Page 108 of Jael

“Yes—well, kind of. I’m safe. Give me a second.”

He waited until finally there was a scraping at the door, then a click, and the door opened. Jael had blood on her face and arm.

“You’re hurt,” he said.

She shook her head, then hiccupped a cry and launched toward him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his neck.

He held her, focusing on nothing but the fact that she was alive, then looked over the top of her head, where he could see Artus on the couch.

“Oh,” he said, holding her closer when he processed the full picture. “He’s dead.”

“I should be dead now too.”

“I heard the gunshot. I thought you were.” He pulled her away from him so he could check her over. Her lip was swollen, and her arm was bleeding.

“The bullet grazed my arm,” she said.

“Was that before or after you impaled him?”

“I don’t know how that happened. I don’t even remember picking up the poker, but then I threw it. I needed to stop him. I was okay with dying, but I couldn’t let him get away.”

He pushed her hair away from her face. “I wouldn’t have been okay with you dying.”

“I know.” She touched his face and smiled. “I thought of you coming in and finding me dead. I hated to think about how that would hurt you. How you’d blame yourself.” She shook her head with a laugh. “I wanted you to know I’d see you again one day.”

“I don’t think that’s how death works.”

“But it is. I figured it out. What you said about being free. I didn’t want to die without knowing where I was going.”

He couldn’t move for a moment. Even his lungs stopped working. That God would use a time like this to bring her into the light. He had been afraid for her that she could never accept the gift that was available to her. But not only had God found a way to open her eyes, but He’d saved her so she could be standing in front of Danny right now, smiling with a fat lip.

“I don’t know what to say,” Danny said.

“It might be a good idea to call someone and tell them where they can find Artus’s body. I’d rather get it out of the house as soon as possible.”

“Yeah.” He could still see into the room from his position, so he pulled her away where the light spilled into the darkness. “I want to say I’m happy for you, but this is such a horriblesituation. I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I seem to be late every time you need help.”

“You turned up at the right time. God had it under control. But I guess Christopher will have to answer for himself now.”

“He’s dead too.”

“What? Artus said they took him into custody.”

“He ran from the room before he saw what happened. Christopher fired at the agents. They fired back.”

“Then it’s over.”

“It’s over.”

It was hours before Danny could take Jael away from the house. She’d called Hannah to arrange to stay so she wouldn’t be alone.

He pulled up outside of a small townhouse as the sky warmed with the first faint rays of the sun approaching the horizon.

“I hope this isn’t the last time I see you,” Jael said, looking at her fingers while she picked at her nails. “I know you must be eager to get back to your boys. I’m sure they miss you.”

“I do miss them, but I have some loose ends to tie up first. The FBI will want me to write extensive reports. It will be painful, but I won’t leave without saying goodbye.”

“But you’re definitely leaving.”

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