Back upstairs, Elliott and Brandon were waiting for her. “We did what we could,” the senior Guardian shrugged. “Ain’t no fixin’ that mirror, though.”

“I guess Spittle got all seven years of his bad luck in one tiny, explosive package,” Brandon joked.

“Do you mean the grenade or Cadence?” Elliott said, laughing at his own comment before the other two joined in.

“Both,” Brandon agreed and then they all headed back to the SUV, leaving the Anderson House behind them.

There was lots of chatter on Cadence’s IAC as they headed for home, but she tuned it out. The one person she realized had not contacted her at all was...