by Elle Gray
When the screen resolves itself, my eyes well with tears immediately when I see Kit’s face on my screen. She gives me a small smile.
“You must think I’m a coward,” she starts.
“I don’t think any such thing,” I reply. “But why? Why did you take off like that?”
“We did some real damage to the Thirteen, but they’re not dead, Blake. Not all of them,” she tells me. “They will rebuild and pick up where they left off again.”
“So? We fight them again. We beat them again,” I tell her. “We did it once, we can do it again.”
She shakes her head. “Remember when I told you they do not forgive and they do not forget?”
I nod. “Yeah, I remember.”
“Yeah, they sent me a message reminding me that I’m still at the top of their list. And it made me realize that so long as I’m near you, you’re not safe. And I can’t put you in danger. I won’t. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”
“And I can’t live with myself if something happens to you while you’re out there alone, Kit. Come home. Whatever is happening, we can figure it out together.”
She shakes her head. “I can’t. I won’t put you in the line of fire.”
I scan the background behind her, searching for identifying marks, a visual landmark—something that will tell me where she is. Kit laughs softly.
“Nice try. You won’t be able to identify where I am by what’s behind me,” she says. “I purposely found the blandest, generic background I could find before making this call.”
“Kit,” I whisper, my voice cracking with tears.
“I’m sorry, Sis. I really am,” she says. “But until the threat the Thirteen poses is over—like for good, over—I can’t put you at risk like that.”
“I’m telling you, Kit, we can figure this out.”
“I left something for you.”
I shake my head. “What?”
“A gift,” she replies. “Look on your bed.”
Carrying the phone with me, I walk down the hall and into my bedroom. There’s a white box sitting in the middle of my bed.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Open it and find out.”
I take off the lid and grasp what’s inside and when I pull it out, I feel my entire body tensing. My stomach roils and I start to shake. It’s a red silk scarf with intricate black designs woven into it. The material is light and the artistry is exquisite. If not for it being red, it would be absolutely gorgeous.
“Kit—I—”
“I know how you feel about the color red. I didn’t forget. I left it for you on purpose,” she says. “It’s time we let go of our pasts, Blake. It’s time we let go of the pain our pasts have caused us. It’s time to move forward from our scars and embrace the future. It’s time to embrace our present.”
I look at the red fabric. It’s smooth and soft. Silky and gorgeous. “Let go of our scars and embrace our present, huh?”
“Absolutely. You’ve helped me see how important that is,” she tells me. “And I know my future involves a life with my family. Even if my present forbids it.”
“Just come home, Kit.”
“I’ll call you from time to time just to check up on you. I’m also going to have an anonymous email account that you can use to write me,” she says. “I just want you to know that I’m working from this end to bring the Thirteen down once and for all so I can come back home to you. To my family.”
I sniff back the tears and shake my head. “And I’ll be doing the same from this side.”
“Then I should be able to come home in no time flat,” she smiles. “Anyway, I should go. I’ve been on this line too long already. Look for my email and take care of yourself, Sis.”
“You too, Kit. And remember there is a room here for you whenever you need it. Even if you’re only passing through. It’s open for you.”
“Thank you, Blake,” she says. “I love you with all my heart and remember to embrace your present as well as your future.”
“You do the same.”
“That’s what I’m doing now,” she says with a smile. “I love you, Blake.”
“I love you, Kit. Be well.”
She ends the call, leaving me there feeling every single emotion a person can feel. It’s disorienting. My heart is broken, but at the same time, it’s filled with hope. It’s hard to put a name to everything I’m feeling right now, so it’s best that I don’t even try. I’ll just embrace my present and feel it all for now. I’ll sort through all the emotions later.
I pick up the scarf Kit left for me and hold it up in front of the mirror on the wall. I step closer to the mirror and hold it up against my skin. It actually compliments me really well, surprisingly enough. Though my hand is still trembling and I’m not wholly comfortable with this yet, I wrap the scarf around my neck and look at myself in the mirror. I smile, pleased by what I see. It looks good on me.
“This is me,” I say to my reflection. “This is me embracing my present. And my future.”
Epilogue
Office of SSA Wilder; Criminal Data Analysis Unit, Seattle Field Office
I finish the last of the paperwork, and with a satisfied smile, close the folder. Another bad guy is off the streets and behind bars. In this case, it is one Nurse Misty Crane—the Angel of Mercy who had at least thirty-seven bodies tied to her over her very long, illustrious career as a serial murderer.
Oh, she tried to dress it up. Tried to make it look like she was doing some good in the world. Crane liked to say it was her heart and compassion for others that led her to put her victims to death.
A knock on my office door makes me look up and I smile when I see Mo standing there. “You wanted to see me?”
“I did,” I tell her. “I wanted to say, great work on the Crane case. Your files were immaculate. You did an amazing job—no. You did good work.”
Mo breaks out into a wide grin, the meaning of my words not lost on her. “Thanks, boss,” she replies. “That means a lot to me.”
“You’ve become one of the best, Mo,” I go on. “I really didn’t know what to expect when I first got you, but you have become an invaluable member of this team and a damn fine agent. So, thank you.”
I slide an envelope across my desk to her and she cocks her head and looks at me. “What’s that?”
“Something for you and a guest to go and enjoy a night out on the town,” I explain. “You deserve it, Mo.”
She smiles and her cheeks flush. She still hasn’t gotten used to taking a compliment and it makes me laugh. Mo waves the envelope at me and heads out for the night, leaving me alone in the CDAU. Ever since Kit took off, I haven’t felt like being at home much, so I’ve been putting in some long hours. It just feels emptier than it ever has before—even before Kit came back—and I don’t like it. I miss her.
The plus side is that I’m caught up on all my reports and other associated paperwork and my office has never been cleaner. You could eat off all the surfaces in here. With nothing else to do and no other way to avoid going home, I get to my feet. My cellphone starts to ring, so I pick it up and connect the call, hoping it’s Kit calling to tell me she’s on her way home.
Hey, a girl can have dreams, can’t she?
“This is Wilder,” I answer as I press the phone to my ear.
“Blake, it’s Brody,” he says. “Long time no hear.”
“Yeah, back at you. Phone works both ways, bucko.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. We’ve just been slammed with work over here.”
There’s something in Brody’s voice that sounds off to me. He’s normally chipper and upbeat and his voice always reflects that. But right now, his voice is dull and flat. It’s almost lifeless, which is very unusual.
“I hear that,” I reply. “What’s up, Brody? What can I do for you?”
“It’s Paxton.”
“What about him?”
There’s a brief pause on the line and in that sil
ence, I feel my heart stop dead in my chest. Pax is one of my oldest, dearest friends, and if something happened to him, I don’t know that I could bear it.
“Brody?”
“He’s gone, Blake.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“He’s vanished. He was doing this undercover gig—”
“What kind of undercover gig?”
Brody sighed. “He was looking into his wife’s death again.”
“Oh God,” I mutter.
“Yeah. Anyway, he missed his check-in and I started to get worried. Then he missed another. It’s like he just vanished,” Brody tells me. “I think they might have figured out who he is, Blake. I think they might have taken him.”
THE END
All caught up with the Blake Wilder series? Meet Olivia as she goes on her first case in New Girl in Town, book one in the Olivia Knight Series.
Note From Elle Gray
I hope you enjoyed The Lost Sister, book 7 in the Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller series.
My intention is to give you a thrilling adventure and an entertaining escape with each and every book.
Being a new indie writer is tough. However, your support has helped tremendously.
I don’t have a large budget, huge following, or any of the cutting edge marketing techniques.
So, all I kindly ask is that if you enjoyed this book, please take a moment of your time and leave me a review and maybe recommend the book to a fellow book lover or two.
This way I can continue to write all day and night and bring you more books in the Blake Wilder series.
Also, don’t forget to check out New Girl in Town, book one in the Olivia Knight series.
By the way, if you find any typos or want to reach out to me, feel free to email me at [email protected]
Your writer friend,
Elle Gray
P.S. I'm working on another season of Blake Wilder books, so if you miss Blake and the crew, there's more to come ;)
Also by Elle Gray
Olivia Knight FBI Mystery Thrillers
Book One - New Girl in Town
Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thrillers
Book One - The 7 She Saw
Book Two - A Perfect Wife
Book Three - Her Perfect Crime
Book Four - The Chosen Girls
Book Five - The Secret She Kept
Book Six - The Lost Girls
Book Seven - The Lost Sister
A Pax Arrington Mystery
Free Prequel - Deadly Pursuit
Book One - I See You
Book Two - Her Last Call
Book Three - Woman In The Water
