If he was on his way, the second he realized I’d been here, Grey would send me back to Quantico. He told me to leave this case alone, and I didn’t listen.

“No,” Mags said. “That’s part of why I ‘m calling. He wanted me to inform you they were heading to Briarport…” Her voice trailed off at the end.

“What is it, Mags?”

“He wants you to join them. He thinks it’s time you finally got back into the field,” she answered.

Oh, I was in so much more trouble than I originally calculated.

19. Lenny

19

LENNY

Stone was gone by early morning, and I woke up to no one in the house. At first, I thought I was dreaming, hearing a noise downstairs, but then, another knock came to the door.

I knew Nelson fairly well. He visited the museum often, an old friend of Francis. If he was stopping by, the least I could do was answer. Stone clearly wasn’t around to do it.

I hurried downstairs, still in my pink fuzzy bathrobe, and opened the door. Instead of Nelson, I found Calvin grinning like a complete idiot in the doorway.

“Happy Birthday,” he said and pushed by me into the house.

I had no time to register what he was doing. He moved into the living room and plopped down on the couch, setting a tray of something he’d carried in aside.

“How did you know where to find me?” I asked.

“Stone,” he said.

“When did Stone tell you?” I pushed, crossing my arms and standing in front of him.

“When he came to tell me you were leaving with a stomach ache from dinner,” Calvin explained.

Duh, Len. 

I kicked myself for almost forgetting about the dinner I bailed on.

“I’m sorry. I hope the rest of the night went well,” I said and sincerely meant it. “I’m really happy for you two.”

My heart still stung at the thought, but I was genuinely excited for my brother. Even if I couldn’t become pregnant again, that didn’t mean he didn’t deserve to have kids of his own. No matter what tragedy I faced, the world kept moving, and eventually, I had to face that.

“Do you know what you’re having?” I dared to ask.

“A girl,” he answered with a warm smile.

My heart swelled. Picturing my brother as a girl dad made me incredibly happy. I sat down beside him and threw my arms around him. He grunted but wrapped a hesitant arm around me.

“You really will be great parents,” I said.

“I don’t know about that,” Calvin said, pulling his arm back and rubbing his head.

“You guys practically took care of me for a year when Jake left me, and look how I turned out,” I teased.

“I don’t know-“ Calvin started. “You’re still a little strange.”