Epilogue
With all the proof against Red, his empire came crashing down.
They found proof of drug trafficking that he’d gotten away with for so long through transporting it carefully.
But what was more interesting, was the unique drug I had taken from Jasmine.
They had figured out that the drug he was making didn’t provide anything a normal drug gave a person.
It didn’t make them high or help them feel calm.
But the withdrawal was vicious. The only use the drug had was to keep people from ever getting off it.
So, he would find young women who had run away from home or had come here from another country and get them hooked.
Once they were hooked, he took everything from them.
Forced them to sell themselves or work for him.
If they left, they would think they were dying from the withdrawal.
Thankfully, the drug hadn’t spread far by the time we found proof of it.
Along with taking down the business, they arrested quite a few people that were involved, including Mick (which meant that Copper is now technically my dog.
I don’t know if that’s how it works, but that’s what I told everyone).
By the time we made it to visit James, he was doing quite a bit better.
He would still get confused but was able to talk and hold conversations for small periods of time.
The doctors told us that they thought his outcome looked very positive, and with some therapy, he would be back to normal before long.
I also visited Jasmine a few times while she was in rehab.
The first time was horrible. She wasn’t coherent and looked so ill I hardly recognized her, but when I had visited her yesterday, she was doing well.
She was happy and had told me about the programs she had joined that would help her start a real life here.
I felt bad leaving her, but she assured me she was fine. That she had friends and a support system now.
***
“Are you ready?” Lane asks as he stands up.
The plane has nearly cleared out by the time I stand up.
“Yeah,” I say even though I am more than a little nervous.
Lane had decided to move back home to be closer to his family. He thought we’d done enough detective work for a while, and I couldn’t help but agree.
“You alright?” Lane asks since I haven’t moved. He seems to have noticed that I’m quite anxious about this.
“Do they even know you’re gay?” I ask.
“Wait…I’m gay? I thought you were a woman this whole time,” he says as he squeezes my hand.
I smile and shake my head. “Funny,” I say, but it at least makes me feel a little better.
I lead Copper after us as we exit the ramp.
I’m trying to force myself to think about something other than meeting them because I’m terrified of what they’ll think of me.
What if they don’t like me? I couldn’t connect with my own parents, what makes me think I can connect with them? “They’re going to hate me.”
“Why?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I say.
“I feel like you’ve been more worried about meeting my parents than you were when taking down a drug lord.”
I think about it for a moment. “Yeah, maybe,” I say, and he laughs.
We walk into the airport and I stall by using the bathroom, but eventually, I have to come out. Lane is waiting just outside for me, so I take his hand and lead him down the escalator, onto the first floor.
“Lane!” a woman yells.
The noise startles me but makes Lane smile.
He’d told her about him losing his sight and had made her promise that the family would never look at him with pity or he’d leave again.
She rushes up and grabs him, squeezing him tightly as an older man that share’s Lane’s features, rushes up with a lady around Lane’s age.
They maul him as he smiles and hugs them back.
“I missed you guys,” Lane says. “This is my boyfriend Felix.”
His mom grabs me by the shoulders and looks me over as I look up at her, a bit worried. I don’t have a lot of knowledge of dealing with moms.
“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you! I’ve heard all about you,” she says as she hugs me tightly.
They each introduce themselves to me and hug me as I try to take it all in.
“Come on, let’s go. I made your favorite for supper,” Lane’s mom says as she heads off while Lane’s father and sister retrieve our bags.
Lane grabs my hand and pulls me toward him. “They’re not so bad, are they?”
“I like them,” I say since they’re out of earshot.
“I told you that you would,” he says.
“They remind me of you.”
“Now, I know for a fact they’re nicer than me. For example, they’d never make fun of your small stature or your cooking.”
“You know what? I think I’m going to tell them you jumped on a different flight, and I’ll just keep them as my family,” I say.
Lane laughs. “I’m sorry, I mean, if we lived through that mess, we’ll survive your cooking, so it’ll all be fine.”
“You’re going to make me cry,” I say.
“Good, I bet you’re cute when you cry,” he says as he squeezes me. “Come on, let’s go.”
I slide my fingers between his and think about how I will get back at him for everything mean he has said to me.
Honestly, I don’t care because I have a place to belong.
I have a place where someone cares if I am hurt.
Someone cares if I come home. I know it might take me a while to open up every part of my mind and heart to Lane after having kept it locked away for so long, but I know that if I can give everything to one person, it will be him.