Page 91 of Deadly Vendetta

“Congratulations on the mare,” Vivian murmured. She’d been subdued since her arrival, almost wary, but now she managed a wan smile. “We’ll all look forward to seeing her.”

Dana took the pup back to the kennel room. When she returned, Francie and Vivian were in deep conversation.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here during the past couple days,” Francie exclaimed, her face pale. “It must have been absolutely awful. How are Ben and Zach?”

“Ben will be discharged later this morning,” Vivian murmured. “I’ll take my car into town and bring him out here for you, Dana. I’m not sure you’ll even want him back, though. He’s testy as a bear.”

Dana laughed. “That wouldn’t be anything new.”

“And Zach?” Francie asked.

“I called the hospital repeatedly all night long. They wouldn’t say anything at first, then the desk said they couldn’t find him. How could they lose a man that size? His arm didn’t look good. Maybe he was in surgery and they wouldn’t say?”

At the sound of the front door of the clinic, she looked up and found Zach standing in the entryway.

He still looked haggard, and his arm was heavily bandaged and suspended in a sling. But he never took his eyes from Dana’s face as he started across the waiting room.

“We need to talk,” he said.

Francie looked between them, then grabbed Tom by the arm and started for the door. “I think this is our cue to leave,” she called out over her shoulder. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Vivian watched the door shut behind them, then turned back to Zach. “I need to go pick up Ben. But before I leave, I want to thank you, Zach. And I need to apologize. I—”

“No,” he said gently. “There’s no need. Not anymore.”

“You know—about everything?”

“I remembered how nervous you were when you first saw me back in town. As a kid, I could only see the deputy taking his distrust of me a step further. Later, though, it didn’t take long to put the facts together.”

“I don’t expect forgiveness,” she persisted, “because I can’t even give it to myself. In blindly trying to protect my daughter, I hurt both of you. I was wrong to ask that deputy to warn you away.”

“I’d protect Katie with my life,” he said slowly. “So I understand what you did. If I ever thought she was running with the wrong crowd, who knows what I’d do to protect her?” A wry grin lifted a corner of his mouth. He extended his good arm. “Bygones?”

She searched his face, then reached out and took his hand, but didn’t release it. Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you, Zach. Now I’ll just pray that you can undo some of the wrongs I’ve done to you in the past.”

“I’m sure going to try.” Zach waited until Vivian had left, before he turned to Dana. “I thought you’d want to know that the preliminary autopsy report is in. You hit Alvarez in the thigh, but it wasn’t the wound that killed him.”

Relief flooded through her. “I wanted to stop him any way I could. But later...”

“I know. As an agent, I’ve only had to fire my gun a few times, but we never draw without intending lethal force. Disabling a bad guy just gives him more time to kill you or someone else. Afterward, though, I wonder about the guy’s family and friends, and wonder if I could have found another way to stop him. You never forget, and that makes it hard to sleep at night.”

“I’m sorry.” She wouldn’t have expected that from a seasoned agent, but she admired him all the more for it. “Are you supposed to be out of the hospital already?”

A rueful smile tilted the corners of his mouth. “I think they’ve got an APB out on me. The nurse said something about me going AMA—against medical advice—and had some pretty dire predictions about my future.”

“Then you need to go back!”

“No, I need to be here.” He stepped closer and looked down into her face. “Over the past twenty-four hours I’ve done a lot of thinking. About what matters most in my life and where I want to be.”

Dana’s heartbeat faltered, wobbled on a precipice of hope. “You have?”

“I’m going back East to talk to Katie’s grandfather, because he wants her to live with her Aunt Diane. My PI’s investigation found nothing but good about the woman, but in my heart I know Katie belongs with me.”

Her heart slowly settled back into place. “That’s...good, Zach. I think you’re right.”

“I’ve got my lawyer working on the possibility of adoption. And with Katie counting on me, I’m not going to take so many risks anymore.”

“But what would you do?”

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