“It’s something to make life a little easier.”
Flustered, her arm shoots out, attempting to hand the check back to me. “I can’t accept this.”
“I insist, please.”
“How can I?” The grieving mother’s eyebrows knit together. The amount is nothing to River, but it is life changing for most people and is why I understand her apprehension to accept such a gift.
“There are no strings attached.”
“Are you sure?” she asks again. An honest disbelief anyone would ever give a stranger that amount of money. “Who is it from?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” I say firmly. “The donor would like to remain anonymous, but I can tell you he would be heartbroken if you did not take it.”
Her eyes darted down to the sum in her hands, then flicker back to mine. “Did you know Crystal?”
I swallow hard, searching for the words to explain to this woman’s mother what she meant to me. “We worked on a project together once.” I come up with it on the fly. “She left a lasting impression.”
The woman’s face scrunches as she tries to mask the pain she is experiencing. “That was my Crystal.”
The backs of my eyes sting with tears and forgoing holding them in, I let them fall. “Thank you for allowing me to give you this gift.”
“Thankyou.” A grateful smile cracking through her sorrow. “I just wish we had more information about the case.”
“I hope one day they’ll find who did this.”
Another “guest” approaches her, so I excuse myself and go find my family. Stevie and Dad are chatting in the corner of the foyer. I hurry over to them, my heart still aching from the conversation with Crystal’s mother.
“How are you doing?” My dad pulls me in for a hug.
“I’m good.”
“It was nice of you to come,” my dad says.
“Of course.” I cross my arms at my chest from a slight chill in the air. “This case has touched us all.”
“It has.” He glances off into the distance, his eyes scanning the room before coming back to mine. “So, how’s writing?”
I nod. “This story is taking a little longer and has kept me busy.”
“You’re so driven, Lux.” My dad smiles, cupping my cheek with his palm. “I’m proud of you both, I hope you know that.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Stevie and I respond in unison.
My dad clicks his tongue. “Well, since the leads have dried up and the FBI has fully taken over the cabin women case, I’ll have more time again to spend with my two best girls.” My dad tries to play if off like this is just part of the job, but I know he’s bothered about not being able to close it himself.
“Great,” Stevie deadpans. “More family dinners.”
I laugh, but still curious about the next steps. “So, everything has been handed over?”
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “It’s for the best. It’s been almost two months without another incident, so the working theory is whoever was involved either got scared away or, as we suspect Andrew Hughes has, maybe they’ve left the country. But as I mentioned before, the FBI has taken over the case. My involvement is being phased out at this point,” he repeats, almost like he’s still trying to convince himself he’s accepted this outcome.
“Hmm.” I rub my lips together, acting like this is brand new information.
“We had a team respond to a commercial fire up north yesterday morning.” My stomach flies into my throat.Andrew.“It was purchasedwith an LLC matching a few other new builds in the county. So we’re working on that now.”
I guess he doesn’t know it’s Andrew’s property yet.
“Interesting.” Stevie taps her chin.She’s horrible at this.My sister has the worst poker face.
