Page 13 (1/2)
I huffed “I love Christmas, so of course we’ll be there, but in teeks it will be—”
“One week, then if I need you, you’ll come back”
“You could use a vacation, Luce Why don’t you whisk Peter away and—”
“Not with you gone too”
I sighed “Fine A week at least”
“Where are you taking him?”
“I rented a cabin in Christmastown, Vermont It’s just like a Hallmark movie”
“Right, because you’re so like the characters from one”
“Who says mobsters can’t find love at Christmas?”
“You’ve already found love How often are you going to leave the cabin anyway?”
“I have lots of holiday things planned for us to do There are sleigh rides and a craft fair and caroling and—”
Lucien held up his hand “I don’t need to hear anymore Is Joe as excited about all this as you are?”
“Um…”
“Devil Tell ot this insane Christmas obsession”
“No He likes snow, like real snow, not the dirty, pushed to the side of the road, city snow The one foster family who really cared for hi in the snow there is one of the few good childhood memories he has That’s why I chose this place”
Lucien studied me
“It’s true”
“And few people know it, but you actually are ro else I can tell”
“Joe keeps insisting he can’t take time off”
“He’s trying to track down an escaped serial killer That’s fairly important”
“Yeah, but there’s no telling when the search will end, and I don’t want to put this off, so I’ him to the cabin”
“You’re kidnapping him?”
“That’s one way to put it”
Lucien gave a put-upon sigh
“Like you wouldn’t do the saood”
“Is it for Joe’s own good, though? Or would it be better for hiet rid of this fucker who killed multiple children?”
“He’s too obsessed with it, and he’s not the only one searching I’ve asked Niall and Marco to work on it while he’s gone He needs this time away With me”
“Let’s hope he agrees”
“Trustto be very happy”
Lucien rolled his eyes “Call me if you have any trouble”
“What kind of trouble would we have?”
“You and Joe in a town full of starry-eyed, Christine how that would cause trouble”