“They did come an awful long way to see us.”

His grin softened to a sweet smile. “They did. We’re pretty lucky, you know that?”

“We are.” She linked their fingers together. Kissed his knuckles. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Her head resting on his shoulder, they enjoyed the little bubble of quiet.

Which was promptly popped by the clearing of a throat.

Liza looked up with a smile of welcome. “Hello, Tara.”

Tom made a strangled sound in his throat, his reaction every time she called his boss by her first name. She’d done so for the first time the day they were in Eden, and she said it didn’t make sense to go back to formalities. Tom disagreed.

“Ma’am,” he said, standing at attention. Liza wanted to hug him hard and drag him to bed.

Molina’s lips twitched. “Agent Hunter. I wanted to thank you for inviting me and let you know that I’m headed out. I had a nice time talking with your mother.”

Tom made another strangled sound. “I’m glad, ma’am.”

“Now you’re just being mean, Tara,” Liza said with a chuckle. “I’m glad you could come. I might not see you again for a while with school taking off. Thank you for the commendation, by the way.” The special agent in charge had written a letter praising Liza for delivering Hayley’s baby under conditions that were less than ideal. “My advisor put it in my file.”

“You deserved it. Now I have to get back to the office. We’re preparing for preliminary hearings on Joshua and his wife.”

The two had been charged with kidnapping, along with several Edenites who’d engaged in the sexual assault of minors. Liza had already been given permission to miss class for the hearing. She’d promised Hayley and Tiffany that she’d be in the courtroom to lend moral support as they testified.

“I talked to Tiffany a few days ago,” Liza said. “She’s doing well. Cameron Cook’s family is renting her the apartment over their garage. She starts training to be a nursing assistant in a few weeks. For now, she’s reconnecting with her little boy.” Prompt DNA testing had proven that the child was hers. It was one more nail in Joshua and Rebecca’s coffin.

More serious charges were pending the results of autopsies of the women who’d died in childbirth, their bodies exhumed from the graveyard at one of the previous Eden sites. Their families believed that Rebecca had killed them after the babies were born so that she could claim the children, but the families had had no power to accuse her back in Eden.

They were accusing her now.

“Give Tiffany my best regards,” Molina said. “Make sure she knows to send me any address updates. The money recovered from Eden’s accounts is going to be awarded to the members who aren’t guilty of any crimes. It might take a while, but she should get a sizable sum to live on while she attends school.”

“I will,” Liza promised. “She’ll be so grateful.”