“Yup!” Everly agreed. “She’s my mimi, and I know she’s taking good care of you.”
“She is. Bertha is the first real friend I’ve made since I died. She’s been trying to help me realize that no one’s angry at me for what happened that night.”
“I promise I’ll reach out at some point tomorrow to let you know what’s going on, unless you want to come along to Simon’s office and see what happens for yourself.”
“I just might do that.” Kneeling down on the kitchen floor, Bash turned his attention to Everly. “Thank you so much for reaching out to me and helping me to tell the truth. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me and my family.”
“You’re welcome, Bash. Can I ask you a question?”
The spirit nodded his agreement.
“Did your mommy and daddy name you after the crab inThe Little Mermaid?” Everly giggled.
“They did! Whenever I would cry, my parents would sing ‘Under the Sea’ until I started to laugh again.”
“That’s the best story ever!” Everly gushed before turning serious again. “Promise me that after my daddy arrests that Simon asshole, you’ll walk into the light and find your mommy.”
“I promise.” Bash held up his right pinkie finger.
Everly wrapped hers around it. “Bye, Bash!” she called as the spirit vanished.
“Son of a bitch,” Ronan whispered. “Paul Stark was right all along. His sonwasmurdered. Jimenez and Watts let themurderers get away. Cisco didn’t take them to task for not really working the case at all. This is going to be one hell of a mess.”
“It’s okay, Dad.” Everly finished her tea and crawled into Ronan’s lap. “They’re gonna get fired, and Uncle Cisco is gonna start a scholarship fund in Bash’s name.”
“I’ll be the first to contribute,” Ronan said. “As for you, little miss, it’s time you went to bed. I’m so proud of you for helping Bash the way you did.”
“I’m glad I could help you work on your case.” She kissed Ronan’s cheek and leaned over to plant one on Tennyson. “Night, Daddies!” Everly climbed down and walked out of the kitchen.
“I’ll be up in a minute,” Ronan called after her. “Are you okay?”
Ten nodded. “I’m glad Everly was able to reach out to him, but I hate that she learned about betrayal and had to walk Bash through the last moments of his life. I know I say it all the time, but little pieces of her innocence are just melting away.”
“I feel the same way, but learning the lessons she is at such a young age lets her use her empathy to help spirits. What happened today is only going to make her stronger and more determined to help others. As her father, I can’t ask for much more than that.” Ronan wore a proud look. He pressed a kiss to Ten’s lips. “I’ll go tuck her in. After that, you and I are gonna do a little dancing in the dark.” Ronan waggled his eyebrows and left the room.
Ronan was right that everything Everly was learning would help mold her into a young woman whose first goal in life would be to help people. He would make sure that his daughter knew how proud he was of her every day.
As for Ronan’s other suggestion, Ten was ready to dance the night away.
15
Ronan
Ronan had woken up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, thanks, in part, to finding out what really happened to Bash. He couldn’t wait to get to the office and tell Jude and Fitzgibbon what he’d learned.
Stopping to grab some of Cassie’s passionfruit muffins and everyone’s favorite coffee, Ronan was on top of the world when he walked into the office.
“I was hoping for breakfast,” Cisco Jackson said.
Ronan was surprised that the chief of police was sitting at the conference table with Jude and Fitz. He couldn’t help but wonder why no one had warned him that Cisco was going to be in on this meeting, unless, of course, he was here for a reason not having to do with the Stark case.
“I told them not to tell you I was here, Ronan,” Cisco said, reaching for a muffin.
Was Ronan in trouble? His gut twisted as he passed out coffees to Jude and Fitz. Lastly, he settled himself into a chair beside Cisco and grabbed a muffin. Realizing his hands were shaking, Ronan stuffed them under his thighs. Breakfast could wait until he heard what Cisco had come to say. “I’m all ears.”
“We had a development in the Stark case.” Cisco’s dark eyes didn’t give away if this was a good development or a bad one.
It was on the tip of Ronan’s tongue to ask if Simon Westlake confessed, but if that were the case, Cisco wouldn’t be drawing this out. Figuring the best thing to do was to keep quiet, Ronan bided his time.
