“C’mon.” Hugh tried to keep his voice low. “How are we supposed to ignore that every word out of that woman’s mouth was a big, fat lie? She’ll be living with Jules and the kids. We need to know what her real story is.”
“Agreed.”
“Oh.” He’d expected Theo to fight him on it, and the lack of resistance destroyed his momentum. “So, why’d you shut me down just now?”
“We were in front of the kids.”
“Right.” Hugh paused. “I’m going to go do some research.”
“Let me know what you find.”
“Will do.”
Climbing into his truck, Hugh sent Lexi a grin. His blood buzzed with excitement, sweeping away the feelings of boredom and uselessness that had plagued him since the bullet had burrowed into his thigh. “We have a case, Lex.”
* * *
“I’m so sorry about that,” Jules said as soon as she closed the door behind them.
Grace looked around at the room. It was tiny, with a neatly made twin bed and a battered dresser filling the space, but it was just hers. The house might be a wreck on the verge of being condemned, but at least it was a big wreck. Jules shifted, drawing her attention back to the other woman. “Are you seriously dating a cop? If your situation was anything like mine…”
Jules winced. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. He was just so…sweet.”
“Are we talking about the same guy who was at the door just now?”
Pressing her hands to her flushed cheeks, Jules let out a puff of laughter. “Shockingly, he is. Although I have to admit that I noticed his hotness first. Then he was so helpful, and kind, and saved my life a bunch of times, and is wonderful with the kids…” Her expression became dreamy as she trailed away.
“Huh.” In a contest of hotness, Grace would’ve crowned the second cop over Theo. From the top of his shaved head all the way down his massive form to the tips of his shiny boots, Officer Hugh Murdoch was gorgeous. Too bad he acted like he knew it. “Aren’t you scared of being caught?”
“Terrified.”
Confused, Grace frowned at her. “So why are you with him?”
“Oh, he’s not what worries me.” Jules waved her hand, as if dismissing the fact that dating a cop while on the run was a really, really bad idea. “I trust Theo. If it came down to it, and our secret came out, then he’d help us. The only reason I didn’t tell him our story is that I don’t think it’s fair to make him have to hide that information. It’s everything else that freaks me out. What if she… I mean, what if we’re found? What if we have to run again? Worse, what if we don’t have time to run, and we’re dragged back…”
Grace stared at her, feeling tendrils of panic creeping back in to strangle her again. For a while, fatigue and quiet rage had muffled her fear, but now it was returning, as strong as ever. “You don’t think we’re safe here, then? Mr. Espina promised—”
“Sorry,” Jules interrupted her. “Of course we’re safe here. Well, as safe as we can be anywhere. It’s just hard not to lie awake at night and think of all the very worst possibilities, especially when I’m responsible for my sister and brothers.”
Grace’s mind rewound the past twenty-four hours, trying to imagine how much more horrible things would’ve been if she’d had kids to worry about. She shuddered, feeling a dawning respect for Jules. “I don’t know how you managed. Doing this myself was bad enough.”
With a shrug, Jules said, “You do what you have to, I guess.”
“Yeah.” Grace looked around the small room, taking in the spare furnishing and the itty-bitty closet, thinking about the sad, lone bathroom, her five roommates, and her newly conjured GED—about Penny, sunny California, the job she’d loved, her light-filled condo, and Noah, who’d been so very close to perfect. “I guess you do.”
Chapter 5
“Ready?” Jules asked, in what seemed like her perpetually happy Southern drawl. Dee was leaning into her side, watching Grace with her usual mix of fascination and caution. Jules’s brother Sam’s expression, on the other hand, was pure wariness as he hovered over his sisters.
Ready to return to my old life? Yes, please. It had only been a day, and Grace had already had several moments when she’d been almost willing to face a whole army of Jovanovics if it meant she could return to her old life. Then she’d remember her terror when Martin had dragged her toward the house or when Logan had marched her through the empty hallway at the police station, and things in Monroe didn’t seem so bad. “Ready for what?”