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And off we went. Thomas and I were silent in the car travelling to Chris and Val’s house.
* * *
Milla wasn’t just our heart. She was our anchor. Always had been, forevermore would be.
I’d come to realise that the prettiest of smiles hide the deepest secrets. The most captivating violet-blue eyes held the most tears that refused to escape. And the biggest hearts held the most pain.
She’d come round, woken up as the drugs filtered from her system. The doctor we called in to check her over as soon as we got her back okayed her physically. Mentally, well, we knew that would be a different story, especially when she found out that her dad had to be lighted to the hospital as a matter of urgency.
Updates on Dean streamed through every few hours. He was past the worst. He’d been so lucky that I genuinely wondered if there was some godlike being making sure he didn’t meet the maker sooner than they wanted him to. She’d soon realise that her son was in the care of Texas’ parents, practically within walking distance of her.Can’t believe she has a kid.It was jarring. Her fleeing all those years ago made sense, everything added up.
We’d brought her back to Chris’ house. His reasoning was that it was a safe neutral space and Val could care for her as we tied up loose ends. It made sense. But my senses, as well as Preston’s and Texas’ were frazzled, firing on all ends. I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept since everything that happened yesterday had gone down. I was unable to. Too much had happened; we had a ridiculous number of issues to sort out. Not that they wouldn’t transfer over to today, they would.
The sun started to make its way higher in the sky, proclaiming a new day, but all of them rolled into one at this point in time.
Texas had been smoking like a chimney. He was giving into that temptation more lately, especially when we found out Milla and Adam were together, or believed they were. Since discovering the depths and truth of everything, it was like he didn’t even care that it had become a need instead of an every so often habit. We all had our coping mechanisms. That was his.
Preston was struggling to rein in his inner demon after being let loose. We still had Adam to deal with, so I guessed he awaited that fate until he locked it back in its box, securing it tightly before we got to see a glimpse of his lightness again. I didn’t blame him. Tension gnawed inside me, I had a feeling that it wouldn’t evaporate for a long time to come.
Guilt weighed heavily on my conscience; this whole situation had slipped past my observations so easily, it made me question everything I was.How did I miss all the signs? They were right in front of me.
“Stop it,” Miles voiced as I sat in the recliner armchair. He plopped down on the one next to me.
I’d come to headquarters to help wrap up the whole thing. There were many tasks with little time to do them, making sure we placed our trust in the correct people to help rescue other victims from their locations, getting them to safety. We’d only got a few out ourselves. This had become greater than any of us ever imagined when we’d first taken on this case.
“What?” I rubbed my hand over my face, trying my best not to yawn and fall asleep. The dark circles under my eyes were prominent.
“You’re blaming yourself, I can tell. Knock it off. You can’t see everything, Hollis.”
“But—”
“You’re only human, not a goddamn machine.” He cut me off with a thoughtful expression. “You watch out for everyone. Nothing slipped through the cracks. It was just very cleverly concealed that even the best of us didn’t see. You start blaming yourself, you’re gonna go down a slippery slope that not even you can return from. Trust. Me.”
I stared at him properly, feeling that thrumming bond of friendship and loyalty, and I silently thanked the Owls for bringing another brother into my life who I’d lay my life down for at any given moment.
Dammit.He was right. I didn’t mope around feeling sorry for myself or others. I needed some semblance of control though, as everything felt like it was slipping through my fingertips like fine grains of sand.
Miles never shared much of his personal life with any of us. I got the feeling that was deliberate. It sounded like he had talked from experience. I just hoped one day he could open up enough so we could lend a helping hand to his inner demons too.
“She’s got a son,” he stated.
“Yeah.”
“That’s pretty fucking cool. You know he’s got a load of us looking out for him now.” He smirked. “How do you feel, knowing she’s got a kid with him?” He didn’t speak the betrayer’s name aloud, which I was thankful for.
I rubbed my hand over my chin. “Honestly? I couldn’t care less, she’s still mine—ours. Her son is an added extra, a good one. I’m still a bit shocked I guess, but it’s nothing in comparison to what she’s going to be dealing with.”
“Good.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Treat her well. Come on, we’ve gotta go see our resident geek.” I stood up and followed him down the hallway to Thomas’ office.
His office was like walking into a living version of the matrix, screens fixed everywhere on the walls with opened files and coding that made me feel stupid for not understanding it, when he chatted about it so simply.
“Did you ever find out about that hacker?” I asked inquisitively about who could match his skill set.
Thomas smirked, “Yes, she’s annoying as hell but hot as Hades. Cleared it all, and she checked out.”
“What’s her reasoning?” I asked, curious. Nobody helped with something as big as what she did without asking for something in return. No freebies in our line of work, or this world.
“Apparently, it was a job.” His face turned serious. “She admitted who’d given her the task, and she was okayed to drop his name to us for confirmation, so she’s off the hook.”
