Chapter Twenty-nine

Kane

I shut the apartment door on Detective Almeda and Agent Mackin, who had arrived to update us on Lachlan Jones's arrest and interrogation. Lachlan Jones was the correctional officer I'd identified with the tattoo who had been with Shae. After explaining what I'd seen of the tattoo to Danny, he'd brought up an image of the Marine Corps' tattoos, especially the one with the anchor and the letters USMC. There were three possible matches, but only one with a scar through the letter U. This C.O. worked both sides and apparently he'd been paid a lot of money, along with O'Connell, to turn off the security and let the rioters through. Unfortunately, most of the rioters didn't know that. And when everything had gone wrong and Saunders had died, O'Connell's protection had disappeared along with it

They'd found the missing C.O., Kerrigan, dead in a supply closet, which explained why the control room was empty. And Jones had—at gun point—made the deputy warden, Smith, call the rest of the C.O.s from the enhanced side to assist in subduing the riot. His body had been found in the prison crematorium.

Jones knew he was screwed, and blurted out what he knew. The riot was a cover for Saunders" escape. He had access to a shit-ton of offshore accounts that the feds hadn't been able to seize, and basically had promised the leader of The Blood Cartel—who was in for three consecutive twenty-year murder charges—that if he would back Saunders and instigate the riot, Saunders would pay him a million dollars and make sure he got out as well.

Unfortunately for Saunders, O'Connell told him I was back inside, and he couldn't resist the lure of revenge. Ancelle "The Knife" Cezanne, the leader of The Blood Cartel, was one of the bodies outside Callum's cell.

Danny's mom and dad returned home the previous afternoon after graciously accepting an invitation to Rawling's home for Thanksgiving. It was an annual tradition for the team, and Pink looked forward to hosting it every year. Danny joked and said that he wasn't the lure for his mom, because Seb and Gray went as well, and his mom adored Seb. Liz had been very firm when she had told Danny and me that we would be at their home for Christmas. Rawlings had been warned not to even think about giving either of us a last-minute job, and he had solemnly agreed.

Danny was healing nicely though he'd been warned not to go jogging or jump off tall buildings or get involved in any more prison riots. Tongue-in-cheek, he'd told the doctor he had a personal bodyguard that would make sure of it.

Damn straight.

I chuckled to myself when I realized I hadn't said fu—err a worse word, even in my head. There was hope for me yet.

Four days after that, Danny announced we were going out for the day. I looked up at him over my coffee and knew instantly where we were going. He reached out and took my other hand. "Let's get this done, because this afternoon we have somewhere else I want to visit as well."

I waited, expecting an explanation, but he just waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

It only took just over forty minutes to reach Adairsville, and then Jamerson Crescent, a small circle of one-story houses, all with neat yards. I pulled up and killed the engine, then just stared at the end house with the yard that almost burst with roses, and I couldn't move. My dad's last hateful words when I'd been sixteen seemed so loud in my ears. "What if he hates me?" I whispered.

Danny leaned over and kissed my cheek. "You think I would do that to you? Put you in that position?"

I glanced over. "But you wouldn't know," and he smiled.

"I called him yesterday," he said, and took off his seatbelt and got out of the car, simply waiting for me to do the same.

He called him? "But, what did he say?" And my legs were moving to take Danny's outstretched hand before I knew it.

"Trust me," Danny whispered, and we walked up the path, Danny holding Sadie's leash. He raised his fist to rap on the door, but it was opened before he had the chance and I gazed in shock at my grandfather. I knew he was seventy-eight, but that was it. He stared at me in equal wonder, then whispered, "You have her eyes. If I'd been in any doubt before, I'm not now," he added and stepped backwards, inviting us in.

Sadie lay at my feet while Danny took over making tea and the coffee that my grandfather had already gotten out on an old-fashioned tray complete with shortbread cookies that he said had been my mom's favorite as a child.

He was silent for a few minutes while Danny dispensed our coffee. He'd even brought his own tea bag from home. Then Grandfather glanced out of the window. "It's my fault your mom's gone."

Of all things, I hadn't been expecting that.

"After my wife Shelly died. Breast cancer," he added by way of explanation, "I threw myself into work to forget. I also managed to forget I had a grieving fourteen-year-old girl that had lost her mom as well. By the time I came out of my one-man pity party, Tammy had gotten a boyfriend and was running with a bad crowd. She was regularly a no-show at school and after a particularly bad argument she left with that rat-bastard, but I had nothing to identify him, barely a first name. The cops tried, but they'd just disappeared. Then one day three years later, she was sitting on my doorstep waiting for me when I got home. We had two wonderful years. Tammy got her GED and was all set for college. She wanted to be a nurse," he said softly.

I managed a nod but wouldn't have been able to speak if someone put a gun to my head.

He frowned. "She met your dad, and I struggled with it. I disliked him, but apparently she didn't. He had money and flashed it around. They got married and she gave up college because she told me he didn't need her to work." A silent tear ran down his cheek and, unable to stand it, I got up and crossed the room, grabbing a couple of tissues from the box on the table and pressing them into Grandad's hands. He sent me a wobbly smile and didn't let go of my hand, so I dragged over a padded ottoman and perched on that. Danny sent me an encouraging look.

"I didn't see her for months at a time. They'd moved house, and when I went looking realized she hadn't told. I called the cops and they called back and said an officer visited the home, but she insisted she didn't want to speak to me. Said we were estranged, but we weren't." My heart clenched because he sounded so bewildered.

"Has to be, what?" He frowned. "Thirty years at least, maybe a little more, and I found out where they were living, and went there. They were in an apartment, and she came out. Met me at the door. Said they were moving in a few days, and she would call me when they were settled."

I must have been around two or three years old.

"She never did. I had my first heart attack a year later and by the time I'd gotten through that she'd disappeared. I know the cops looked at him and he had witnesses that said she was having an affair and another man, Leon Carter—an animal vet who had been called to their house to treat a sick dog—said he'd seen her catch a cab with her suitcase. I didn't know about you or I would never…" He trailed off.

"It doesn't matter," I said fiercely. I knew she was dead. In my heart I'd always known it, and to hear it was Leon that gave my dad the alibi? He would have said anything for the money my dad paid him, so I knew she had to be dead. Selfishly, and to my shame for a moment, I felt a little relief. She hadn't left me because she'd wanted to.

We stayed a little longer and I made sure Grandad, as he asked me to call him, had our address and both our phone numbers, and Danny suggested he come for lunch this weekend. Grandad brightened up at that and then shocked me by asking if he could bring an old friend of his. Marjorie was his bridge partner, and they often shared meals. Danny snickered when Grandad blushed, and we all chuckled.

I just needed to know one more thing as we walked to the door. I hesitated, then turned and gestured to my face. "You don't mind?" He pulled me into a hug, and I reciprocated, even having to bend down quite a lot. Then he patted my arm and let me go.

"I told you already you have your mom's eyes." His own eyes twinkled. "Why on earth should I mind that?"

We got in the truck and Danny programmed an address in. This one was over an hour away and apparently we were meeting someone for lunch. My eyebrows nearly hit the top of the car because neither of us was a fan of eating out. He gestured to the cooler on the back seat I'd forgotten about, and I smiled ruefully. We met at a local craft brewery that didn't serve food and were happy for people to bring their own, plus they had a large outside space where we could take Sadie and both Danny and I would be happier with less peopling.

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, and oh 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 two months" 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, so don'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.