my visit this past week because of all of this.” She gestured to the people filling the yard. “But I’ll see her in a few days.” She stood up. “I have to pull that cake from the oven. If it burns, I will have revolution.”
Dana chuckled as Irina hurried away. “I like her.”
“I knew you would.” Liza looked around, grinning at Tom, who was sneaking up behind his mother with a Super Soaker. Caroline would not be pleased. “He’s just a big kid.”
“And happier than I’ve seen him in a while. Which makes Caroline and me happy, too. We always wondered if anything would happen between you two.”
“They had a betting pool here,” Liza grumbled. “Karl won two hundred bucks.”
Dana clapped her hands, a delighted expression on her face. “We had one, too!”
“Who won?”
Dana preened. “I did. And everyone said I cheated because I told you to keep your heart open if he changed his mind, but I took the cash anyway. The girls at the shelter had an ice cream party. They said to thank you.”
Liza laughed. “Karl donated his to Tom’s charity here in town. It’s a sports program for kids from abusive homes.”
Dana leaned into Liza’s shoulder companionably. “It’s like we came full circle, you know?”
Shrieks from across the yard had them looking up. Caroline was dripping wet and had wrested the Super Soaker from Tom because he was laughing too hard to stop her.
“He’s gonna pay for that,” Dana said fondly.
And he did. He didn’t even run, taking his punishment like a man.
“I feel like . . .” Liza sighed. “Is it stupid to worry that things are too good?”
“No. It’s normal. I struggled with that for years. Still do.” Dana met her eyes, serious now. “You’ve earned every bit of happiness. If another shoe falls, you’ll deal. You’re not alone.”
“I know.” And she wasn’t, the object of her affection striding across the lawn, dripping wet and looking like every fantasy she’d ever had. Every carved muscle was on display. “Wow.”
Dana snorted. “Stop it. I knew him when he was seven.”
“He’s sure as hell not seven anymore.”
Dana shook her head. “I’m going to leave you to your drool. I’ll see you later.”
Tom tried to hug Dana as they passed, but she shoved him, still shaking her head.
Tom dropped into the chair she’d vacated. “You okay?”
“More than.” Liza gave him a peck on the lips. “How are your lips cold? It’s hotter than hell out here.”
“I filled the Super Soaker with ice water.”
“Oh, your mom is gonna get you back. I mean, this”—she gestured to his wet T-shirt—“was just the first wave of attack. Although I do like the outcome.”
He grinned wickedly, sending her libido on a roller coaster. “Really?”
“You know it. How long before we can go home?”
“Too long. My mom told me not to even think about sneaking off for ‘private time.’ ”
“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.”
Tom sank back into the chair once Molina was gone. “She and my mom were talking? Why is this my life?”
Liza laughed. “You just said how lucky we are.”
“And I am. I have you. And you’ll protect me when my mom and my boss join forces.”
She kissed his mouth, no longer cold. His lips were warm and pliable and made her want to forsake their visitors and head for home. “Pebbles needs to be walked.”
“She does. We could go home, walk her, have time for a quickie, and come back here later.”
She grinned against his lips. “They wouldn’t even know we were gone.” Which was total bullshit, but she didn’t care. They wouldn’t be gone long.
He lurched to his feet, tugging her to hers. “Let’s go.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Starfish—Christine, Brian, Cheryl, Kathie, and Sheila—for the plotting and everything else.
Hope Blaess for all the information on army medics, university education while deployed, and, most of all, for your service. Thank you.
Caitlin Ellis for all you do to keep the business going while I’m in the cave.
Sarah Hafer and Beth Miller for all the editing and proofreading. Your keen eyes and attention to detail are invaluable.
Sonie Lasker for your help with the Russian translations, the military detail, and for your service. I’m so proud of you, sister mine.
James “Egypt” Lee for the network guidance, DEFCON stories, and hacking theory.
Claire Zion, Jen Doyle, and Robin Rue for all your support as I wrote this, my twenty-fifth novel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Rose is the award-winning, #1 international bestselling author of some twenty novels, including the bestselling Baltimore and Cincinnati series. She has been translated into twenty-three languages, and her books have placed on the New York Times, the Sunday Times (UK), and Germany's der Spiegel bestseller lists.
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