Epilogue

D ane

Six Months Later…

I gripped the steering wheel tight, my knuckles white and my scars stretched almost to the painful point. Walter had been so good about helping me ease into the twenty-first century—at least during the days we had been able to carve out together—and he'd decided a month ago that it was time for me to learn how to drive.

Driving had proven to be the first thing we didn't do gracefully together. At least, I didn't. He was a wonderful teacher, but I was a pretty terrible student. Once my finances had been settled, he'd asked me what kind of car I wanted. That's how he informed me that I needed to learn to drive.

It turned out I certainly had been paid royalties all this time, and they amounted to a hefty enough sum that not only was I able to buy myself an electric spaceship car that Walter said would be good for me, but also a lovely home for the two of us across the road from my mother in Laurel Canyon, so I could spend time with her. Her vision had mostly recovered, and she had a little more pep in her step each day, thank goodness. We had certainly made up for lost time.

The house was spacious enough for Walter's kids to each have a room of their own when they came to visit. I'd met them over the holidays, and soon the three of us were ganging up on Walter in the most loving of ways. Our place also had an in-law unit for Walter's mother to live in, whenever she was ready to move to LA, which she said would be never, but Walter wanted to be sure we had a place for her. In the meantime, it was perfect for when Ryan and Kal visited, which they would be doing for an extended period as we went into rehearsals in a week for my first time on tour since nineteen seventy-nine, only this time, instead of folk music, I would be playing hard rock and heavy metal with Ryan. I looked forward to the challenge. After everything I'd been through, the angrier music helped me begin the healing process.

We were currently on our way to Santa Barbara to attend Stacia's graduation from college and it was my first test driving long-distance on the interstate. I wasn't thrilled, but I had an appointment to take my behind-the-wheel test in a month, so Walter wanted me to practice. A lot.

"I would have loved for us to take the scenic route on Highway 101, but we have a stop to make," Walter'd said that afternoon as we loaded into the car.

"Oh yeah, where's that?"

"An old associate of my father's," was all he'd said.

I'd agreed, of course. As much healing as I'd had to do, solving my case meant Walter could finally grieve for his father. He and I each had a therapist, and when it was appointment time, we'd head to rooms at opposite ends of our house and talk to people through a fancy typewriter screen.

Look, some things I still hadn't fully grasped, and though I was learning to use a computer and a smartphone, I liked my names for them better.

"Can you tell me about the person we're going to see?" I asked him as the car began to climb into the Grapevine in the late afternoon light. I wanted to focus on something else rather than the last time we'd driven through here… on our way to find Hunter Holland at the Buttonwillow Rest Area. I didn't think I could ever stop and use one of those again, so I wanted Walter to talk to me.

"Her name is Charlene. He, uh, he consulted with her on some of his cases."

"Consulted… like how?"

I glanced over and caught Walter smoothing down his mustache as he looked out the window.

"She helped him with missing persons cases."

He didn't seem to want to add any more. "All right. How about, is everything set up for Stacia's graduation party tomorrow?"

"It is! I've rented enough rooms for all of us and booked a reception room at the Best Western in Goleta. Sam took care of the catering for me. Everyone will meet us at the hotel after the ceremony tomorrow, since they only give out four tickets to each of the grads."

"Got it." I knew Lisa and Steffan would be meeting us at the ceremony, and I was grateful that it had been Lisa's idea that I come with Walter. She'd been so welcoming to me when we'd met. It was odd, we'd all had Christmas dinner together at Walter's mother's house in Bakersfield, and it hadn't been weird.

"How you doing? Remember to watch your speed once we hit the turns."

"Got it," I repeated, not wanting to give him a bratty retort like I'd been known to do. It was true, driving would give me freedom when Walter wasn't with me, but I didn't think I'd ever love it.

He'd used his paid time off the first week or so after we'd found Hunter and Virgil, until we had a chance to breathe and start making plans. Unfortunately, he'd had to go back to Bakersfield sooner than anticipated, because Denny had gone AWOL—and then abruptly put in his retirement papers without a word to anyone, not even the guys. They were all worried about him, even more worried than they'd been about Walter.

It seems Denny was being uncharacteristically silent in their group chat, and all they knew was that he'd taken the reporter, Cooper Harris, out of the hospital and they'd gone off somewhere together. That was pretty much all he'd say. That he loved his friends, and he'd let them know what was going on as soon as he could.

The sheriff's department was struggling without two of their detectives, so Walter had to go back. Dax hadn't been hurt seriously, but he'd been very confused about what happened below ground. Gene confided in Walter that he wasn't sure he wanted to tell Dax what he'd done. Walter worked three twelve-hour shifts per week, sometimes more, to support his friends and department, and then he'd drive home to LA to be with me the other days.

I stayed busy, though. I met with Arthur Frye, the manager and attorney Cooper had referred me to, and he helped me sort out my "parents'" affairs. Tess had made "Dane" her sole beneficiary before they'd gone on that last tour, without telling me, of course. Everything had gone into a trust because Dane hadn't been declared dead, and her royalties kept accruing. Between her money and mine, which my mother had kept for me, Arthur had a lot to sort out. Thankfully the billfold came in handy whenever I'd needed to provide documents. He'd helped us with the purchase of the house and had his financial planner help me plan for my future, as well as put money away for Walter's kids, which had made Walter very emotional.

"Okay, you're going to be taking the exit after next, so use your blinker and start to move over."

I had to fight to control my desire to make a snarky comment. Driving still made me nervous, but the hand shakes had gone—mostly—and I was perfectly capable of remembering to turn on my damn blinker. But when I looked over at him and opened my mouth to speak, he was smiling at me so lovingly he just made my damn heart melt. Jerk .

"Okay, watch your speed," he said as I took the exit ramp, "and when you get to the end, you're going to make a left."

"Wait… why are there signs here that say rest area, Walter?"

"Oh, shit. I forgot. No, I promise we're not going to the rest area. Charlene lives on some property adjacent to the Jehovah's Witness Church, go around behind the rest area and… yeah, turn there on Houser Road."

Boy, he was lucky I trusted him with my life. My heart, too. He'd taken such good care with me, had been so patient. This driving shit was my problem.

We pulled onto a dirt road and drove through a dusty plain toward the hill until we stopped in front of a small house that was hidden quite well from the road by brush and trees. I turned off the car and exhaled. "How'd I do?"

He leaned over and kissed me. "Great, as usual. Practice will make you more confident when you take the test."

I couldn't help it—I groaned, which made him crack up.

"Don't worry, honey. As soon as you pass your driver's test, I'm going to take you to the department's defensive driving course. Then you'll really learn to drive."

"Are you going to take me to firing range, too?"

His smile faltered a bit and he nodded, clearing his throat. "I'd like to. I think you'd feel more comfortable. I would too. Stacia and Steffan went when they were teenagers and it helped them feel better having guns in the house."

"Okay," I said with an exaggerated sigh. "Besides, if this music gig doesn't pan out, I'll have to have some sort of skills for when you retire. Maybe I'll go into law enforcement."

I laughed as he groaned and knocked his head back against the headrest a few times. I'd teased him a lot about what I might do for a job. He'd hated the idea of me having to work at all, but he knew I wasn't the kind of guy to sit around and be pampered. We'd have plenty of money to sustain us, but there was no way I'd stop making music, however that looked. I'd already filled up three notebooks with song lyrics and had bought myself a whole studio full of instruments, which currently filled our living room.

Walter suggested we either convert the garage to a studio or build something on the hillside below our house eventually, but he also said he loved to listen to me play, loved to come home and cook dinner while I played old and new songs for hours. We had a TV, but we barely had it on, although he'd made sure I saw Speed and Roadhouse , so I knew what he'd been talking about when he mentioned those movies. I loved every minute of them, and when the latter was over, I told him it was definitely time to not be nice.

The front door of the house opened and three big dogs came running out to the electric spaceship.

I hesitated before opening the door, but Walter was out of his and down on one knee as the dogs ran up and nearly tackled him. He hugged all three of them as they licked his face and ears excitedly. I hadn't been around dogs much, but watching Walter with them had me thinking… maybe I'd get him a puppy for his birthday? I'd have to consult with the kids.

The kids . It was weird, they were only technically a few years younger than me, but their lives were so different than mine had been at their age. Where they had me bested with book knowledge, they'd had very little life experience. I looked forward to spending more time with them, and I hoped that they could fully accept me as their father's companion.

A stocky woman leaning heavily on a cane came to the front door. She wore a gray ARMY t-shirt and an old pair of Levi's. Her silver hair was cropped short like Walter's. She called for the dogs to return to her as Walter came around and opened my door.

"They're big lover boys. I didn't think to ask if dogs bothered you."

I took his hand and climbed out, glad I'd tied my hair back as it was quite windy up here. And hot.

"Not if they're loving all over you."

He took my hand and gave me the kind of smile that let me know he was proud to have me on his arm.

Man, was I in love with him. And he with me.

"Charlene, I want you to meet?—"

"It's about time you found him." She turned around to go back in the house, muttering under her breath while Walter laughed.

"Come on! It only took me twenty years!" He closed the door behind us and then guided me to follow her into her small kitchen. She lowered herself into a chair at a round table barely big enough for three, and she gestured for me to take the seat in front of her. The kitchen looked like the one in my mom's place back when I was a kid. There was none of the fancy gadgets Walter had brought when he moved his things into our home.

"Thank you for seeing us," Walter said. "This is D?—"

"I know who he is. Tell, me, Dane Donovan the Troubadour, do you miss your talking board?"

I opened my mouth to speak… but then her words hit me.

How?

"Honey, Charlene is a psychic. My father worked with her. He brought me to see her before I became a police officer, and I've worked with her since becoming a detective myself. What was it you told me that first visit, Charlene?"

She sighed as though she couldn't be bothered. "One hunt will take you a particularly long time, but you shall reap rewards both personal and professional. Don't give up. Don't be deterred, no matter the cost, blah blah blah. Well, I see you found who you were looking for."

"I did," Walter said, squeezing my shoulder as he sat in the chair beside me. "And I brought him to see you because?—"

"You have questions," she said, directed at me.

"I… how do you know about my board?"

"I know all kinds of things. Your board is safe. It'll be around when it's time. You don't need it now, do you?"

Well, no, I hadn't needed it. The police had found several of Virgil's associates, and all had admitted to helping him under duress during the time he'd been at the halfway house. The FBI had taken over recovering the remains from the collapse of his hiding place, and while they hadn't found him yet, they were confident he hadn't made it out of the explosion.

I'd tried to put it out of my mind as much as possible. I'd talked with my therapist about it, and she encouraged me to focus on the things I could control, like moving forward with my life and writing music, which was coming to me like breathing. Effortless.

"I don't think so."

She nodded with a grunt. "Guess you'll be wanting to know about your friend, then. Tessalyn Miller?"

Tears stung my eyes. "Tess? You know about her?"

Charlene held out her hand. "Let me see."

I put my mostly steady hand in hers and she sucked in a breath. "You poor dear," she said, tracing my scars with her fingertips. "You were lucky. Errante Ame can certainly bring people back from the brink of death, but even with his enormous power, there are things he cannot do, I'm afraid."

"You know about the carnival ?"

"Shhh. Tessalyn first." She closed her eyes, her face went lax, and she placed her palm over mine. Her hands were rough, as though she did a lot of work with them, but her touch was… comforting. She lifted her head and let it rest back with her chin in the air. "She sings in another dimension. She's happy with her child who never made it to this plane. A miscarriage after your disappearance. His name is Dee Dee. She tells him about you. She's young again, and at peace, once more surrounded by the friends she couldn't save in this life, but who now thrive with her presence."

"Another plane? You mean, like Heaven?"

"Eh," Charlene said, coming back to her grumpy countenance. "Not like the Christians believe. It's another existence. It's different for everyone. She was one of the good ones, though, and continues to bring light to those around her."

I wiped at my eyes with my other hand, and then Walter handed me a tissue, though he took care not to touch me.

"Thank you. I want her to be happy."

"She is. Pain and ugliness can't touch her now. She's in a better place. As for Errante Ame, there's nothing I can tell you that you don't already know, whether you recall it or not. Everything happens for a reason."

"I believe you." How could I not after everything that had happened?

She nodded at me then turned her gaze on Walter. "He's proud of you. I don't even have to reach out to him. He's always with you."

Walter's jaw ticked but that was the only reaction he showed, though I knew he was unsettled.

"He was right all along. I hate that he had to carry that burden for so long, that he…"

"He's ready to let go now. He's proud of you, and he's ready to move on. You should say goodbye."

Walter nodded and dropped his head. I heard him take in a shaky breath, and I wanted to touch him, but Charlene hadn't let go of my hand.

"It's all right, son," she said to him. "He's happy about this, too. Says you're where you're supposed to be, with who you are meant to be with. He says he loves the kids and he's proud of the father you became, no thanks to him."

"Stop," Walter said with a laugh as he wiped at his own tears. "Enough."

She smiled for the first time. "Gotcha." She put her other hand over his—and then her smile was gone. Her grip tightened almost to a painful pressure and her eyes shut. I could see them moving rapidly behind her eyelids. "Just as Dane was assisted upon his arrival, so will the two of you be required to help fellow Travelers. Will you do as you are asked?"

"Yes," Walter said without hesitation. He didn't seem as surprised by Charlene's change of demeanor as I was.

"Of course," I whispered. "Anything."

"And you both will encounter obstacles in your future. Trust each other and your friends and you shall persevere. Once the two of you are wed, your bond will be even stronger, and you will be able to withstand anything that threatens you and yours."

I gasped. I'd wondered if Walter would want to get married again. I knew he'd had a mixed experience with it before, and I hadn't wanted to rush things?—

"How soon should we take care of that?"

She relaxed and patted our hands before letting go, her trance seemingly over. "You have a little time. Talk about it. You'll be taking on each other's challenges, but then you've already done that for each other, so a little time ain't gonna make much difference. Sooner, later, it's up to you, but if it's done before shit hits the fan, you'll be stronger together."

Walter turned to me. "I'd planned on proposing; I just didn't want to rush you."

I put my hands to my face, happy tears blurring my vision. "Oh, Walter. I wasn't sure you'd want to. It's what I want. Whenever you're ready."

He took my hand in his and brought it up to kiss. Then he turned to Charlene. "Do you mind?"

She shrugged. "Already got the altar set up out back. Figured this might happen." She pushed herself up out of her chair with the help of her cane, and she hobbled slowly toward a sliding glass door. "Let me just light the candles."

As soon as she shut the door behind her, Walter squeezed my hand.

"Honey, we don't have to if you're not ready?—"

"I'm ready whenever you are."

Walter blew out a breath and he smiled. Relieved.

"It won't be legal yet. We'll need to get a license to make it official, but it will be official to me. I love you, Dane. I want to spend the rest of our lives together."

"I want that, too. I want you, Walter."

He moved from the chair to take a knee and smiled up at me. "Dane Donovan, will you follow me out into the backyard of this creepy old house and make a covenant at her woo-woo altar before all of the universe that we'll belong to each other from here on out?"

"I thought you'd never ask. I'll follow you anywhere."

So once more I found myself beside a desert highway, but this one was hotter than Hades as the sun began to set beyond the hilltop. I found myself walking a path into the unknown, but this time I wasn't alone. This time I was beside the man who I knew would be there for me the rest of my days, however many I'd been given after stepping through the years and into a nightmare. We'd made it out the other side stronger, and I knew we would face whatever life threw at us together.

Charlene's altar was surrounded by twisted vines and stones. She said a few words we could barely make out over the winds howling along the side of the mountain. She had us drink from a silver cup, something that I knew most likely contained mind-altering substances, though Walter trusted her enough that I doubted we were in any danger. I didn't care, as long as we got to the part where she pronounced us husbands and I got to kiss him.

She held up a silver ring, said some words, and then somehow pulled the ring into two rings. She handed them to us, and we turned to face each other. I swear mine was too big when Walter slid it on my finger, but it seemed to shrink down and hug my flesh with just enough room that I didn't panic. I don't even remember what vows we made beyond loving each other for all time.

"Walter and Dane, you will move together through life from this moment on as one, no matter the distance between you, no matter what passes, and when it is time, you shall leave this plane as one. Uphold your vows to each other and to the covenant you've made to your fellow Travelers, and may peace be with you the rest of your days." Her face and voice had taken on a serene vibe throughout the short ceremony, but then she hunched over with her cane supporting her, and she coughed.

"You can kiss now."

I barked out a laugh, and Walter pulled me into his arms, pressing the sweetest kiss to my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the contact, desperate to show him I meant everything I'd agreed to. My heart pounded out of control with the weight of what we'd just done, although it didn't feel impulsive. It was merely the next step in our magical journey together.

When we came up for air, Charlene was already at the backdoor, leaning on her cane as she pushed the slider open.

"Thank you so much," I called out to her. "This was perfect."

She turned and nodded. "Uh-huh. When you get back to Laurel Canyon, tell those old bitties I said to stay out of trouble."

I heard her cackle as she slid the door closed behind her.

"Does she mean?—"

Walter frowned and nodded. "This gives new meaning to ‘we're all connected.'"

I blew out a breath and then smiled so wide my face hurt, which I figured would be my state for a while. "I can't believe we just did this."

"Believe it," Walter said. "I promise, this wasn't an ambush. I hadn't planned this at all, but to be honest, it's been on my mind."

"Mine, too," I said. "I guess she knows best?"

"I guess so. Look, we can have a wedding, we can have a party with our friends, whatever you want."

"Whatever you want, Walter. I got what I wanted." I pressed up on my toes and kissed him once more. "But I think you'd better drive the rest of the way. I'm not going to be able to stop looking at my ring."

He chuckled and wrapped me in his arms, picked me up, and swung me around as he kissed me once more.

"Good, because I can get us there faster, and I'm ready for our honeymoon."

We ran to the car and we waved to Charlene, who was standing at the front door to see us off. Walter held the door for me to get in on the passenger side, a habit he hadn't given up once I was safe, and then he jogged around the front of the spaceship and climbed in. He paused before pushing the button to start it.

"I love you, Dane. Thank you for saving me."

"We saved each other. I love you too. Now, drive like the wind. I want to make love to my husband."

"Your wish is my command."