Jack was sitting in their porch swing, watching Shelly hose off the patio. It was something she liked to do because she could get into the shade whenever she wanted, and still be able to enjoy the warm day and the cool water. And she looked hot as all get-out in the cutoff jean shorts and a halter top, even though it left the wrap on her cracked rib showing.
Shelly was enjoying the day. She was feeling better and stronger every day, and her black eyes were fading into faint purples and greens, which she mostly ignored until she saw her reflection in the shimmer of their pool.
“Just look at me! I look like a kid who got caught playing in her mother’s eye shadows.”
“Stop fussing,” he said. “You look beautiful in all that purple and green...like the Northern Lights.”
Shelly laughed, then turned the hose on his bare legs.
“The Northern Lights? Really?”
He grinned. Making her laugh was what he intended. They used to laugh a lot before he began working undercover. He was just beginning to realize how much that job had changed their dynamics. Now they had to find their way back to the easy comfort they had before.
She turned off the water and then rolled up the hose. “That felt good to do something normal.”
Jack smiled as he watched her puttering about, then leaned back in the porch swing and set it to rocking. The simple joy of no longer living a lie was such a relief.
“Hey, baby, you do know you get the stitches out of your lips tomorrow?”
“Is that tomorrow? Yay! Finally I get to go somewhere.”
He frowned. “There’s no need for you to feel shut-in. We can go somewhere every day if you want to. I’ll take you out anytime.”
“I know. I just don’t like being stared at.”
“Oh, stop it and come here to me,” Jack said, and held out a hand.
He was her magnet. She could never tell him no. She reached for his hand, then smiled when he gave it a tug.
“People have been staring at you for years because you’re gorgeous. It’s no different now,” he said, then slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her down into his lap just so he could kiss the back of her neck.
She laughed because it tickled, but he already knew it, which was why he’d done it. When he had her in a better mood, he pushed off in the swing again and set it to rocking. Shelly leaned against his chest and pulled his arms around her.
Her curls were soft against his cheek. The weight of her breasts was warm against his arms. She was his love—so entrenched in his life there was no way to tell where one began and the other ended.
When he’d first seen her in the warehouse and thought she was dead, his whole life had flashed before his eyes. Without her he was only half a man. She’d been so broken, and now all he could do was marvel at her resilience.
“So, I want to get your feedback on something.”
“Okay, I’m listening,” she said.
“Remember our trip to Hawaii?”
“Yes, on Oahu. It was wonderful,” Shelly said. “We hiked Diamond Head. And we took the ferry out into the open water and boarded a little mini-sub to fish watch. It was like snorkeling but without getting wet. So touristy, and so much fun.”
“Do I still have that floral shirt? The one I bought the day before we left?” Jack asked.
Shelly frowned. “No. You loaned it to Charlie one Halloween. He never gave it back.”
Jack looked out across the backyard, watching sunlight glittering on the surface of their pool like diamonds.
“You’re right. I did. I’d forgotten that.”
Shelly rubbed the back of his hand in an absent motion.
“How do you feel about what happened?” she asked.
“You mean Charlie?”
She nodded. “You two were such good friends.”
He shrugged. “He was my friend, but I wasn’t his. If I had been, he wouldn’t have done what he did. He just wasn’t who I thought he was, and that was on me, not seeing past the lie he was living.”
“I guess, but I didn’t see it, either,” Shelly said.
Jack shrugged. “His own wife didn’t know what was going on. He got in debt and took the easy way out to solve that. I never once heard him mention owing money, or paying off a debt. I never saw that weakness in him to take shortcuts to what he wanted. He was a damn good actor and in a position within the Bureau to do some serious damage. What happened to him was his own doing. Hell, he even took the shortcut to resolving the problems he caused by killing himself.”
Then Jack began rubbing her back in a slow, circular motion.
“Enough about him and back to Hawaii. What would you think about living there?”
Shelly gasped and then slipped off his lap onto the swing beside him and grabbed his hand.
“Seriously? What would we do?”
“I have a pilot’s license. I wouldn’t mind piloting a chopper from island to island for sightseeing tours. Tourists are a year-round business.”
Shelly jumped right into the fantasy. “I can do my job anywhere. Every business needs an accountant.”
They looked at each other and grinned.
“Are we being serious now?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Oh, I would so love to do this,” she said.
Jack knew she had a lifetime of PTSD ahead of her and she didn’t realize it. But not living in the house from which she’d been abducted would be a huge plus, and getting away from the city in which it happened, even better.
“Then let’s keep this in the back of our minds,” he said.
Shelly threw her arms around his neck. “We can do anything when we do it together.”
He grinned. “I think I told you that our junior year in high school.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s because you wanted me to go with you and your family to your dad’s hunting cabin up in the mountains above Denver.”
He laughed. “Well? Was I wrong?”
Shelly sighed. “No. You were right, but that was also the weekend I decided I would marry you one day.”
The grin spread across his face. “Really? Why?”
“You fell asleep with your head in my lap one afternoon and you were talking in your sleep.”
His eyes widened. “You never mentioned this before. What was I saying?”
“You just kept saying my name over and over,” Shelly said.
Jack frowned. “I don’t get it. Why would saying Shelly make you want to marry me.”
“Because you weren’t just saying Shelly. You kept saying Shelly McCann. Shelly McCann. Not Shelly Hartman, which was my name at the time. It was like you were trying out the way the name felt on your tongue. I liked the way it sounded, too.”
Jack leaned across the gap between them and kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose. “I still like the way it sounds.”
“Ditto,” Shelly said.
“Speaking of doing things together, how do you feel about meeting the men who saved me?” Jack asked.
“Now?”
“Whenever,” he said.
“I say let’s get my stitches out and I’m ready. Do you want them to come here for dinner? I think I’m up for that.”
“If they come here, we’re having it catered.”
“That sounds like fun. All the good food and none of the mess. Yes, please. What do they like?”
“Probably everything. They are the least pretentious people you will ever meet. I think the best way to describe them is unique.”
“This is fun. We’re planning a party. We haven’t done anything like this since you began undercover work. I can’t wait! Definitely, invite them.”
“Will do,” Jack said.
After that, they sat awhile in mutual silence, still swinging, but each lost in their own thoughts.
He was thinking about going inside to get them something cold to drink when Shelly’s feet suddenly hit the patio, stopping the motion of the swing.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, but she didn’t answer.
It was as if she had gone on alert, her head cocked to one side, intently listening. Then every emotion on her face just disappeared—like she’d turned to stone and he didn’t know what triggered it.
He was afraid to touch her for fear of setting off a full flashback, but he couldn’t just sit and do nothing. He leaned a little closer.
“Shelly...baby, what’s wrong?”
She grabbed his hand and moaned.
Then he heard the sound of an airplane flying overhead. Although they weren’t in a flight path, it happened now and then.
“Shelly?”
She was shaking now, her gaze fixed on something only she could see.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” Jack asked, as her voice slipped into a whisper.
“Planes. Taking off. Landing. Taking off. Landing.”
Now he knew. She was back in that warehouse, still tied to the bed.
“Can’t get loose. Can’t see. People so close. Planes too loud. No one hears. Help me.”
Jack got up, then stood directly in front of her.
“I’m here, Shelly! Look at me! I’m here!”
She took a slow, shaky breath and looked up.
“Jack.”
He took her hands. “Yes, it’s me. Let’s go inside now. We’ve been out a long time. We’ll get some sweet tea.”
She was trying to wrap her head around what had just happened as she followed him into the kitchen.
One airplane flying overhead had triggered that. She was weary of waking up screaming—afraid to go to sleep. Just when she thought she was getting a grip on flashbacks, something like this would happen.
“I don’t think I want anything to drink right now,” Shelly said. “I’d rather go lie down for a bit. Later this evening we could go out for dinner if you want.”
Jack slipped his hand beneath her hair and pulled her close. Her whole body was trembling.
“We’ll see how you feel at dinnertime. I think resting is a good idea.”
She looked at him. “Will you lie down with me for a while?”
“I would love to,” he said, and walked her to their room. “On top of the covers or under them?” he asked.
“On top and maybe one of those lightweight blankets.”
Shelly crawled into bed and rolled over on her side, facing the wall. She felt Jack climbing into bed beside her, then pulling a blanket up over the both of them.
When he curled up behind her and tucked his arm around her waist, she felt safe enough to close her eyes.
“Love you,” she whispered.
“Love you, too,” Jack said.
Jack felt her body beginning to relax. A few minutes more and he could tell by the sound of her breathing when she finally fell asleep. When he closed his eyes, his thoughts went to finding Shelly at the warehouse. He would never know the whole story of what she’d gone through, and in hindsight, it didn’t matter. She was alive and they were home.
* * *
Adam Ito was trying to call out to a nurse to tell her something was wrong when he felt his bowels give way. The next thought in his head was that he hoped he was dying, because he couldn’t move. Inside, he was screaming for help, but no one could hear.
My mother did this. Because I killed my brother, she killed me. She didn’t have to touch me to make me die, because she cursed me.
Even in this state of being, Adam wasn’t taking responsibility for any of it. The fact that he’d been tied to a chair, shot three times and left bleeding profusely didn’t play into it. Or the extent of surgery he’d undergone afterward, or the continuous bouts of sudden rage that had been with him all his life. No. It was his mother who was to blame. So he lay in the feces, locked inside a body that wouldn’t respond, cursing her for delivering him to this fate.
When he finally saw the nurse coming toward him with an irked expression, he knew she probably smelled the stink. She was pissed because she was going to have to clean him up. But then she suddenly gasped and ran to the bed.
“Mr. Ito! Mr. Ito! Can you answer me?”
He couldn’t, which was obvious, and was relieved when she immediately paged that doctor. He would come. There would be medicine to help this condition. Surely.
It occurred to him as he was waiting that he was as tied to the bed as Shelly McCann had been to that cot, and just as helpless. He’d intended for her to be afraid. But he didn’t appreciate the shoe being on the other foot.
And then he saw that doctor come running into the ward and thought, Finally.
* * *
Grimley came through the door on the run, knowing that the first few minutes of a stroke were the most crucial. As he approached the bed, he could see the panic in the patient’s eyes and sought to reassure him.
“Hey there, Adam. Looks like we have a situation. Let’s see what’s up, okay?”
Adam blinked, and Dr. Grimley gave him a thumbs-up, then began his examination. Prisoners often tried to fake an illness in an effort to escape, but there was no way to fake the facial droop and the deadweight of useless limbs. After a quick survey of the current symptoms, and his lack of reaction to any kind of stimuli, he looked up at the nurse.
“Is the X-ray tech here?” he asked.
“Yes, Doctor. Full staff.”
“Then let’s get him to X-ray. I want a CT scan on his head to check for brain bleed, but give him a quick cleanup first.”
“Yes, Doctor,” the nurse said, and went to get an orderly.
When the nurse returned with soap and water, towels and washcloths, and another followed with clean sheets, Adam was ecstatic. For a man who’d spent his life demanding nothing but the best, getting his butt washed and wiped just hit the top of the list of best things ever.
* * *
Ken and Kaho were resting. Kaho was asleep on the bed, but Ken had chosen to relax in their Jacuzzi. The hotter the water and the more forceful the jets, the better he liked it.
He’d been in the tub for almost an hour when he decided to get out. He was drying off when his cell phone signaled a call. He sat down on a padded bench to answer, surprised it was Grimley, the doctor from the hospital. He sat, listening to the doctor without speaking until he finally paused, waiting for an answer.
“Mr. Ito? Are you there?”
“Yes, I am here,” Ken said.
“As I was saying, we will be moving your son to a different location for long-term care. Any recovery is iffy, and full recovery won’t happen. The brain bleed was—”
“Excuse me, Doctor, but I do not have a son named Adam. I had two sons, but one is dead and one is forever banished from our home. I don’t care what you do with your patient, but he is none of my concern.”
Grimley was a little taken aback, considering they’d been here visiting earlier.
“I don’t understand. You were just here and—”
“That was for my wife. She had something she needed to clear up with him, and now she is done. We’re both done. Do what you want with him, and when he dies, he is a prisoner in the state of Texas. Do whatever it is you do with dead prisoners without family, but do not call us, because in our house, he is already dead.”
Then Ken disconnected and set the phone aside, feeling the weight of that burden leaving his shoulders. He got up and finished dressing, then glanced at the time as he went back into the sitting area. Still a few more hours until their dinner reservation, so he picked up the house phone, ordered a couple of appetizers, then sparkling water for Kaho and some sake for himself.
After checking to make sure she was still sleeping, he quietly closed their bedroom door, turned on the TV and waited for room service.
* * *
Fred Ray had been given the duty of cleaning out Charlie Morris’s desk. Like everyone else on the floor, he was still struggling to come to terms with Charlie’s fall from grace.
Charlie’s partner, Nolan Warren, glanced up when Fred showed up at the desk with a box and sat down in Charlie’s chair.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Deputy Director Wainwright ordered me to clean out the desk. I guess someone else will be sitting here soon.”
Nolan frowned, then went back to work.
The drawers in the desk were all locked, but Fred had been given a passkey, so he began at the top on the right and worked his way down. Everything personal was put in the box, the things that were usable, like pens, staplers, etc., were set on top of the desk, and snacks or trash was thrown away.
He worked quietly and quickly, sorting through the contents. He paused once to look up and realized this was a view of the place he’d never seen. It was the difference between fieldwork and desk work—the difference between being seen as a sleuth or a secretary.
He glanced at the clock and went back to work.
* * *
When Shelly woke up from her nap, Jack was still beside her, reading messages on his phone. When she rolled over, he smiled.
“Hey, sleepyhead, do you feel a little better?”
She stifled a yawn and then stretched. “I do.”
“Do you still want to go out for dinner, or would you rather order in? I’d be happy with Chinese delivery.”
“Chinese sounds good,” she said, and sat up and brushed her lips across his cheek.
“Let me finish answering this last text and I’ll call it in.”
Shelly nodded, then crawled off the end of the bed and went to the bathroom. When she came out, Jack was gone, but she could hear him talking. She went to get a pair of slip-on sandals, and when she got to the kitchen, he was digging out plates and flatware, getting ready to set the table.
“I’m just getting prepared. So, madam, what would be your choice of food for your dining pleasure?”
“Um, decisions. I think soba noodles with chicken and vegetables, and one spring roll.”
“Comin’ up,” Jack said, then found the number on his phone for their favorite place and called in the order, then disconnected. “We’re looking at an hour. You good with that or do you want a little something to tide you over?”
“I can wait,” she said.
He heard her, but he went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out a little tub of flavored cream cheese and then got a sack of pita chips from the pantry. He put it all on the table and then went back to get their drinks. She was on her second pita chip when he returned. He grinned, took the lid off the cream cheese and shoved it toward her.
The next bite she took had a blob of cream cheese.
An hour and ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Jack said, and grabbed his wallet on the way to the door. He came back laughing, with two sacks of takeout.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“We had our same delivery guy. He told me my hair looked funny.”
Shelly grinned. “Not a fan of the spike look, I guess.”
“Evidently,” Jack said, and set the sacks on the table.
“Good grief, honey! What all did you order?” Shelly asked.
“Good stuff. I’ll share.”
The meal began on laughter and ended with a groan. They were both stuffed, and there was still food left over.
“Breakfast!” Jack said, and started closing up the little boxes and putting them in the refrigerator.
“We still haven’t opened the fortune cookies,” Shelly said.
Jack got a quarter out of his pocket and sat back down. Their tradition was to flip a coin, and the winner got first choice of the cookies.
“Call it!” Jack said.
“Heads.”
He flipped it, then watched it land.
“Ha! Tails. I win,” he said, and then made a big deal of choosing, before pushing the other one to her.
“You have to read yours first because you won,” Shelly said.
He tore into the wrapper, cracked open the cookie and pulled it out.
“Oh wow...listen to this. New horizons await. They will change your fate.”
Shelly tore into hers next, pulled out the cookie and broke it open. Her fortune fell out.
“What does it say?” Jack asked.
Shelly’s eyes widened. “You’re not going to believe this,” she said.
“So enlighten me.”
“Your future takes you to distant lands.”
The smile slid off Jack’s face. “You’re kidding me.”
“Read it for yourself,” she said.
He read it, then looked up in disbelief. “Well, now. That kind of seals the deal, doesn’t it?”
“It does for me,” Shelly said.
“Together?” Jack asked.
Shelly got up and traded her chair for his lap.
“Always.”