Atonement (The Protectors 6)

I hurried after him, ignoring the sound of crunching glass beneath my boots. By the time I reached the porch, Dante was standing at the base of the porch steps, his gun hanging loosely by his side. An older model Volkswagen Beetle was making its way up the driveway.

“It’s a friend of Jenna’s,” I quickly said as I trotted down the steps to stand next to Dante. The car was far enough away that the driver wouldn’t have noticed the gun in Dante’s hand.

Dante glanced at me and then back at the car for a moment before finally returning the gun to his back. He made sure the back of his shirt was covering the weapon as the car rattled to a stop next to my rental car.

My insides were still aching from the realization of how badly I’d hurt Dante, and those emotions only intensified as I watched the young woman get out of the car, her shoulder length blond hair twisted into some kind of knot on her head. She was a tall girl, but stick thin, just like Jenna had been. In fact, they could have been mistaken for sisters and often had been. My gut clenched at the sight of the girl’s red eyes and damp cheeks.

She walked around her car towards me and Dante, her keys in one hand. Stopping just a few feet from me, she used her other hand to wipe her face and whispered, “Is it true?”

I knew instantly what she was talking about because nothing else would have gotten this kind of reaction out of her.

“It’s true,” I said.

Fresh tears spilled down the girl’s face as she walked into my arms. I held her tight as she let out a sob against my chest and I felt warm moisture seeping through my shirt.

“I’ll…I’ll get some water,” Dante murmured and I sent him a nod of thanks.

“I’m sorry,” the girl sputtered as she pulled back and used her sleeve to wipe at her face. “I mean, in the back of my mind I knew after all this time that it…it meant she probably wasn’t coming back…” She let out a big sobbing hiccup and then managed to get out, “But I kept hoping…”

She was back in my arms a second later and I dropped my chin to the top of her head. “I know,” I said softly. “Me too.”

“Here,” I heard Dante say and I saw he had both a glass of water and the entire roll of paper towels from the kitchen.

“Thanks,” I said as I tore off a section from the paper towels and gently pushed the girl back and handed it to her. I tucked the few tendrils of hair that had escaped the clip back from her wet skin. When she’d dried her face, I gave her another paper towel to hang on to since her eyes had filled with more tears. She drank some of the water next and when she seemed more in control of herself I said, “Rachel, this is my friend Dante. Dante, this is Rachel Harris. She is…was Jenna’s best friend.”

“Hi Rachel,” Dante said softly.

Rachel nodded and then managed to squeak out a “Hi.”

“Why don’t we go sit down?” I said as I motioned to the porch.

“Um…can we maybe go see the horses?” she asked as she wiped at her eyes again.

“Sure,” I said.

“I’ll just let you two talk,” Dante murmured, but when he turned away to return to the house, I grabbed his arm. I couldn’t explain why, but I didn’t want him to go. There was just too much unresolved shit between us and even though I couldn’t talk to him about it right now, it felt like that chasm would widen even further if he walked away.

“Why don’t you come meet the horses?” I asked, though he and I knew he’d already met them.

Dante hesitated before nodding.

“Rachel’s been taking care of my horses while I was out of town,” I explained to Dante as we began walking around the side of the house towards the barn. “She and Jenna are both horse crazy.”

Using the present tense in reference to my daughter made my chest hurt, but I kept it together. It wasn’t a surprise that Rachel wanted to go see the horses…I knew she’d grown quite attached to them and they would offer her the comfort she needed right now.

More guilt weighed me down as I focused on Rachel and said, “Rachel, I was hoping to tell you myself about Jenna.”

I’d been in too much of a hurry to leave town to get to Matty to take the time to tell anyone about Jenna’s death besides my captain and a few people at work. And telling her friends, Rachel especially, over the phone or via text hadn’t seemed right.

“How did you find out?” I asked.