#Chapter 76: The Break In

"Absolutely not."

"But, Kent –"

"Nicole, we had a deal! We need you here, to be available in case anything happens to one of us again. I mean, my god, Brady is still upstairs recovering! Who is going to look after him? And we've had multiple near misses this past week alone - we just talked about this!"

"Kent, I'm sorry, and we can figure something out! Brady could get an in-home nurse –"

"Who will start to ask questions, no doubt?"

"We could find someone who –"

"And even if I wasn't worried about Brady, which I am, what about the rest of us? What if Torsten gets shot and there's no one to help in the middle of the night, because you're off playing house with your new boyfriend?"

"Kent, that's unfair."

Kent takes a deep breath, rubs his face. We're sitting at my kitchen table, our cheerful surroundings contrasting sharply with the seriousness of our conversation. I was too jittery for coffee when I got back home this morning, so steaming mugs of chamomile tea sit in front of us, inste