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"Any allergies?" the paramedic asked, narrowing his eyes under his bushy gray eyebrows.
"No, and I feel fine." She gave him her best pageant-winning smile.
He harrumphed. "What you should do is go to the hospital for observation just in case, but I don't think you're gonna follow that advice."
She didn't say a thing. Sometimes winning meant keeping your big mouth shut.
The paramedic went on, "Just be careful. If you start feeling dizzy or light-headed at all, come straight to the emergency department." He eyeballed the cut on her cheekbone that had already stopped bleeding.
"Did you really knock the guy out with a baton-twirling trick?"
She nodded, still not quite believing she'd managed to make it happen. Wait until she told Albert.
He laughed as he stood up, clearing her way to leave. "Remind me never to piss off a beauty queen."
"Yeah, we're real brawlers," she said, chuckling. "Thanks for your help."
She got out of the ambulance and began searching for Isaac and Essie. She finally spotted them just past a small group of women and children standing near one of the big black SUVs. An invisible weight lifted off her chest at the sight. Just seeing them was like finding treasure she hadn't known she'd been looking for but was damn glad she'd found.
It took her a minute to get through the swarm of agents, paramedics, and others gathered around the chapel, but she finally made it to their sides. But by the time she got there, they weren't alone anymore. A man with a cold smile and serious eyes in a Kevlar vest with ATF printed across the back in yellow letters was with them.
"Tamara Post?" the man asked.
She nodded.
"You do know there's still a warrant out for your arrest? Transporting a minor across state lines is a federal offense."
Her gut twisted. Instinctively, she reached out for Isaac's hand. Just the touch of his warm fingers helped steady her.
"You don't understand," Essie said, squeezing her body between Tamara's and the agent's. "You guys saw what my father is capable of. She was saving me. If it wasn't for her, he would have—"
The agent held up his hand, stopping Essie mid-rant. "I understand that, but the law is the law."
Isaac stiffened beside Tamara, no doubt ready to pounce on the smaller man, but she squeezed his hand, stopping him before any real trouble could start. That wasn't going to help anything. She'd broken the law. She'd have to pay the price.
"It's all right," she said, swallowing the emotion clogging her throat. "I knew what I was doing when I took Essie."
"And why, exactly, did you do that, ma'am?" the agent asked.
"Because it was the right thing to do." Hell, if she was going to be in handcuffs next to Jarrod in a few minutes, she might as well let it all out. "You saw what was going on here. He was forcing his own daughter to marry against her will when you guys raided the compound. He didn't care about her or any of his people. He only wanted power and control."
The agent rubbed his hand against his jaw. "So you hid her away to keep her safe?"
"Absolutely." And she'd do it again.
"That's what I'd figured you say,"
he said, his whole body relaxing from his on-duty stance. "I talked to the prosecutor a few minutes ago. We arrested the judge who issued your warrant while he was guarding the illegal armory. That definitely brings into question anything he may have done in a legal capacity to help the Crest Society and Fane. The prosecutor is quashing the warrant against you as we speak, so you don't have to worry about that anymore. And since this girl's daddy is headed off to prison for a very long time, I don't think he'll be in a place to contest your custody of her as willed by your sister."
A shaky laugh escaped and she leaned against Isaac, needing the support to stay standing on her suddenly weak legs. "I don't know what to say."
"Just don't ever come after me with a twirling baton and we'll call it even." The agent winked at her and nodded to Isaac before turning and walking back to the mass of ATF agents gathered near the armory.
Everything swam in her watery vision as Isaac wrapped his arms around her. A second set of arms encircled her. She reached out to curl her own arms around both Isaac and Essie. They'd done it. Everyone was safe. After a minute or an hour or an eternity, they broke apart. Each of them was grinning from ear to ear like idiots. Happy, happy idiots.
"So I guess that means I'm coming home with you, Aunt T," Essie said.
She nodded, almost too relieved to form words. "You bet."
