Ben left the hospital, reeling from the news Julie had shared. She’d finally gone back to sleep, right after ordering him to go home and grab a shower. He figured when someone insisted you take a shower, you should do as they asked. Before he got under the hot water, he called his brothers.

“Emergency meeting. My place, stat.”

When he came out, in a clean t-shirt and cotton sweats, his brothers were sprawled around the living room. Even Aiden was there, having just flown home after midterms.

“We have a problem.” Ben got right to the point. “I think Mom knows more than she let on back then. I think she has a suspicion about the killer, and that’s why she left, and that’s why she’s been such a rolling stone.”

He filled them in on what Julie had remembered.

“Are you sure it’s not the blood loss talking?” Tobias asked in his blunt way. “I remember some strange dreams when I got shot by those Light Keepers.”

“I don’t think so. I mean, he grabbed her, he was dragging her off into the woods and—” He broke off, passing his hand across his face. He still couldn’t think about it without losing his shit. “Point being, she was close to him. Close enough to remember the last time.”

Will leaned forward and squeezed his knee, while Tobias shot him a sympathetic look. But it was Aiden, the youngest but in some ways the wisest, who came to his side and hugged him. “You’re a hero, Ben. You saved Felix, you saved Julie. And by the way, it’s totally okay with me if I’m the last single Knight brother standing. Just so you know.”

“I’m definitely going to take you up on that, if Julie’s game.” He hurried past the personal stuff, which was between him and Julie. And Felix. And Savannah. And…crap. He still didn’t know how all that was going to work out. With a pit in his stomach, he changed back to the original topic. “We need to get Mom to talk to us. Mom’s the key.”

“Agreed,” said Will. “How about we all head out there and surprise them? Family style. We’ll lay it all out there. Now that we’re hot on the trail of this guy, I bet she’ll be right there with us. She was probably scared all these years, scared he’d find her.” Suddenly he swore. “Damn, it just occurred to me. I wonder if he thought Mom was coming to the Winter Ball. Maybe that’s why he was at the Reinhards’ property.”

“How would he know that?” Tobias asked.

Will and Ben’s eyes met, a possible answer striking at the same moment. “Maybe he was one of the security guards. They probably had the guest list.”

“Damn, you are one good investigator.” Ben offered his big brother a high-five.

“Oh, that’s just the start. I have a notebook of clues to put together based on what Felix told me. I’ll probably be up all night putting everything on a whiteboard. If anyone wants to come by tomorrow and stare at it with me, you’re more than welcome.”

“Count me out,” said Ben right away. “Right now, it’s all about Julie. I’ll be back at the hospital until they release her.”

“And then what?” Tobias asked. All the brothers stared at him expectantly.

He had no real answer to give them. Because he’d never forget the fear of knowing Felix was missing. He didn’t want to do something that might hurt Felix. He and Julie were on the same page now. The problem was, that page was blank.

Julie was released the next day. He drove her to the pharmacy to pick up some pain pills.

“I hate those things,” she grumbled as they walked back to his truck, her arm gingerly cradled in a sling. The pharmacy was located in a little strip mall next to the old two-screen movie theater, where they’d made out during countless double features. They strolled slowly, since Julie was still a little wobbly. “They make my head feel like cotton.”

“Pass them over, then,” he said dryly. “I have a feeling I might need them.”

She gave him a puzzled look. “What are you talking about? Are you injured and haven’t told me yet?”

“Not exactly. Not from a knife. It’s just…” He stopped and turned toward her. “Julie, I love you. I want to be with you. I never want to be away from you again. But I can’t leave Jupiter Point, not now. Now when the business is just starting to fly, and we’re so close to solving Dad’s murder. Mom and Cassie are going to stay for a while, hopefully a long while if things go well. I just have too much happening.”

“Of course you can’t leave! I never even gave that a thought.”

“But you can’t leave Felix, either. I didn’t quite get that until he went missing. So I’ve been thinking…I have my own plane, you know. Two of them. And I can fly to see you whenever—” He only stopped because she put her hand over his mouth and made him. Otherwise he probably would have kept on babbling forever, hoping to find the perfect combination of words that added up to a future.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I have it all figured out already.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Do you trust me?”

“Completely.”

The speed of his reply seemed to startle her. She took his hand and tenderly held it to her cheek. “Thank you. Then let’s go.”

“Where?”

“Knight and Day. I’m calling a family meeting.”