part of him was soaking wet, and his boots and jeans were more mud than anything. He didn’t even try to keep the floor clean. Instead, he sloshed inside and stripped in the entryway.
It wasn’t until he was starting to pull off his shirt that he spotted the bright yellow poncho sticking out of a Walmart bag. He froze as his brain detached from work life and zipped right back to his personal one.
Mara.
With more attention to the noise he was making, he left his shirt on and, instead, got out of his boots. Only one light was on. He followed it into the living room. For one moment he thought it was empty—that Mara had left again, this time with his daughter in tow—but then he spotted a mass of dark hair cascading over the arm of the couch. Coming around to face it, he was met with a sight that used to be familiar.
Mara was asleep, body pulled up so that her knees were close to her stomach, making her look impossibly small. It wasn’t the first time he’d come home after work to find her in that exact spot, lights still on, waiting for him. Even when he’d tell her not to wait up, Billy would come in after a long day to find her there. She’d never once complained. Seeing her lying there, face soft and unguarded, Billy took a small moment for himself to remember what it felt like to come home to her. But it didn’t last.
There had been too many nights between then and now. Ones where he’d come home to an empty house, wondering why she’d gone.
I’m sorry, but it’s over.
Billy shook his head at the one sentence that had changed everything between them and looked at the one idea he’d never entertained after Mara had gone.
Alexa was tucked within her mother’s arms, simultaneously fitting and not fitting in the space between. Her hair was dark, but still lighter than his, and it fell just past her shoulders and, from the looks of it, was as thick as her mother’s. Before he could police his thoughts, a smile pulled up the corners of his lips.
He might not have known her the day before, but that didn’t stop the affection for the little girl.
And, just like before, the feeling of warmth, however brief, was gone.
Why had she been kept a secret?
Billy took a step back. While he had questions, he didn’t want to wake either one, but the creak in the floor that had been there since his father was a child sounded under his weight. Mara’s eyes fluttered opened and immediately found him.
“I tried to be quiet,” he whispered.
Mara shook her head and slowly sat up while trying to disengage herself from the toddler.
“No, I’m sorry,” she whispered back once she managed to get free. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
She followed him through the entryway and into the dining room, far enough away that they could talk in normal tones.
And, boy, did they have a lot to talk about.
“What time is it?” she asked, taking a seat at the table. She stifled a yawn.
“Close to midnight. I was gone a lot longer than I thought I would be,” he admitted. Billy took a seat opposite her. “This storm couldn’t have come at a worse time.”
Mara nodded, but the movement was sluggish. He was tired, too. It was time to stop delaying and finally ask the current question on his mind.
“Mara, why are you here?”
“A man came to my house this morning and asked about my father,” Mara said, knowing full well that once the words were out there Billy wouldn’t forget them. Finding a way to take down her father—to catch him in the act—had been an emotional and physical drain on them both. The collective hope that Billy would save Riker County had pressed down heavily on him, while betraying the only family she’d had had never left Mara’s mind.
As if an invisible hand had found the strings to his puppet, Billy’s entire body snapped to attention.
“They wanted Bryan?”
But he’s in prison, Mara silently finished.
“The man didn’t want him,” she said out loud instead. “The guy wanted something important of my father’s and I needed to tell him where it was. I had no idea what he was talking about.”
Billy’s dark brow rose in question. “Something important,” he deadpanned.
“He didn’t say what, past that,” she admitted, recalling how the man had been careful when choosing his words. “But what really spooked me was when he said he wanted to take over what my father had built, my family’s business. And I don’t think he was talking about my dad’s old accounting job.”
Billy’s forehead creased in thought. She could almost see the red flags popping up behind his eyes.
“Moxy,” he supplied.
She nodded. “I told him I had no part in that slice of my father’s life, but he didn’t seem to care,” she continued. She twisted her hands together, and when she recounted what happened next her stomach was a knot of coldness. “Then he saw Alexa playing in the house behind me. He told me that I might change my mind if I had the right incentive.”
Billy’s body managed to take on an even greater tension.
“What did he want you to change your mind about?” he asked. “Telling him the location of something important or wanting nothing to do with your father’s past business?”
Mara sighed.
“I don’t know. After he looked Alexa’s way, I told him he needed to leave.” Mara let her gaze drop. “He didn’t argue, but he did say he’d be seeing me again soon.”
Billy’s chair scraped the hardwood as he pushed back. Mara could feel her eyes widen in surprise as she readjusted her attention to his expression.
Anger. And it definitely wasn’t meant for her this time.
“I’m assuming he didn’t give you a name,” Billy said, walking out of the dining room and disappearing. He was back a second later with a small notepad and a pen in his hands.
“Just a first name. Beck.”
“And did you call the cops?”
A burst of heat spread up her neck and pooled in her cheeks. Mara had thought about filing a police report, but the mention of her father had thrown her completely off-kilter. What she would normally have done went out the window. Instead, her thoughts had flown south to Riker County. And the only man who had ever made her feel safe. Suddenly, that feeling that had burned so strongly hours before when she’d packed the car and taken Alexa on a trip across Alabama seemed rash.
“No,” she admitted. “I should have but—well, I thought if someone was trying to start up my father’s business again that they would start it here. I thought that I should—I don’t know—warn you or something.” Again, her words sounded lame compared to what she wanted to say. But at least they were true. In his prime, Bryan Copeland had grown a drug network that nearly swallowed the whole of Riker County. His dealings had cost the lives of several residents, including teenagers. Not to mention a cascade of repercussions that were harder to measure. The fact that all of her father’s former connections hadn’t been found was one that had always made the man in front of her nervous. Part of her father’s business hadn’t been accounted for...which meant that if this Beck person was trying to start up again, it would only stand to reason he might have found the people law enforcement hadn’t. Or maybe that’s what Beck was looking for.
For the first time since he’d stepped back through the door, Billy’s expression softened a fraction. The lines of tension in his shoulders, however, did not.
“Could you