Jaci hesitated. Would she incriminate him more?
“It’s okay. You can tell me.”
“Yes. He saved us.” She didn’t mention that he single-handedly massacred all of the men in the house.
“Did he tell you anything?”
Jaci tried to remember her father’s words. “That he couldn’t come home. That he was fighting on our side. That he was sorry.”
“Okay.” Hamilton patted her hand. “That’s enough.”
She looked up at him. “Have you figured anything out?”
“He takes out the criminals. He’s a good guy, Jaci.”
But a criminal too. Jaci’s eyes turned downward again. How could she have lived with her father so many years and never known him? Played games with him, talked on the phone with him, prayed with him?
“Well?” Amanda demanded. “The Hand is dead. We’re safe now. When can we go home?”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know. That depends on the FBI. But the fact that you are in a public hospital without a ton of security says a lot. I imagine your parents have already been contacted.” His expression grew serious. “There’s something else you should know.”
Jaci stiffened. Sara. Something had happened to her.
“We found Sara.”
“Is she okay?” Jaci whispered.
“Not sure yet. She’s in the hospital too. Jaci, your brother helped track her down.”
Jaci frowned, a ripple of surprise washing over her. “Wait. Seth? Seth found Sara?”
“He helped. I’ll call the hospital soon to see if she’s awake yet. Her brothers are with her.”
Amanda leaned forward. “Neal and Ricky? They’re not in the group home?”
“No. Excuse me a moment.”
Jaci leaned back on her hospital bed. The rush of emotion faded, and exhaustion overwhelmed her. She widened her eyes, forcing herself to stay alert. She couldn’t believe the danger had passed. “Wow. What are the chances?”
“No kidding.” Amanda shook her head. “I’m so glad they found Sara! I was so worried about her. And Ricky and Neal.”
Hamilton came back in. He looked more relaxed. “All right. Your families have been contacted. The hospital wants to keep you overnight, but just for observation. The FBI is flying a private jet to pick up Sara and the boys tomorrow, and then it’ll come here for you girls. You’ll be home tomorrow.”
Home. Jaci clutched Amanda’s hand and squeezed it. “Are you sure it’s the FBI flying that plane?”
He gave her a smile. “You girls are safe now. Your bounty hunter and his men are dead. But just in case, you’ll be heavily guarded.”
Jaci stared out the glass windows of the small airport, waiting for the private jet to land. She clung to Amanda, fearing that at any moment someone would try to separate them.
A technician outside waved his orange cones, guiding the jet in. It lowered onto the runway, gradually slowing until it came to a stop several hundred feet from the gate. The tech turned around and gave a signal.
The flight attendant in a navy blue uniform smiled at them. “You can board now.”
“Don’t run,” Detective Hamilton said. “We don’t need either of you getting hurt.”
Jaci was glad for the presence of the detective, as well as the four armed FBI agents that stood around her and Amanda.
They walked across the boarding pad and up the stairs to the jet. Jaci’s heart pounded as she stepped on board, her eyes immediately seeking out her friends.
“Sara.” She took one look at the pale, emaciated girl and burst into tears.
Sara started to cry, too. “Do I look that bad?”
“At least she’s talking.” Neal hovered behind her, one hand on her shoulder. Ricky sat next to her.
Someone grabbed Jaci up and smothered her in an embrace. “Jaci. Jaci.” He still pronounced her name in Spanish. Ha-Cee. Ha-Cee.
“Seth!” She pulled back, eyes wide. “Seth! It’s really you!”
“What do you mean, it’s really me? Of course it is!” He pulled her into a seat next to him and ran a hand over her hair. “I can’t believe it’s you. You’re finally coming home.” He hugged her again, his strong arms enfolding her slender frame. “Jaci,” he whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Jaci wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. “For what? For our argument? It was stupid!” She shook her head.
The pilot’s voice came over the speaker. “Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for takeoff.”
“What, no stewardess demonstration?” Amanda joked. She sat across the aisle from them, next to Neal.
“Private jet,” Neal said. “Guess we’re expected to know the rules.”
Jaci latched the two ends of her seatbelt together and looked around. Headphones hung over the net attached to the seat in front of her. Each seat had a small television screen wired to the back. “How long was your flight?” she asked Seth.
“Three hours. Guess we have four more till we’re home.”
Home. With no father. Jaci squeezed Seth’s hand, lowering her voice and switching into Spanish. “I saw Dad.”
Seth followed her lead, also speaking in Spanish. His arm stiffened. “You did?”
She nodded. “Yes.” She spoke quietly, not wanting any of the FBI agents to overhear. They were probably bilingual. “He tracked us down and killed the men. Then he had to go.”
“He—he killed them?”
“Yeah.” She had nothing further to comment on that. Her eyes wandered across the aisle, landing on the twins. “So you met Ricky.”
“Yeah. I met him.”
“What did you think of him?” She hoped her voice sounded casual and that it wasn’t painfully obvious how much his opinion meant to her.
“Well, he’s nice enough. But he’s one of those guys—the kind Mom always warned you about.”
Jaci bridled at his opinion. “I think I’m old enough to be a good judge of character, thank you very much.”
“Seriously? Jaci, I’m a guy. I know them better than you do. Be careful.”
As if knowing that they were talking about him, Ricky got up from his seat and sat down in front of them.
“Hey,” he said, turning to face them.
Jaci’s face burned. She kept her eyes down.
“I didn’t hear them say you could unfasten your seatbelt,” Seth said.
“Oh, okay.” Ricky buckled his belt again. “Is that you, Jaci?”
She looked up, smiling in spite of herself. “Yeah. Like my new hair?” She pushed on the ends of her jagged bob.
“Looks awesome.”
“Maybe I’ll dye it blue when I get home. I always wanted to try a different color.”
Ricky gave a small smile, but a furrow creased his brow. “Could start a new fad.”
Seth was watching her. Meeting Ricky’s eyes, she decided to ignore her brother. “How’s Sara?” Detective Hamilton had filled them in on Sara’s mental breakdown.
“Better. She should be fine. I mean, she only woke up a few hours ago. But she recognized us. She started to have a panic attack when we left her alone in the room. We have to stay with her.”
Jaci totally understood Sara’s feelings. “It’s so scary,” she whispered. “Not knowing who to trust.” Would she ever be able to get in the car with someone again? She shook her head, chasing away the paranoia. “So you guys are coming to Idaho, huh?”
“Yep. Sara’s parents appealed to have custody of us while they are getting licensed as foster parents.”
Jaci couldn’t even express to him how glad she was that they would be close by. “Are they going to adopt you?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not necessary. Neal and I aren’t looking for parents
. We just want to be close to Sara.” He turned his attention to Seth. “Has Megan called you?”
He shook his head. “No. I never gave her my number.”
“That’s right,” Jaci murmured. She remembered the story Detective Hamilton had told them. “Megan Reynolds. The girl you eloped with.” She eyed her brother, wondering what parts of the story she hadn’t been told.
Seth pulled on his ear, looking uncomfortable. “We had to get her dad off our back. So we lied.”
“I like Megan,” Jaci said. “Do you like her?”
“I have a girlfriend,” Seth replied.
Jaci raised an eyebrow. “Who? Cindy? Where was she during all of this?”
Seth shrugged. “No, not Cindy. Someone else. But, uh—I think she might not be my girlfriend anymore. I haven’t talked to her in a few weeks.”
Jaci’s eyes tracked across the aisle. She wanted to know everything about what Seth had been doing for the past few weeks, and everything about Megan, but the need to speak to Sara grew too big to ignore. “I’m going to see Sara.”
“You okay?” Seth asked her.
She nodded, undoing her seatbelt and standing.
“Hey,” Ricky said.
She looked at him.
“I want to talk to you. When things settle down. Okay?”
She bit her lip and nodded, then hurried to where Sara sat alone.
“Jaci,” Sara whispered.
Jaci threw her arms around her, starting to cry again. “Oh Sara! Are you okay?”
Sara’s shoulders shook with her own tears. “What about you, Jaci? What happened to you guys?”
Jaci pulled away, wiping tears from her face. “We’re fine, Sara. Nobody touched us, thank heavens.”
“Oh?” Sara arched a brow and brushed her fingers against the bruise on Jaci’s face. “Amanda do this to you?”
“Almost nobody touched us,” Jaci amended.
Sara swallowed. “Was he there?”
She didn’t have to clarify. Jaci knew she referred to The Hand. “Yes. He was there.”
Sara nodded, her lower lip trembling. “He didn’t hurt you?”
“Hurt” was such an arbitrary word. Jaci could think of a dozen ways he had hurt them. But not the way Sara meant. “No. And he’s dead now, Sara.”
“I know.” Sara pulled on her fingers, averting her eyes.
Jaci didn’t want to think about him anymore. Ever again. “But what about you? What happened to you?”
Sara gave a small shrug. “I was just trying to stay alive.”
Jaci chose her questions carefully, not wanting to upset Sara with anything unpleasant. “Yes, but . . . how? Where did you go after you jumped out of the car?”
The younger girl looked out the window, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. “I ran.”
Jaci nodded. They had run track together in school, and she knew Sara could sprint faster than anyone else her age.
“When I stopped, I was alone. I curled up in an alley and lay there until I got too cold. Then I started sneaking into places, looking for food, staying warm.”
“You could have called for help,” Jaci whispered.
Sara didn’t respond, but Jaci saw the way she hunched her shoulders. Time for a subject change, Jaci decided. She cleared her throat. “Did you know?”
Sara turned from the window and frowned, wariness in her eyes. “Know what?”
“What happened to the guys in the woods.”
“Guys in the woods?”
Jaci swallowed back her impatience. “Yes. The ones who tracked us down and attacked us in New York. Do you know what happened to them?”
Sara pondered for a moment, and then nodded. “Yes. I was there.”
Jaci felt a flash of anger. “So was I.”
Sara’s hand closed over Jaci’s. “Do you remember?”
The anger dissipated, replaced by weariness. “I do now, after the survivor tried to take me out for killing his brother. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were there, too, Jaci. You saw him. If you really wanted to know, you would’ve remembered.”
Jaci closed her eyes, trying to picture the scene. The man finding Sara. Jaci grabbing the branch and hitting him. She could see the branch, swinging again and again and again. But she couldn’t see what it was hitting. She couldn’t see the man. Jaci fought back a burst of nausea. “What about you? Do you remember everything that happened?”
Sara looked out the window again. “I’m not pregnant anymore, Jaci.”
The words gutted Jaci like a knife. She sucked in a breath. “What?”
Sara nodded, tears shining on her lashes. She kept her eyes on the horizon.
“What happened?”
“I started bleeding really bad. It hurt really awful.” She choked up and shook her head. “Then the bleeding slowed down and I got sick.”
“Are you sure, Sara?”
She nodded. “The hospital confirmed it.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I feel so awful. I never wanted the baby. I feel bad for losing it. But a part of me is so glad, Jaci. And I feel rotten for that. I’m a horrible person.”
“Oh, Sara.” Sara stiffened when Jaci put her arms around her. “Sara, you’re not a horrible person.”
“Of course you say that.” Sara shrugged her off. “But I am. I’m all black inside.” Sara swallowed a sob and began to rock back and forth.
“Jaci.” Neal came over. “Let me sit by her.”
Jaci nodded and returned to her brother, feeling numb. She gratefully accepted Seth’s hug. Sara was in bad shape. Jaci wondered if she would ever recover.
November 27, Idaho Falls, Idaho
Carl twirled the pen between his fingers and scowled at the blinking computer screen in front of him. All he wanted was answers. So simple. Why couldn’t the FBI give them to him? “Can you at least tell me where this mafia originated? His family has a right to know.”
“Detective.” Agent Horton’s voice on the other side heaved a frustrated sigh. “I can’t tell you any more than I already did. We believe we know Rivera’s whereabouts, and we intend to take him into custody.”
“But you can’t tell me where?” Carl pressed.
“What good would it do?” the agent growled. “You can’t go get him.”
But I might be able to let him know what you’re up to. The thought crossed his mind, unexpected. It surprised Carl. Was that why he wanted to find Rivera so badly? To warn him?
Carl had already been told not to try and contact Rivera. He couldn’t use the email address anymore because the FBI was monitoring it. But Carl still had the nagging need to understand why Rivera felt he had to fight this battle. “Maybe I might see a pattern of where he’s been. Maybe I can tell you where his next step is.”
“We have all the information you have, Detective.” Now Horton sounded annoyed. “If there’s a pattern, we’ll find it.”
Carl tried a different approach. “What about the other man the girls mentioned? The one The Hand tried to sell them to?”
“We don’t know anything about him,” the voice admitted. “Their description doesn’t match any known criminal on our radar.”
“I can promise you this,” Carl said. “You find that guy, and you find Rivera.”
A pause and then, “You think that’s his next step?”
“Certain of it,” Carl said, leaning forward. Finally. He had Horton’s attention. “Whatever else might be on his agenda, Rivera will take out that man. You can bet on it.”
“Well.” The agent sounded dismissive again. “He won’t get the chance. We should have him within the week. We know his next move.”
“Which is?”
“We’ve told you all we can, Hamilton.”
> Not even a courtesy “detective” this time. Carl winced. His time had expired. “All right. I guess I’ll find out when the family does.”
“You might.”
Carl hung up the phone, still twirling his pen. He knelt by the mini-fridge under his desk and pulled out a jar of dill pickle spears. He hoped Rivera found his man before the FBI caught up with him.
Chapter Thirty-five
The jet landed at the Shelley Idaho airport. The FBI agents shepherded the teenagers past any passengers and into a small conference room.
Jaci recognized Agent Banks. He must’ve been in the cockpit or something. She felt a surge of relief at the familiar unibrow. She sat down in a soft chair and clenched her hands in her lap.
Banks started speaking as soon as the door closed behind them. “In a moment you will be reunited with your families. This could be as much a shock to you as to them. You may stay here as long as you like.” He paused a moment, looking around the table. “You are safe now. You have nothing to fear.”
The door opened and sets of anxious parents piled in.
Jaci’s eyes set on her mother. The woman who had always carried herself with such confidence and grace seemed to have shriveled inward. Her shoulders hunched forward, her sunken cheeks and eyes betraying how much weight she had lost. She clutched her purse in her hands, her dark hair falling over her shoulders.
“Mama,” Jaci whispered. She reached her hands out.
“Jaci!” Mrs. Rivera rushed forward, knocking her leg against a chair.
Seth bolted up and wrapped his arms around their mother. He guided her over to Jaci.
“Jaci. Mija.” The woman collapsed in a chair next to Jaci, dissolving into tears. She pulled a tissue out of her purse with shaking hands. “Let me take you home, baby.”
Jaci looked around the room, at Sara and Amanda, both involved in their own tearful reunions. An ache formed in her throat. Callie.
“Jaci, sweetheart?” Mrs. Rivera tugged on her hand.
Jaci took a deep breath. She gave a smile, trying to be strong for her mother’s sake. “Yes. Let’s go home.” She looked at Seth, saw in his expression that he had also noticed their mother’s neediness. She was a broken woman.
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