1 Ronan

December, present day…

Ronan sat at the kitchen table folding Ezra’s tiny laundry. Stacked around him were piles of Everly’s favorite pink shirts and shorts. Tennyson was in the laundry room switching out another load of dry clothes for wet ones fresh from the washing machine.

“Tell me this isn’t the worst part of going on vacation,” Tennyson said, carrying a blue laundry basket to the table.

Ronan could see it was filled with a mix of their clothes. Although why Ten was washing their summer clothes after they’d sat unused in the closet since October was beyond him. Not that he’d question his stressed out husband. Ronan knew enough to be a good little soldier and do what he was told. “No, the worst part of going on vacation is leaving the eighty degree temperatures in Florida to come back to the below zero temps here.” Ronan shivered just thinking about the cold. He wasn’t built to be an outdoor guy when the mercury dropped below forty degrees. Well, maybe fifty degrees.

“What’s for lunchies?” Everly asked, walking into the kitchen with Ezra hot on her heels.

“Something tells me you want pizza from Greek Life,” Ten said, smiling at his daughter.

“Pizza!” Ezra announced. “More pizza!”

“Lot’s more pizza,” Everly said.

“Not too much. We’re leaving in the morning.” Ronan grabbed his phone. “Pepperoni and sausage?”

“Yes, please and some toasted ravioli. They’re Aurora’s favorite.”

“Did I miss something? Is Aurora here? Is she invisible?” Ronan asked, popping out of his seat as if he’d been sitting on the little girl. “Am I invisible?”

Everly giggled. “No, Dad. You’re right here!” She took his hand and held it up in front of her. “Aurora’s ringing the doorbell.”

Before Ronan could say he hadn’t heard the bell, it chimed.

“I’ll get it! Order the toasted ravioli and a green pepper pizza for Uncle Fitz,” Everly shouted as she ran out of the room.

“Hey, you’re just in time,” Ronan said, when Fitz walked into the kitchen. “We were just about to call out for Greek Life.”

“We’ll have a half pepper and half bacon pie with an order of the-”

“Toasted ravioli,” Ronan said along with him. “Everly told us that’s what Aurora wanted.”

“Of course she did,” Fitz shook his head. He looked as if he had more to say, but stayed quiet while Ronan placed their order.

“Food will be here in half an hour.” Ronan set his phone on the table and started to pick up the folded clothes, placing them in an empty basket. “Packing is the worst part of going on vacation.”

“I thought you said coming home in the cold was the worst part.” Ten wore an amused look.

“Coming home in the freezing weather is the worst post-vacation part. Mountains of laundry is the worst part pre-vacation.”

“You’ve lost your mind.” Ten shook his head and took the basket from Ronan. “I’ll bring these upstairs. Fitz has something to talk to you about.”

Ronan had a feeling something was going on. It wasn’t like Fitz to pop in unannounced. He pressed a kiss to Ten’s temple and watched him walk out of the kitchen. “What’s up?”

“Lorna Duke called again,” Fitz said.

“What, those delicious little butter cookies?” Ronan shook his head. The last thing he wanted to think about the day before they left for sunny Florida was Lorna’s daughter.

“That’s Lorna Dune .” Fitz rolled his eyes. “Lorna Duke is the mother of Jillian Marsh.”

Ronan felt like an asshole. Lorna’s daughter had been murdered ten years ago on Christmas Day by her husband. At least that’s what her mother assumed had happened. The young woman had been killed by a gunshot to the chest. Ronan remembered hearing about the story when it happened, but never imagined the murder would still be unsolved a decade later. “How many calls does this make?”

Fitzgibbon sighed. “Fifteen since the Salem Cold Case unit was formed last year, three of those have come since the beginning of December.”

Ronan could well imagine how hard the holidays were every year for the Duke family. His mother had been gone for twenty years and he missed Erin like crazy on Christmas. The pain of losing someone on the holiday itself would make the day nearly unbearable. “We’ll pull the case and start working on it after New Year when we get back from Florida.”

Fitz shook his head as Ronan spoke. “No, I’ve already pulled the file. I made copies of it for the three of us to review on the plane tomorrow.”

“You want us to work the case over Christmas?” Ronan asked. He hadn’t seen this coming. Yes, the Duke family deserved to get some closure for the murder of their daughter, but he also had his own family to spend time with.

“Partly,” Fitzgibbon said, sitting up straighter and leaning across the table toward Ronan. “Jillian’s former husband, Patrick, lives in St. Pete. What better time to spring a surprise visit on him than the week before Christmas?”

Ronan had to admit Fitz had a point. “So we’re not really working the case, just interviewing the husband. I’m asking not because I don’t want to help this family, but because Ten will blow his stack if we’re working over Christmas.” Ten had already given Ronan a stark warning about not working on their trip. It seemed like every time they went somewhere, death followed them. Niagara Falls, Old Orchard Beach, Fun-A-Rama, Deadwood, Arizona, Bermuda. The list went on and on.

“I want to speak to Patrick and gauge his reaction to our showing up. We’ll decide what to do next from there.” Fitz took a deep breath. “Look, Ronan, I know how our families are going to react to this interview, but I can’t, in good conscience, be a few blocks away from a suspected killer and sit on a beach for two weeks doing nothing.”

Ronan understood where Fitzgibbon was coming from. If he’d been the one to dig into the Jillian Marsh case, he undoubtedly would be the one urging Fitzgibbon to get on board with the investigation. “Does Jace know?”

Fitz shook his head. “I’ll tell him tonight. I’m also going to stop by Jude’s after we eat to let him know what’s going on. I left your copy of the case file in your mailbox. Better go grab it now while Tennyson is out of the room.”

Chuckling, Ronan did what Fitzgibbon asked. He popped his head out the front door and lifted the lid to the mailbox. Sure enough, there was a manilla folder inside with Ronan’s name on it, along with several Christmas cards. He sorted through them on the way back through the living room. “Everly, this card is for you.” Ronan held the red envelope out to his daughter, instantly recognizing his sister-in-law’s handwriting.

Everly tore open the envelope. “It’s a card from Brookie with the Grinch. She loves the Grinch.”

“Me too!” Aurora said, leaning over Everly’s shoulder.

“I can’t wait to see you and Aurora when you come to Florida,” Everly read. “Remember to pack your bathing suit so we can go swimming, visit dolphins, and look for seashells. Miss you. Love, your favorite cousin, Brookie. P.S. Delta can’t wait to meet you!” Beside the postscript was a picture of all the kids together at the beach, under a sunny sky.

“This is so cool!” Aurora said. “Delta is so cute. Her Mommy sent my Daddy pictures of the baby. He said I’m old enough to hold her.”

“Really?” Everly’s eyes widened. “I hope I can hold her too.”

“Hold who?” Ten asked, coming down the stairs.

“Baby Delta. I got a card from Brooke.” Everly held it out to Tennyson.

“Aw, that’s so sweet. Just remember that Barb is Delta’s Mommy and it’s up to her if she thinks you and Aurora are old enough to hold the baby.”

“I’ll be on my bestest behavior.”

“Me too!” Aurora added.

“I know you will.” Ten bent to kiss Everly and Aurora’s heads. “Pizza will be here soon. Why don’t you two go wash your hands.”

Everly looked as if she were about to complain, but instead ran off with Aurora right behind her.

“How much play are you looking to get out of the two of them wanting to hold the baby?” Fitz asked with a grin.

“As much as I can.” Ten shook his head. “I had a hard time getting her to settle down last night. I know it’s going to be worse tonight and every night until Christmas.”

“Aurora was the same way last night,” Fitz said. “It’s part of the reason we came over today.”

Ten frowned at the police captain. “The other reason has to do with the manila envelope Ronan’s trying and failing to hide behind his back.”

Fitzgibbon wore a downcast look. “Yeah.”

Ten walked back into the kitchen and started taking juice pouches out of the fridge. He set them at the kids’ spots at the table and went back to grab drinks for the adults, while Ronan and Fitzgibbon took a seat. “Well, don’t just sit there, tell me about this case.” He wore a resigned look on his face.

“A young wife was murdered on Christmas Day in 2014. It was suspected her husband killed her, but there wasn’t proof enough to arrest, never mind convict him,” Ronan began.

“The case has been cold for the last nine years,” Fitzgibbon added.

“I get what you’re both saying, but why now? Why can’t you explore this case when we come back home after the new year?” Ten asked, sounding perfectly reasonable.

“Because the husband lives in St. Petersburg.”

“Of course he does,” Ten said on a sigh. “You want to surprise him and see how he responds to three cold case detectives showing up unannounced on his doorstep.” It wasn’t a question.

“Right.” Ronan held up the envelope. “The case file is in here. I’ll read it tonight after we finish packing and get the kids to bed. I expect Everly’s gonna want ten books and six drinks of water tonight.”

Ten laughed. “It’s getting out of control.”

“What, how much I’m wrapped around her finger?” Ronan asked, sounding hopeful. He knew damn well Everly wasn’t what Ten was talking about.

“No, Charlie’s Angels always being on the clock.”

“I’ll be Farah Fawcet,” Ronan said, pretending to toss his hair over his shoulder.

“The hell you will!” Fitzgibbon charged back. “I’ll be Farah. You be Jaclyn Smith.”

Ronan frowned. “Okay, fine, but next time I get to be Farah.”

“Boys, please.” Ten rolled his eyes. “Let’s try to stay on track here. What happens after you interview the husband?”

“Depends on what he tells us,” Fitz said.

“Or how he acts.” Ronan crossed his arms over his chest. He was itching to open the envelope and dig into the case, but he wouldn’t until his chores were done for the day.

“What do you mean, how he acts?” Ten asked.

“If he’s cagey and upset, we’ll know we’re onto something with him as the suspect. If he acts as if he has nothing to hide, well, then we’ll also know we’re on to something,” Fitz said, looking confused.

“What you’re saying is that either way, calm or cagey, there will be follow up. Probably a private interview with his new wife to see if her hubby confessed to killing Jillian and more follow up after that.”

Ronan blew out a frustrated breath. “Yes to all of that. Maybe you could try to reach out to Jillian?”

“I’ve got her wedding rings,” Fitzgibbon said. “I signed them out of evidence.”

“Fuck a duck,” Ten muttered under his breath. “You get me for one day to work on this. That’s it. One day. Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” Ronan and Fitz said in sync.

“Let’s try to keep this away from Everly, huh?” Ten went to the cupboard to grab plates.

“Easier said than done, but I promise not to pull her into this investigation.” Under the table and out of sight of Tennyson, Ronan crossed his fingers, so his words didn’t count. He didn’t need to be a psychic to know that Everly was going to read them and get all the case details. It was only a matter of time until his tiny psychic inserted herself into the investigation.

All Ronan could do was hope they could wrap it up quick, or he’d end up sleeping on the beach for their entire vacation.