Casey dragged his feet across the snow-covered sidewalk, stuffing his trembling hands in his coat’s pockets. The wind nipped at his face, stinging his rosy cheeks. With a rough tug on their bakery’s door, Casey hurried inside and trapped the cold outside.

“What on Earth were you doing?” Mr. Lockhart demanded, face flushed in outrage.

“Finding answers.” Casey straightened his posture and rubbed his hands together, trying to bring warmth back to them.

“I had half a mind to chase after you. Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Mr. Lockhart asked.

“August’s run-in at the bakery that night was no accident. I got the truth out of him. Veronica sent him to spy on me. On us.”

Mr. Lockhart pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can’t just follow a dangerous criminal like that, Casey. What if he’d lashed out at you? How would you have defended yourself, huh? Don’t you see what kind of people we’re dealing with here?”

“Standing around doing nothing won’t help either,” Casey told him.

“We’re not doing nothing. We’re cleaning up here to get the bakery up and running. Now that your mom’s… gone, our main source of income will be from the bakery.”

“I know, I understand that, but I want to get justice for Mom. Her killer’s still out there, probably waiting to strike again. There’s rumors on the street that our family has a hit out on us. Have you forgotten that? We’re all in danger and the police don’t seem to be doing much to keep us safe.”

“I get it. Trust me, I want to find this bastard more than anything, but it’s not worth putting any of you at risk again.” Mr. Lockhart rested a hand on his son’s shoulder. Worry lines creased his forehead as he moved his arm away, stepping aside to grab a broom and dustpan. “Come on, let’s get this place cleaned up so we can go home. I know it’s scary right now, but we’ll get through this. Just have faith in the police, Casey. You know your mom would.”

Casey didn’t argue any further with his father. While he knew that chasing August down had been dangerous, he needed to figure out his motives. He suspected that Veronica was involved and it turned out he was right. Now, he just needed to muster up the courage and visit her. If only it was that simple.

After they finished up at the bakery, Mr. Lockhart drove them home. Casey scrolled through his text messages, hesitating on creating a new thread with August’s contact. He spared a glance at his father as he drove them through town, passing dilapidated buildings. A simple text wouldn’t hurt, right?

I’m free tonight. Could you meet at Magnolia Cafe?

When they got back to the house, Lani sat up in the living room with Wyatt, watching Frozen for probably the thousandth time. Casey had their silly songs stuck in his head from seeing it so much.

“Hey, how’d things go at the bakery?” Lani asked.

“Everything’s good to go,” Mr. Lockhart replied. “We’ll be able to open tomorrow, hopefully.”

“That’s great.” Lani snuggled up underneath her pink blanket.

“August came by again,” Casey told her, making his way over to the sofa. “He warned me not to trust anyone from the Voiceless Rebels.”

“What? He came back?” Lani frowned. “We shouldn’t trust anyone from those gangs. That August guy is a creep. You ought to go to the cops if he keeps hanging around the bakery like that, especially with it being closed right now.”

Casey bit on his lower lip, glancing over at his son. “V sent him to spy on us.”

“Jeez, I can’t believe she’d actually do that. Send one of her own people to stalk us? We’ve gotta report it to the police. It’s harassment. Even locked up, that crazy bitch still tries to get under your skin.”

“Lani!” Casey snapped. “Don’t call her that.”

Lani’s expression softened. “Sorry, but after everything she’s put you through, she deserves to be cussed out.”

“Not in front of Wyatt.”

At least Wyatt was too preoccupied with his show. Casey knew he needed to talk with him about his mom, and with everything going on, he’d surely be curious about her whereabouts. If Casey could, he’d shelter his son from ever knowing about what happened.

“I’m sorry,” Lani said, moving off the couch. “Sorry, Wyatt. I’ll watch this with you another time, okay? I’m about to head out with some friends. Don’t wait up for me, cuz I’ll probably stay the night with Audrey.”

“Lani,” Casey started, reaching out for her arm, but pulled away. Maybe she just needed time alone. He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but Casey didn’t want his family saying horrendous things about Wyatt’s mom right in front of him.

“Give her space,” Mr. Lockhart said.

Casey nodded. “Yeah, I will.”

After his dad made his way into the kitchen, Casey took a seat on the couch beside his son. He reached over for the remote, pausing the movie. Wyatt didn’t complain. He simply gazed up at him with those adorable, doleful brown eyes of his.

“There’s something important I want to tell you, okay? I’m sure you’ve been curious about your mom and where she’s gone.”

“Mommy’s coming home?” Wyatt asked, his face lighting up.

Casey shook his head. “No, she’s not coming home. She won’t be coming home for a really long time. She did a bad thing and got in trouble, remember?”

Wyatt looked down at the floor. “Mommy’s mad at me? For telling on her?”

“No, Wyatt. She’s not mad at you, and you did the right thing. She’s just not been able to talk to you. Remember how we went to court, yeah? So you live with me, Lani, and Papa now,” Casey explained. “I wanted to tell you this because you’re probably going to hear people talk about your mom again. Like Lani.”

“Lani hates Mommy,” Wyatt said. “She makes you sad. I don’t want you to be sad, Daddy.”

Casey ruffled up his hair. “Well, it’s hard to talk about her but I don’t want you to forget about your mom. You can talk about her whenever you want with me. She did some awful things, but she loves you very much. I just wish she’d stayed with us.”

“I miss Mommy.” Wyatt snuggled up in his arms.

“Me too, but we’ll always have each other, okay? No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.”

Casey resumed the movie that he could’ve recited by heart. Careful not to disturb Wyatt as he curled up in his lap, Casey slid his phone out of his pocket and checked for new messages from August. His plan had been to sneak away and let Lani watch Wyatt, but he’d have to change things up since she left for the night.

Biting on his lower lip, Casey looked down at his son in his arms. Maybe he could lie to his father about needing to grab some groceries. Surely he wouldn’t mind watching him for a few minutes while he went and spoke to August. Nobody needed to know that he’d stayed in contact with the gangster.