Today, he was going to learn there were consequences to his actions.
And Nora would be there to hear them.
“Nervous?” Apollo asked after they went through the metal detector.
“Nah,” Matisse answered for her. “Look at her. Chin lifted. Eyes steely. She’s going into battle.”
He’d read her exactly right. She’d faced the man down once, stared at him without flinching as she testified about her experiences, but this was different. Today, she’d well and truly close the book on the part of her life that started with her mess of a childhood and ended the day she somehow survived a massacre.
Nora wasn’t defined by those events. It had taken the love of five men to teach her that, but she learned the lesson well. Now, she looked forward. Each day was a gift and she opened her eyes excited to see what would happen.
The crowd jostled as the courtroom doors opened. Apollo snagged her hand, leading her toward a row of seats. When they were settled, he linked their fingers. Seok was next to her, and he held her hand as well.
As they waited, Nora thought about the last two years. They’d been more than happy. She worked at Frank’s, volunteered with Cai, and went to school. One more year and a semester of student teaching, and she’d have her degree.
She and Matisse and Ryan would graduate together. When she went to school, Matisse had decided to do the same. The difference was Matisse would graduate with a master’s degree in cognitive neuroscience. “I want to know how brains work,” he’d said. “Brains like mine.”
At first, she’d been afraid it was because he wanted to change the way it worked. She loved how he thought. She loved how he took everything in, felt it all, and sifted through it.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with him, and she didn’t want him to think there was. He’d only laughed when she’d broached the subject. “I’m just curious, chére. I know I’m perfect. You tell me every day.”
And if that wasn’t exactly true, it wasn’t exactly wrong either.
“Please rise.”
Seok squeezed her hand and they stood. Nora studied the jurors as the judge read their decision, noticing the way most sat with their shoulders back and gazes straight ahead. She wasn’t as good at this as Matisse, but if she had to guess, she’d say they were proud.
So when the decision was read aloud and the jury announced a guilty verdict, she wasn’t the least bit surprised.
And God, did it feel good.
Dr. Murray stared straight ahead as he was placed in handcuffs and led out of court.
It was a quiet, but final, period at the end of Daniel Murray’s career. No matter what else, the man would never be allowed to play with people’s minds again.
As people stood, hugging and talking, Nora got to her feet. The guys watched her, gazes proud.
“You ready to get out of here?” she asked.
“They’re going to want a statement outside,” Ryan warned her. “We can go through the back.”
She shook her head. “I don’t hide.” She faced life head on. “Besides, I know exactly what I’m going to say.”
Cai lifted his eyebrows, waiting.
“Don’t leave us hanging,” Apollo joked.
“You don’t want to be surprised?” Matisse asked. “I like being surprised.”
Laughing, she stepped toward the aisle. Like they had when they’d arrived, the guys surrounded her, standing between her and the world.
She wasn’t used to public speaking, but she knew she could do this. When they got to the steps and reporters called out, she took a deep breath.
“Dr. Daniel Murray hurt a lot of people and today he had to hear, once and for all, that what he did was wrong. He had to learn that actions have consequences and that people aren’t experiments. But he also had to learn that we—the people he tried to drive mad—are stronger than him and because of us, he has to answer for what he’s done.”
People yelled out questions, but Nora shook her head. “Thank you.” No more questions. No more interviews. It was done.
And she was ready to get back to her life.
Nora lounged in the hammock, resting her back against Seok’s chest as Apollo and Ryan tried to figure out the pizza oven he’d built in the backyard. It was cloudy out, but warm, so she was perfectly comfortable with the light breeze that set the hammock rocking gently back-and-forth.
Her hair was long again, and he toyed with the end of her braid. Matisse sat nearby, computer open as he worked on some article he was hoping to publish before working on his doctorate.
“Nora.” Cai held out a glass of lemonade with one hand while steadying the hammock with the other. With Seok’s help, she sat up enough to take it and accept a lingering kiss from the golden-eyed man. “The event coordinator just confirmed catering for the wedding.”
Seok laughed as he leaned to kiss Nora’s cheek. She took a sip of her lemonade and smiled. They’d been engaged for two solid years, but this winter, the guys had run out of patience and set a date. Her argument about her degree, Apollo’s new job as the head of athletic training at Brownington, Ryan’s continued law school, and Matisse’s upcoming application to a doctoral program fell on deaf ears.
“And I have work, and Cai is overseeing a mental health agency. We’re always going to be busy,” Seok argued. “It’s time to make this thing legal.”
“As legal as one girl marrying five guys can be,” Matisse had added.
“What did you decide on?” Ryan asked. He glanced over his shoulder at Apollo who was still staring into the oven as he tried to place the pizzas in the exact right spot. “For food?”
“A little of everything,” Cai answered. “Some Cajun—”
“Thank God,” Matisse muttered.
“Korean barbecue, vegetarian dishes.”
“My cupcake cake?” Nora had only one hard and fast request. A cake made of cupcakes. That way she could eat as many different kinds of cake as she wanted. She couldn’t choose just one flavor.
“With smoothie shooters,” Apollo joked. “Seok. That oven is incredible. We should make more and sell them for a million dollars.”
“Oh we should?” Seok lifted his eyebrows. “Nora and I did the bulk of that work.”
They had. She smiled as she took another sip. Projects were her and Seok’s thing. Like volunteering was her and Cai’s, talking about books were her and Ryan’s, working out was her and Apollo’s, and getting up to trouble were her and Matisse’s.
“So I’m really going to be Mrs. Jheon-Morris-Boudreau-Valore-Josephs.” Taking another sip, she shook her head. “When I get my first job, my poor students are in for it.”
“Actually…” Cai glanced at his friends before gazing down at Nora. “We’ve decided to take your name. You’ll be Mrs. Leslie, and so will we. Mister—I mean.” His golden cheeks flushed pink.
“Yeah?” These men. How did they know how to love her so perfectly? “You’d do that for me?”
Each one of them gave her matching exasperated looks.
The clouds suddenly parted and a beam of sunlight shone in her eyes. She lifted her hand to cover her eyes, so she wasn’t sure who said it, but it didn’t really matter, because she knew it was true. “Don’t you know, we’d do anything for you, Nora?”
Afterword
Thank You
Thank you for reading, and wanting more of, The Searchers. Ending the series is bittersweet, but knowing Nora, Cai, Matisse, Seok, Ryan, and Apollo have their happily ever after makes it bearable. Over the years, they've become friends, and I'm going to miss them. I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed watching their story unfold.
XOXO, Ripley
Acknowledgments
I started writing The Searchers after reading a story in The Atlantic about an experiment at Harvard University. Kind of like Law & Order, some of the action in this series was inspired by news stories. I'm including them here, in case you're curious.
"Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber
" https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/06/harvard-and-the-making-of-the-unabomber/378239/
"Korean Air chairman and his daughter apologise over "nut rage" incident - 2014": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO0q-YUxq7E
MKUltra: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltra
The Milgram Experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
Mental Torture: A Critique of Erasures in US Law
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1619&context=facpubhttps://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1619&context=facpub
About the Author
Ripley Proserpina spends her days huddled near a fire in the frozen northern wilds of Vermont. She lives with her family, three magnificent cats, and a dog she doesn’t deserve.
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Books by Ripley:
Midnight’s Crown:
Briar
Shadow of Thorns
Diadem of Blood and Bones
Daylight’s Crown:
Rose
Echoes of Blood and Glory
The Searchers Series:
Finding Honor
Finding Nora
Finding Valor
Finding Truth
Finding Courage
Finding Strength
Finding Unity
The Replacement Duet:
Forge and Fire
Iron and Ashes Coming soon!
Wishes and Curses Series:
Wrath and Ruin:
Revolution and Rising
Valos of Sonhadra:
Whirlwind
Standalones:
Just Jayne
Boys and Burlesque
The Darkest Fall
The Ice Bride
Missing Linc
While Beauty Sleeps
Co-written with Autumn Reed:
Paranormal Prison series:
Stolen Song
Co-Written with Rebecca Royce:
The Storm Series:
Lightning Strikes
Thunder Rolls
The Deluge
The Coveted:
Eyes in the Darkness
Voices in the Darkness
Return to the Darkness
Wards and Wands:
Meow, Baby
Finding Unity Page 20