“We have a dog. We’re dog people. Here, Dixie!” Ronan called out.
“Not doggie. Kitty! Moooow!” Everly purred.
Ten spotted Dixie napping near the dryer. Her head popped up at the sound of Ten’s footsteps. “You’re better off where you are, Dixie. Daddy Ronan’s gotten himself into a heap of trouble.”
“You’re telling me,” Ronan said as he walked into the kitchen. “I put Frozen on. That took her mind off a C-A-T.”
“I don’t think she’s going to be so easily distracted.” Ten knew his daughter, she wasn’t going to forget wanting a kitten, and knowing Ronan, he was going to give in, sooner or later.
“We can’t have a cat.” Ronan crossed his arms over his chest.
“Why not? Jude has two of them.” Ten was quite fond of Jude’s fur babies. They were sweet and loved attention.
“That’s more than enough cats for one neighborhood.” Ronan sounded as if his word decided the matter.
“Why don’t you like cats? They’re cute and cuddly. It would be perfect for Everly to grow up with one of her own. She’d probably name it Elsa. Or Nana!” Ten started to laugh. Nana was Everly’s favorite word.
“Hilarious, babe.” Ronan rolled his eyes. “Since I was so busy itching the whole way home, I never got to ask you what kind of vibes you were getting from Heidi.”
Ten had been going over that very thing when his mind had wandered while playing with Everly. “She’s ready to die, that’s for sure. It’s top of mind for Heidi.”
Ronan took a seat at the kitchen table. “I can’t imagine feeling that way. I love my life so much, and all of the people in it.”
Ten’s face darkened. “I hate to bring this up, but remember what your life was like when we met? You were fresh off your divorce. Fresh out of rehab. The fresh face in the Cold Case unit. Imagine where your life would have gone if you’d never straightened yourself out?”
“I was so angry when Josh left me.” Ronan shook his head. “I was just like Heidi. The minute I moved into that shitty walk-up apartment in Dorchester, I started drinking.”
“As time went on, you would have become more depressed, and you would have been vibrating at an even lower frequency. Remember the spirit hitchhikers in that apartment?” Ten would never forget the horde of dark spirits living with Ronan.
Ronan shivered. He wrapped his arms around himself as if to ward off the cold. “Yeah, I remember you spending the entire night talking them into crossing over.” His face brightened. “That was the night I kissed you for the first time.”
“I remember.” Ten’s dark eyes sparkled. “Anyway, I can absolutely understand why Heidi would be in the mental space she’s in.”
“I suppose I can see where you’re coming from, but what else did you read from her?”
“That was it. Heidi really hates her ex-husband for everything he did to her while they were married. Thanks to his cheating, Heidi caught a nasty STI that rendered her sterile. I think it’s a blessing she didn’t have any more kids, Heidi didn’t see it that way.”
“Any other kids would have been subjected to the violence in that home too.” Ronan growled. “I don’t blame the daughter for not wanting anything to do with either of her parents.”
“Even at the end?” Ten asked. He couldn’t imagine anything he’d done in life that would be grievous enough to keep people away from his deathbed.
Ronan was out of his seat and pulling Tennyson into his arms. “Don’t worry. You never have to worry about that happening to you.”
Ten rested his face against Ronan’s chest. “I feel bad for Heidi, that’s all. I don’t want anyone to die alone.” Ten looked up at his handsome husband. “Do you think she’s in danger? Should we have put an undercover officer at her house?”
“I don’t know.” Ronan sighed and walked to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water for each of them. “She declined protection. I don’t know that we should force it on her.”
Ten raised an eyebrow at his husband. “I didn’t get anything dark from her. Well, aside from the fact that she would have liked to take a run at her ex-husband with a knife in both hands.”
Ronan raked a hand through his damp hair. “I don’t get it, Ten. No one is popping out as a suspect. Both of the friends are pointing to Kyle Danner. He says it could have been one of the friends, her family, or anyone with a fucking pulse.”
“What’s really bothering you, Ronan?” Ten took a seat across from his husband.
Before Ronan could open his mouth, Everly came running into the kitchen on her tiptoes. She climbed into Ronan’s lap and patted his shoulder. “Sad, Dada. ‘S okay.”
Ten felt his mouth drop open. He knew Everly was sensitive to emotion. It shouldn’t surprise him that she could feel Ronan’s distress. He’d felt it too. He couldn’t get over the way their little girl had flown into the room like a tiny Supergirl.
Wrapping his arms around Everly, Ronan smiled over her head. “How lucky are we?”
“I know,” Ten agreed. “Now, quit stalling. What’s really bugging you?”
“’Ugging you?” Everly asked. She started patting Ronan’s shoulder again.
“We should have solved this case by now. In the old days…”
“This isn’t the old days, Ronan. You’ve been retired for nearly eighteen months.” Ten hated to admit it, but he’d been feeling the same way, like the ghosts of Ten and Ronan past would have solved this case and been on to the next one days ago.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” Ronan wore a frown.
“That wasn’t my point. God, you’re a stubborn…” Ten sighed, refusing to say the word on the tip of his tongue.
“A stubborn what?” Ronan’s grin was back. His raised mood indicated he knew exactly what Ten had been about to say.
Ten couldn’t call Ronan a stubborn asshole in front of the baby. He’d get sent to time out again. Not that he couldn’t use the free time, but someone had to cook dinner. “Goat. You’re a stubborn goat.”
“Maaaaaa!” Everly bleated.
“Thank you for agreeing with me.” Ten looked from his daughter to his husband, who didn’t look nearly so charmed. “What I was trying to say was that the oldest case we worked at the BPD was about ten years cold. This crime was committed thirty-five years ago, and most of the alibi witnesses are dead.” Ten paused to study Ronan’s reaction. “If Kyle’s parents were still alive, they would have told us if he’d been out of the house the night Skye was killed. The same goes for the parents of Skye’s friends. What is it you always like to say about time loosening tongues?”
“That’s true enough,” Ronan agreed. “We don’t even know if Jennifer’s murder is connected to what happened all those years ago.”
“Why don’t you call Cisco and ask about the tips that have been coming in from the piece John Jameson did at Channel 5? You, Jude, and Kevin are the best detectives I know. I bet you could work through those tips in no time.”