by Paris Hansen
Had any of it even happened five years ago, or had he convinced himself of the situation back then like he had now?
In the beginning, she’d felt sorry for him, but now he made her skin crawl.
Zach Bennett was fucking crazy.
And they were getting nowhere. She needed to get out of this room. She needed to get these kids away from him and back into their mother’s arms. Though it wouldn’t be easy taking Rebecca away from the only mother she’d ever known to introduce her to a stranger she was supposed to call mom. The poor girl was going to need a shit ton of therapy.
Sloane needed to do something, and she had to hope she wasn’t wrong about Cade being right outside the room. She also hoped he was ready for the shit to hit the fan.
“You didn’t do this for her, Zach. You did this for yourself. I bet she can’t even speak and hasn’t been able to since the accident you caused.”
“Shut up. Shut up.”
“You killed all of these people for her, and she doesn’t even know who you are. She can’t take care of herself or anyone else. She’s no one’s mother, Zach. Hell, she’s barely your sister. She’s a shell that looks like her but isn’t her. She’s just a broken doll.”
“Shut up. Shut up,” Zach chanted as he took a step toward her.
She spread her arms open, making a bigger shield for Rebecca. “Don’t come any closer, Zach.”
“I’ve made her happy. She didn’t want her husband to kick me out. She didn’t want to go to some home. She told me she wanted a baby.”
Sloane shook her head. “Bullshit, Zach. It was all in your head, and deep down, you know it.”
“No, it wasn’t. Shut up.”
Zach’s shuffling must have made enough noise that it worried Cade. Before she could say anything else, he was announcing his presence, his gun trained on Zach as he told him to drop his weapon.
“I can’t let her down,” Zach screamed as he brought both of his hands up to his head.
He tapped the scalpel against his skull as he grabbed a handful of hair with his free hand. His eyes were wide and frantic, darting around the room as he tried to figure out his next move.
Sloane scooted back on the bed, keeping Rebecca behind her. The little girl clung to her neck, nearly choking her as she squeezed. Zach lunged toward her but then stopped short as Cade stepped further into the room. He looked back at his sister, who continued to stare off into space, nothing happening around her even registering in her brain.
His gaze darted back toward her and Rebecca, but he was looking past Sloane. Even so, she could see the resolve in his eyes.
“Close your eyes, sweetheart,” he told his niece, then as soon as he was sure she had, he plunged the scalpel into his neck, his body immediately crumpling to the ground.
“Uncle Zach...what’s hap...hap..happening?” a tiny voice asked from behind her.
“Oh fuck,” Sloane said. “Rebecca, keep your eyes closed. Please don’t look.”
Cade ran to Zach’s side as blood spurted out around the scalpel protruding from his neck. He looked over his shoulder at Sloane. “Get the baby and get them out of here.”
Without hesitation, she pulled Rebecca around her body until she sat on her hip and advised her again to keep her eyes closed tight. Then she stood, skirting around Cade and Zach so that she could grab the baby from Bethany. As Sloane pulled the baby out of the other woman’s arms, Bethany’s gaze focused on Sloane for a split second, then just as quickly, she went back to staring off into space as her hands fell into her lap.
Unable to process what happened, she rushed from the room, just in time to find Reid and his team breaching the front door. She tipped her head in the direction of the bedroom but didn’t stop her forward progress. She needed air, and she needed to know the kids were safe. There wasn’t much doubt in her mind Zach was either dead or pretty damn close, but part of her still felt like he would come running out of the house and attack them all.
She’d be having nightmares about Zach Bennett and his sister for a long time, but at least she’d be able to chase them off with the memory of saving the two girls she currently held in her arms. As she handed the baby off to a paramedic, Rebecca tightened her grip around her neck. She gave her a gentle squeeze as she moved Rebecca, so she clung to her front, her chubby legs wrapped around her waist. Sloane knew she needed comfort, needed to know everything was going to be okay.
“I know someone really excited to meet you, Rebecca. I know you’re going to love her.”
Rebecca didn’t answer, instead burrowing her head deeper into Sloane’s neck, her hot tears soaking into Sloane’s skin. Her heart broke for the poor child who’d just had her entire world rocked, for the little girl who’d grown up with a catatonic mother and an uncle who’d stolen her from her mother’s womb.
She snuggled the little girl for what felt like hours but was probably less than fifteen minutes. When Cade finally joined them, Sloane was near ready to fall over. She hadn’t been able to find somewhere to sit down, everything was chaos, and she didn’t want to be in the way. Now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off, she needed to sit down before her legs gave out.
Cade could read her a hell of a lot better than she thought as he guided her to his rental car. He helped her into the backseat, which was more challenging than it looked with a tiny human attached to her front. She let her head fall back against the seat, her eyes closing for a minute.
“Did that really happen?” she asked, her voice shaky from adrenaline and fighting off tears.
“You did a hell of a job in there, Sloane.”
Her eyes fluttered open, her head lolling to the side so she could look at him. “Is he…”
She couldn’t even say the words. Not in front of Rebecca. It didn’t matter that she was fairly certain the child in her arms was asleep; it wasn’t something she should hear, even in her subconscious. She’d likely have nightmares about this day for the rest of her life, even with therapy.
“Yes. It was nearly instant.”
She closed her eyes again, her breath leaving her body in a loud rush. Sloane hadn’t even realized she’d been holding it while she waited for Cade to answer her unfinished question.
“Good,” she sighed. “So, it’s over then.”
“Looks that way. Though there’s one last thing that needs to be done.”
Sloane opened her eyes again and looked down at the child in her arms. It was the final piece, the only thing left that needed to be put back into place. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but she planned on being there for both of them every step of the way. It was the least she could do after dropping the ball five years ago. They all needed the closure more than they probably realized. Maybe then they could all move on.
Whatever that meant.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The nervous energy was stifling, the air surrounding them feeling heavy and warm. Sloane maneuvered the car through the streets of downtown San Francisco, wondering how the next hour was going to go. It was five years in the making, but it would be painful for everyone involved.
Rolling down the window, Sloane let the crisp spring air fill the car, hoping it would wash away the worry and uncertainty both she and Maggie were feeling. For a week, they prepared for this moment, yet nothing they said or did could recreate what they were feeling now that they were on their way to introduce Maggie to her daughter. Between waiting for the DNA test results and dealing with the state’s red tape, it felt like the day was never going to come.
Even if she hadn’t been waiting for the day for the last five years, Sloane couldn’t help but be invested now that she’d held little Rebecca in her arms. Every day since the incident at the Gibbons’s house, Sloane visited Rebecca in her temporary home. They chatted about Rebecca’s favorite things, and with the help of a child psychologist, Sloane fielded the hard questions about her mom and Uncle Zach.
How did you explain to a five-year-old that their entire life was a lie?
Apparently, very slowly.
“What if she doesn’t like me?” Maggie asked from the passenger seat for at least the third time since they’d left her house.
“She’s going to love you. It just might take a while. This is all confusing for her.”
Maggie sighed, then rolled her window down a bit to allow the cool air in. “I know that. And I know I can’t rush in there and hug her like I want to, and I can’t tell her who I am right away.”
A small sob escaped the other woman, which had also been happening periodically since leaving Maggie’s house. Sloane glanced over at her friend to make sure she was going to be okay. She was fully prepared to pull over if she had to; she figured they wouldn’t make it to the child services office without stopping at least once. The situation was unfair and heartbreaking, and she had no idea what she could do to make it easier for Maggie and Rebecca.
“Do you want to stop? We can pull over, get the crying out, then try again.”
“No,” Maggie said as she shook her head emphatically. “Let’s get this over with. I want to bring my baby girl home. The sooner she’s with me, the sooner we’ll find our way to where we should be.”
“That’s a great way to think about it. Silver linings...at least you don’t have to deal with Dan.”
Maggie laughed so hard, she snorted. A damn good sign if you asked Sloane.
“I was so worried that the asshole was going to make our life hell, but he’s already signed his rights away. He didn’t want kids in the first place, which was news to me but works out in the long run. That beautiful little girl doesn’t need any more toxic people in her life.”
“No, she doesn’t. The transition is going to be difficult enough for both of you without having him causing problems. I’m glad he was reasonable about something.”
“Me too,” Maggie admitted. “Have you heard anything new about Casey and her baby?”
Sloane smiled. “Her husband called me yesterday. Casey should be going home today. She’s still got a long recovery period ahead of her, but her doctor is optimistic now that she’s out of the woods as far as infections go.”
“You saved her life, Sloane. Your stubbornness saved a lot of people that day. I don’t care what those assholes at the FBI say. You deserve a medal.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. I did what I had to do. I get why they’re pissed at me. It could’ve just as easily ended badly. Instead of saving everyone, I could have got everyone killed.”
“Well, at least you tried. If you hadn’t, we know things would have ended badly. Casey would be dead while a madman raised her daughter. And you and I wouldn’t be heading to the reunion I’ve been waiting five years to have.”
Sloane didn’t know how to respond. Not that it mattered since she knew Maggie wouldn’t listen to anything other than an acknowledgment that she was right. Which, for the most part, Sloane agreed with. If she hadn’t gone rogue, more people would’ve died. But she also had to admit she could’ve gone about things differently, especially on that last day. Zach Bennett didn’t have to die.
They made it another few blocks before the tears started anew. Glancing over at her, Sloane asked again if Maggie wanted to pull over, but she waved her off.
“I’m nervous as hell, Sloane, but these are happy tears. I’m finally getting to bring my little girl home. Thank you for making this happen.”
Tears welled in Sloane’s eyes, but she blinked them away so she could focus on the road and the traffic around her. It felt weird to be thanked for doing something she should’ve done five years ago. Of course, she couldn’t tell Maggie how the guilt still ate at her. Even with the happy ending they were getting, Sloane still felt like she didn’t deserve Maggie’s thanks.
She’d lost five years with her daughter because Sloane couldn’t get the job done.
But the moment didn’t need to be ruined by Sloane’s pity party or her inability to accept Maggie’s gratitude. In another couple of blocks and probably fifteen minutes of crying in the parking lot because the nerves were too overwhelming, she was going to be part of reuniting a family. For now, she needed to relish in how amazing it felt.
The guilt would still be there tomorrow. It could wait until then.
Chapter Forty-Eight
It was a beautiful day.
At least, it seemed to be. She couldn’t see outside from where she currently sat, but someone would likely move her closer to the window later on in the day, maybe after they fed her lunch. Then they’d tuck a blanket around her lap and read to her the way the little girl used to.
She could hear the door open behind her, though no one came into her room. No one spoke to her in the loud, cheery tone everyone there liked to use. She wasn’t deaf, but you wouldn’t know that by the way people talked to her.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Matthews, but there’s no way Mrs. Gibbons could have cared for a baby. She’s completely non-functioning.”
She didn’t know who Ms. Matthews was, but she recognized the voice of the man. He was her doctor, at least that’s what he told her every day when he came to check on her. He seemed nice enough, not that it made a difference what she thought.
“What does that mean?”
The woman was another voice she recognized, but she didn’t know why. If only she’d say more, maybe she could put it all together. Maybe she’d remember.
“Mrs. Gibbons was lucky to survive the accident that caused her brain damage, though I’m not sure if lucky is the right word. She’s been in a state of catatonia since the accident. She doesn’t move on her own. She can’t speak. She is wholly dependent on other people for her basic needs.”
“That’s so heartbreaking. Does she know what’s going on around her?”
It was her. The woman that saved them. The woman that put an end to the madness.
The voices behind her began to fade as the speakers walked away. She wished she could tell them she was okay. She wished she could tell them she was glad the woman had found her. She wanted them to know that everything was going to be alright.
It was finally over.
She was finally free.
Epilogue
“You need to get her to stay.”
The minute the words were out of Cade’s mouth, he regretted them.
The last thing he wanted to do was deal with Reid Morgan and his attitude, but without his help, Cade didn’t know what else to do. With the loose ends from the Mommy Murderer case wrapped up, there was nothing else keeping Sloane in town besides her best friend and her niece. Eventually, she’d have to go home.
Eventually, she’d want to go home and see her dog. She’d want to go back to the safe and secure and anonymous life she was living in Washington.
But he didn’t want her to go.
And more importantly, he couldn’t let her go.
No matter how badly he wanted to keep her in San Francisco for personal reasons, the job had to come first. Cade needed to focus on clearing her, then figuring out who the killer really was. Once that was out of the way, if she didn’t completely hate his guts, maybe he could give in to the desire brewing inside of him.
“You know she’s not involved.”
Cade turned to look at Morgan, who was sitting next to him on the deck and fought the urge to flip the man off. It didn’t even matter that he wouldn’t see it because he was focused on his family. He was tired of having the same argument with him. They’d been having it since the day Cade showed up with piles of evidence to the contrary. Although, those piles meant a whole lot of nothing to him now that he’d gotten to know Sloane a little.
“I want to believe that.”
“Then believe it,” Morgan growled. “What you see is what you get with her. She might be totally off the rails sometimes and more than a handful, but she’s not a cold-blooded killer. There is no way she’s involved in those murders, no matter what you Quantico assholes believe. Those notes are not conclusive. Someone is trying to set her up. How can you not see t
hat?”
“I know. The last note came while she was here working on the case, which the killer couldn’t have known unless he watched her. But then they’d know there’s no way she could’ve been in California and Virginia at the same time. Unless that was the point, and she’s working with someone who wanted to throw us off by murdering someone on the other side of the country while Sloane was with the FBI.”
Morgan sighed, then took a long drink from his bottle of beer, his eyes never leaving the laughing group of women in the middle of Emily’s backyard. The timing of the BBQ to celebrate the end of the case was great. The mid-May weather was warm enough to enjoy the outdoors, but not so hot they were all swimming in a pool of their own sweat.
Cade had been surprised when both Morgans invited him to the BBQ, though he assumed both of them came from Emily, and Reid was just acting like a good brother. He’d also received an invite from Sloane, which was only slightly less surprising.
Despite the way the last few days of the investigation had gone, she was the only one working the case who seemed to like him at all. Even after he ignored her intuition, repeating the mistake the team made the first time around, she still wanted him around. Over the last two weeks, they’d talked often, mostly after she’d gone with Maggie Whitten to reunite her with her daughter and after her trip to visit Bethany Gibbons in her new assisted living facility.
No matter how hard he tried to keep things strictly professional between them, the lines were becoming blurred. He liked her more than he could ever admit to anyone, even himself. But he couldn’t allow himself to step over the line. Not until he’d cleared her completely from being involved in his case. Then he’d have to hope she didn’t want to kick his ass for keeping something so big from her.