“Me, too,” I whispered. Over Georgia’s shoulder, hands tucked in her jeans pockets, a grinning Rachel watched our reunion. I detached from Georgia and held out my arms to Rachel. “Come on. You know you want a hug.”
“Do I look like a sentimental sap?” Rachel rolled her eyes, but didn’t protest when I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and drew her close. She returned the hug, her arms locking around my waist. “Glad you made it back,” she whispered fiercely in my ear. After a moment, she pulled away. “I saved the sexy Lady Godiva wig for you.” She wiggled her brows. “Thought you might surprise Kyle with it sometime, if you know what I mean.”
I laughed, pure happiness zinging through my veins.
Kyle stepped away from the cluster of men and slid open the van’s passenger door. “Got something you’ll want to see,” he called to Marcus, lifting the hamper full of documents from the van. “We only had five minutes, but before we took off, Sunny grabbed files and maps from the Allsop war room.” He hauled out two more hampers and set them next to the first. “I raided their armory. Took a few AK-47s, but I figured extra ammo was the priority.”
Marcus whistled low, touching a box of cartridges. “You figured right. Damn.” He picked up a file folder and rifled through the papers. Looking up, he met my eyes. “You did good, too, Sunny.” He swept out his hand at the three hampers. “This is invaluable.”
“You need to know that I killed Brody,” Kyle said, his expression hard. “I killed Elliot Allsop’s son and heir. He’ll blame both you and me, and he’ll be gunning for us.”
“Once we decided to make a stand, we were both in his crosshairs.” Marcus squeezed Kyle’s shoulder. “And the world’s a better place without Brody Allsop in it.”
Kyle nodded in agreement, but I saw the pain in his eyes. However justified his actions, he’d killed a man he once considered a friend. Another bloody memory, another ghost to haunt his dreams. I took his hand. He’d never again face the nightmares alone.
“How’s Finn?” I asked Marcus.
“Finn’s going to be fine,” Marcus said. “He’s bruised and battered, but he’ll make a full recovery. He’s at the clinic with Sara and Rocco, sleeping off the drugs the Allsops pumped into him.”
“I’m taking Finn back to Valhalla.” Kyle straightened his spine as if he expected a fight. “He’s your soldier, but he’s Bear’s brother. They’re family. They need to see each other.”
“I agree,” Marcus said. “Take Finn to Valhalla. Let the brothers reunite. But you’ve got to know that a war’s coming, and you can’t hide from it, not even on a ranch that’s—what’s that phrase you used—at the ass end of nowhere.”
“I know.” Kyle sighed. “A war is the last thing I want, but there’ll be no peace until Elliot Allsop is in the ground.”
Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. “Before you leave for Valhalla, I want to sit down and talk about my plans for the campaign against Allsop. I’m going to ask you to carry a message to Ripper.”
“Yeah, Ripper needs to be brought in.” He sighed again. “Kenzie is going to kill me. She thought they were finally living their happily ever after.”
I squeezed his hand. “If Kenzie is anything like me, she’ll want to help bring down Allsop.”
Kyle offered a small smile. “Bet you’re right, Sunny. It won’t be the first time Kenz helps bring down the bad guys. She took on a skeezy cult leader and a bunch of Nazis. A simple megalomaniac won’t stand a chance.” He turned back to Marcus. “I want to check on Finn, and find out when it will be safe for him to travel. Sunny and I need to talk to Mrs. B. and Ever about our plans, then get ready for the trip home. How about you and I meet this afternoon?”
“That’ll be fine. We’ll start going over Allsop’s papers.” He picked up the heavy hamper full of ammunition and signaled for Justin to get the other. Rachel dragged the third while Georgia took the rifles from the back of the van, then followed the men back into headquarters.
Kyle and I drove across the river to the clinic. Rocco sat behind the reception desk. A huge smile broke out across his face when he saw us. He jumped up and swept me into his arms, lifting me off the floor and spinning me around.
“You had me scared for awhile. It’s good to see you, Sunny. You, too, Kyle.” He gently set me down, then looked out the window into the clinic’s parking lot. “I’m glad you didn’t have to leave Daisy behind in Boise. I love that van.”
“You do?” Kyle asked, clearly surprised.
“Sure. Who wants a boring ride when you can drive something with personality?”
I shot Kyle a look. Don’t answer that.
Kyle and I hadn’t talked about it, but I had no plans to drive Daisy over the narrow and rutted roads to Valhalla. She was a city girl through and through, doing best on wide, flat streets. “Would you like to keep Daisy?” I asked my friend. “I can’t think of anybody else I’d rather give her to.”
“You kidding?” Rocco asked. “Hell, yes, I want Daisy. Can you imagine it, me riding around town in style?”
“Then it’s settled. Kyle and I will be leaving town as soon as Finn can travel. I’ll leave Daisy in the parking lot of the motel with the keys in the cup holder.”
“How is Finn?” Kyle asked.
Rocco sobered. “Sons of bitches beat him up bad, but he’s young and strong, and he’ll heal. He’s more alert now that the sedative is working its way out of his system.”
“Can we see him?” Kyle asked.
“Sara is with him. Second door on the left.” Rocco pointed down the corridor. “Knock. She’ll let you know if he’s up to visitors. She told Marcus to wait till this afternoon to talk to him, but since you’re here, she might allow a visit.”
“Will do,” Kyle said. “Thanks, Rocco.”
Kyle rapped on the door. Within seconds, Sara cracked it open, then stepped into the hall, closing the door behind her with a soft snick.
“Finn will be fine,” she assured us in a low voice. “His ribs are bruised, but not broken. He’s dehydrated. Still a bit groggy, but he’s lucid. He’s been asking about you two.” She opened the door. “You have visitors.” Sara touched my arm. “I’m so happy that you made it back.”
Kyle and I walked into a small room furnished only with a hospital bed and a chair. Morning light filtered into the space through a window on the far wall. When he saw us, Finn raised his head and lifted up on his elbows. Suppressing a groan, he dropped back onto his pillow.
“Not a good idea,” he said. “Not till the blasted headache goes away.”
“I am so sorry,” Kyle said, approaching the bed. “I feel like a shit for leaving you behind.”
“No need for an apology. No need for guilt. We both did what we had to do, and we’re both still standing.” His lips twisted in a wry smile. “Least I will be standing as soon as the doc gives me the all clear.”
“Oh, Finn.” I reached out, then stilled, my hand hovering in the air. His face, his arms, even his hands were bruised, his knuckles bloody. He’d gone down fighting. There was no place I could touch him that wouldn’t hurt. My eyes filled with tears.
“No, sweetheart, none of that.” He frowned and took my hand, wrapping black-and-blue fingers around mine. “Don’t cry for me. I’ve been hurt worse plenty of times. When we get to Valhalla, ask my brother to tell you about the time I tussled with a goose. I tripped and rolled down a hill trying to get away from it.”
Laughter burst from my throat at the unexpected mental image.
“You think I’m fooling?” he asked, opening his eyes wide. “You ain’t seen nothing till you’ve dealt with a hopping mad goose.”
“Speaking of Valhalla,” Kyle said. Finn and I fell silent and turned our eyes to Kyle. “Did Sara say when you’ll be able to travel?”
“Doc said she wants me to take a day to rest and drink fluids. If the headache is gone and I can stand without getting dizzy, she’ll clear me to leave tomorrow.”
“If you’re up to it,”
Kyle said, “I’d like to head out in the late morning.”
“You sneak me to the car, I’ll leave right now,” Finn said. “Never thought I’d see my brother or Valhalla again. Now that I know Bear’s alive, the waiting is killing me.”
“You’re not going anywhere until the doctor says it’s okay,” I said in my best mom voice.
“Yes, ma’am.” Finn glanced at Kyle. “Bossy little thing, isn’t she?”
Kyle was waaay too smart to answer that question, especially after I stepped on his toe.
“If Sara says you’re good to go, we’ll leave around eleven tomorrow,” Kyle said, wriggling his foot out from under mine. “That’ll get us to Valhalla by evening.”
“I’ll be ready.”
We visited with Finn for another fifteen minutes, telling him about what went down in Boise and Brody’s death.
“Let’s head back to the motel,” I suggested as we walked to Daisy. “If Mrs. B. and Ever are up, we can see them. If not, it wouldn’t hurt you to lie down for a while.”
“I should be tired, but I’m too wired to sleep,” Kyle said.
No sooner had we parked in front of our motel room than the door to the neighboring room flew open. A nine-year-old dynamo charged at the van, waving her arms in the air. Mrs. B. stood in the doorway, pressing a hand to her heart. Kyle jumped out of the driver’s seat and lifted Ever up into his arms. Round and round they spun, until he carefully deposited her on the concrete. She flung herself at him again, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“I knew you and Sunny were okay.” She raised a beaming face to his. “I just knew it.”
“Yeah, we’re okay. And tomorrow we’re all going to Valhalla,” he said, ruffling her strawberry-blond curls. “Do you think you’ll like living on a ranch with Sunny and Mrs. B. and Finn and me and all our friends?”
“Yes,” she shouted, hopping up and down. “And Fitzwilliam, too.”
“Fitzwilliam, too,” he agreed.
I walked up to Mrs. B. Her bright-pink lips turned up in a welcoming smile, but her eyes were awash with tears. “You are never to frighten me like that again, Sunny McAllister,” she scolded, clutching me to her chest. “My poor heart can’t take it.”
“I’m sorry you were scared,” I murmured. I couldn’t promise her that we’d never face danger again or risk separation—not with a war brewing—but I’d offer her what comfort my conscience would allow. “I love you, Mrs. B. And I’m happy you’re coming to Valhalla with us.”
“You’re my family, sweet girl,” she said. “Where you go, I go.”
“Sunny!” Ever released Kyle and rushed toward me. I dropped down onto my haunches and held out my arms. Ever threw herself on me, toppling us both over. “Whoops-a-daisy,” she laughed, settling on my lap. She reared back, pointing at my head. “What’s wrong with your hair?”
I touched the blond wig that I’d forgotten I was wearing. “It’s a wig,” I said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Part of my super-secret spy costume.”
Her eyes widened. “You were a spy?”
“I was. I’ll tell you all about it someday, when you’re older.”
She made a face. “Why does all the good stuff have to wait until I’m older?”
I dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up.”
As soon as I said the words, I regretted them. Ever’s childhood—what was left of it—would be nothing like the idyllic childhood Kyle and I enjoyed. The world had changed. We’d love her. We’d do our best to keep her safe, but we couldn’t wrap her in a cocoon or coddle her. Doing right by a child in the new world meant teaching her how to fight and how to survive. I swallowed hard. Was I up to the task?
I glanced at Kyle, who was deep in conversation with Mrs. B. His eyes met mine. He smiled and I felt the warmth of that smile down to my bones. My fears evaporated. Kyle loved me—he loved Ever—and he’d do whatever was necessary to keep us from harm. He’d proven that time and time again. And I’d do the same for all the people I loved.
“Sunny, are you listening?” Ever asked.
“Sorry, sweet pea.” Finn’s nickname for the girl was official. “My mind wandered.”
“I said, yesterday Thanh took us to the place where they keep stuff people need. He packed up a couple of boxes of schoolbooks for me to take to the ranch. And lots of paper and pencils and crayons. I got a new winter coat and clothes and shoes that are big enough for me to grow into.”
“That’s nice,” I said. “You’ll need all that at Valhalla.”
“And Mrs. B. got a big bag of yarn and knitting needles and a pair of boots to wear on the ranch. They’re pink and she loves them. She called them Wellingtons, but I think she made the name up.”
“No, Wellingtons are real,” I said. “Just like Jammie Dodgers and toad-in-the-hole.”
“Toad-in-the-hole? Now you’re making things up,” Ever said.
“Nope. It’s a real food. Ask Mrs. B.”
Ever hopped out of my lap and tugged on Mrs. B.’s floral blouse. Kyle took my hand and pulled me to my feet. I laid both palms on his chest. The muscles twitched under my fingertips, and I smiled up at him.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” I whispered. “Popping your pecs like a male stripper.”
“They got nothing on me,” he growled in my ear. “I got moves that would make your panties melt.”
“Really?” I said. “You planning on showing them to me someday?”
“Count on it.” Laughing, he slid both arms around my waist and pulled me close. “Tomorrow we go to Valhalla. Are you ready to see your new home?”
“I didn’t think—” My voice caught, so I tried again. “I didn’t think I’d ever feel this happy again.”
“Me, too, Sunshine. Me, too.”
FORTY
Bear
Valhalla
Hannah’s laughter rang out, filling the front room from one side to the other. Sahdev might have taught her how to play Parcheesi, but the student had become the master. The girl took to Parcheesi like a duck to water. Sounds like she’d got all her pieces into the home square, winning the game yet again.
My mama taught me to be gracious in victory, no whooping and hollering when I won. A cowboy doesn’t gloat, she’d say. I glanced over at the girl, who threw her arms in the air and jumped up to dance a little jig. Mama might disapprove of Hannah’s victory celebration, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to judge. Hannah and her boyfriend Levi were young, but they both had a lot of guts, grit, and try.
Levi sat back at the game table and grinned at his girlfriend’s victory. Don’t think the boy genius had a competitive bone in his body. Sahdev stood and stuck out his hand, offering his congratulations. I suspect his mother taught the same good manners mine had, but he didn’t look put out by Hannah’s glee. If anything, he beamed with pride. The doc was a good man. Steady, kind, brave. Just the sort of fellow you want on your side when the world goes kittywampus.
We’d rearranged the furniture in the front room first thing after we beat the Wilcox Brigade. Well… no… the very first thing we did was to rip down that blamed Nazi flag they’d tacked to the wall and stomp on the thing. Then we shifted furniture around, setting up a game table to one side of the stone hearth and another small table next to the window, where it could catch the sunlight, a place for Nyx to work on her drawings. Grandma’s rocking chair sat by the fireplace now, too, hauled from a back bedroom because both Hannah and Kenzie loved it. The front room looked different from when I grew up in this house, but that was all right. A home wasn’t a museum. Change comes, whether you want it to or not.
Hector dozed on a sheepskin rug in front of the fireplace, the German shepherd’s legs twitching like he was chasing rabbits in his sleep. We hadn’t lit a fire yet this season, but he’d staked a claim to the spot nonetheless.
Kenzie looked up from her book and smiled at Hannah’s antics. Kenzie and Ripper sprawled at opposite ends of the leather couch, their fe
et on each other’s laps, both of their noses stuck in books. If tonight went like most, before long Ripper would peel off her socks and massage her feet. The man knew how to reduce his woman to putty. Kenzie would sigh and close both her book and her eyes. After a few minutes, she’d open her eyes back up and give him that look. He’d take her by the hand, wish us all goodnight, and lead her back to their room.
Only a petty man was jealous of another man’s happiness. I didn’t begrudge Ripper and Kenzie the contentment and joy they’d found. Shoot, it was good to see that not even the end of the world could stop men and women from falling in love and building a life together.
My eyes strayed to Nyx. She bent over her drawing, working by lantern light since it was evening. Colored pencils were scattered across the tabletop. Her wild burgundy hair tumbled down her back, and she frowned with concentration. Giving in to an impulse, I crossed the room and stood behind her, studying her artwork.
A pair of skeletons—a man and a woman—danced in the moonlight. A crown of roses sat atop the woman’s skull, her white bones gleaming beneath her long, red hair. The man wore a top hat on his bony skull. Under its brim, his empty eye sockets were circles of black.
Nyx glanced up at me. “Day of the dead art,” she explained. The reference went right over my head, but I nodded anyway. The ghoulish figures should have given me the creeps. Dancing corpses was the stuff of nightmares. Somehow, under Nyx’s hand, the image was beautiful, almost—what’s that word—ethereal.
“Nice,” I said. The inadequacy of the compliment struck me right away. “Real nice,” I added.
Nyx tossed a smile over her shoulder, her expression full of amusement, like she saw right through me. “Why thank you, cowboy.”
I squirmed. The woman had a knack for flustering me, for making me feel like a raw sixteen-year-old who didn’t have a clue how to talk to a woman.
Over Nyx’s head, something caught my eye. Looking out the window, I saw two bouncing lights poke holes in the darkness. “Somebody’s coming up the drive,” I said.
Bedlam Page 30
