Virginia opened her mouth. Becca braced herself for some kind of argument. That’s the way things usually went. Virginia stopped herself. “Your father and I will stay here with Ash. As long as it takes. Go do what you need to do.”

She considered telling her mother to leave. She wasn’t part of their lives before. Now she wanted to barge in and act like nothing had happened. Then she thought about Ash; the last thing Becca wanted was for her to wake up and find herself all alone.

“Call me if anything changes,” she said to her parents, the fight fading from her, and then she turned away and headed out, her promise to make things right for Ash spurring her on.

BECCA

BECCA

Half an hour later, Becca and Christian arrived at the Rampart station of the LAPD. Rampart was one of the busiest police departments in the city and chaos was commonplace. A fat shirtless drunk sat cuffed on a bench, screaming obscenities at everyone who passed. On another bench, a teenage mother tried to console her wailing toddler, and Becca clocked a homeless “frequent flier” muttering to himself in the corner.

Becca’s lack of sleep and food along with this complete sensory overload left her unsteady on her feet. Christian clocked it. “Easy, Becs,” he said, gently taking her arm and leading her down a long corridor.

They stopped at a small office filled to the brim. On the messy desk covered in papers and case files, Becca spotted several pictures of Wishard, one with a beaming elderly couple, Wishard in her uniform at the police academy graduation and the other with Christian, the two of them nestled close together on a boat, Marina del Rey in the background.

She glanced at Christian, her eyebrows raised. “This is Wishard’s?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Joanne gave the green light. It’s just her office. It’s not like she’s doing ritual sacrifices here.”

“That you know of,” Becca said.

Christian gave a little smile, then his expression turned serious. “I know I said it before, but this could take a while. If you insist on staying here, we both figured you should be as comfortable as possible. Just don’t steal anything.”

“I can’t make any promises. I mean, the temptation is unreal,” Becca said, gesturing to the mess spread out before her. Christian laughed again, and for a second, it was like old times. Except now she was sitting in his fiancée’s office, waiting to discuss her daughter’s attempted murder case.

“You need to slow down and take care of yourself. I know it feels like you’re all alone in this, but your family is trying. Even your mom.”

“Hold up. Did hell just freeze over? You’re actually defending my mother.”

“I’m as surprised as you are.”