Home > A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2)(77)

A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2)(77)
Author: Darynda Jones

“Wow,” Sun’s mom said, horrified. “You really thought this through.”

She nodded. “But at the same time, I wanted to get the necklace back to its rightful owners since they seemed really upset about it.”

“I read those articles, too, Auri,” Sun said. “From what I remember, the family cared more about that necklace than they did their missing family member.”

“I agree, but does that mean they don’t deserve to get their things back? I mean, they said she stole the necklace before she ran off.”

“And I’m guessing you told her cousin, Billy Press?”

Auri bit her lip as tears welled again. “I found him online and told him about the boardinghouse, but I didn’t give him the name! I would never put Mrs. Fairborn in danger like that.”

Sun squeezed her hand. “But you did, pumpkin. You almost got her killed. Not to mention Cruz.”

“Sunny,” Quincy said, admonishing her.

“Quince, she needs to hear the truth. She needs to realize there are consequences to her actions.”

“She’s right, Quincy,” Auri said, her little chin trembling. “This is all my fault.”

“That is not what I am saying,” Sun said, enunciating each word. “You tried to do the right thing.” She took hold of her quivering chin, softly guiding Auri’s gaze back to her. “I am so proud of you for that. You said we aren’t alike, but you’re wrong. I have to make these kinds of decisions every day of my life. Is the risk worth the reward? Is whatever I’m trying to accomplish, whatever crime I’m trying to solve, worth the danger to me or my deputies? To the people who might get caught in the crossfire?”

“So then if it’s too risky, you don’t solve the crime?”

“No, honey. If it’s too risky, I find another way. Take a different route. You had no way of knowing what Emily Press’s cousin would do, but that’s the problem. Why do you think people in law enforcement never give out any details during an active investigation?”

“Because it could hurt their case?”

“Often, yes, but also because others could use that information to their advantage. Again, the family was more upset about the necklace than they were about Emily. Something didn’t add up and you knew that. In your gut.”

Auri dropped her gaze as a pink hue blossomed across her cheeks. “I did.”

“Okay, then. First, I’m putting alarms on your windows with a high-security surveillance system. No more sneaking out.”

She shook her head. “You don’t need to do that. It won’t happen again.

“Regardless. And I’m putting an ankle bracelet on you with GPS and electroshock capabilities.”

She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

Sun wouldn’t, of course. She didn’t even know where to find an ankle bracelet with electroshock capabilities. “And that’s just the beginning, hon.”

“I know,” she said with a sob, and Sun had to steel her heart. There had to be consequences. “For now, I want you to think about it and tell me what punishment you think you deserve.”

“What if I can’t?”

“I have faith.” Sun knew that no one would be harder on Auri than she would herself. Maybe even a little too hard, but maybe that was what she needed. A harsh dose of reality.

After a fresh round of tears, Auri nodded in agreement.

It took a while but they finally got the whole story from her. It demolished Sun’s heart to hear her daughter try to explain what it was like to find Mrs. Fairborn tied up. How she rushed in without even thinking, putting everyone in even greater danger. How she watched as the knife sank into Cruz’s abdomen.

Sun decided right then and there the fiery minx learned her lesson in the hardest way possible. She would’ve given anything to protect her from it, too. Still, what she did could not go unpunished. Sun saw several thousand hours of community service in her future.

Possibly worse, for Sun anyway, she had to tell Auri about Cruz’s father. Levi held the pixie for a long time while Sun stroked her hair, worried she’d broken her. They cried together and waited as they brought Cruz, barely conscious, to his room across the hall.

“What do I say to him, Mom?” she asked between sobs.

“Just be there for him, honey. That’s all you can do.”

Sun checked on her other stabbing victim, Keith Seabright. They’d downgraded his prognosis from critical to serious but stable. With that bit of good news, Sun had to get back to the office.

She took her parents aside before she left. “Okay, guys. She is connected to an IV. Her ass will show if she tries to make a run for it and that will mortify her. And she literally had brain surgery. Do you think you can keep her from sneaking out?” She had to ask.

The guilt on their faces was priceless.

“And I’m teasing you because you have to stop, too. This was not your fault. Any of it.”

Her mom’s expression told Sun she was not convinced. “We showed her the articles.”

“No, she found those articles all on her own because she’s a true-crime aficionado. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to drag her away from the Investigation Discovery channel. She knows more about hiding a body than I do.”

“We’re sorry either way, Sunny,” her dad said. “If we could change what happened—”

“I would do it, too. And as many times as I’ve plotted your deaths for something that actually was your fault, this is not one of those times.”

“You’ve plotted our deaths?” her mom asked.

“So many times.”

“Like, how recently?”

“Remember Carver?” she asked, giving attitude.

“Oh, yeah.” Her dad scratched his chin. “Our bad.”

“Your bad?” she asked. “You set me up with a hitman and it’s your bad?”

Her mom shrugged. “He seemed okay at the time.”

She leaned in and kissed her cheek, then gave her dad a bear hug. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She had to get to Del Sol to check on the progress of the Kent and the Fairborn cases. Billy Press’s family was on the way from Amarillo, and they apparently wanted that damned necklace. They were about to be sorely disappointed. Sun decided right then and there to hold that thing in evidence as long as humanly possible. As soon as she could find it.

She promised to be back by nightfall and left Quincy in charge, only because he refused to leave. She took Levi with her. He had a business to run, after all, and he needed to get some rest that did not involve a plastic lounger that reclined about as much as a seat on a jetliner.

On the drive home, her mind spiraled in a thousand different directions. The irony was not lost on her. Kubrick Ravinder stabbed her rescuer fifteen years ago before her rescuer won control of the knife and slid it into Kubrick’s chest.

And now Cruz. The saying that truth was stranger than fiction had never been more accurate.

Her thoughts, as they always did, eventually circled back to the man sitting beside her. The way he cared for Auri. The way he held Sun in the shower, completely unfazed by the fact that she was soaking him through. And the way he looked in the red T-shirt she bought one size too small, swearing it was all they had. It showed every muscle. Every dip and every curve. Every ounce of perfection.

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