After losing her mother, Marley probably wasn’t taking the incident quite that well, but being with Elizabeth would distract her, and he appreciated Janet’s attempts to reassure him. It wasn’t as though he could collect his daughter and go home. With Ink and Lloyd on the loose, Vivian wasn’t out of danger and neither was the rest of the community. He still had a job to do. “I appreciate your willingness, but…are you sure? I can make arrangements for her to stay somewhere else…?.”
“Are you kidding? With Henry out of town and the boys at camp, I like having the girls here. They keep me company.”
Myles breathed a sigh of relief. That made things much easier for him, because he was eager to jump back into the search. “Thanks. I’m grateful for the help. Is there any chance I could speak with her?”
“You bet.”
A couple of minutes later, Marley’s voice came on the line. “Daddy?”
“Hi, honey. How are you?”
“Okay. But…what about you?”
He shifted to ease the throbbing in his leg. “I’m good as new.”
“Really? After being shot? You’d tell me if you weren’t, right?”
“I’d tell you.”
She seemed to trust his response. “When will I see you, then?”
“I’ll come by after work tonight.”
“To get me?”
He stood just to test his ability to put pressure on his foot. He’d barely been able to remain upright in the shower, but it seemed to improve with use. “No, just to say hi. I need you to stay at least another night. I’m going to be very busy trying to catch these guys, and I don’t want you home alone.”
“You’ll get ’em. If anyone can, it’s you.”
Wishing he had her confidence, he eased himself back onto the bed. “I hope you’re right.”
“It’s scary, though, isn’t it?” she said. “To think that there are escaped convicts in town? I mean, we never went through anything this dangerous even when we lived in Phoenix.”
“I know. Hopefully, it’ll never happen again,” he said as he checked his bandages.
“Is Vivian okay?”
Vivian was better than okay. She was naked and in the shower, and the thought of that was distracting to him despite everything else. “She’s doing great. You like Vivian, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
He took off the gauze on his neck, balled it up and threw it in the trash can. He didn’t need it, and it was wet from the shower, anyway. “Good.”
She laughed. “Why’d you ask that?”
Because he wanted Vivian to be part of their lives. He didn’t know for sure if she’d become a permanent fixture. They weren’t that far along. But everything he felt so far suggested it was a strong possibility. “Just wondered.”
“That’s a weird question,” she said, and laughed again. “Why wouldn’t I like her? She’s our neighbor. Do you want her to come stay with us until you catch the guys who are trying to hurt her or something?”
“No, we live too close to where she does.”
“Where else can she go? Are you guys still at the motel?”
“For now. She’s…um…in the next room. But I think I’ll have Claire pick her up.”
“The lady who cuts my hair?”
“That’s her.”
“Oh, right. She and Vivian are best friends. She always has one of Vivian’s purses.”
“Vivian’s been generous with you on that score, too,” he pointed out.
“I know. I can’t wait to see her latest.”
He smiled at her enthusiasm. He wasn’t sure how quickly his daughter might accept Vivian as his love interest but they had a foundation on which to build. That reassured him. “I’d better get to work. I’ll see you later, huh?”
“Okay. I love you, Daddy.”
“Love you, too,” he said, and disconnected.
Steam rolled out of the bathroom as Vivian cracked open the door. “Everything okay with Marley?”
“Fine.”
“Did I hear you mention Claire?”
He pulled on the shirt he’d taken from his bag when he got out of the shower. He didn’t have his uniform with him, but he wasn’t going to worry about that. Today it was just jeans and a T-shirt—and his gun. “I was thinking you might want to spend the afternoon there, since I can’t stay with you. Might make it easier to wait for the news on your brother.”
She came out, wearing a towel. “I don’t know if anything will make that easier.”
“But I have no idea how long I’ll be gone. You can’t go home. And you can’t be seen in your car, not after Ink and Lloyd saw it parked in your driveway. What else are you going to do? I don’t want you walking around town if I can’t make it back in time to bring dinner.”
Fluffing her hair to help it dry, she stared at the phone. “I just want Rex to call.”
“It might be a while,” he said gently.
She sighed. “Then I’ll call the hospital with her number. I’d rather be with her than alone.”
His leg hurt with every step, but he made his way over to her and pulled her into his arms. “He’s going to make it, Vivian.”
She didn’t answer, but when she pressed her face into his neck, he could feel her tears.
“Give Claire a call. I’ll check in with you later,” he said, and kissed her on the forehead before he left.
It was even easier to get inside the house than Ink had expected. The doors were locked. He’d tried them, starting with the back. But locked doors were no problem when there was a key under the mat. He guessed that key was what the teenage daughter used when she came home late at night, or a present she’d left out for her boyfriend. He doubted the parents even realized it was there.
The door swung open without so much as a creak, and Ink smiled as he stepped across the threshold. Laurel must’ve been tipped off when he went to her house, but he’d get to her yet. And Virgil and Rex would be next. Not only would he have his revenge, he’d gain new stature with The Crew when he reported to Horse that he’d accomplished what no one else had been able to do.
A TV blared somewhere deeper in the house. He’d seen the flicker of the screen while watching from the back, so that didn’t surprise him. He probably should’ve waited until later, when everyone went to bed, but he’d been too impatient. He’d figured he’d have a better chance of getting in if he did it before the parents locked up for the night. He wanted people in town to be awake, too, so that Mrs. Rogers would have plenty of folks to ask about Laurel…?.