“Well…” Everly trailed off. “We can talk more about that later, what’s important now is Celestina. When I was talking to her the other day, I felt this darkness in her, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.”
“I don’t understand,” Ronan said, winking at Tennyson.
“Let’s say I stole one of Daddy’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.” Everly offered Ronan a bright smile. “I know what I did was wrong, but it’s adifferentkind of wrong than if I hit Woofie or if I ran Dad over with the car.”
“Your saying that what Celestina’s hiding could be as innocent as a white lie, but it might be a bigger like her involvement in Jack’s death?” Ronan asked, looking proud of his daughter.
“Right,” Everly agreed. “If I can get her to drop her guard a bit, then maybe I can see what she’s hiding.”
Ten didn’t like this plan one bit. The last thing he wanted was to put Everly anywhere near the line of fire. “You said something the other day about Celestina having a gift of her own. I sensed that she had well-tuned intuition, but didn’t see any indication she was psychically gifted. Did you, Carson?”
Carson shook his head. “There was something different about her, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. It felt like she knew what question I was going to ask next, but that could have been because they were obvious. We were trying to find out if Vincent had anything to do with Jack’s death and she knew that.”
“Everly has this way of connecting with people,” Jude said, grinning at his niece. “She draws people to her. When you were younger, I used to think it was a kind of magic, but that skill is a part of who you are here.” Jude set a hand over his heart. “If I had a secret to tell, you’d be the one who could get me to tell it, even if that meant consequences for me. I have no doubt you can get Celestina to tell you what she knows.” Jude offered an apologetic look to Ten.
“I hear what you’re saying, Jude and you’re right. Everly can charm the birds out of the trees, but we’re dealing with a murder case here. If Celestina had something to do with Jack’s murder, then she’s getting arrested on the spot. This isn’t going to be the feel good story, you’re making it out to be. Yeah, my daughter has mad skills, but she’s still only six years old.”
“You’re right, Dad. I know really bad things could happen to me tomorrow, but if I don’t do anything and the bad things happen anyway, if you get hurt, or worse, what’s the point of me having this gift? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hating myself because I chose to be selfish instead of trying to save you.” Everly paused for a few seconds, her attention never leaving Ten. “Uncle Jude was right when he said we don’t know what happens before or after your vision, but we’ve got a whole group of people who are going to be ready to help us no matter what. I have to try.”
Ten felt his emotions threaten to overwhelm him. “How did I get such a wise brave little girl?”
Everly grinned brightly. “That’s easy, just look around the table. All of you made me this way.” She hopped off her chair and headed back to the basement door. “We could use more popcorn, Uncle Fitz.” With those words, Everly went back down to the basement.
“We did good,” Ronan said, sounding as emotional as Tennyson looked.
“Yeah, we did.” Ten agreed with everything Everly said. He understood how devastated she would be if something happened tomorrow and she hadn’t been there to prevent it. On the other hand, he also knew how devastated he would be if anything happened to his daughter. There would be no coming back from that pain.
Finding Jumping Jack’s killer was either going to be win-win or lose-lose. There was no middle ground. They had to be all in or all out.
God help him, Ten was all in.
17
Ronan
The day of the circus dress rehearsal dawned cloudy and grey, the official color of winter in New England. The forecast called for snow later in the day. Brooke was excited to have the chance to play in the snow with Everly and Aurora, but that would have to wait. Ronan and Everly had a killer to catch.
As Fitzgibbon drove them into Boston, Everly sat in the back of the van by herself. When Ronan asked if she wanted him to sit with her, Everly shook her head and said she needed time for herself. He knew that was code for getting her gift ready for what was to come.
He’d ended up sitting next to Tennyson who’d been equally quiet. Carson and Cope chatted together about raising daughters, Jude rode shotgun in the front seat with Fitz. Ronan felt like he could cut the tension with a knife. He imagined this was how people must have felt before the start of battle, knowing something bad was coming and feeling powerless to stop it.
“Here we are,” Fitz said. He showed his ID and VIP badge to security and they were allowed into the parking garage. When Fitz found a place to park, he got out of the SUV and pulled open the side door. “Last chance to back out. Just say the word and we make this a fun day at the circus.” His eyes were on Ronan as he spoke.
“What do think, little miss?” Ronan half-hoped she’d changed her mind about helping. If that was the case, he’d spoil her rotten with all the pink cotton candy she could eat.
“It’s go time, Daddy.” Everly hopped out of her seat at the back of the van and strode toward Fitz who helped her out.
Ronan snorted and followed his daughter’s lead. After they’d gotten home from dinner at Fitz’s house, he and Ten had spent two hours talking over the pros and cons of coming today. It all came down to Ronan wanting Jack’s killer caught no matter what versus Ten thinking that after twenty years, it might be okay to let sleeping dogs lie. Ronan didn’t agree with his husband, but respected his decision. Ten was the one with a giant bullseye on his back, he had the right to feel anyway he wanted. Throw in Everly wanting to be the Olivia Benson to Ronan’s Elliot Stabler, and Ten was more within his rights to want to say this mission was a no go. He hadn’t, but Ronan knew he could pull the plug at any moment.
Fitz used his VIP pass to gain access to backstage, which was controlled chaos. Organizers ran around with clipboards, while acrobats and trapeze artists stretched and readied themselves for the performance. Others sat in meditation with headphones on, their heads bowed. Vincent and Celestina were no where to be found.
“Where is Celestina?” Ronan asked. “I don’t see her anywhere.”
“She’s putting the finishing touches on her makeup.” Everly pointed to the office Celestina had been using as a dressing room.
Minutes later, she stepped out, dressed in pink from head to toe. Without warning, Everly broke for her, shouting Celestina’s name. When she recognized who was running toward her, Celestina knelt to give Everly a hug.
Ronan watched while Everly admired the pink ballgown which was adorned with hundreds of crystals. It was stunning, as was the woman wearing it.
