Page 46 of The Fix

Cami could hardly wrap her mind around the fact that there was a child in her home.

Her child. It was so surreal, like she’d blinked, and he’d appeared.

One moment she’d been alone with her cat, and the next she had a little boy living with her.

As they’d traveled back to Virginia, Cami had vacillated between shock, joy, terror, and giddiness, feeling constantly on the verge of tears or laughter.

But always beside her was Rex, watching her with quiet knowing and giving her strength with looks not of concern, but of confidence. He communicated his belief in her with his steady gaze, and so she took his lead and chose to believe in herself as well.

She wasn’t at all prepared for this, and she was likely going to fumble some things. Many things, perhaps. But she was willing. And she was able. And she’d approach the situation with love and see this for the unexpected gift it was.

She had this deep-rooted conviction that her mother and sister had had a hand in this miracle, and who would she be if she rejected a miracle?

The detective in California had made good on his word and contacted the local police, who’d approved a temporary squad car to watch her home.

No arrests had been made in Cyrus’s kidnapping, and even though they were now far away from where the crime had occurred, she had been targeted too—even if the who and the why and the how were unclear—and it made her breathe easier knowing law enforcement was fully briefed on the case and on watch as they slept.

Cami pulled into the driveway of the stately white Georgian on the tree-lined block.

“This is my grandpa’s house?” Cyrus asked.

“Yes,” she said as she unbuckled herself, then got out and opened the back door for Cyrus.

Her heart had started beating more swiftly the moment they’d driven into the neighborhood where her father and his second wife lived.

She’d called and given him the very basics of the situation.

He’d seemed stunned, as she’d expected, but she’d wanted to give him time to come to terms with this unexpected circumstance before bringing Cyrus to meet him.

“But maybe we should let him decide what you should call him.”

Cyrus nodded very seriously. “He might have trouble adjusting.”

She let out a breathy laugh and hugged him to her.

She couldn’t help it. He surprised her constantly.

He was the bravest, coolest, most unique little human she’d ever met.

“Yes, he might. But he’s a good man and he’s going to love you.

” Please love him, Dad. Please accept him with open arms like I have.

They were walking hand in hand up the flagstone path toward the house when the door opened. Her father stepped outside, his gaze hanging on Cyrus as they approached. He still looked a bit stunned, but he smiled when they stepped up onto the porch.

“Dad, this is Cyrus. Cyrus, this is my father, Randolph, but his friends call him Rand. He’s your grandfather.”

Cyrus looked up at her dad. “I never had a grandfather before.”

Her father bent down so he was at Cyrus’s level.

“No? Well, here’s the deal. I always thought Randolph sounded like one of Santa’s reindeer,” he said, to which Cyrus smiled.

“I like Rand better, but”—he glanced up at Cami—“this has all come as quite a surprise. I’ve been thinking about what you might want to call me and thought we should mutually agree. ”

Cyrus nodded. “What do you think?”

“Well, I’d completely understand if you wanted to go with Rand, seeing as you just met me. Or, if you’re willing, Grandpa is a classic. But I’ve gotta throw Pops into the ring.”

Oh, Dad, I love you. She was tempted to cry, but she didn’t want this second meeting to be filled with tears, because that was how the first one had been.

“I like Pops,” Cyrus said shyly but with obvious pleasure.

Her father grinned and stood. “Thanks for making an old man happy, kid. I can tell we’re gonna get along swimmingly. Speaking of which, do you know how to swim? My wife, Gigi, is out back in the pool. She’s been excited to meet you.”

“Yeah, I can swim, but I don’t have a suit.”

“Oh, we have a few extras in the pool house that will probably fit well enough. Come on in.” He opened the door wider and gave Cami a kiss on the cheek as they passed by him.

Gigi met them in the foyer, pretty in a turquoise cover-up and flip-flops. “Cami.” She smiled warmly as she always did. “It’s so nice to see you.” Cami smiled back, and then Gigi bent down like her father had and shook Cyrus’s hand.

“I told Cyrus you could probably dig up a suit that would fit him from one in the pool house,” her father said.

“Absolutely,” Gigi said as she stood. “But first, I made a batch of homemade Popsicles. Do you want to help me get them out of the freezer and taste-test them?”

“Okay!” Cyrus said. He looked at Cami, and when she gave him a nod, he followed Gigi, and they disappeared down the hall.

She watched them go. Cyrus could act so grown-up sometimes, but she needed to remember that that was out of necessity, and he was really just a kid, thrilled by things all kids were thrilled by.

Cami walked with her father into the family room, where he sat down in his usual chair, and she made herself comfortable on the couch.

She told him the entire story of what had transpired since she’d first taken the incoming call from the unknown number.

He seemed increasingly troubled as he listened to her, then shocked by the developments in California.

He inserted a few questions here and there, but mostly listened, and she was grateful he didn’t lecture her on some of the choices that she thought he might.

Like jumping on a plane with a virtual stranger to fly across the country and face any number of known and unknown dangers.

Perhaps the fact that she and Cyrus were there, in his home, looking well, kept him from criticizing her judgment.

She also went through all that she and Rex had discussed on that deck overlooking the ocean about the possible connection between the crime that took his wife and daughter, and Cyrus’s kidnapping.

He expressed the same confusion and obvious doubt, but he was clearly concerned as well.

“But, Cam, you’re not a hundred percent sure that’s what your mother was trying to say? ”

“No. But what if, Dad? What if we missed something all those years ago? Something that could only have been clear now that that phrase was said to me, to involve me in what was happening to Cyrus? Do you remember ever hearing anything about a do-over? Did you get any strange calls during that time? Or weird messages?”

“No. Nothing. The police probed me with questions like that too. ‘Did anyone threaten you? Any odd interactions, messages, even if they seemed like nothing at the time.’ I didn’t have anything to report to them.”

“Was Mom in the habit of listening to your messages or opening your emails or anything?”

“Well, she did do some administrative work for me at home. Just basic stuff while you and Elle were at school that allowed me to be at my desk less on the weekends.”

Her heart gave a small gallop.

“So just computer work? She didn’t answer your phone?”

“My phone? No, I mean if you’re talking about my cell phone, I always had that on me when I was away from home.”

Cami chewed at her thumbnail. They’d had a landline back then, even if it was rarely used.

She remembered her mom walking through the house on occasion with the portable phone at her ear.

She wondered briefly about pulling phone records but doubted that could be done a decade later.

Plus, how would it help if she could look through the numbers that had come into their house in the days before the murders?

There would probably be all kinds of random numbers.

As she recalled, the majority of calls that came through on the landline were telemarketers.

It was why her mom had kept saying she was going to get rid of it and just use their cell phones.

“What about your emails?” she finally asked her dad. “Any chance you can still access those?”

“From eleven years ago? I don’t see how.”

“I don’t suppose you still have your cell phone from that time?” Maybe the call had come through on her father’s phone, and her mother had intercepted it while he was sleeping or otherwise occupied.

“No, Cam, I don’t have that anymore. It’s long gone.” His forehead lowered. “Cami, I don’t know that this is good for you. Have you considered ... well, it seems like you’ve been given a second chance with Cyrus. Whether it ends up that he remains with you or goes to another—”

“He is going to remain with me. I’m not giving him up again.

And Dad, of course it doesn’t feel good to dredge up Mom’s and Elle’s deaths, but if there’s a chance of finding some answers that we didn’t have before, how can I turn away from that?

Plus, if this is related to Cyrus, then he might still be in danger. ”

Her father sighed and looked out the window for a moment. “You’re right. I was only thinking of you, Cami. Of your happiness. I worry that you’ve closed yourself off.”

“To what, Dad?”

“To a family. To love. I worry you think you gave that up and don’t deserve a second crack at it. Or maybe you’re afraid.”

She could see the worry lines around her father’s eyes.

He was speaking from concern. He was a good man who loved her and had loved his wife and younger daughter, and he had found a way to move on.

Maybe she hadn’t. Not entirely anyway. And maybe she was closed off in some sense.

Perhaps she’d held on to the guilt of giving up her son and shied away from offering her heart to anyone again in the hope of avoiding pain.

She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime, thank you very much.

Or at least that had been her approach for the last decade.

Rex’s face flashed in her mind. But maybe . .. maybe she could rethink that.

The sounds of splashing and laughter drifted toward them from the backyard, and Cami looked in that direction.

Whether she’d avoided it or not, love had shown up at her door.

Or in the case of Cyrus, on her computer screen.

And she needed to know why. “I’ll find some time for self-reflection later. Right now, I’m on a mission.”

His eyes softened. “My fighter.” He paused as he looked at her. “Just promise me you’ll keep yourself safe from here on out. No more going out on your own and putting yourself in danger. I can’t lose another daughter, Cam.”

Her heart twisted at the raw pain on her dad’s face.

She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I’ll be safe, Dad.

I’m just researching now, okay? I’ll let you—and the authorities—know if I find anything.

” He nodded, and she let go of his hand.

“Just one more thing. How can I look at the cases you worked on?”

“My cases? Which ones?”

“All of them. Or, no, let’s say going back five years from the date of the crime.”

“The digital files are with the courts. But I kept personal notes on most of them. Those are up in the attic in boxes. But Cam ... what would you even begin looking for?”

“I don’t know. But it’s a place to start. Maybe something will jump out at me.” She had no idea what that might even be, if anything. But what else did she have?

Her father helped her bring down the six boxes of files and put them in her trunk.

She wasn’t hopeful she’d find anything—after all, the police had already looked at that angle, but they hadn’t read through every detail of every case.

And she didn’t think they’d gone back that far either.

While Cyrus was sleeping, she’d begin that monumental task.

An hour later, after sitting on the patio in the sun and sharing a glass of lemonade with her father and Gigi, she and Cyrus packed it up and got back in the car.

Cyrus looked happy and tired, his nose slightly sunburned.

He looked like a little boy who’d spent a few hours simply being a kid.

I’m going to give you more of that. I’m going to make up for all the hardships you’ve survived.

“Ready to go home?” she asked him.

He nodded. “Can we come back?”

“Of course. My ... I mean, your pops said anytime.” Her phone rang, and she glanced at it in the console. It was a call from California. “Give me one second to answer this,” she told Cyrus.

“Hello, Camille?”

“Yes, Detective Mauro. Is everything okay?”

She listened for a moment, tears welling in her eyes. She thanked him and hung up and then met Cyrus’s eyes in the rearview mirror with a smile that felt a little wobbly. “Our blood matches,” she told him. “I’m your mom.”

“I already knew that,” he said very seriously.

She laughed and swiped at a tear. She supposed she did too. “We need to celebrate,” she told him. “And I have a really important question for you now.”

He scrunched his forehead down as he looked at her with at least a small amount of concern. “What?”

She paused for effect. “Pizza or burgers?”

His face blossomed in a smile, full of childish pleasure.

“Sushi.”

She laughed. Gosh, she loved this beautiful, unique little boy. “Sushi it is.”