Page 33 of The Moments You Were Mine

Lorenzo waved a hand in dismissal. “Not like you’re implying. I’m simply following up on some ugly business with my cousins.”

Dad stepped closer. “Did one of them come after my daughter?”

Lorenzo looked from Dad to me and back. His mouth was as firm as his tone when he said, “No. And I can promise you, they won’t.”

Silence settled. Heavy and hard. It was Lorenzo who broke it. “I’ll take my leave. Take care, Fallon.” Then, he looked toward Sadie and said, “I’ll call you next week to discuss the next gala for the theater foundation.”

Then, he walked out of the station with two large bodyguards trailing him.

“Goddamn it,” Dad snarled.

Sadie linked her hand with his. “Fallon is exhausted. Let’s get her out of here. We can work out what Lorenzo is up to later.”

“You’re right,” Dad said, tugging me to him again and holding on. I closed my eyes and let his warmth settle over me. “Your apartment is a mess from the police search. Do you want to come back to the hotel with us?”

I didn’t want the apartment, or a hotel, or anything to do with San Diego. I wanted the one place that had always grounded me.

I shook my head. “No. I want to go home, Dad. I want to go to the ranch.”

Chapter Ten

Parker

ALL THESE THINGS THAT I’VE DONE

Performed by The Killers

TEN YEARS AGO

HIM: I shouldn’t have left you, damnit.

HER: I’m glad you weren’t here. They would have shot you without a second thought. At least when they saw Sadie at the door, she had a chance because they needed her to get into the safe.

HIM: Never again. If you’re ever in danger again, you won’t be able to shake me.

HER: What are you going to do? Go AWOL in the middle of some top-secret mission to run home? Besides, I don’t need you to save me. Sadie and I saved ourselves.

PRESENT DAY

My right hand stung from slammingmy trident into the coffin next to the others my teammates had placed there. My eyes stung from tears I was fighting to hold back. Silver One Squadron stood at attention as they lowered Will into the ground.

I didn’t hear the words spoken by the priest nor the words of our commander.

I barely registered the bugler playing “Taps.” I wasn’t even sure the firing squad would have registered if the tiny hand in mine hadn’t startled with the first shot. I squeezed Theo’s fingers tighter, tugging him closer to me as we stood at attention through the final report.

When it was over and I held a folded flag in one hand and a child’s hand in the other, I had to fight to breathe. We should move. We should head across the grass to the long line of cars parked along the cemetery’s lanes, but my feet felt rooted.

When I looked down at him, Theo’s face showed the same confusion that had been there since I’d retrieved him from the group home. He was struggling to comprehend what it all meant. That he’d never see either of his parents again. That his dad’s body was in a damn wooden box.

Maybe it was better this way. Not knowing. Not seeing.

All I saw on repeat was my friend’s bloody face.

In the three nights since my team had brought Will home, that was all I’d dreamed about. The first night, when I didn’t have Theo yet, it had driven me from my bed to multiple glasses of alcohol that had dulled my senses. But after I’d brought him home, I’d refused to be drunk if he needed me.

When I’d picked Theo up, after all the paperwork had been sorted, I’d taken him back to Will’s apartment so he’d have all his own things and a place he was familiar with. I’d thought it would be easier for Theo, even when it had been hell on me to be surrounded by all of Will’s memories.

But Theo had been almost inconsolable. So, the next day, I’d boxed up as many of his toys and clothes as possible and brought him back to my place. At some point, I’d have to return and sort through the apartment. But selfishly, I needed some time before I did that.