CHAPTER 98
CDC
Atlanta, Georgia
Paul Brenner trudged through the hallways of Continuity. He felt as though he were recovering from a severe head cold. But he could think now, and he knew what he had to do. He dreaded it, dreaded the answer.
As he passed the sliding glass doors that led to the operations room, he noticed a young female analyst sitting inside, alone, staring at the screen. The tables were still arranged haphazardly and coffee cups and crumpled papers littered the scene.
Paul stepped toward the doors. When they parted, the analyst looked back at him, her eyes a mixture of surprise and hope. Or relief? It caught Paul mildly off guard.
“You can go home now,” he said.
She stood. “I know… I didn’t think I should… be alone.”
Paul nodded. “The others?”
“Must have left. Some are… still here.”
In the morgue, Paul thought, completing her sentence in his mind. He walked over and turned the large screen off. “Come on. There’s nobody at my house either.”
They walked together out of the ops room, and Paul asked her to wait outside his nephew’s room. He pushed the door open and braced himself for what he might see…
“Uncle Paul!”
His nephew rolled over in the bed. He was bright-eyed, but when he tried to push up, his muscles failed him, and he collapsed back onto the bed.
Paul rushed to the bedside and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Take it easy, kiddo.”
The boy smiled at him. “You fixed me up, didn’t you?”
“No. It was another doctor. She’s much smarter than I am. I was just the delivery man.”
“Where’s Mom?”
Paul leaned forward, scooped the small boy into his arms, and headed out of the room. “Just rest now.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going home.”
Paul would wait until the boy was stronger to tell him.
Until they both were stronger.
Kate had long since closed the laptop and moved to the end of the rock cliff.
David was there, behind her, waiting silently.
He seemed to sense that she needed some space, but he still wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
Together, from the mountaintop, they watched the sun sink beyond the Atlantic. Its last rays slid down the mountain, casting a long shadow on the bloody scene at Ceuta. Across the straits, she knew the same thing was happening in Gibraltar, with the Rock of Gibraltar casting the shadows there.
When the night arrived, Kate finally said, “What happens now? To us?”
“Nothing changes.”
“I’ve changed. I’m not the same person—”
“What you just did confirmed to me who you are. We are going to be just fine. I can wait.” He walked to the edge of the rock cliff so that he could and looked her in the eyes. “I never give up on anyone I love.”
As his words were spoken, Kate realized that the most important part of her was still there. She wasn’t entirely herself, but there was some piece of the old Kate there, something to start from. She smiled.
David tried to read her expression. He shrugged. “What? Too much?”
She took his hand. “No. I liked it. Come on. Let’s go see what Milo’s doing.”
At the entrance to the tunnel, she said, “I think you’re right. We’re going to be just fine.”