Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (28)

And it only got worse when they started speculating about our mother’s disappearance. Had she simply had enough and needed a fresh start like her email had said? Were the pressures of being a mom to five boys and the wife of a prominent businessman too much for her to handle? Or was it something darker? Had our dad killed her? We still didn’t know. But assholes like this reporter loved to speculate.

I wasn’t about to let this piece of shit do that to Nova.

“Get out now, or I will help you out, and you won’t like that very much,” I snarled.

There was a flicker of fear in the man’s eyes, but he made the stupid move and doubled down. “Try freedom of the press. And you’d think there’d be a little gratitude. I pushed for coverage of Nova’s case. Even before anyone knew about Travis Moore.”

My teeth ground together so hard that an ache took root in my jaw. “I don’t care if you have a psychic connection to Elvis himself. You have no right to harass the victim of a crime.”

“This is a private business, and I’ll have to ask you to leave,” Wylder cut in, his voice going cold.

The reporter’s eyes flashed with anger, but he didn’t move.

“And you’ll need to leave now, or I’ll have you arrested,” Wylder went on.

“I’d be happy to do the honors,” I gritted out.

The reporter’s gaze cut to me as he pushed off his stool. “You’re a cop?”

He obviously wasn’t a very astute reporter, given the fact that I was in uniform.

“Forest Service.”

The man scoffed. “Tree cop?” But then his expression lightened, something dawning. “Shit. You’re the one who found her, aren’t you? I heard someone in the Forest Service did. I—”

“Out,” Wylder barked, rounding the bar to physically remove the reporter if he had to.

The man held up both hands and backed up. “I’m going.” He pulled a card out of his pocket. “I’d love to interview you, too.”

I didn’t take the card, so the reporter dropped it onto the floor.

“Call me. You deserve some accolades for all you did.”

My lip curled in disgust as I turned back to the bar.

Nova stood there motionless, her face pale.

Fucking hell.

I moved then. “Come on.”

“Not a dog, Boss.” She forced out the words, but there was a slight tremble to them.

“Please, Phoenix.”

She started to move then, crossing to the end of the bar.

“Wy’s office,” I clipped.

Nova moved, falling into step beside me. She tangled her fingers in front of her, braiding and unbraiding them, knuckles bleaching white before color rushed back in.

God, I wanted to reach for one of those hands. Let her strangle my fingers if she needed to. Let her pour her pain into me.

But I didn’t. I wouldn’t cross that unspoken boundary.

For so many reasons.

I held the door open for Nova, and she slipped inside. The moment the door was closed, quiet reigned. Wylder had gotten the room soundproofed so he could escape the noise when he needed to. But now, it was almost too quiet.

“They can just … find you, drag everything up,” Nova spat, a little of the color coming back to her cheeks.

“It should be illegal.”

Those gray eyes cut to me and turned silver. “It should be more than that.” She sucked in a breath. “I know they aren’t all that way. Dex’s friend, Ridley, wasn’t. I listened to her podcast. She was kind, trying to help.”

There were good eggs out there, just like with any profession. But something about reporters covering certain kinds of crime lent itself to predatory behavior.

“It feels like they’re cutting you wide open, and no one can do a thing to stop it.” My words came out just a little hoarse, because giving her that truth cost me.

Nova stopped pacing and stared at me for a long moment. “You say that like you know how it feels.”

I struggled to swallow, my throat sticking on the movement as if I hadn’t had anything to drink in hours. “I do.”

She was quiet. Waiting. I knew she wasn’t a stranger to silence. She’d had to live with it for countless hours during the year Travis held her. But this was different. Her silence now was a gentle request with infinite patience on the other end.

She deserved to know. For so many reasons. First and foremost because she’d be moving into my house. And some people didn’t want to risk being in the same vicinity as someone who shared DNA with a killer. Skylar’s mother certainly hadn’t. Maybe my mother hadn’t either.

“Brae hasn’t told you about our father, has she?”

Dex had shared that she wanted to wait. Not burden Nova or frighten her when she was still getting her sea legs. But it had been four months now. And it felt like a lie more than anything at this point.

Nova’s brows pulled together. “I know that you and your brothers came to live with Waylon when you were kids.”

I nodded, but the movement felt robotic. “When I was seventeen. Mav was eleven. Dex was twelve. Orion was fifteen. And Wylder was eighteen. After we found out our father was a serial killer.”

Nova sucked in an audible breath, but she didn’t move. She didn’t run. Or scream. Or look at me with horror in her expression.