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“Okay?” I smiled, through a haze of pain. I could taste blood in my mouth now, too.
“Yes. Better than ever,” I managed to smile weakly, before finally losing consciousness.
Fifty
QUINN
I woke up on a long padded seat, in the back of a strange vehicle I didn’t recognize. But Cole was there in the front seat. Joshua too. My head was cradled in Evan’s lap, and his gentle stroking of my face is what had awakened me, apparently.
“W—Where are we?”
“We aren’t anywhere,” Evan said gently. “Not yet anyway.”
“But… we’re free, aren’t we?”
My question seemed strange. Even to me.
“Yes.”
“No more hiding? No more danger?”
“We were never hiding,” Cole called back from the driver’s seat. His hands guided the wheel with his usual confidence. “But yes. No more danger.”
The road beneath us was smooth and paved. Without even looking, I knew we’d left the hard-packed floor of the desert behind.
“But we’re heading home,” he added with a smile. “And for good, this time.”
My memory came back in bits and snatches. Ferrera was dead. So were his henchmen. My three boys were together again — I could remember that much — along with the recollection of three or fourothermen, all huddled over the broken bodies of their fallen enemies.
The others had come down from the hills, along with Evan. They were dressed like the rocks. Nearly invisible. There was a tourniquet on my leg, tied so tightly I could barely feel anything except pins and needles. But somehow it was still bleeding.
That’s where things got a little fuzzy.
I remembered the jeep, and leaving the desert. Someone stitched me up before we changed vehicles, and I realized it was the dark-haired ally who’d shown up with Joshua. The man had a thick black beard and a kind-hearted smile, and the others were calling him ‘doctor.’ He wasn’t a doctor though. Not yet, anyway. It was something they kept reminding him of, but it seemed they trusted him enough to do the job.
The bullet had gone through my leg, apparently. I slept a lot after that, probably from the medicine I was given, and the next thing I knew we were somewhere else entirely. The men said their goodbyes at a small airfield, clapping each other’s backs while my boys hugged the others in gratitude. I heard some names, but promptly forgot them. I was just too damned tired. Too sore from a dozen cuts and scrapes and God knew what else.
I don’t even remember landing, or leaving the airport. But it didn’t matter. The guys were taking care of me as I regained my strength, and by the time I was able to sit up and look around I realized exactly where we were. The familiarity excited me, perking me up instantly.
“We’re home.”
Evan smiled. Joshua looked back at me from the front seat, while Cole caught my gaze in the rear-view mirror.
“Still a few miles away,” he shrugged. “But that’s right, princess.”
His normally troubled face was uncharacteristically serene and peaceful.
“We’rehome.”
Fifty-One
QUINN
A lot of things took place when we arrived back in Boston, and they seemed to happen all at once. But the first thing the guys did was get me thoroughly checked out, in every way. And happily, scrapes and bruises aside, it turned out that both me and the baby inside me were more than fine.
After that we rested for what seemed like a very long time. The boys drew the shades, locked the doors, and cuddled me on every side. The darkness and silence were relaxing, but it was the comfort of their warm bodies pressed tightly against mine that allowed me to finally turn off my brain. I drifted off to the most blissful, dreamless sleep of my entire life, and woke ravenous and rested almost a whole day later.
From there, I got immediately back to work despite their protests. And they got to work wrapping other things up, including putting out the last few fires still burning after eliminating Ferrera and his men.
