The ride north was a long one. But being back on my bike was astoundingly good. It was like coming home. I gripped the handlebars and grinned like an idiot as the cool wind whipped strands of my hair around my face. I glanced over at Six, who saluted me just before he dropped back and was replaced at my side by Colt, whose shoulders were jumping up and down as he shook his head.

Bastard’s laughing at me!

I didn’t care.

After hitting the road at the butt-crack of dawn, we were on our way to a small town in Idaho on the outskirts of Nampa, where my kid sister was holed up in some kind of safe house. The details I had been given were still sketchy, and I was being kept in the dark about her exact location until the last minute.

We all pulled up outside a coffee shop at around four in the afternoon. Once we all had parked up our bikes, we followed Colt as he made his way inside and to the counter. He got chatting to an old dude behind the cash register, who listened intently and glanced over to me every so often. He kept nodding and eventually shook Colt’s hand. I wondered what the hell he had ordered that had gotten the guy so serious.

When Colt returned, I watched him expectantly as he rubbed his hand over his hair but said nothing.

Unable to stay quiet any longer, I had to break the silence. “Okay, so what’s the plan of action? We eat first and then go get Rosa?”

He placed his hand on my shoulder and gripped me tightly. Come with me, buddy.”

He turned and walked past the side of the counter, toward a door marked Private. He held the door open and allowed me to walk through. A staircase stood in front of me, and I turned to glance at Colt, wondering why he wasn’t moving.

He gestured ahead of me. “Go on up and knock on the door at the top of the stairs.”

I swallowed hard and turned to face the stairs. Did this mean what I hoped it meant?

I nervously made my way up the wooden staircase, and sure enough there was a white-painted door at the top. I knocked and waited. My heart hammered at the inside of my chest, and sweat beaded on my forehead. I trusted Colt, didn’t I? What if I was wrong? What if I had proven to be too much of a liability to the Company?

The door opened, and a middle-aged woman stood before me. Okay, so I wasn’t going to die today, but my heart sank and I scrunched my brow. “Oh… I was expecting—”

The grey haired woman smiled kindly at me and held up her hand to halt me. “It’s okay. I’ve been expecting you. I’m Ellen, come on in.”

She stepped aside so that I could enter what turned out to be a small apartment. I glanced around the tidy space and spotted a framed photo of the woman with the guy from the café downstairs and a dark-haired, blue-eyed girl I recognised immediately as my kid sister. A lump tightened my throat and my eyes misted over.

“She’s a fine young woman. You should be very proud of the job you did bringing her up, Cain.”

I sniffed and wiped my eyes on my sleeves before turning and offering a smile. Words evaded me. My heart ached. I wanted to hold Rosa just so that I could see for myself that she was okay.

“Come on and sit down.” She gestured to the couch. “Can I get you a drink? Coffee perhaps?”

I walked over and sat, then I shook my head. “No, no thanks, I’m good. Where is—”

“Don’t worry. She’s at the local adult ed. centre. She’s catching up on her high school diploma. She’s a bright kid.”

“Yeah, she always was. Even when she was a lot younger she wanted to know ‘why’ about every damn thing. Used to drive me crazy. In the best way though.”

“Oh, I can imagine. It took her a little while to settle, but… she’s doing well. Although she’s restless. You can see it in her eyes. She’s always looking to the horizon.”

I chuckled. “Yeah. She must get that from me.” I chewed at my lip for a moment and chose my words carefully. “Did she… did she cope okay after I was gone? You know, when they brought her here?”

“Honey, she is a tough cookie, but she’d been through such a lot. She hasn’t been here that long really, but I feel she has made progress in the time she’s been with Hank and me.”

Something niggled at the back of my mind. “I thought she was being looked after by part of the Cosmic charter here in Idaho.”

Ellen smiled warmly again. “Oh, she is, dear. Hank was president up until he hit sixty and started with heart trouble. I’ve spent many hours on the back of his bike. Too many. But we retired and bought the place downstairs. The house joined on is where Hank and I live and where Rosa has been staying. She comes up here to study. We usually have members of the club hanging out in the shop or in my kitchen, so she likes the quiet.”

I smiled as I imagined her sitting with her nose in a book. “I’m proud of her for studying again. She hates school.”

“Well… she’s quite the artist, you know. I’m amazed no one has picked up on that before. And she’s a whiz with a needle and thread.”

“Yeah. I always tried to encourage that, but you know how kids are. You tell them one thing and they straight up go and do something different.”

Ellen laughed as if she totally got what I meant. I was so happy that someone as kind as Ellen had been looking after Rosa. She had been missing a mother figure for many years. This was probably what she needed.

The front door opened, and I heard a familiar voice. “Hey, Ellen, I’m home! Are you here?”

My heart felt like it might swell right out of my chest. Rosa walked into the living room and stopped dead. Her eyes widened and she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She looked beautiful. Her long dark hair was now all shoulder length and choppy. She looked really grown up. She’d kept the blue streak in front, and that made me smile. I realised I was staring—but then again, she was staring too.

“You… you can’t be here. You’re… you’re dead,” she whispered through her fingers, and the colour drained from her cheeks. “You’re not real. What the hell? I don’t… Ellen!” she called as she dropped to her knees in the doorway. Both Ellen and I lunged for her, but I got there first.

I scooped her up in my arms and stroked her hair. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s me and I’m not dead. I’m very much alive. And I’m not leaving you again.”

She buried her face in my neck and clung to me as she sobbed my name over and over again. My own tears escaped once more and soaked into her hair. “Shhh… it’s okay, Rosa. We’re gonna be okay. You and me against the world, kiddo. Just like before.” My voice cracked as I tried so damned hard to reassure her.

“But they killed you. They beat you and then when Colt got there, you were so badly injured that they couldn’t save you. You can’t be here!” she cried as she pulled away and hammered her fists into my chest. “You left me alone. I lost Mom and Dad then Melody and then I lost you. I was so alone. Where have you been? Why didn’t you come home if you were okay? You fucking bastard! You were my only family. My only family and you left. Just like the rest of them.” She stopped hitting me and crumpled into a heap in my lap, clutching onto my waist as if she thought I would float away on a breeze. Sobs racked her body and broke my heart as she let out all the anguish and pain she’d had pent up since I disappeared.

How the hell do I make this damn situation right?

I bent myself over her protectively and engulfed her in my arms as I spluttered out my words in an emotion-filled croak. “I know, sweetheart. And I am so, so sorry. I’ll explain it all someday. I promise.” How can I ever tell her I lost my mind in Scotland… and left my heart there when I came back? “But right now… from right now, I’m going nowhere. You hear me? You’re stuck with me.”

She pulled away and gazed up at me with clear blue eyes that matched mine. “You promise?”

I held her face in my palms and rested my forehead on hers, trying to focus on my sister and my life here with her, trying not to grieve for Kelly, though even now my body ached with missing her. Rosa was my family. And taking care of her had to be enough. “I swear on my life. And apart from you, that’s the most precious thing I have.”