“New favorite?”
“Yeah, what can I say? The competition is stiff, and you definitely bring me better sandwiches than Officer Schmidt does.”
“Good to know. Do you have anything else that you can remember about Eric? His whereabouts, his clients, anything like that?”
With nowhere else to turn, Ian hated that he was right back where he started, in this godforsaken cell, relying on a henchman for his information.
Jake sat down on his mattress and tucked his legs underneath him. “I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.”
The two of them lapsed into silence.
Reluctantly, Ian left the holding cells and went back to his desk. He and Marissa spent the rest of the shift driving around the streets of the city while Ian skimmed through the evidence again. At the end of their shift, Marissa dropped him off at home before driving off. The house was unusually quiet, and the smell of incense was the first thing to hit him when he stepped in through the front door.
A single lamp was left on, casting long shadows across Lucy’s face. She sat on the couch with a blanket draped over her legs, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers. As soon as Ian calledout to her, Lucy turned to him, the glass of wine halfway to her lips. She lowered it and gave him a tight smile.
“Has there been any news from the doctor?” Ian left his boots by the door and shrugged out of his jacket. “You look worried.”
“It’s not cancer,” Lucy revealed with a sigh. “They still need to run a few more tests to figure out what it is, but at least they’ve ruled that out.”
Ian breathed a sigh of relief and padded over to her. He picked up the laptop, set it down on the coffee table, and threw the cover off. Then he sat down next to her, pulled the blanket over both of their legs, and tucked her into his side. Lucy took a long sip of her wine and exhaled. In one quick move, she set the glass down on the table next to her and threw an arm over Ian’s middle.
Ian stroked Lucy’s back. “What’s on your mind?”
“What if they never find out what’s wrong with me? A lot of people have weird or unusual illnesses, and they have to live with chronic pain for the rest of their lives.”
Ian pressed a kiss to the side of her head and draped an arm over her shoulders. “I’m sure that’s not going to be the case. Lily got us the numbers of some of the best doctors in the country. They’ll figure it out.”
Lucy drew back to look at him, and her lower lip trembled. “What if they can only help me manage the symptoms, and there’s no cure for what I have?”
“Then we’ll manage the symptoms till they find a cure,” Ian replied without missing a beat. “We’re going to get through this, Luce.”
He would make sure of it.
When Lucy drifted off to sleep, he studied the even rise and fall of her chest. Slowly, reluctantly, he withdrew his arm and laid her out on the couch. Her head lolled to the side, her mouth parted, and she began to snore. Ian held his breath as heunfolded the blanket and tucked it around her sides. Then he stepped into the kitchen and got started on dinner, beginning with the vegetables for the salad.
Kelli and Dana crept into the house a short while later and wordlessly began to help. When Dean came out of the basement, in his sweatpants and a hoodie on backward, he did a double take. He looked over their mom’s sleeping figure and came to a stop next to Dana. While the two of them chopped up onions, Kelli stirred the ground meat.
Ian wiped the counter down and laid out the square-shaped lasagna sheets.
The four of them worked in unison, dancing around each other while trying not to wake Lucy up. When she stirred, Ian had sprinkled the cheese over the top. He pushed the casserole into the oven and set the timer. Lucy stumbled into the kitchen and drew them all in for a hug. During dinner, she held his hand underneath the table and used her thumb to stroke the inside of his wrist.
His eyes welled with tears as he glanced around the table and was overcome with a wave of gratitude and love.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“You sure this is okay?”
Ian switched the phone to his other ear, brought the spoon up to his lips, and tasted the sauce. Then he added a dash of oregano and stirred. “Of course, it’s okay. I’ll do whatever I can to help Amy.”
“He’s not going to let her leave him easily,” Lily said in a low voice. “Eric’s been threatening her and trying to lure her back using any and all means at his disposal.”
Ian continued to stir the sauce and frowned at the mixture. “I’m sure her lawyer can use all of this in court.”
“I wish he could, but my dad is being really careful. He sends messages that disappear right away through this app, among other things.”
“Never doing the dirty work himself, huh?”
Lily exhaled. “No, not really. It’s making it harder to build a case. That’s why Amy’s lawyer needs to get in touch with you. He’s hoping that another pair of eyes looking at the evidence will help her case. Prove that Eric isn’t who he says he is.”
