Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 683(@200wpm)___ 546(@250wpm)___ 455(@300wpm)
“Okay” is all Dad says after another lengthy moment.
“Okay?”
“I mean, I believe you about Hank, about not starting anything that wasn’t already here.” He scratches at his chin. “Let’s keep this between us, yeah? If your mother hears about the run-in back at the Bale House, we’ll just play it off as the Murphys being drunk. But she doesn’t need to know about all this other stuff. You’re right. She’s finally happy, and we’re not gonna let anything dampen that. Let whatever’s in the past stay there.”
I nod. Something we agree on.
“It’s been a long week. I’m ready for bed.” He straightens himself up. “You worked hard. Get some rest, if you can.”
Mom must have told him about my trouble sleeping. “Jack and I are heading down to Temagami to fish in the morning. But I should be home by noon and then I’ll get more clearing done.”
He nods. “Sticking with your family is a good idea. Get to know your cousins. They’re decent men. Jameson could learn to shut up once in a while, but he means well.” He ambles toward the door, pausing with his hand on the handle. “That’s not a good idea.” He points toward the staircase that leads to my apartment. “It won’t end well.”
With Emery, he means. “It ended a long time ago.”
“I guess we’ll see about that,” he mutters as he walks out, pulling the door shut behind him.
Steeling my nerve, I march for my stairs, bracing myself for round two.
Emery sits perched halfway up, hidden in the shadows.
Chapter 16
Emery
The old stairs to the loft were uneven, steep, and creaky. Growing up, Logan, Sarah, and I used to try to sneak up on each other all the time. It was a game no one could ever win.
When Sarah and Jon moved in, they replaced them with a nice new quiet set that no one had to worry about falling through. Holt insisted it was a waste of money, but tonight, when I made a point of shutting the door to Logan’s apartment and then creeping back down to learn all the things Logan’s been hiding from me, I’d wager it was the best money ever spent.
“Jesus, Em.” Logan stands at the bottom of the stairs, peering up at me with a mixture of exasperation and irritation.
“What?”
“You’re not even going to pretend you weren’t eavesdropping?”
I pull myself to my feet, taking the steps down, a thousand different thoughts filtering through my mind. “I told you I wanted answers. If this was the only way to get them, so be it.” Except now I have so many more questions.
Logan’s gaze roams mine in silence. I’d pay anything to know what is going through his thoughts.
“So, Jay was into it after all.” This fairy tale that he was a good guy who got pulled into a Murphy mess like Logan was just that—a fairy tale.
“Yeah, tell me you didn’t already know that.”
“I’d heard a few things, here and there, but nothing solid.” Mostly useless rumors from CIs who never amounted to anything. Things I would never repeat to Annie. “Why didn’t your lawyer use Dorsey’s threats in the assault case? It could have helped you.” But I already know the answer—because Logan never reported any of them, making it one convict’s word over another, and one of those convicts ended up in a coma.
“It would have dragged more shit to the surface for everyone but Jay. God only knows what he did and who he might have hurt.” Logan shakes his head. “And I didn’t want you knowing.”
“You mean that some fucking rapist threatened to pay me and my kid a visit?” I snap.
“I made sure that wasn’t gonna happen, didn’t I?” His jaw hardens. “But now you know everything. You got your answers.” Logan eases past me and climbs the stairs, his chest brushing against my arm. “I’m tired. ’Night, Em.”
The last thing I can think about is going to bed. I race up after him, plowing through the door before he can shut it.
Logan spares me an indecipherable look before he shrugs off his button-down shirt, leaving him in a T-shirt, his muscular arms on display.
“The other night, you told me you had no secrets from me.” My voice cracks. I sound like a petulant child.
He chuckles as he crouches in front of the unlit wood stove, opening the glass door.
“It’s not funny!”
“You’re right. It’s not.” He strikes a match and ignites the crumpled newspaper waiting alongside the kindling, already prepped for a fire. There’s a faint draft in here, but it can’t be from the broken window. Annie confirmed the repairman came to fix it.
My attention drifts around the studio apartment as Logan quietly watches the flame catch. I haven’t been in here for years, since Sarah gave me the grand tour after the renovation. I remember being equal parts thankful that the space was transformed and bitter that she and Jon had erased the backdrop for so many of my fondest memories.