“Maybe he did off himself and the new warden just doesn’t want that on his shiny record?”
I listened to them in amusement, knowing that the truth was probably much more boring. There was no chance that someone had escaped or been killed without all the staff hearing about it. And Rowe would have told me if he’d heard anything. Rumors that grew bigger and more ridiculous as they were passed from one person to the next were a real problem in prisons. A department being closed for cleaning easily became ‘someone was murdered in there and they’re covering it up.’
The clock on the wall hit the five-minute mark, and I called it. “Right. Conspiracy theory time is done. Time to do some exam prep.”
They groaned but got out their books. We only had weeks until some of these guys could take their exams, and I was damn determined to make sure they all passed. Prison gossip wasn’t going to get them anywhere on the outside. It might have been a fun distraction, but the real world was out there waiting for them, and nobody out there cared if one psych prisoner was hypothetically missing.
Rowe, Liam, and Heath were all in the living room when I got back to the cabin. Rowe and Heath sat in the camping chairs, Liam was sprawled out on the rug, all three of them watching an old Lethal Weapon movie. They all looked over when I dumped my purse on the floor just inside the door, movie forgotten.
“How did it go with Tori this morning?”
I dropped down on the rug with Liam, and he immediately put his arm out for me to use his biceps as a pillow. I snuggled into the familiar, comforting smell of his clothes and his skin, his white business shirt half unbuttoned, his tie long lost after he’d returned from the office.
“She didn’t do it.”
I eyed Heath as I said it, but he didn’t argue. That somehow made me feel worse. “I’m sorry, I know—”
“I didn’t want it to be her, Mae. It sucks we still don’t know who it was, but I’m glad it’s not her.”
I nodded, grateful they believed and trusted in my judgment. “Kinda puts us back at square one, though, doesn’t it?”
Liam pressed his lips to my forehead. “Been here before. We can do it again.”
“No sign of Ripley’s possibly imaginary friend today?”
Rowe’s camp chair creaked beneath his weight. “No, but I followed him around like a shadow, so if Zye was out there somewhere, he wouldn’t have been able to get near him.”
“We can’t do that forever, you know.” I tried to lighten the moment by smiling at him. “You don’t want to be known as the helicopter parent at daycare, do you? I’ve heard they’re terribly unpopular with the other moms.”
He grumbled. “If I ever let him go back to daycare, that is. Right now, I want to quit my job and just be his full-time bodyguard. The police called me today, officially informing me of Norma’s death. I did my best to act surprised, but I don’t know how good my acting skills are.”
“You did fine,” Heath assured him. The two of them had their camping chairs as close together as they could. Any closer and someone would have had to sit in the other’s lap.
“Did you tell Ripley about Norma yet?” I asked Rowe.
He let out a sigh that felt laced with both sorrow and defeat. “I don’t know how. It’s too fucking cruel. I don’t want to be the person who tells him.”
I swallowed hard. “I can do it.”
But Rowe shook his head. “I know it needs to be me.”
“We’ll do it together,” Liam interrupted. “All of us. He needs to know that even though Norma is gone, he isn’t alone.”
“I agree. We’ll do it first thing in the morning.”
Rowe looked like he’d rather eat sand, but he nodded reluctantly. “Fucking hell. What a day. What a week.”
Liam rolled to his side. “Let’s not worry about it until the morning. We’re all here right now. Rip is safe. I’m so fucking exhausted. I just want to watch this movie and forget every bad thing that’s happened lately.”
“Agreed.” Heath leaned back and stretched his long legs out. “We deal with it in the morning. Tonight, let’s just watch this and eat bad food and drink a few beers.”
I couldn’t think of anything more perfect. I twisted so I was on my side facing the TV instead of Rowe and Heath. My head was nicely cushioned by Liam’s arm, his other wrapped tight around my waist, while he spooned me from behind.
Heath got up and went to the kitchen, and a moment later, the telltale sounds of popping corn floated back.
Liam sniffed the air before calling, “Don’t be stingy on the butter.”
Heath came back with two big bowls heaped with buttery popcorn. He placed one in front of Liam and me, then took the other to the chairs for him and Rowe to share.
Liam wolfed down our bowl, practically inhaling it like he hadn’t been fed in a month. I picked at a few pieces, but I wasn’t really hungry. I was content just to lie there snuggled with him.
When Rowe got up to get beers, Liam took one, but when I tried to move off him so he could sit up to drink it, he hauled me back down. “Don’t move. I can drink it around you.”
I settled back down, and we watched the movie. Liam finished his beer, putting the empty bottle on the hardwood floor to the side of the rug. We watched quietly, his steady breaths regulating my own until I was more relaxed than I’d been all day. Liam’s fingers found the bottom of my top, inching it up and untucking it from the waistband of my skirt until he had a sliver of bare belly to stroke. His touch was featherlight but still sent quivers rippling across my skin.
In the dim light cast by the television, his lips lowered to my cheek, placing silent kisses along the side of my face turned up to him.
His fingers slipped inside my skirt, quickly finding my panties and sliding beneath those, too.
I stilled.
“Watch the movie,” he whispered in my ear.
Rowe and Heath were right behind us, doing exactly that. I had no idea whether they’d noticed what Liam was doing or not.