Page 145 of Criminally Yours

The sob left her mouth. “But this is Stal’s house, not ours.”

The front door was bright blue, and the grass tidier than she remembered, but she was back at their safe house. There was no mistaking it.

“It’s ours now. I bought it from him. Technically, contracts are still going through, but it’s ours. You love it here, and I love being wherever you’re happy. We’re an hour from Bear and Liss, far enough when they get on our nerves but close enough for us to spend time with them. I can use our house or theirs as a base. And you can work as a remote counsellor while also being part of the town.”

She couldn’t stop crying. He held out his sleeve for her to rub her eyes on.

“Are you happy?” Strike stuttered.

“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Try and keep that mood because?—”

The door opened, and lots of voices shouted, “Surprise!”

At the front stood her mother with tight lips and her right eyebrow raised.

Strike whispered in her ear, “Your mother is here.”

Strike managed to manoeuvre Millie so she avoided speaking to her mum. She’d need at least an hour to build the courage.

As she walked around the room, her heart swelled.

“Jenny looks like you,” Millie said to Stal as he stepped closer.

“Nah.” He beamed. “She’s beautiful. I used to think all babies looked the same, but if there were a competition for the most adorable and beautiful baby, she’d win it, hands down.”

Millie stared at Stal as he rocked Jenny. His face softened, and he sighed happily.

“Jenny Aoife Quinn,” he whispered. “Her mum named her Jenny before she disappeared, and I added Aoife, after my grandma.”

“Thank you for letting us have your house. I know you’re moving away, but you didn’t have to sell to us,” Millie said as Strike’s parents joined them.

“I have no use for it, and it’s full of security equipment no one else would want in their house. I’ll visit sometimes. Treat it with love. And let Joyce give you the occasional food package. She misses her family.”

“She gives great food packages. There’s no chance I’m stopping them.”

“Catch you in a bit,” Stal replied, leaving her with Strike’s parents.

“Mr. and Mrs. Moorcroft, I want to start by saying sor?—”

“Ma and Pa, please,” Strike’s mum intervened. “And if you’re trying to apologise for anything, stop, because you’ve given me the best gift—a happy Strike.”

Strike’s mum pulled Millie into a hug. “When I look at my son, I see the cheeky lad he used to be, as well as the caring adult he is now. You’ve made him so happy. I never believed he’d be like this again. Thank you.”

Strike’s dad joined the hug. “Make sure you visit us for dinner.”

Millie’s cheeks were wet with tears, which Strike’s mum wiped away. Strike chatted to Cam. His brows furrowed.

You good?he mouthed.

Really happy,she mouthed back.

Everyone took turns chatting with her or rescuing her from her mum, who lingered close. Millie spoke with Elsie, Joyce, and Merryn about craft hour, bookshops, and darts clubs, and thanked them for their roles in her rescue mission. They giggled about how she might have a real honeymoon in her near future.

Millie laughed it off, but it planted a seed of hope. One day, she’d like to call Strike her husband for real.

Later, Cam found her standing on the decking alone. He chatted about his little sister, who still worried him. Luke joined them and joked about how he never realised how funny Strike was, but they were quickly ushered away by Bear and Liss.