Page 83 of Bravo

“You’ll have that too, you know. Where you’re still trapped in fight or flight and unsure if you’ll ever get out of it.”

Kennedy tucks her feet up and wraps both arms around her knees. Blue-tipped toes peek out from beneath her sweats.

“You painted your toenails.”

“What?” She glances down then back up to me.

“They were pink before, right?”

“How did you?—”

“I pay attention to details.”

“We were on the run for our lives, and you noticed my toenails?”

“It’s what I do.”

She smiles, a radiant smile where all guards are momentarily dropped, and it steals my breath. “That’s quite a skill set, Hunt.”

“It’s what makes me good at my job, Smith.”

She laughs softly then rests her cheek on her knees and stares into the crackling fire. “I wonder what it will feel like.”

“What?”

“To not have to run anymore. To be able to actually unpack my bag and settle in somewhere. To own more than two pairs of shoes.”

“I don’t own more than two pairs of shoes.”

She snorts and then covers her mouth in embarrassment right before she breaks out in a laugh so melodious I want to remain wrapped in it forever. “I haven’t snort-laughed in forever!”

“It was pretty adorable.” I laugh, and before I know it, we’re both laughing, neither of us worried about what tomorrow might bring. Just two people brought together in the midst of chaos, enjoying a moment of peace.

It feels good.

Like home.

Kennedy isfast asleep on the couch, covered in a blanket. She’d been asleep long before Lani came back with dinner for both of us, so my sister sat with me while I ate, and we put Kennedy’s food in the fridge.

Lani tells me that she hasn’t eaten or slept since my arrest. Elliot picked her up in Tulsa; then Jaxson and Elijah flew home to their families and to work on the drive some more since most of Elijah’s equipment is back in Hope Springs.

He’d burned a copy of the data for Tucker too. Between the two of them, I have hope they’ll be able to glean something so it’s not what Kennedy fears it is—useless.

I glance over at the closed bedroom door where Lani is sleeping. I’m grateful that Elliot thought to bring her here to keep her safe. He’ll be going with her to and from work, ensuring that she stays that way until this is all over.

Men like Klive and Alexander Brown wouldn’t hesitate to take her out just to spite me.

The Bible in my lap is heavy tonight. The weight of the life I took at that motel is settling onto my shoulders. It’s not the first man who’s fallen at my feet, and as much as I hate to think it, I doubt it’ll be the last.

Not with what I do. I save innocent people from bad men. And sometimes, you can’t stop a bad man with anything but force.

But that doesn’t make the loss of life any easier.

Ecclesiastes sits open to chapter three on my lap. It’s one of my favorite books in the Bible and one I’ve spent a lot of time in over the years. It puts things into perspective for me when I’m feeling overwhelmed by everything going on in my life.

My gaze drops to the text.

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.”

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