walked over and hugged him. Then she lightly kissed him. “Thank you. Thank you for being here. You look exhausted.”

“I’m getting there.”

“I have a guest room.”

“I’ll take you up on that, after breakfast. Because I’m tired, but I’m also starving.”

“Are we still on for the Fourth of July?”

“We are. Would you mind if I brought Austin up here the day before? To meet Cody and Sydney. Casual, no pressure.”

“That sounds perfect,” Laura said.

A knock on the door made Laura jump. “Damn,” she muttered.

“I’ll get it,” Jack said. It was Rick. “What are you doing here?”

“When I got up this morning I checked on the status of Aberdeen and thought you might like to know what’s going on.”

“Sure. Want breakfast?”

“I’ll never say no to coffee.”

Jack introduced Rick to Laura. “Rick and I went through the academy together, and he’s been helping with Aberdeen.”

Laura poured Rick a mug of coffee, and they sat at the kitchen table. “I talked to the detective in charge. Aberdeen came

through surgery this morning. He’s expected to make a full recovery, so he was arrested on multiple charges, including felony

hit-and-run, assault with a deadly weapon, home invasion, and attempted murder, for starters. The truck wasn’t registered

to Aberdeen, so we tracked down the owner. The guy spilled his guts. Admitted he participated in the break-ins and was in

the passenger seat of Aberdeen’s truck when it hit you, Laura, on Sunday night. But said after that, he told Aberdeen he was

out of it, and the detectives who talked to him believe him—he has an alibi, he was working. Didn’t even know Aberdeen took

his truck.”

Rick sipped the coffee, told Laura it was delicious, and continued. “He also pointed fingers at Aberdeen for the murder of

John Thornton. He went to Thornton’s house, assuming that he had brought it home. When he didn’t find it there, he went to

the law office, but was stopped by law enforcement—pulled over for speeding, a ticket he never paid. He went back to San Diego,

worried he was going to be caught for home invasion and murder, but when no one came knocking, he returned to Phoenix and

learned that the law office was closed. He assumed the partner took the jewels, but didn’t know where Hedge went.

“Fast forward a couple months. Aberdeen spent time and money researching Vincent Hedge with the intent to rob him, then found

the listing for the storage locker—which was in Hedge’s name. The file boxes say Thornton Vincent and he thought that the

jewelry box may be in the storage unit. And I think you know the rest of the story.”

“Wow,” Laura said. “All this because his grandmother didn’t give him what he thought he deserved. I hope he’s in prison for

a long, long time.”

“He will be,” Rick said. “There are so many charges we can pile on, he won’t be seeing freedom for at least a decade. And

if prosecutors find physical evidence that he killed Thornton? He’ll go away for life.”

“Good,” she said. “You’re welcome to stay for breakfast, Rick.”

“I’m on my way to pick up my daughter from a sleepover, then we have brunch plans before my shift starts. But thank you.”

Jack walked Rick to the door, thanked his friend, and went back to the kitchen.

He watched Laura pull out plates and put syrup on the table and call out to the kids to come to breakfast.

Spontaneously, he walked over to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and kissed her.

She flushed. “What was that for?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“No.” Then she leaned up and kissed him. “I could get used to this.”

“I think I already am,” Jack said. He took the platter of bacon from the oven and put it on the table.

He felt like he had found home.

* * * * *