I nodded. My soul felt fuller than it had in ages, but it was a foreign feeling. I was scared to let myself enjoy it. Afraid it would be snatched away.
I heard Dad’s footsteps crunching away and looked up to see him walking toward Mr. Douglas, who stood at the head of the car with his arms crossed. Mom fit my hand into hers and held tight as we watched.
Mr. Douglas uncrossed his arms and took Dad’s outstretched hand. Hearing my daddy getting choked-up when he spoke almost made me lose it again.
“Thank you, sir. I can’t thank you enough.” Dad kept shaking his hand, thanking him, not letting go. Mr. Douglas looked embarrassed by Dad’s profuse gratitude.
“It was my honor, Mr. Birch.”
Dad then reached around and hugged Mr. Douglas’s tall frame, pressing his face to his chest and slapping his back. Mr. Douglas gave him an awkward pat and looked strangely shamefaced.
Mom was next to bombard the man who’d saved me. With a series of sniffles, she released me in order to embrace him. Mr. Douglas still looked uncomfortable, but he was a good sport. Dad was quick to take Mom’s place at my side, wrapping his arm around me and kissing the top of my head. I kept my eyes down, a deluge of strange emotions toppling end over end. All of the love and affection was almost too much, like an overload of rich food to my system. I didn’t deserve it. I could hardly process being touched in a nonsexual way by people who wanted nothing from me except my love, which I’d tucked away so deep for so long.
I started to feel lightheaded and I tilted to the side, reaching out for the car.
“Whoa, there,” Dad said, righting me by the elbow as Mom gasped.
In a flash I felt Mr. Douglas at my other side, his arm around my waist. “She hasn’t eaten since this morning.”
“I’m not hungry.” I felt my eyes flitting closed and my body suddenly scooped up, floating.
“I’ll get her inside,” Mr. Douglas said.
My head was heavy on his shoulder and I let my eyes close as my body shut down and I passed out.
Colin barely slept that night. Twice he left Graham’s house to walk the sprawling land and look for signs of prying eyes. It felt good to have the weight of his gun back in his hand. He regretted bringing the Birch family to his brother’s home, even though nobody knew Colin and Graham were brothers except the authorities. Colin never came around, so he knew it would be safe, yet he didn’t feel at ease.
He never felt completely safe in his life before this, but it was different when innocents were in possible danger, as well. He couldn’t stop thinking about their reunion. He’d never seen such open, genuine love in his life. His own parents had loved him, but they hadn’t been overly affectionate verbally or physically. But what the Birches had…that’s how a family should be.
Angela had woken when he placed her in the guest bed, and she absolutely freaked the fuck out when Colin went to leave. It took her parents, Colin, and Abernathy to calm her and make her believe Colin would be just down the hall. Her parents had exchanged a worried look, but they didn’t seem to question Angela’s clinginess to Colin.
Abernathy, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at him as they left the room, and whispered, “Got a bit deeper on the case than expected, eh, son? I wondered if it might.”
Colin blinked and looked away, but Abernathy stopped him in the hall with a hand to his shoulder.
“Whatever you had to do to get her out, it was right.”
Colin swallowed, clenched his jaw. He wasn’t certain he’d done right at all.
Abernathy gave his shoulder a solid pat. “You’re both safe, and time will heal. We’ll meet tomorrow to debrief. I expect every detail.” Again his eyebrow went up. He seemed to know Colin had done something at the villa he regretted.
Colin could only nod. He wasn’t looking forward to that debriefing.
The night was long, and Colin’s thoughts were tangled, prickly vines. Every negative emotion kept going back to Fernando Ruiz. Marco’s son. The original fucking bastard who sought out a young woman to hurt her, stealing two years of her life and any sense of normalcy hereafter. He had no doubt Fernando was a serial rapist. And with Daddy’s supply of money he could get away with it.
Colin didn’t think he’d be able to lay his head to rest again knowing that fucker was out there alive. Probably happy. Especially if an inheritance had been left to him. If Fernando returned to the villa to take his father’s place, he would become an untouchable. Colin couldn’t allow that. The very thought made his muscles tense. At two AM he texted Abernathy.
See what you can dig up on Fernando Ruiz in Asia before we meet.
There was no response, but Abernathy would be on it.
At three AM Graham’s stupid arse stumbled in, wasted.
“Holy fuck,” he said when he saw Colin standing there. “Thought you was a fuckin’ ghost, I did.”