“Sorry,” the young cop mumbled, picking the photo back up.
“Okay,” the older cop said, shooting an irritated look at the younger one. “We’ll keep in touch.”
He turned to walk away, but before I could relax, Molly spoke.
“Wait!” she called, making the cop spin back around. “Should I—do I need to call a funeral parlor or something? I don’t . . .” Her words drifted into nothing, and my stomach clenched at how young she sounded. Real.
“Since it’s an ongoing investigation, it’ll be bit before we can release the—your father’s body,” the older cop said kindly. “But we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve got a timeline.”
“Thank you,” Molly said softly.
With a nod, the officer turned and walked away, the younger cop following in his wake like an overeager puppy.
Molly dropped down into the seat next to me and wrapped her arm around Reb’s shoulder.
“Man,” Rebel said, wrinkling her nose as she wiped her finger over her top lip.
“Yeah, that was a pretty epic mustache, huh?” Molly replied, laughing a little.
Rebel woofed and Molly laughed harder.
“Did she just say that cop looked like a dog?” I asked, unable to keep the laughter from my voice.#p#分页标题#e#
“Dog,” Rebel copied, dropping to the floor. She started crawling around and I cringed at the thought of everything that had been spilled on that floor. I’d need to clean her hands as soon as she got up.
“One of the therapists she goes to has this little dog, and the hair on his muzzle looks exactly like a mustache,” Molly explained, watching Reb crawling around like a puppy and shaking her little butt.
“Cops are pigs, baby girl,” I told her in amusement, making Molly elbow me in the side. “Oink.”
Rebel started snorting and I couldn’t help the loud laugh that spilled from my mouth.
“Don’t teach her that,” Molly snapped, but I could see her swollen lips inching into a smile.
My dad crossed the room to us and stopped on the other side of the table, meeting Molly’s eyes. “Did good,” he told her.
“You hear her tell them that her co-workers thought I beat her?” I asked incredulously.
My dad’s eyes lit up with amusement. “Good to see you sweat a little.”
“Fuck off,” I replied with a grin.
Molly sighed and leaned toward the table, bracing herself on her good arm. “None of this is funny,” she whispered, reaching up to touch her eyes before dropping her hand to the table.
“Gotta find the humor when you can,” my dad told her seriously. “’Specially in times like this.” He rapped his knuckles twice on the table then strode off, stepping around Rebel, who’d plopped down on her bottom and was scratching at the side of her head.
“Do you think they’ll come back?” Molly asked, leaning back to look at me. “The cops?”
“Nah, Dad’s right. You did good.”
“They believed me?”
“Yeah. Probably helped that we’ve got a busted up four wheeler sitting on a trailer out front.”
“How the hell did you manage that?” she asked, looking at me in surprise.
“Tommy wrecked it two months ago.” I leaned forward and brushed my lips across hers before she could move away. She was doing so good. Most other women would be losing their shit—but not Molly. She was the easiest woman I’d ever met. No drama. She was hurting, you could tell by every expression on her face and every movement of her body, but she wasn’t complaining and she wasn’t hysterical. I got to my feet and inched around her, sliding my hand across her shoulders as I went. “Come on, Reb,” I called, picking the little girl up off the floor. “Let’s go wash your hands before you get salmonella or some shit.”
* * *
“They’re holed up in Ontario,” Poet announced, dropping down into a chair in church later that night. “Not bein’ quiet about it, the stupid bastards.”
“Why Ontario?” Samson asked.
“Probably because the fuckin’ feds are scouring Idaho for them,” Casper replied.
“So what are we going to do?” Hulk asked, popping his neck. I hated when he did that. Fucking disgusting.
“Rock should be back tomorrow morning,” Dragon said, leaning back in his chair. “We could leave then.”
“Goin’ after them, then,” Hulk murmured.
“Duncan was one of ours,” my dad said quietly. “Might not’a been wearin’ a patch, but he was a good friend to the club for a lotta years.”