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His eyes glowed as he looked down at her. Then he slowly grinned. “I’m not sure that’s going to be enough,” he said softly.

“When I get out of here, I’m going to provide positive reinforcement for when you aren’t feeling guilty.” Her voice was purse sin.

He grinned. “I’ll hold you to that.”

She laughed. “You can take it to the bank.”

Epilogue

“Jesus,” Jerrod whispered as he put down the beer he’d been holding and reached behind Ryker to grab the bottle of single malt that their father kept on hand for special occasions or emergencies.

“So do you talk to Lee anymore?” Ryker asked.

Jerrod gave him a surprised look. “Didn’t I tell you? He died in a car wreck, must have been about six years ago.”

“No, you never did. What happened?”

“It was out in Oregon, on one of those two-lane highways in the snow. The best anybody was able to figure is that he must have swerved to miss a deer. He ended up going over the side of the road into a gorge. They said he died on impact.” Jerrod took a sip of the scotch.

“Weird,” Ryker said.

“That was my thought. Especially since it happened a month after his parents were killed in that home invasion.”

“His wife and kids?” Ryker asked.

“They disappeared. But I checked up on them. They moved to some small town in Texas. They’re living off his life insurance policy.”

“At least that’s something,” Ryker sighed.

“I still can’t believe your imagination. Someone torturing a guy with Ajax. Your mind works in strange ways, Brother. You could write fiction.”

Ryker grinned. “If someone really were that evil, that’d be an appropriate way for them to die, don’t you think?”

Jerrod laughed. “Yeah, it would be. Hypothetically speaking, how would this story end? What would have happened to the others in the organization?”

Ryker pulled down a glass and poured himself a shot. “The good guy who likes to use cleaning products would get updates from his teammate about the dead man’s lieutenant, but the guy wouldn’t have had any luck.”

“You know, Taylor Quick would be a nice name if you were ever to write a book,” Jerrod gave Ryker a pointed look.

Ryker shut his eyes, then opened them. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve already started my manuscript and I named the leader’s right-hand-man Ely Roberts!”

“No, I would definitely have two of them, and one of them would be Quaker,” Jerrod said as he poured himself another shot, and went to top off Ryker’s glass.

“No more for me, I’ve got to talk to Gideon. I want to do it with a clear head.”

“Understood.” Jerrod took another sip of Scotch. “You know what, Baby Brother? You have the makings of a bestseller, as soon as you figure out the ending, which I know you will. I have faith in you.”

Ryker felt his chest tighten.

“Thanks, Jerrod, that means a lot.”

They just stood there awhile… silent… contemplating life. Finally, Jerrod spoke up.

“I really like Amy. Hell, the whole family does.”

“I’m one lucky bastard. I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without Amy.”

Jerrod peeked around Ryker’s shoulder and looked into the McQueen family kitchen. “Your girl sure seems to be fitting in. I thought you said she was worried.”