“I’ll do what I can from here. All I need is a snippet of Tennyson’s hair.” Aurora offered a wicked smile.
Everly’s eyes widened. “Can I work with you, Madam Aurora?”
“If your parents say it’s okay, I’d love to teach you about some of myothergifts.” Aurora winked at Ronan.
“She’s all yours,” Ronan said, without bothering to consult Tennyson. They needed all the help they could get. It had been Aurora who’d been able to break the curse that made Cisco Jackson’s husband a vampire, thanks to a spell she’d whipped up. If she could do that, she might well be able to save Tennyson from winding up dead in a puddle of his own blood.
“We’ve got one hell of a team here,” Ronan said. “I trust all of you with my life, more to the point, I trust all of you with Ten’s.”
“No pressure,” River muttered, breaking the room up into some much needed laughter.
Ronan meant every word he said. If anyone could save Ten, it was the people in the room. All they needed to do was stay on task, figure out who killed Jumping Jack, and keep the killer from striking again.
Piece of cake, right?
14
Tennyson
Oddly enough, while facing his own death, Ten had gotten the best night sleep he’d had in weeks. After the meeting at Jude’s house wrapped up, with everyone getting their assignments, they’d all headed back to his house where Deb and Kaye had cooked an incredible dinner. It was the best chicken and dumplings Ten ever had in his entire life. He wasn’t sure if the meal was that good or because it could very well be thelastchicken and dumplings he ever ate. Either way, the meal had been fantastic. The kids spent the rest of the night watching movies in the living room, while the adults played Cards Against Humanity. It turned out Kaye had the dirtiest mind of the bunch.
The nightmare hadn’t returned, which allowed Ten to get seven hours of uninterrupted sleep. Ditto for Everly and Ezra. He supposed now that he understood what the nightmare was warning him of, its work was done. Ten found himself almost wishing it had come back, wanting to see if there was anything else it revealed, like more details or the events leading up to him getting shot.
Ten found himself sitting in the third row of Fitzgibbon’s SUV as they drove into Boston the next morning. Ronan rode shotgun, with Jude and Carson in the second row. Each of the detectives had taken turns revealing what they knew about the murder of Jumping Jack. Which wasn’t very much.
When they arrived at the Boston Garden, everyone got out of the SUV. Ten bounced around, stretching his legs. The third row was made for kids, not grown men.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this,” Carson said, as everyone headed to the door.
“What, gone to a circus rehearsal?” Ten asked.
“No, helped to solve a cold case.” Carson smiled at Ten. “I remember the days when we’d all sit around Mom’s reading table with some of Cassie’s muffins and talk over cases you and Ronan were working on with the Boston Police.”
“I miss those days sometimes. Everything was simpler back then. Ronan and I weren’t married. We weren’t even dating. I could just go home at night and listen to the silence.”
“True, but you didn’t have Ezra and Everly bringing joy into your lives. I don’t think I could ever live without the controlled chaos the Velociraptors create.”
Ten chuckled at the nickname Ronan had given Carson’s triplets when they’d learned to walk. When it was time for a nap, each of the babies would scatter, making it nearly impossible for their parents, or Ronan to round them up. “I feel the same way, but the more you love, the more you have to lose. I’m about to lose everything here.”
Carson stopped in his tracks. “That’s why every single one of our friends has answered this call. We’re all here for you. To do whatever we can to make sure that nightmare doesn’t become a reality. You said last night that we needed everyone on board, well, that includesyou. If you’ve already given up, we’ll lose for certain.”
“Come on, Tenny, buck up!” Bertha Craig said, materializing beside her son. “We’ve been up against tougher odds before.”
Bertha was right. Ten’s mind cast back to when Ronan had been shot three times on their front steps. The doctors had to put him in a medically induced coma in hopes that he’d recover. It had been a long road to recovery, but Ronan had been dogged in his determination to come back stronger than ever. Would that be Ten’s fate? Or would he end up in the morgue instead of the ICU? “You’re both right. Let’s get inside and see what’s going on.”
“I’ll be doing my own detective work. See you later. Toodles!” Bertha vanished. Ten knew she’d do everything she could to keep him safe.
Fitzgibbon flashed his VIP badge to security and everyone was ushered inside. Ten knew the three detectives had their eyes on the prize. Their first and only suspect in Jumping Jack’s murder was Ying Yang. He was an intimidating man under the best of circumstances, but Ten knew the clown’s absolute worst was going to be on display when Ronan accused him of killing Jack twenty years ago.
“Imagine living your life thinking you got away with murder, only to have everything come crashing down around you twenty years later?” Ronan asked, taking Ten’s hand.
“That’s why I could never be a criminal. I’d be looking over my shoulder constantly waiting for the police to nab me. The anxiety of waiting for that moment would kill me.” The anxiety of this situation was already overwhelming.
Ronan gave Ten’s hand a squeeze. “Yeah, well, some people aren’t wired like you. If you’d killed Jack, would you come back here to the place it happened?”
“No way,” Ten said. “Boston is the last place I’d want to be.”
“It takes some pretty big balls to come here,” Jude added with a grin. “But mine are bigger.”
