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“Because it led me back here. Right where I was supposed to be. I went away to rehab this time. Stayed longer than recommended because I really wanted my head screwed on straight. Paige, she came to see me almost every week,” he smiled. “She saved my life. When I came back here, I had to reconcile with my aunt… with Mom and Dad, then I had to face Paige’s father.”
“He obviously forgave you,” she smiled.
“He did because he knew me better than I knew myself. They knew who I really was, and I was only just discovering that. I’ve been incredibly blessed with an amazing wife, a strong, brave son, and a job that I love. That job has led me to be able to create some of the most advanced prosthetic devices in the world. My own included, and that has helped hundreds of veterans live better lives and, hopefully, not take their own life.”
“You’re all so remarkable,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not sure how I add to all of this. I’m just an interior designer.”
“You’re not ‘just’ anything,” said Bella. “You’re important to Abe, which makes you important to all of us. You’ll continue doing design work. We’ll find a way to make sure of that.”
“Thank you. All of you.”
They smiled, then stared out the glass windows as the SUVs pulled up, and the men stepped out one at a time. Parker and Ryan knew the look. They knew the mannerisms of men who had to make very difficult decisions but made them anyway for the good of those around them. It was written on their faces. Etched in the wrinkles around their eyes and the exhaustion in their bodies.
“I believe your prince has returned,” grinned Razor. Lyra looked at him, staring through the glass with a big smile on his face. She nodded.
“If you’ll excuse me. I have something I need to do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“So, Garvin and Golubev are gone?” asked Lyra.
They’d made love for hours when he got back. She could still smell him on her body, but she prayed that no one else could smell him as well. It was comforting and made her feel whole again. It was the thing she’d missed, the thing she’d craved when she couldn’t touch him all those months. Couldn’t call him. It was painful.
“We got them, but there’s still your uncle and Quetz,” said Luke.
“And the woman,” said Lyra.
“What?” frowned Abe.
“The daughter of Golubev. She’s still out there. She won’t let his death go unnoticed or unpunished. Even I know that’s now how these people work. We have to find all three, or I’ll still be running for my life.”
“She’s right,” nodded Cam. “Damn. She’s right.”
“Hiro?”
“I’m on it,” he called back.
“What can he do from here?” asked Lyra.
“He’ll be checking street cameras, security cameras, traffic light cams, everything. We have a software system that searches by facial recognition. It hones in on certain features and characteristics of the face and can identify, with ninety-nine percent certainty, someone’s identification. If we can find them on camera, we can track them,” said Hex.
“So, you’ll all be leaving again?” she asked.
“I think we have to, baby,” said Abe, hugging her close. He’d worried the whole time he was gone that she wouldn’t be able to handle this new lifestyle. If she couldn’t, he wasn’t sure what he would do.
“I understand,” she smiled. “I’ll be staying with your mom and dad while you’re gone. They let me sleep in your old room, and it made me feel really safe. I’m okay, although I may have to remove the Gwen Stefani poster.” Abe laughed, shaking his head.
“Yea, I think you can safely remove that now. You’re really okay?” he smiled.
“I am. I’m more than okay. No one here lets me get lonely or worry for too long. They’ve been wonderful, Abe, and if I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t tell you all of this sooner so that I could have met them sooner.”
“You don’t know how happy that makes me,” he said, hugging her.
“I’ve got the woman,” said Hiro. “Golubeva. I have her. She’s outside Fort Lewis near Seattle.”
“What the hell is she doing there?” growled Eric.
“I don’t know, but what do you say we go find out.”
