Page 70 of One Step Sideways

Danny led me over to a corner table where a middle-aged lady was sitting holding a drink. Her eyes lit up when she saw us and she stood. I gazed at her as she reached out a hand to Danny, obviously expecting us, and then she smiled and turned to me. “You have to be Kane. I’ve heard so much about you.”

Danny cleared his throat and turned to me. “Kane, meet Constance Picket.” I stood completely stunned as I got the second hug of my day.

“Please call me Connie,” and she promptly burst into tears. Danny took over this time and held her hand as everything she wanted to say came tumbling out. That Archie’s lawyer had informed Anthony Gregory from the FBI of my release and he had contacted Rawlings to arrange this meeting. Then the photographs. Connie was married to a fireman who was as hot as everyone always said firemen were, andoh my goodness, he’d starred on the front cover of the charity calendar they’d made last year, which had been so popular it had been given a second print run. She had five kids. Three boys and twin girls—who’d been a shock, as she thought they were done. Her eldest was named Archie. And guess what? She was going to be a nanna in about twomonths' time.

All because Archie had saved her life.

And I ached to have Archie here beside me, getting the hugs and marveling over the photographs and knowing he was responsible for every bit of it.

Maybe he was here. I wasn’t sure what I believed in. Organized religion had never made sense to me, but the thought that Archie might be looking down on us and sharing this seemed to fit somehow. That he knew he had saved all these lives, including mine, because I knew without a doubt he had.

She had kept every letter Archie had ever written to her, and she promised me that the next time we met she would show them all to me. This time, though, she had a special one for me, and with a shaky hand, she passed me a sealed envelope.

I stared at it for a moment before I dared take it, because I recognized Archie’s handwriting and my name on the front.

Connie immediately bent down and asked if she could pet Sadie as she was wearing her service vest collar and she and Danny talked about animals in general. Almost as if they were giving me a little privacy to decide what to do. Slowly, I opened the envelope and pulled out a handwritten letter. It hadn’t been opened, but I knew Archie wasn’t on the hot sheet with the C.O.s, so I assumed they hadn’t thought it necessary. It was dated four years ago, three months before Archie died.

My dearest boy.

If you’re reading this, then you made it, and I couldn’t be prouder. I always knew you would. Connie has waited a long time to meet you, and I hope the two of you will be great friends. I arranged with my lawyer to make sure she would be informed of your release, and I also made sure she had the funds available so she could hire someone to find you.

I know you will face many challenges on the outside and Connie’s lawyer also has the sum of ten thousand dollars set aside in your name to help you make a fresh start. Don’t worry about Connie. Her children have college money set aside from me, and she doesn’t want this, and she would never accept it, sodon’t bother trying.

I hope you find what you need. My dearest wish is that you find a family. Never forget you went a long way to giving me back the son I lost, and for that I will never be able to thank you enough.

Archie.

I read it through a second time and idly scratched Sadie’s head where she’d plonked it on my lap. Danny’s hand landed on my other knee, and I looked up at both of them, and had to blink a couple of times to get them into focus.

I silently offered the letter to Danny and gazed at Connie. I didn’t know what to say. She reached over and patted my hand. Even taking Danny out of the equation, I’d been touched kindly by more people in the last month than I had in my entire life.

“When you’re ready,” Connie said. “You might like to see the stone I had made for him. I’ve already passed on the lawyer’s details to Danny, and he has mine.” And I got another hug before she left, as it was date night and she and her fireman hubby apparently had plans to light up the bedroom.

I really hoped she didn’t mean it literally, but when she made Danny blush, we could hear her throaty laugh all the way back to the parking lot.

Danny and I sat there for a few moments until he looked at his watch and opened the cooler he’d brought. Suddenly starving, I ate every bite of what Danny had made, but if you’d asked me later, I wouldn’t have been able to remember what it was.

Chapter Thirty

Two Weeks Later

Kane

Danny threw his car keys at me and grinned. It had been quite a week. I’d accompanied Blue and Paula on arunway gig,as they called it. It had been a charity event. Hundreds of rich people throwing money at an organized fashion show, dinner, and charity auction over a period of two days, plus making sure the event space was secure before and during.

Danny had cackled evilly when I’d whined at my third invitation to “do drinks.” Apparently a scar didn’t put certain people off and it had been particularly difficult to explain to two wealthy women and one wealthy man that I wasn’t included in the auction items.

Danny had spent a frustrating two weeks hunting down where the still-missing enhanced might be and whoever might have been responsible for it. Officially, Connaught was being blamed but as he was dead and no one else except Jones was talking and his information was limited, it made things hard even with Gael’s help.

Ringo was back at work and Shae had been taken to Pink’s. It had taken three full weeks for him to be discharged from the hospital, and, despite being enhanced, the doctors weren’t sure he wouldn’t have a permanent heart problem. I didn’t know what had gone on with Ringo and Shae, but Ringo had returned to work looking like a thundercloud and had refused to go up to Rawlings’s home the next weekend despite being invited and maybe because Shae would be there.

I dragged the cover off Danny’s baby, which I was quite fond of myself, and started the car. Danny was happy to let me drive, and I admitted surprise when I found out Sadie wasn’t coming. He also refused to tell me where we were going, but as I’d already met Grandad and Archie’s Connie, I figured there was nothing else in my past he could surprise me with.

I was wrong.

We pulled up at a large farmhouse about two hours' drive away, and I stiffened when I heard the sound of barking dogs. I was very comfortable with Sadie, and we both took her for walks, but the thought of meeting a pack of dogs didn’t thrill me. Danny squeezed my hand and we got out of the car. The barking lessened, then stopped, and we both went to the front door. A smiling young woman named Pippa Wright opened it and after Danny introduced us, she beckoned us in. We followed her through the kitchen to a smaller room, and my eyes widened in astonishment as I saw the basket with the black dog in it nursing three puppies, while another four tumbled about.

I gaped in astonishment and glanced at Danny. He’d briefly mentioned maybe getting a puppy as Sadie was nine. Not that Sadie would be going anywhere, but I knew it was something in the back of his mind.

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