Page 48 of Evening Shadows

“It’ll take some time to get rid of the hurt, but I love you and, corny as it is, love conquers all. We trust each other on the job. We may need to work on that trust on the home front. We won’t let what happened stop us from a future together.”

Her eyes misted, and her vision blurred. He still loved her. How had she ever gotten so lucky?

“All in all, I forgive you.”

Those magical words lifted everything from her heart until passion for life and this man resided there.

He dropped her hand and opened his arms. “Now come here. I need you in my arms. We’ll make it through this.”

She snuggled in, careful of his injuries, committed to convincing him of her loyalty. She’d grab this forgiveness and absorb it into her soul. She’d do whatever it took to earn and keep it.

Relaxed, from him running his hand through her hair, Sam leaned back and looked at him. No woman could ever be so lucky as she was.

“What d’we do now?” Hoping not to push it, she mimicked his prior action by finger combing his disheveled hair. Damn, he looked handsome even with bruising and swelling on his face. She caressed her fingers over the roughness of his bruised, whiskered jaw and then his split lip where the thin line of blood had dried. It had to have bothered him when he’d kissed her. Yet it hadn’t stopped him.

“We wait. We don’t know for certain it’s her, and you know we’ve been surprised as hell at times.”

That was true. Crazy people didn’t always show themselves from the beginning. They checked out good then went off their rocker at the most inopportune time. Like there actually was an opportune moment for that transformation.

“Whoever it is won’t have Jesse. He’ll come back, but he has to take care of getting Cody home.”

Her heart lurched, and she dropped her hand. “What will he do with him?” Cody not being with people who loved him worried her to no end. They hadn’t planned to take him back to Bev’s so she didn’t have that worry at least.

Ken shrugged, then grimaced. “Since you’re not there, he’ll probably leave the boy with his housekeeper since the women are in Montana. I imagine Jesse’s sent for them to return for Cody’s sake and ours. I won’t object to any of them at our six.”

“Good.” Jesse’s housekeeper would take great care of Cody. Heck, he’d probably be too spoiled to come back with her. “If it’s Bev, maybe I can talk some sense into her,” she said with hope, but the reality of that probably not being the case sat heavy in her gut. “If they’re going all the way home, our backup dwindled in numbers.”

“I imagine Jesse will find a way to make both happen. He always does.”

A sudden thought stalled her. If it were Bev and she’d finally arrived—or come back to confuse HIS—then what would happen to Ken? Alejandro must’ve been playing with him until she arrived. Bev’s goal was death. Would she kill Ken today?

Bile rose in her throat and she swallowed it down. No. She would not lose Ken. She’d almost made the mistake of losing faith in him. Never again.

She had to stop Bev before that happened. She’d learned the folly of her ways. Maybe she could help Bev understand the same and release the hatred before she did something she’d regret.

She swallowed hard. Bev had been too far-gone when she’d spoken to her last. She should’ve realized something when her friend finally agreed to HIS—especially Jesse and Ken—taking over the search for Cody. With frustration, she jumped to her feet, walked to the door and held onto the bars tight enough her knuckles turned white. How hadn’t she seen this?

She shook her head. It was pointless dwelling on the what-ifs. She had to keep her teammates safe.

Damn that woman!

“Sam, come here.”

She released a burdened sigh and turned back to the man who’d changed her. The man who’d always stood by her, even when she hadn’t deserved it. A man she didn’t deserve but refused to turn away. She’d been rendered powerless to do just that.

After sitting by Ken once again, he reached over and clasped their hands together, resting them on their thighs. Some of her worries ebbed, or maybe he just instilled her with enough confidence in them to overcome anything.

“Take your earpiece and hide it in a gap between the bed and wall. If our assumption is correct, I think you’ll be pulled to visit with her. If it’s not her—”

When he didn’t continue, she turned and saw him working his jaw. Knowing Ken as she did, he tossed around whether to fight them or not if they took her. It had to be hard on him since he wasn’t at full strength.

“I’ll be fine. No matter what. If you fight with the guard, they could hurt you worse—maybe even shoot you again—and that won’t help us escape.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I can’t trust it’s her, Sam. I can’t.”

Her eyes misted. “Here,” she said, changing the topic, “let me see your wound.”

The chuckle that escaped him lifted the heaviness of their previous topic. “Which one?”

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