Impact (Suncoast Society #32)(56)

Sure enough, that morning there were three photographers across the street from the office building. When Loren called back and reported it, Tilly sighed in frustration.

“Dammit. How am I supposed to work like this?”

“What difference does it make?” Leigh said. “This isn’t going to be a reflection on me and the guys. You look like you’re hiding something by hiding from them. It’s going to be more stuff in the court records when the hearing happens on Friday anyway.”

“True.”

Loren met them outside at Leigh’s parking space and helped them get their things inside.

Across the road, Tilly was well aware of the photographers at work.

She resisted the urge to flip them off.

That’d be like tossing a rare steak into a piranha tank.

Upstairs, Tilly looked out the window. From that vantage, she could barely see across the street.

“Are you going to let them run your life?” Loren asked. “Or are you going to be the usual kick-ass woman you normally are and go about your day as if they don’t matter? Because they don’t matter.”

Still, Tilly found it difficult to concentrate. She tried to come up with multiple excuses to get out of there, Loren expertly corralling her every time and redirecting her back to work.

“It’s like trying to keep up with a sugar-hyped toddler,” Loren joked.

“I feel like one.” Tilly drummed her fingers against the desk. “Friday feels like years away.”

“Yet it’ll be here before you know it.”

Tilly sat back. “I also feel horrible,” she quietly said. “Like I should have gone and visited her. Or at least gone to identify her body. What if it really wasn’t her, and it was someone the cops planted there?”

“Yeah, and the one-armed man killed her.” Loren leaned forward. “Honey, don’t you think Landry and Cris are on top of that?” she gently asked. “You’re grabbing at straws. You barely knew her. It’s okay to sit here not crying your eyes out like we did for…”

Loren looked down. It took her a moment to speak again, and Tilly didn’t need to be a mind reader to know she meant Kaden. “There is no requirement to mourn someone you don’t know.”

“She’s Cris’ cousin.”

“Then be there for him. Support him. Love Katie and give her everything you can, but don’t absorb some random guilt just because you think you should.”

“It’s not random.”

“And you didn’t murder her. You are a talented woman, but psychic killing isn’t one of them.”

“Damn good thing, too,” Tilly muttered. “I’d be f*cked.”

“Wouldn’t we all,” Loren agreed. “Hell, the world would be f*cked. You’d have burned it down by now.”

“To the ground, baby. To the goddamned ground.”

“Want me to get you some coffee?”

Tilly leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her face. “Yeah, even though that’ll make me want to get up and run around with scissors even more than I already do.”

They’d set up the portable crib in the corner of Tilly’s office. Katie was currently sound asleep with a full tummy and a clean diaper, courtesy of Auntie Loren.

“Focus on her,” Loren said, pointing to the crib as she pulled herself to her feet. “She’s the important one now.”

“Thank you. Seriously. I appreciate it.”

Loren paused at the doorway. “Honey, I’m your best friend. I’m always going to be here, just like I know you’d be there for me if I needed you.”

Tilly was already immersed in another phone call when Loren returned with her coffee. She set it on Tilly’s desk and retreated to the sofa, where she stretched out with her laptop.

Tilly mouthed thank you at her. Loren nodded, smiled, and went back to whatever she was doing on her laptop.

Forcibly shifting her focus back to the call, Tilly made herself go back to work.





Chapter Nineteen


As of Tuesday afternoon, Cris had received a string of calls on his phone from Santino, his mother, and his aunt, all of them singing the same tune.

Give up the baby.

He didn’t bother responding to the calls. In fact, he regretted giving them his phone number. He wished he’d never mentioned the baby to his aunt and uncle in the first place.

Now they would be embroiled in a completely avoidable custody battle all because he’d lost his cool and opened his big f*cking mouth. Had he just stopped with, “Sofia is dead,” and left the rest alone, his life would be relatively stress-free at this point.

By four o’clock, Cris had enough. He logged into their corporate cell phone account manager and deactivated the number. The only person he’d really wanted to call him on that number was dead, and Santino had obviously figured out how to get in touch with Dale Waters.

Blissful silence ensued.

He called Tilly a little after five. She sounded weary when she answered.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She went silent for a moment. “Seriously?”

“I mean, right now.”

She sighed, a sound so mournful he wished he could pull her into his arms right that second and hold her.