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“Nothing’s wrong. Not now. You’re here beside me. I can breathe again.”
Aww.Now that’s what a girl needed to hear. And she knew exactly what he meant. After everything happened so fast in the stable, just knowing he was safe had her dropping to her knees, weak and shaken.
When life spins out of control as it just had, one sees what’s important, and for her knowing Sam hadn’t been injured by the wild stallion too had been a blessing.
“Here we are. The house is just a bit further up the road.”
Sophia saw a black SUV parked near two police cars in the early morning dusk, and she recognized Anne Carmen and David. Marc approached on the other side and met up with Sam. “They sent three other officers to step in and take over procedures after things had been locked down. Are you ready?”
“And the other places are still a go? Amsterdam too?”
“As far as I know, it’s all lined up.”
Both her and Sam retrieved their weapons and moved in behind the officers. After the other excitement they’d survived, this action seemed low-key and boring. The guard at the door had fallen asleep and was surrounded and hauled away before he could warn those inside.
The lock on the door gave way to the first drive of the ramming device and they were inside. They swept through the house in a matter of seconds, arresting Fedrika and the other two jailers.
Soon, they’d gathered all of the fourteen bewildered hostages together and explained they would soon be free. Sam approached one young man. “Are you Pavel?”
After being studied for a few minutes, the fellow answered, “Yes.”
“Good. I wanted you to know that it’s because of you we were able to find this house. You shared information with Stasia and she’s with us. She will be happy to see you. Where’s Maria?”
Pavel pointed to a smaller person curled in a ball in one of the chairs. She had a cut on her lip, her hair was a matted mess, and she seemed to be in shock. “I will tell her she will see Stasia soon. It will give her something to live for.”
Sam patted Pavel’s back and answered, “We’re taking you all to a beautiful resort now, and every last one of you will be looked after until we sort out your papers and destinations. Don’t be afraid. Tell the others. My name is Sam, and I will be taking care of you all.”
Finally, after searching and retrieving documents and whatever the hostages wished to keep, the place was secured. Everyone could breathe a sigh of relief that no word of their invasion and resulting arrests would get out.
***
By the time Sophia and Sam returned to Barney’s, both were imagining hot showers and a soft bed. They were done for. Which didn’t mean they wouldn’t be ready for the mess of things waiting for them once they woke up. But at the moment, they needed to recover after the night’s gruesome events.
Sophia entered the luxurious bathroom enclosure, stood under the rainforest showerhead, and let the warmth drain away all her tears. The shock and fear she’d survived earlier had been crammed into the background. Now was the time to process. With her eyes closed, totally immersed, she didn’t see or even hear Sam until his hand holding a bar of soap began a pathway of delight down her back.
Stunned, not sure how she felt about his intrusion, she stiffened. His husky voice whispered the words that let her relax back into his arms and let him see her truth. That it mattered to her when a man died, no matter how he’d behaved in life.
“I love you, Special Agent Sophia Dunne. No matter what happens, I’m sorry for what you had to go through earlier tonight.”
She turned into his arms and relaxed her restraints, cried hard, and let the huge ball of pain break into tiny pieces she could handle a little at a time.
