“They’re right here.”

***

Nathan felt insecure in a wheelchair, but it beat the alternative—a pine box. He watched the two girls rush to their mother’s bedside and hug each other. Nichole’s joy overpowered her pain. She closed her eyes to the tears streaming down her cheeks and held them.

And in that moment, nothing else in the world mattered.

Grangeland wiped a tear. So did Holly. No warm-blooded human being could watch this and not feel torn to pieces. He felt Holly take his hand and give it a firm squeeze.

“Come on,” he whispered. “Let’s give them some time alone.”

He wheeled himself to the door and turned back.

Nichole Dalton made eye contact and mouthed the words thank you.

He nodded and slipped out.

Grangeland insisted on pushing his wheelchair the rest of the way through Reavie’s office and he reluctantly agreed. Holly couldn’t do it. She walked with a cane. A few hours ago, his feet had been numbed, scrubbed clean, and sutured closed. None of the cuts had been especially large or deep, but there’d been a lot of them. The local anesthetic had since worn off and truth be told, he was grateful for the wheelchair. But wrecked feet or not, he wasn’t going to miss this reunion.

In the parking lot, the cobalt beginning of a new sunrise spread across the horizon.

He spoke softly, just above a whisper. “Seeing Nichole and her daughters like that? It makes it all worth it.”

Grangeland stopped pushing and Holly took his hand.

They were silent for a moment, staring at the eastern sky.

“I owe you an apology, Grangeland. I didn’t mean what I said.”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s not okay. I really care what you think of me. Both of you.”

“I feel the same way about you,” Grangeland said.

“My feet hurt.”

Holly half laughed. “At least you’re not sporting Grangeland’s pink sweater any more.”

He’d almost forgotten about that. After cleaning Montez up and hauling the semiconscious man into the sedan, Grangeland had given him the sweater, the only thing she had stretchy enough to fit. He’d worn it into the emergency room.

He grinned. “I don’t know, I kinda liked the way it felt.”

“Don’t ever repeat that,” Holly said.

He looked to Grangeland, as if to invite a dissenting vote.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’ll have to agree with my SAC on that.”

Chapter 49

Chapter  49

A week later, compliments of U.S. taxpayers, Nathan and Harvey arrived in Washington via Director Lansing’s Lear. At Reagan National, they rented separate cars and went separate ways. Harv wanted to retrieve his family from Thorny’s safe house and see a museum or two.

In his own rental car, Nathan sighed and concentrated on driving.

Overall, it was a nice afternoon. Not too humid. High clouds drifted toward the east.