It wasn’t but minutes later when Ollie ran through the front door. He pushed through the two officers and crouched down before me, wordlessly examining my face, my eyes, with worry and terror etched in his. “Mia?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t do it.”
Ollie grabbed the back of my head and kissed my forehead before our heads connected. And we stayed like that for a moment, my body still trembling from the close call until the officer cleared his throat and dropped his card over the coffee table. “If you have any questions, here’s my number.”
“What will happen to her?” I asked, and Ollie stood and sat over the arm of the couch beside me, his hand never leaving mine.
The cop closed his spiral notepad and adjusted the hat over his head. “It’s too soon to say, but from what I can see, there may be a chance for Leigh. She’ll most likely end up at the reformatory school in Guildford—Dolor.”
A WEEK HAD PASSED. Refusing to go to the emergency room, Mia healed on her own. My little explosion of hope. I could never fathom or understand the internal struggle she’d faced at that moment, the need to kill when your entire being had been threatened in your own home, but she had been strong enough to fight it, and that, I was sure she’d always been capable of.
We were halfway to Christmas, and Dex hadn’t made the call yet or gone over the plan. The police had arrested Leigh, which put a kink in his plan, and if he’d known, he would’ve called. Either way, we couldn’t use her anymore. But with or without Leigh, I was prepared to use the bullet I’d saved. I was still ready to kill Ghost more than ever. It was the only way.
“What about this one?” Mia asked, standing beside a Christmas tree. Rosy cheeks, hidden eyes behind large black glasses, and hair piled high, I admired how tiny she stood against the monster of a tree. Mia’s fingers tugged the frosted branches, and ice chips fell from the tree. “Think it’ll fit inside the door?”
“No, definitely not,” I said through a chuckle. Mia frowned, wearing black jeans, combat boots, and a large grey trench coat over a plain black hoodie. The sun would set soon, and we didn’t have much time. “Think small, love. We’ll put it in front of the window in the living room, yeah?”
“The one by the piano?”
I shook my head. “On the other side of the front door. Closer to our room.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay,” Mia jumped in front of another tree, “this one!”
The tree had half the height and half the life, but it would fit. I walked toward her. “You’re sure? This is the one you want?”
Mia bounced on her toes, the daylight dying. “Yes, now let’s go.” She blew hot air into her hands and tightened the coat around her. “It’s bloody cold out here.”
I chuckled. “Stick with your accent, love. The only British in you is me.”
The chap at the tree farm had helped tie the tree on top of the old station wagon, and it held steady the entire way back to our cottage. I’d set up the tree in the corner by the window, and Mia sat on the floor with decorations she’d collected over this past week from the village scattered around her. She’d changed out of her jeans into pajama pants, Christmas socks warming her feet.
Flames danced in the fireplace, heating the small house as old Christmas tunes played from the record player, and I was in the kitchen, making homemade hot chocolate using the milk chocolate bars I’d picked up from a shop in London. Once done, I topped both mugs off with candy canes and walked back into the living room where Mia had the corner of the ornament box between her teeth.
“Is it giving you a hard time?” I asked, chuckling, and walking toward her, but I knew better than to help her. For the most part, Mia was determined and never asked for help, wanting to do everything on her own.
She growled into the box, and I sipped from my mug while handing her the other.
After a back and forth battle between Mia and the packaging, I strung the lights around the tree and pulled out a box of our things from Dolor. Between the two of us, we’d saved every origami rose I’d given her. But the one that we hung first, was the one she’d ripped apart and I’d pieced back together again. The rose rested in the middle of the tree, and I looked over at her to see tears in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” she waved her hand in front of her face. “I don’t know why I’m so fucking emotional right now.”
I pulled her into my arms, and she pressed her face into my chest. My hands smoothed over the back of her head. “As long as they’re happy tears, love.”
My mobile phone rang, and Mia pulled away, sucking in a long breath. “I’ll be okay,” she laughed, “you should get that. It could be Dex.”
Mia was right, and I walked over to the fireplace and grabbed my phone from the ledge to look at the screen. My heart flipped inside my chest. Dex. I answered.
“I need you to come by the house tonight,” he stated. “We have to go over a few things.”
Mia’s watery eyes watched mine for a reaction.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
The call disconnected, and I pocketed the mobile and walked up to her, clutching her face in my hands. “I have to go.”
“I know.”
“What’s the emergency number here, love?”
She rolled her eyes. “9-9-9, not 9-1-1.”
Nodding, I forced a grin. Leaving Mia had always been my biggest repeated mistake. One I’d been making over and over again for months now, but I’d always come back to her. “Wait up for me.”
“I always do.”
It hadn’t been the call I’d been anticipating, but I also didn’t want to drive across town to see him tonight—especially with the chance of him knowing Mia was involved with Leigh’s arrest. My knee bounced under the steering wheel, tensions rising as I pulled in front of the chain-linked gate against the curb. No music played from the house, which only meant one thing. Tonight meant business.
I blew hot air into my hands and rubbed my palms together, my feet moving forward up the path toward the door. Upon entering, Dex, Smith, Adrian, and another guy I’d seen with Dex stood in the kitchen, huddled in a circle while Mum sat over the torn couch in the living room. “Baby, O,” Dex called, waving me over to the group of blokes. I passed Mum, and her apprehensive gaze never left mine, causing my palms to sweat. Dex stepped to the side, making room for me. “I have to ask you something, mate. Do you know where Leigh is?”
He’d always been straight to the point.
My eyes darted around the circle, looking for an indication on which answer I should give. The three other men stared back at me, eyes utterly blank of all emotion, aside from Adrian. He seemed clueless and out of the loop. “No, haven’t heard from her,” I lied.
Dex’s hand slapped the back of my neck before he squeezed. “That’s lie number one,” he pointed out and faced the other men. “Leave us.”
After looking back and forth between each other, the men dispersed out the back door. Mum rose from the couch, but Dex lifted his palm toward her, gesturing for her to sit.
Then he turned to face me. “Our virgin’s gone,” Dex continued. “Hadn’t answered or shown up for a fucking week. Do you know how hard it is to find a willing participant who’s a fucking virgin? Leigh was perfect. And imagine my surprise when I found who had her arrested.”