Page 79 of The Lovely and the Lost

“I guess Saskia won’t be staying out here,” Ness commented wryly, “though I’m afraid I can’t vouch for her safety inside.”

Jude was inside. Cady was inside.

“Well,” Ness said, turning her attention to Gabriel and Mac. “Don’t just stand there, boys. Come in.”

The sequoia wasn’t completely hollow, but someone had carved out enough space for a small room. Jude lay prone on the floor. Cady knelt beside him, trembling. I started for them, but Ness stopped me, something metal digging into my side.

Gun.My brain processed the situation on a delay.Rifle.

Saskia had bolted ahead. She nosed at Jude’s still body.

“Get away from my daughter.”

I could barely hear Cady’s words over the ringing in my ears. Jude wasn’t moving. Guns wereblood. Guns werevicious.Guns werecheating.

“Whatever this is, Ness, it’s between you and me. Leave my kids out of it.”

I forced myself to focus on Cady’s voice. On the other end of the gun, Ness looked at me, the oddest expression in her eyes. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” she asked Cady softly. “How much you can love a child?”

Ash.I struggled to form the name in my mind.She’s talking about Ash. Not me. Not Jude. We don’t have anything to do with this.

But there was a gun pointed at me, and Jude was…

“Unconscious,” Cady told me. She latched a hand around Saskia’s collar. If Saskia attacked, Ness might shoot me.

And if I attack…That was the reason Cady had told me that Jude was unconscious. He wasn’t dead, and I was able to keep a whisper’s hold on myself.

“You brought me back here.” Cady did what she could to draw Ness’s attention. “I came.” Her voice vibrated with intensity. “I’m here.”

“And if I lower this gun,” Ness countered, “you’ll leave, and whatever you know, whatever secrets you’re keeping—they’ll walk out of this park with you.”

What secrets?I wondered, but deep in my mind, the question was lost under the cacophony of others. I wondered what it would sound like if Ness pulled the trigger. I wondered what it would feel like. I wondered if I would feel anything at all.

“What aboutyoursecrets, Ness?” Gabriel’s voice snapped me into the moment. “What about the things that you’ve been keeping from me?” Gabriel was smiling, but the curve of his lips was utterly out of place on his face. His eyes glittered dangerously in the scant light. “The bodies,” he clarified. “The ones the FBI found. You can’t think of any reason I might have a vested interest in how that turns out?”

Ness wavered, just for a moment. The gun never moved, but her gaze flicked toward Gabriel. Beside me, I saw Mac shift his weight ever so slightly.

“Nature can be merciless,” Ness told Gabriel. “I gave them what mercy I could.”

Mac eased toward Ness—toward the gun. Her head whipped toward him.

Don’t push her, Mac.My pulse jumped in my neck. Saskia strained against Cady’s hold, but Mac didn’t so much as tense.

When he spoke, it was with the same tone he’d used with me when I was in shock. “You buried the dead. You gave them peace.”

For a split second, I was sure that she’d recognize the slight shift of his weight, that she’d react—that I’d pay the price. But instead, Ness pressed her lips together. “I couldn’t bring them back, but I could put their bodies to rest. Honor them. Remember them.Mournthem.”

“And what about Andrés?” Gabriel said. There was nothing light or airy in his voice, no smile on his face as he stepped toward Ness. “Did you mourn my brother? Remember him? Give him peace?”

“Gabriel, no.” Ness turned her attention back to him. “I don’t know what happened to your brother.”

Seconds ticked by, the two of them locked onto each other. Mac lunged forward. Ness turned the gun on him so fast that I wondered if she’d known he’d be the one to make a move the entire time.

“If I knew what happened to Andrés,” Ness said, her voice taking on an uncomfortable edge, her gaze on Mac’s now, her finger hovering over the trigger, “I wouldn’t have left you to wonder. Not you, Gabriel. You’re family.” Her chin shook. “Iwouldn’t do that to family.”

“We didn’t leave you wondering on purpose,” Cady said, her throat making an attempt at strangling the words. “If we knew what happened to Ash…”

Ness turned the gun on Cady, stepping back from Mac, back from all of us. “You know something,” she said, as if willing those words to be true. “When you left, you weren’t just running away from your father. You were running away from what happened.” Ness’s voice went up an octave.“Something happened.”