“That remains to be—”
The door flung back on its hinges, and a woman strode in. Full uniform, her brown hair with gray strands pulled back severely from her face. She looked tired.
His voice was breathy. “Mom?”
“Lieutenant Myerson does not wish to make a statement at this point, and neither does his wife. If you gentlemen will step out into the hall, I would like a moment in private with my client.”
They didn’t like it, but they left the room.
She kicked the door shut behind them and rolled her eyes. “Gung-ho…” Her voice descended into muttering that made Sam smile.
Beth moved in close to him.
Abigail Myerson flipped open her briefcase and pulled out a file of papers. “They are transferring you to Oceana. There’s nothing we can do about that, but I’ll go with you.” She looked at Beth. “You’re welcome to ride with me, and then we’ll get you in with Sam. I don’t know how often, or for how long they’re going to allow visits but we’ll argue the circumstances and your pregnancy. I’m hopeful.”
Beth touched her stomach. “You know?”
Abigail stepped up to the end of the bed. “I spoke on the phone with your mother.”
Did Abigail think that was going to help? That any of this was going to help? Beth had never even met his mother. Abigail hadn’t been to their wedding. She’d never been part of their relationship in any way. Her eyes moved to his, giving him a glimpse of deep grief she held underneath the uniform and the take-no-prisoners attitude.
“This doesn’t make up for any of—”
She cut him off. “I know that, Samuel.”
His mom hung her head. She took a breath and looked up. “I know it won’t fix anything. I know it won’t make up for all of the life I’ve missed. All of the ‘us’ that I’ve missed.”
There wasn’t an “us.” Sam had faced that fact a long time ago.
“I want to help you now, if you’ll let me. I want to at least try to make amends, to get to know the man you are now. I was always proud, that was never in question. But you seemed happy. You didn’t seem like you needed me for anything; you were so capable. Now you’re a SEAL. I always knew you could do it, Samuel. I always knew you were so strong. Defending people who need you. A hero. A real hero.” She stopped to take a breath. “I always knew it.”
“It was a lie.”
Her smile faltered, and she started to frown.
“I did need you.”
“But—”
“I needed my mother. Not a lawyer.”
“But now—”
“I’ll accept you helping Beth, but I don’t need you. I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not concerned about what’s going to happen.”
“They kidnapped me. You know that.” Abigail twisted her fingers together in a rare slip of her bravado. “I had time to think—”
He started to scoff.
“When they strapped that bomb to me.” She sniffed. “I know it’s a cliché, but it made me think. Made me wish that I’d done things differently. That I hadn’t given up on my faith. That I hadn’t let you live your life without my help. Without my input. That I hadn’t left it alone when your father told me to.” She paused. “That I’d fought for you.”
“Mom…” He didn’t know what to say. Beth was here. This wasn’t the conversation he wanted to be having right now.
“I want to fight now.”
“Okay.” Sam glanced at Beth. She was speaking for him now?
Beth squeezed his hand. “We need your help. And when Sam has had time to recuperate, when he’s back on his feet, you guys can talk again. This isn’t going to fix itself overnight. You need time to get to know who each other is now. But there’s something I am sure about.”
Abigail looked hopeful. “What’s that?”
“This child will need all the grandparents he can get. And two strong, courageous grandmothers will serve him well, I think.” Beth smiled.
Abigail came over and hugged her. “I’ll buy you two some time together before they move you. And I’ll leave you alone.” She stopped at the door, her eyes on Beth. “Thank you.”
Beth nodded.
Abigail looked at him. “I love you, Samuel.”
The door shut.
Beth shifted on the bed, but he didn’t move his gaze from the door. He hadn’t heard those words from his mother since he was a child and she was tucking him in. Still wearing her uniform, but with her feet bare, she would curl up on the bed beside him and kiss his forehead. I love you, Samuel.
Beth touched his cheek to swipe away the wetness there. “Was that okay? Will you talk with her, when you’re better?”
Sam turned his face to her. “You don’t have to stay. If you’d rather be with your mother, I understand.”
“Is that what you want?”
“I’m trying to be unselfish. I want you to do what you want.”
“My mother is at home, resting. I’m going to check in with her later, but she understands.”
“You said goodbye.”
Beth shifted on the bed. “When did either of us ever actually mean that?”
Sam squeezed his eyes shut. If he could get up, he’d pace and run his hands through his hair. It needed cutting. It was starting to itch his neck.
“Talk to me.”
He opened his eyes. She’d shifted to face him, but didn’t touch. Was she going to leave? Could he ask her to stay?
Her gaze moved over his face. “Say something.”
Sam lifted his hand. She moved closer until he could touch her. He pulled her to him so that she buried her face in his neck and held on. Her body shook gently as she cried. “I want my ring back.”
He wanted his back, too. So badly. “Promise me something first.”
She pulled back, her eyes red with tears. “What?” She looked prepared to give him anything he asked for. Maybe this was going to turn out good after all.
God, please.
“Promise me that you’ll work on this with me. Promise me that you’ll go with me to talk to someone. Or we can take a class. I’ll buy every marriage book there is, and we can read them together. I want to know how to do this right. I don’t want to wing it and risk the whole thing falling apart. We have to work on us. We have to learn how to live with each other all the time, and not just when we can. We have to learn how to be the best parents we can be, so that kid doesn’t grow up thinking we’re dysfunctional idiots who have no clue what we’re doing.”
Beth laughed.
“I want it all, with you. I love you, every part of me, and I always have. Even when I was gone—when I was fighting—it was only ever about you.”
“I love you, Sam.” Beth touched his cheeks. “Every part of me. All for you.”
“You’ll do this with me?”
She nodded. “Every day.”
Sam pulled her close, closed his eyes, and reveled in the feel of his wife in his arms. He’d missed her every day he’d fought. Now he would be home, fighting an entirely different war. Fighting for life. For his family. Fighting through good days and bad, for the best kind of peace there was.
The peace of knowing he had it all.
Thank you, Lord.
Beth clutched him tighter. “Thank you, Lord.”
**
As soon as they let him go, Shadrach borrowed a truck from an old friend. Two weeks. That was how long it had taken to unravel the details. To clear him of the president’s death. Though when Susan Sheraton had strode in, every bit the first lady and showing no sign that she’d been through the worst time in her life, things had started moving quicker.
The first thing he’d done was visit Billy’s grave to say goodbye.
After that, Shadrach drove for hours before he finally reached his destination. He pulled up just before lunch and strode into the office building. Food was the last thing on his mind. The receptionist stood up. She opened her mouth, and he got ready to tell her to sit back down when Ben Mason e
merged in the foyer. Probably had some kind of secret door.
“Yes, Gunney?”
“Not anymore.”
“Yeah, I heard about that.”
“And Nadia Marie?” Shadrach’s stomach flipped, the way it always did when he thought about his sister. “Has there been any word from them?”
Ben shook his head. “She and Bolton haven’t shown up anywhere, and no one knows where they are.”
The man didn’t look too happy. Well, neither was Shadrach. “I need to check on Remy, but I think my sister needs me, too.”
“I’m not sure Remy needs you.”
“She was scared. You know what happened to her. She didn’t want me. She didn’t want anyone. Except you, apparently.” All the bitterness inside him since Ben had carried her from the plane spewed out.
“She’s too close to you, and she likely didn’t want you to help her. It’s why she let me get her out of there.”
Shadrach had figured that much out. At least he hoped that’s all it was. “Where is she now?”
“I don’t know.”
Seriously? The guy was clearly lying. “Well I have to find Nadia.”
“You think something is wrong?”
“Twin intuition.” Shadrach nodded. “Something is definitely wrong.”
Ben Mason tipped his head to one side. “I pay well, but the benefits suck. You want a job?”
Shadrach took his hand. Shook it. “Yes, I do.”
Epilogue
Valentine’s Day
The helicopter touched down.
“We’re late. We’re so late.”
Sam chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m a bridesmaid! How can I not worry?” Beth wailed. She clutched her round belly. Not big, but more noticeable by far. “I’m going to look hideous. I’m going to look like a whale.”
Sam touched her waist and leaned down to kiss the tiny bump. “Sexy whale.”
She squealed and pushed him away. In the front of the chopper, Daire started to laugh. The man had become a friend in the past few weeks, helping them get around. The media followed them everywhere, trying to hound them for every detail of what happened.
“Enough of all that.” Susan Sheraton smiled. Despite her grief she seemed happy to be headed back to Sanctuary for Matthias and Frannie’s wedding. Sam didn’t know them well, but these women did. And they were his life now.
Daire pulled the door open for him. Sam climbed out, praying with a grateful heart as he did, each breath thanking God he was still alive. His immune system wasn’t as strong as it once was, and he’d been in the hospital longer than anyone had thought he would be. Eventually he’d been given an honorable discharge.
Now he was getting his own security company off the ground, his first few jobs the protection of a couple of government officials Ben didn’t want to bother with. The man could have been put out. Instead Ben punted him jobs that fit Sam’s specific skills.
John stood by his Jeep with his wife and son. Andra’s stomach was definitely bigger than it had been.
“You’re pregnant!” Beth ran to her.
Sam laughed. “Hormones.” He shared a look of commiseration with John as they shook hands.
John folded Susan into his arms. “Ma’am.”
“Enough of that.” She smacked his arm and chuckled.
Pat hugged her and then Beth. “I’m glad you’re here. Miss Frannie is freaking out about the cake.”
Sam chuckled. “We’d better go, then.”
John tossed him the keys. “I’ll get a ride.” He crossed to the helicopter, where Daire waited—holding a manila envelope.
**
John watched his car drive away, toward town. He turned to Daire. “Is that it?”
Daire nodded. “The town of Sanctuary is no longer under the control of the US government.”
“The new president really signed it?”
“First day on the job. Sanctuary now belongs to a collection of interested private parties. With the understanding that the US Marshals may, at any time, refer to you select witnesses who require a particular brand of protection.”
John shook his hand. “Tell Ben I said thank you.”
Grant had been involved, also. Both before he’d resigned, and after he’d gone to work for Ben. It was a new path for Grant, but he had so many Washington contacts that his expertise could not be ignored. Ben had been glad when he’d accepted the position in his office.
The story of Remy and the bomb had broken in the media, but the location of Sanctuary had been kept under wraps. Thank you, Lord. That was a miracle. Not that Ben would ever let them go without a backup plan.
Sanctuary was safe, with everyone who knew about it either dead or under contract to keep silent. His life would be a constant battle to trust God and not worry if they would be exposed one day, or if they would have to uproot the town and relocate to a different state. Ben already had a plan and three possible places picked out.
But that was a worry for tomorrow.
Today, they were having a wedding.
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Chapter 1
The fireball rushed toward the clouds. The wave of flames roiled and turned black, lacing the air with smoke. Bolton Farrera shielded his eyes as pain screamed from his low spine down to his knees. Smoke billowed from the wreckage of the helicopter that he’d barely crawled out of before it exploded.
Not good.
He turned his head one way and then the other. Nadia Marie lay on her side, facing away from him. Nadia. She looked a little singed but otherwise okay, except for the fact she was unconscious. Sun shone on her hair and made the brown strands lighten. She was out of reach.
Same old story. The miracle he could never claim.
Bolton lay back on the grass and tried to push the pain to a corner of his mind. He had to get help, get to a phone, something. He needed Nadia to wake up. He needed to be able to walk.
Truck tires squealed. A heavy door slammed, and a man ran over, keys jingling. White cowboy hat and the face of someone’s grandpa, complete with gray stubble.
His knees popped, but he hit the grass beside Bolton. “Are you okay?” Grandpa-guy unclipped a cell phone from his belt and touched the screen. “I’ll call the sheriff.”
Bolton grabbed the phone.
The man sputtered. “Hey!”
Bolton fisted his right hand and clocked Grandpa in the jaw. The old man fell back in a heap, out cold. Bolton dialed, praying the number still worked after so many years.
“Pablo’s Pizza.”
“It’s Bolton Farrera. Tell Ben I activated Thea’s necklace. He’ll be able to use it to find Remy.”
“Please hold.”
Bolton pitched the phone into the flaming wreckage of the helicopter. No trace. He couldn’t afford to let anyone find him and Nadia—at least not until he wanted them to.
He’d activated the necklace to save Remy, but it wouldn’t escape the notice of whoever was left hunting him. And he knew Dante was still breathing. That he still hated Bolton with everything in him.
Remy’s life.
His life.
Bolton would do everything he could to keep himself and Nadia under the radar of whoever cared to look.
He didn’t try to sit up but shifted and reached for Nadia Marie. Bolton gave her shoulder a gentle shake. They had only each other now. They weren’t in Sanctuary anymore, protected by the US Marshals Service in what was their first and only witness protection town. In Sanctuary every resident had a price on their head, and yet they lived in safety because of the strictures placed on them.
He glanced at her again. It made his heart squeeze every time.
He knew exactly why she’d gotten in that
helicopter: him. Her feelings weren’t hard to figure out, and he’d been floored that she’d feel that way about him. But that was Sanctuary. Out here, this was the real world, and she didn’t know who he was. Only who he’d been in witness protection.
Nadia Marie moaned and shifted.
Flashing blue and red lights. Bolton lifted his head. A cop car.
“Nadia?” He shoved at her shoulder and tried to sit up. It hurt, and he had to come up without bending his spine too much. He probably looked like the vampire, Lestat, emerging from his slumber. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but that would help his story so he didn’t wipe it away.
Bolton shifted closer to her.
The sheriff strode over, and for a second Bolton thought it was John Mason. Except Sheriff Mason was a marshal, not an elected official. John wore jeans, unlike the beige sheriff’s uniform this man wore. The local law surveyed the unconscious grandpa, the rousing woman, Bolton, and the helicopter wreckage. His gaze came back to Bolton. “This is going to be good. I can tell.”
Bolton had been charming cops since he’d boosted that car on his fourteenth birthday. “It’s been a rough day.”
“I can tell that, too.”
“You wanna know the kicker?”
The sheriff motioned to the grandpa. “Besides why my friend here looks like he got punched in the jaw?”
Yep.
“My wheelchair was on that chopper.”
The sheriff’s head actually jerked. Surprise. “Ambulance is on its way. You can’t walk at all?”
He didn’t have a wheelchair, but he needed one now. Bolton glanced down at his singed chambray shirt, new black Wranglers, and black boots. “Don’t suppose my hat is around here somewhere?”
The sheriff stepped past him and retrieved the black Stetson Bolton had worn every day for years. The hat fit the clothes, and the sheriff would put the two together and decide for himself the kind of man Bolton was. Whether that would be true or not. Bolton had to keep Nadia Marie safe until she could figure out her next move, but Bolton didn’t have that luxury.
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