"Hey, Irv," I whispered.

"Beautiful," he whispered back and squeezed my neck.

I opened my eyes and tipped them back to look up at him.

He smiled at me.

I smiled back.

Then, with some effort and not very quickly, he shuffled out of the kitchen with my girls still attached to his legs.

"You want a beer, Irv?" Honey called and my eyes shot to Ty.

"Coke," Irv called back with zero hesitation, "Thanks Honey-hon."

Jeez, I loved it when Irv called Honey "Honey-hon".

I let out a breath. Ty followed his Dad. Honey raced out with Irv's soda like she'd get to stand on a podium and have a medal draped around her neck if she got the fastest time. That was Honey; she'd definitely win gold for being sweet.

I started to cut the overhang off the pie crust around the edge.

The doorbell rang again. Ty went after it again.

One minute later, we heard Julius shout, "That fuckin' pool at the hotel is heated. My man, I took a dip at nine thirty at night, in the mountains, snow all around and it was the shit!"

"Unkul Juujuu!" Vivie shrieked and I could hear her little feet on the go and I was loving every minute of my daughter's excitement. Mostly this was because she was excited; she had a lot of love to give and enjoyed spreading it around so she was in heaven. But also this was because this meant that later, she'd be out like a light.

I looked into the family room and saw Lell on her grandfather's lap. Her head was turned to her sister but it quickly turned back. This was not because she didn't love her Uncle Julius, this was because she absolutely freaking adored her Granddad.

I watched as she tipped her head back and lifted her little hand to put it to her grandfather's throat. That was her thing these days. She liked the vibrations she could feel when people talked.

As for me, I liked to feel my daughter's hand on my throat when I was talking to her.

"That man needs to watch his mouth," Ella muttered.

I didn't respond. Five years and the big family Ty and I somehow managed to acquire that was close and stayed close because they'd endured multiple dramas, the aftermath of tragedy and the lingering fear that never really went away of thwarted tragedy. This meant we didn't stay apart long and paths crossed often, holidays, birthdays, vacations. Everyone knew everyone else very well. And most everyone got along.

But Ella wasn't a big fan of Julius's profession or the fact that he had three women. I'd talked to her about this repeatedly and did not change her mind. Julius being Julius, therefore not only likeable but loveable, also did not manage to change her mind. Bess and Honey adored him. So did my daughters. Ella was just going to have to suck it up.

More people, more greetings, these with Julius, Anana and her daughter with Julius, Ilori, who was nearly eight and closing on the beauty of her mother. Anana joined the women in the kitchen. Ilori went with her Dad to join the men. Honey unveiled the Julius family offering. More beer. More wine. A bottle of top shelf vodka. A bunch of flowers.

The doorbell rang again. Ty moved to it again.

I was pouring pumpkin pie stuff in my crust and didn't hear anything but boots hitting tile then I felt a hand at the small of my back. I stopped, turned my head and looked slightly down.

"Angel," I whispered.

"Hola, mi querida."

I smiled. Angel smiled back.

"How is Carnal Hotel?" I asked.

"The pool is heated," Angel answered.

My smile got bigger. So did his.

"Though, thinkin' I took a swim last night with a big, black guy who boosts cars," he added. "You won't tell my Cap, will you?"

He totally knew he'd taken a swim with a big, black guy who boosts cars considering this wasn't the first time he'd been around Julius. This, too, had been an uneasy alliance, at first. But Angel's love for me and subsequent actions for Ty and Julius's love for Ty and subsequent actions for me meant they moved beyond uneasy because they had common ground. I suspected when they went their separate ways, they didn't talk about their association with their crews at home. That said, I knew Julius sent Angel a premium bottle of tequila for his birthday this year and I also knew Angel sent Julius a premium bottle of Hennessy for his.

"Your secret is safe with me," I whispered and that got me a bigger smile.

Then he put slight pressure on my back before his hand fell away.

I looked around him and smiled again at Angel's very pregnant wife, "Hey there, Rosalia."

"Hey, Lexie. Hey, y'all." She dumped bags on the counter. "Anything I can do?"

Ella, the oldest, the grandmother therefore not being in her house but still being the boss, gave out instructions.

Rosalia got busy.

Angel moved toward a couch.

Ty moved behind him.

Vivie caught sight of Angel and dissed Julius to shriek, "Unkul Anhay!" and throw herself bodily from Julius to Angel who was not prepared but fortunately caught her after she launched herself off the arm of a chair before Julius could stop her. Then Angel lifted her up, threw her in the air, caught her then pulled her close and blew a raspberry in her neck all the while my daughter emitted shrieking giggles.

Rosalia emitted a quiet giggle beside me.

My eyes slid to Lella and Irv and I saw their heads bent to their hands. They were playing thumb war, my daughter's tiny fingers curled around her grandfather's very not tiny fingers. I watched him let her win. I listened to her soft giggle. My eyes moved to my husband to see he was also watching, his face in profile but I could still see was soft.

Then I went back to pouring pumpkin stuff in the pie shell.

Lots of people, lots of mouths to feed.

I had to get my shit together so I could feed my family.

Just to explain and update a few things...

That day five years ago, Irv knew how to find me because Irv knew that hunting cabin. Every black man and woman in the tri-county are did. And they did because Arnold Fuller was what he was because his Daddy and Granddaddy taught him how to be that way. And, back in the day when they could get away with it, any black man who stepped outside of what the Fullers and their brethren felt was their place, Fuller's Daddy, Granddaddy and their brethren took them to that cabin and taught them their place.

And Irv explained this to Ty and the police after he explained that a buddy of his who had the pastime of listening to police band radio called to let him know I was taken. He remembered that cabin, he knew Arnold Fuller, he figured he'd hold a nasty grudge and he knew, if Fuller did, he'd act on it.

Going to that cabin was a long shot but he took it and it turned out he was right.

He should have called the police.

He didn't because he had a son to win and a score to settle.

It was a decision based solely on emotion which made it not wrong but also not right.

What it was, was understandable.

Like father, like son.

And in the end, he saved my life.

Three months after Fuller kidnapped me, my husband disappeared in the night and he didn't come home until the early hours and when he did, he took a shower before coming to bed.

I didn't ask.

He didn't tell.

The next day at the salon, as it does, word spread that someone torched that hunting cabin in the night. Luckily, they doused all around with water so the flames didn't spread and it was so old, it went up like a light and burned fast.

And then it was gone.

An ugly piece of history, up in smoke and generations to come would never know it existed at all.

It would be a long time later, at his pace, when Ty told me what he did and explained he wasn't alone. Dewey, Tate, Deke, Wood, Pop, Shambles, Ned, Irv and Jim-Billy went with him.

So did Chace Keaton.

Yes, straight-arrow Chace Keaton.

Then again, Chace was a man in the business of righting wrongs, he'd put his ass out there to do it before so I guess it wasn't surprising he'd do it again regardless of the methods he needed to use.

I thought the building might be gone but the ghosts probably remained.

I also thought those ghosts probably got a kick out of watching those men burn that shithole to the ground.

Ty talked to me, Tate talked to me, Chace talked to me, even Officer Frank popped by the house one afternoon to talk to me about shooting Arnold Fuller. They thought I'd freak considering the fact that I did at the hospital. Delayed reaction to Irv going down, me being kidnapped and me taking Arnie out.

I was fine.

Until one day, I wasn't.

Driving home from the grocery store on my Monday off, I got the shakes.

And my hands on the steering wheel guided the Charger to Carnal Police Department. I walked on shaky legs inside and asked to talk to Detective Keaton.

He came right out.

He held me while I lost it in an interrogation room and when I say lost it, I mean I lost it. Then, when he calmed me, he got me Kleenex. Then he sent an officer out to get me a latte from La-La Land.

Then he sat with me while I drank it.

Then he followed me home to make sure I got there okay.

Then he went straight to the garage and told Ty what happened. He also explained to Ty that I didn't go to him because I didn't want him to see that, that last piece of me that Fuller took since Fuller took so much from Ty already.

From the time Chace left me to the time Ty got home, I was a nervous wreck. I thought he'd get pissed, thinking I'd gone behind his back, not liking that I shared that with another man. I was such a mess, I didn't even phone him to attempt and detect his mood because, if he was going to lose it, I didn't want it to come sooner rather than later.

But Ty didn't get pissed.

He just came home from the gym as usual but did a thorough scan the minute he saw me. I knew he saw I was anxious and my anxiety had hit the red zone. But he just walked to me, wrapped his hand around the back of my head, gave me a kiss, touched my forehead with his and asked me to make him a shake. Then he went up to take a shower.

I made his shake and I did it grateful that he got it and didn't get pissed.

He never spoke of it, neither did I.

But he watched me closely after that and he did it for weeks. He didn't hide it but I didn't mention it. Our daughter was growing inside of me, he was concerned and he kept his finger on the pulse.

So did Tate. So did Chace. So did Officer Frank. Jim-Billy. Deke. Wood. Pop. Krystal. Laurie, Maggie, Stella, Dominic... everybody.

But I got rid of it that day. I gave it to Chace and he took it from me.

He'd taken his own load from Fuller so I knew it was selfish.

But I also was grateful and would be eternally.

To let me show this, Chace allowed me to buy his lunch one of the days we shared it at the diner instead of what usually happened, him buying mine.

He allowed me to do this once.

It wasn't much but at least it was something.

Three and a half weeks after my kidnapping, Rowdy Crabtree was detained in Arizona on the US side of the US/Mexican border trying to cross. He was arrested and transported back to Carnal.

He stood trail in Chantelle for Misty Keaton's murder. He was not offered bond because he was a flight risk.

He was acquitted and instantly moved out-of-state. I didn't know where.

I also didn't care.

Misty Keaton's murder was never solved.