Page 17 of Dead Sure
“Autumn’s working with a crutch to hurt you, Dad, and Uncle Cisco.”
“A crutch?” Ronan got out of his seat and walked into the laundry room. He came back with the crutches Jude had used to get around after his knee surgery several years ago. “Like this?”
Everly looked puzzled for a moment before shaking her head. “No, crutch is a person.”
“Dutch?” Jude asked. “Are you talking about Dutch Vance?”
“He’s tall with short, spiky blonde hair.” Everly paused. “He hates you, Daddy. You and Uncle Fitz too,” Everly said to Jude.
“That’s Dutch Vance all right.” Ronan rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. He felt like he could sleep for a week, but there was so much work to do.
“One last thing, they’re boyfriend and girlfriend now,” Everly said.
“Dutch and Autumn?” Jude asked.
“Yup.” Everly wrinkled her nose. “Some people havenotaste.”
“Okay, Nana Kaye!” Ronan laughed. Ten’s mother was famous for saying that line during her afternoon soap operas when characters hooked up.
“We gotta go home, Daddy. It’s a mess and we don’t want Dad to see that when he comes home in the morning.”
Ronan felt his emotions threaten to overwhelm him again. The last thing Everly should see was their house torn apart by strangers. “I need to go home so thatyoudon’t have to see what it looks like.”
Everly set a hand on Ronan’s. “You and Dad taught me to be strong. I know there were cops in our house. Uncle Cope can come with us and help me use sage. I would do it, but you don’t want me playing with that fire gun thing you use to light the grill.”
“I’m not gonna win this fight to keep you here, am I?” Ronan knew he’d already lost.
“Nope. I’ll go get my coat.” Everly hopped off her chair and ran into the living room.
“As much as I hate Everly giving us information about this case, she did a damn good job,” Jude said. “It’s actual information we can work with. We can find out if this woman has a history ofmental illness and we can reach out to the doctor and let him know Autumn’s coming for him too. I’ll call Fitz and let him know what you found out.”
Ronan nodded. “I’m gonna let Everly use the lighter to sage the house. I’ll call if we need Cope’s help. We’ll sleep at home tonight. Are you okay keeping Ezzie?”
“We are. Cope’s plan was to put him and Lizzie on the bus to pre-school. Jace will keep the bigger kids so Cope can go to the arraignment with us and then help the cleanup at West Side Magick. When Ten’s free, we get to work.”
“Agreed.” Ronan hugged Jude and headed for the living room, where Everly was waiting for him. “Ready, spaghetti?”
Everly nodded and unlocked the door. Ronan followed her down the stairs and across the street. Thankfully, the door to their house was locked. Truman had been the ones to let the police in with his key so they didn’t have to bust the door down. He returned to lock up after they’d gone.
Ronan’s hand shook as he stuck his key into the lock. “Did I ever tell you about the time Dad and I had a fight and I spent the night at Fitz’s house?”
“We’re you being a dumbass?” Everly asked with a cheeky grin.
Ronan raised an eyebrow and Everly giggled. “That was the only other time I was nervous to come home. I didn’t know what I was going to get then or now.”
Everly turned the key in the lock. “It’s gonna be okay, Daddy. No matter what we find.”
“How’d you get to be so smart?” Ronan bussed a kiss to his daughter’s temple.
“I learned from the best.” Everly turned the knob and opened the door.
Ronan flipped on the lights and looked around. The living room seemed to be in perfect order. Walking into the kitchen, he could see the same.
“Uncle Tru cleaned up, Daddy. He put the cushions back on the sofa and all the food back in the fridge.”
“The cops took our food out of the fridge?” In all his years on the force, Ronan had never heard of doing that to a suspect’s house.
“I’ll go get my sage.” Everly walked into the laundry room.
