Anna tugged at a thread on her denim shorts. “Chelsea said she’d never left them alone with our parents. But they see them once a month for a family dinner.”

Just saying the words seemed to be a struggle. I could understand why. The pain of seeing someone you loved returning to an abuser. Because as much as Chelsea might’ve thought she had put boundaries in place to keep herself and her children safe, just putting the kids in the orbit of those people would have a steep emotional toll.

“Do you know if your sister had a will?” Walker asked.

“She didn’t. When we were signing the kids up for school, she mentioned needing to find a lawyer in town to get all that squared away. But I’m on file as the emergency contact with the school. Will that help?”

Anna’s words came out faster and faster until they almost tripped over each other. I laid a hand over hers, stilling her movements. “I have some contacts I can call. We’ll find you a lawyer who knows all the ins and outs of custody cases and family court.”

She stared down at our joined hands, but I didn’t pull away. Her fingers spasmed in mine. “I can’t ask you to do that. I can do some research—”

I squeezed her fingers. “Let me do this. Please.”

Anna’s cheeks heated. “I don’t have a lot of money in savings, but I have some—”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Cain cut in.

Her head snapped up. “No. I’m not taking your money.”

“It’s just money, Anna. I happen to have a lot of it. Luck of the draw. But it will really piss me off if you don’t let me use it to help someone I care about.”

She swallowed visibly, her eyes falling closed. “Okay.”

I gave her hand another squeeze. “I’ll call my contacts on the way home. I’ll have a name tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” Her gaze circled the room. “All of you. I’m sorry you had to step in—”

Kennedy leaned forward in her seat. “You’re not alone. We’ve got your back, whatever you need.”

I knew every single person in the room would do anything for Anna. I just hoped she knew that. Because I had a feeling the road to come would be rocky.

5

ANNA

I watched the kids run around the playground through my office window. I couldn’t quite figure out what game they were playing, some kind of freeze-tag, maybe. Everything in my body hurt. Ached in a way I wasn’t sure would ever go away. Not just for me but also for them.