25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Mars

I was at the shop without Samuel today, and I missed having him around. Three of my regular customers had stopped in just to talk to him. Something I was sure he would enjoy when I told him.

It hadn’t helped that I’d had a bad feeling all morning. It reminded me of the day my house had caught fire. Kismet seemed fine, though, so I tried to view that as a positive sign. Everyone was on pins and needles because of the arsonist, so I tried my best to ignore it, but it was hard.

I could feel that something was off in the energy, and I’d learned over time to trust that feeling. So, after a couple of hours of trying to convince myself it was nothing, I gave in and pulled out a tarot deck and dealt myself six cards.

I took a breath and flipped over the first card. Five of Wands. Chaos and conflict. Okay, that could mean anything. Second card. Ace of Wands reversed. Chaos again, and what was with all the wands? Third card. The Tower card because, of course, it was the Tower card. Chaos, chaos, destruction. I wasn’t feeling good about this at all. I flipped over the fourth card. The Devil. Jealousy, envy, or being trapped. Okay. The sense of foreboding was growing stronger with each card. This was not reassuring at all. I flipped over the fifth card. The Eight of Swords. Trapped. Shit . Obviously, I’m not trapped, so these cards can’t be pertaining to me, unless it’s something coming later. But with the arsonist targeting Samuel, I couldn’t help but wonder if the cards were telling me he was in danger.

I pulled out my phone and called Samuel. I sat there, tapping the sixth card while it rang and rang until it went to voicemail. I was terrified to turn over the last card, and Samuel wasn’t answering his phone. I pushed away from the table and went to the front door. Samuel told me he would be with Hawk today, and Gator worked for Hawk, so he would know if something was wrong, right?

I pushed open the front door. Gator was standing there on the phone looking serious even for him, and that said something.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Hawk, I have Mars here. I’m going to go update him. Call me if you need me.”

My heart pounded in my chest, and I could barely breathe. Gator took a step towards me, holding out one hand. “Before I tell you anything, you need to know Samuel is okay. That was Hawk on the phone. He’s with him, and he’s fine.”

“What happened?”

“The guy everyone was looking for showed up at the station with a bomb strapped to his chest. Hawk, Samuel, and the people on shift managed to disarm him, and he’s been arrested. That’s all I know.”

“So they caught him?”

“They caught him. It’s over.”

“I should go to Samuel,” I said, looking around for Kismet’s carrier.

“Hold on. He’s tied up with the police right now and probably will be for a while.”

“Well, I can’t just sit here, now can I? Someone tried to kill Samuel. Shit, someone tried to kill Samuel.” I went light- headed and swayed a little as the full realization of what almost happened hit me.

Gator grabbed my arm to steady me. “Whoa, you okay?”

“Yeah.” I turned back to the store, my heart still racing. “I need to call Steven. I bet this is all over the news. Let’s go inside.”

As I turned and walked inside, I pulled out my phone and called Steven.

“Hey, Marsy, what’s up?” I could tell by the way he’d answered that he hadn’t heard anything about what had happened.

“Where are you?”

“I’m on the road. I had a client who’s looking to open a garden center out near Prairie Flats, so we were checking out the property.”

“So you haven’t heard any of the news?” I asked.

“No. Why?”

“Okay, first thing for you to know. Your dad’s okay.”

“But?”

“The arsonist showed up at the station wearing a bomb. It didn’t go off, and he’s been arrested. I don’t have any other details, but I wanted to tell you so if you heard about it, you wouldn’t be worried.”

“But he’s really okay?”

I glanced at Gator, and he gave me a reassuring nod. I appreciated it, but I knew I wouldn’t really feel better until I saw Samuel for myself.

“Yeah, he’s okay. He’s busy with the police right now, but I’m sure he’ll call you later.”

“Okay, I’ll call my mom and let her know. I know she still worries about him. But, Mars, thanks for calling me.”

I hung up and turned to Gator. “I don’t know what to do now.”

“Why don’t you head home? I’m sure he’ll want to go straight there when he’s done.”

“Home.” I nodded and took a deep breath. “Yeah, home is a good idea. Ziva, you have things here, or should we just close the shop?”

“I’m fine here by myself. You just go home and wait for your man.”

I rushed over to her and hugged her. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you.” I looked over to Gator. “What about you?”

“I’m headed back to headquarters. You don’t need me here anymore.”

“I appreciated you being here.”

He bent down and scooped up Kismet. “I’ve had worse jobs, especially since you had your own personal guard most of the time.”

“He was worried,” I said.

“And as today proved, he was right to be. This guy was not in his right mind.” He handed Kismet over to me so I could put him in his carrier.

“I hope I’ll see you again, Gator. I really did enjoy meeting you.”

“Oh, you’ll see me again. I’m planning on coming back and doing holiday shopping. My sister would love some of the stuff you have in here.”

I got Kismet all situated in her carrier. Then I sent Samuel a text telling him I was headed home and would see him there. But before I could leave, I needed to do one more thing. I walked over and flipped over the last card. The Four of Wands. Happiness and safety.

I let out my breath and smiled. I should’ve just turned over the card. I picked up Kismet’s carrier and walked out to my car to go home and wait.

My brain was still spinning a million miles an hour, but what mattered was Samuel was okay, and he would be home soon.

I couldn’t believe this guy actually showed up at the fire station planning to blow everyone to kingdom come. I’d known Samuel was worried, but I really hadn’t been. It didn’t make sense to me that the guy would stick around town with everyone looking for him, but obviously, Samuel had been right.

When I got home, I went to work. I dug through the boxes in the garage until I found the candles I’d ordered from one of my favorite shops. I pulled out the one that was made to help with relaxation and carried it into the house.

I set it on the coffee table in the living room and lit the candle. It was a lavender, frankincense—a ylang-ylang blend and had a very calming effect. Next, I closed the curtains and lowered the lights before searching through my phone to find one of my favorite playlists, simply titled calm .

I plugged it into the speaker and pressed play. Then I sat down on the floor and got into my meditation pose. I wouldn’t be any use to Samuel if I was a nervous wreck when he arrived, so I needed a few minutes to center myself before he got home.

Samuel

It felt like it took forever before the police were done with me and let me go home. Before I’d even had a chance to call Mars, he’d sent me a text telling me he was at home waiting for me. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw it. There was no place on earth I wanted to be right now besides at home with him.

I’d also received texts from both Steven and Danni letting me know that Mars had called and let them know I was okay.

On the drive home, I couldn’t help but think about how different today could have gone. So many people that I cared about could’ve died today. Hell, I could’ve died today.

But I didn’t. And now I was heading home, and Mars was there waiting for me. I smiled to myself. My boy, my kitten, was at the house waiting for me.

I pulled into the driveway and went in the side door. The lights were dimmed, and I almost instinctively reached for the switch, but then I saw the candle on the coffee table. I stepped further into the house and spied Mars sitting on the floor, eyes closed, and fuck if I didn’t want to come home to this every day.

I watched him for a minute, but the need to hold him was stronger than the urge to let him finish what he was doing.

“Hey, Kitten,” I said loud enough for him to hear, but hopefully not so loud it would startle him.

His eyes flew open, and he hopped up, not in his normal graceful way, but with much more urgency.

“Daddy! You’re home.”

“I am.”

He flew across the room and crashed into me. I wrapped my arms around him and held on tight. This right here was what I needed.

He let go and took a step back, looking me over frantically. “He could have killed you.”

His eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and I reached up and brushed a stray one off his cheek.

“He could have. But he didn’t. I’m fine.”

A sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sob escaped his throat. “I was meditating and getting everything ready to comfort you after such a scary experience, and now here you are, comforting me instead.”

“How about we comfort each other?”

He sniffed. “That sounds good to me. But it was really him. It’s over?”

“Yeah, Kitten. It’s over. But there’s something I need to tell you, so let’s go sit down.”

I led him over to the couch and sat down, pulling him into my lap simply because I wasn’t ready to let him go. I wanted him close so I could touch him.

He snuggled in close and let out a content sigh. Looked like I wasn’t the only one who needed this right now. “I can’t believe he was going to blow up the station and himself with it.”

“I know, but he wasn’t thinking straight. He’s a very disturbed man, and somehow, in his messed-up thinking processes, it made sense to him even if we can’t understand it. It’s like Hawk said, you can’t attribute rational thinking to an irrational person.”

“I know, but I could’ve lost you today.”

“That’s true, Kitten, but we aren’t going to dwell on what could’ve happened. What we’re going to be is grateful. Grateful things worked out in our favor today. Grateful that nobody, including Don, died today. And most of all, grateful that we have each other. Do you know what my first thought was when I saw that bomb?”

He sat up and looked at me. “No, what?”

“That I’d only just found you, and I wasn’t ready to lose you. I love you, baby boy. So much, and I’m so fucking grateful I got to come home to you today.”

His breath caught, and his eyes got all glassy again. “You mean that? This isn’t just some trauma response or something? You really love me?”

“Kitten, I’ve known it for a while now. I was just afraid it was too soon to tell you. I didn’t want to scare you off. But today, I realized that I might not get the chance, and I wanted you to know how I felt.”

“I love you, too, Samuel. So much, and I’m with you. I’m grateful that we have each other, and I’m never going to let you go.”

“Like I’d ever want to go anywhere.”