Chapter Twenty
Sawyer watched with a tight gut as Wyatt stalked toward his brother. His friend looked like hell, with blood staining his shirt and a defined bump on his head. Also matted with blood.
Wyatt had killed two men? Had he lost it? He didn’t look like he had. Sawyer had seen Wyatt’s dark part many times, and this wasn’t it. He appeared calmer than he’d ever seen him in a situation like this. His eyes were clear, and he looked over at Sabrina as though telling Sawyer silently what he wanted him to do.
Save her.
He would if she would freaking let him. They were going to have such a talk after this was over. Stef was right. He was going to slap a collar around her neck and follow her constantly because she was trouble. So much fucking trouble. Her ass was going to learn the word trouble.
“Sure you are, little brother,” Wayne said with a derisive chuckle. “I’m also pretty sure you didn’t kill anyone. You’re too calm to kill anyone. You can’t do it on your own. Did you give them the slip? I’m surprised.”
Sabrina leaned over, her hand coming out to touch his thigh.
He cautiously glanced down and saw she held a paring knife. He was pretty sure it was Lark’s. She was particular about knives and always complained about the state of the ones in the bar. So Lark was playing along like Sabrina was. Good. The women were smart.
“Well, head down there and count the bodies, asshole,” Wyatt challenged.
Did Wyatt know he was being surrounded? The other members of the Horde were circling like a pack of wolves.
And no one had eyes on him and Sabrina. Even the asshole they’d put on the door was watching Wayne and Wyatt.
Sabrina leaned in as though afraid. She cried and put her head down. The sight in front of her was simply too much for a small-town schoolteacher.
She used the ruse to start in on the zip ties.
Even in this situation he thought she was so fucking hot. He wouldn’t blame her if she had cried out of pure fear, but no, his honey pretended so she could give them an important advantage. Lark pretended to be in love with him to give Sid and Gil a chance to run.
If they had an army of daughters, he would be cool with it. They could take over the world, and he would be there to fix them a drink after their long days of taking down the bad guys.
“Go and check the supply closet,” Wayne said, nodding to two of the men in the back. “It’s obvious someone fucked up.”
Where Henry and Elisa would even out the odds a little more. They’d gone in the back, and it was obvious they were already at work. He kept his eyes up, but worked his wrists over the knife Lark had managed to get to Sabrina.
Something was happening or Elisa wouldn’t have allowed Wyatt to come out and face his brother. She would have tried to buy them more time.
Elisa would have gotten into the office and sent Gil and Sid to the roof and then down to safety. She would find a way to let Nate know what was going on.
Nate was going to be here. He would come in guns blazing because there was no other way to handle this situation. They’d mitigated the damages as much as they could, but they were outnumbered.
He had to protect Sabrina and figure out how to get Wyatt away from his brother. If Wyatt was close when the shit went down, Sawyer knew his brother would rather not go out alone. He would try to take Wyatt with him.
That son of a bitch had ruined Wyatt’s life enough. He wasn’t going to take him down. He wasn’t going to take Wyatt. Sawyer needed Wyatt because Wyatt seemed like a man who wouldn’t mind changing diapers, and Sabrina was obviously a career woman who would need support.
No one was taking Wyatt because he was a part of Sawyer’s family.
And the diaper stuff. He wasn’t sure how good he’d be at the stinky part, but he was ready to face it because he wasn’t alone.
He would be if Wayne murdered Wyatt.
“You want to tell me where you actually stashed Dennis Hill and maybe we can talk about how fast I kill you,” Wayne offered.
Sawyer felt the zip ties start to give. He kept his hands under the table, hoping no one could see Sabrina sawing away.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Wyatt sounded strong and sure. “I gave you his body.”
“You gave me someone’s. As I recall it was too burned to be recognizable. At the time I bought your story about him starting the fire when he realized what was happening, but now I wonder.”
Sawyer was almost there, almost all the way through the zip ties when the big guy named Doug approached.
“Hey, you sit up,” he ordered Sabrina’s way.
Her head lifted, and she sniffled. “I can’t watch. You can’t expect me to watch you hurt him.”
“Leave her alone,” Wyatt ordered, and there was a little shake to his voice. Rage. He was fighting it.
“Hey, she’s fine,” Sawyer said. “Babe, you need to sit up and let him see you’re fine. He’s on the edge.”
She sniffled and managed to move the knife to her side, slipping it under the folds of her skirt. “I’m not fine. I can’t watch them hurt him.”
He kept his hands under the table. Sabrina had sawed through enough of the hard plastic bindings that he could break them when he needed to, but they weren’t ready for an all-out assault. They needed a distraction.
How long before Nate made it here?
Wayne grabbed Wyatt by the neck, a vicious hold on him. “You think I’m going to hurt you? You can take pain, little brother. I taught you how to do that a long time ago. Daddy taught us both how to take it so we never open our mouths to the cops about the Horde. He taught you not to betray your family. I guess the lesson didn’t take.”
He needed to get them all out of here. He needed something that would make these guys panic. In the chaos he might be able to get Sabrina and Wyatt out.
But it might cost him. Would cost him if he did what he was thinking about doing.
He glanced over at Lark, who had been watching him as though she’d known he would have a plan.
It was good to have people who had faith in him. It was funny since he would have said no one viewed him as a steady presence, but he guessed he was for his employees.
He really had been looking at the world through poop-colored glasses. Once Sabrina had ripped them off his eyes, he could see far more clearly, and that was why it was okay to lose what he was going to lose.
It was something they joked about. If joking about a building being a fire hazard was something to find humorous. He was up to code, but the truth was anything burned if you threw enough firepower at it.
He had a whole bar full of accelerants. All he needed was a chance to light it up.
“I didn’t fucking betray you,” Wyatt was saying. He was on the edge. Sawyer could see it, but he seemed to be holding on. “Whatever you think I did, I didn’t. You wanted me to kill Dennis Hill. I did.”
“And I know for a fact you didn’t,” Wayne growled back.
“Is he going to kill Wyatt?” Sabrina asked the question in a whisper, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Fuck, he was going to kill every single one of these motherfuckers. They made Sabrina cry. They made her afraid in a place where she should fucking be safe. This was his bar, the business his grandfather built, and it should be safe for her.
He’d thought he’d felt rage before, but it was nothing like what blazed through him now.
“He’s not going to kill Wyatt,” Sawyer managed between clenched teeth. “I need you to stay calm. I need you to be the woman you were the other night. Calm. Cool.”
“I want to say something to you,” she began.
She thought they were going to die. He couldn’t let her believe it. “I don’t want to hear it. Not now. After.”
Wayne released Wyatt, who stumbled slightly but managed to catch himself on the edge of the pool table. “Where the hell did Greg and Maverick go?”
Wyatt turned slightly and looked over Sawyer’s way, sending him a knowing look.
He’d definitely seen Henry and Elisa. And they’d likely killed or incapacitated two more of Wayne’s men. Unfortunately, that left them with ten versus four. He didn’t count Sabrina, since she did not have her trusty stun gun, or Lark. They would be hiding if they needed to.
He hoped.
Women were unpredictable creatures.
Lark moved into his space. She had a couple of beers on a tray because these assholes demanded service. They were lucky they’d brought their own women because if they’d tried to… He wasn’t going to think about what could have happened. Lark had played her role, and she’d done it beautifully. She didn’t know yet but she was getting a serious promotion.
If they lived.
Lark passed him and handed out the beers to the men hanging around the pool tables.
They would have one shot.
Damn, but he needed some cover. He couldn’t talk to her openly, and he needed Lark to make this insane plan work.
Wyatt turned and faced his brother, his hands in fists. “Do you understand what the sheriff of this town is going to do to you? You killed those deputies.”
Sabrina gasped, and it took everything he had not to reach for her. He’d known they would be dead the minute he’d found out the CBI agent was dirty.
“I did nothing of the sort,” Wayne replied with a smirk. “I think you’ll find you’re wanted for killing those boys and for kidnapping a CBI agent. You took him out to the woods and nearly beat him to death, but you won’t be surprised to find he’s survived. By now your face is likely all over the news. Everyone will be looking for your ass, little brother.”
There were many flaws in the plan, but he wasn’t going to point them out. Lark was slowly making her way back, and it might be his last chance.
“Are you going to pin our murders on him, too?” Sabrina asked in a shaky voice. “Is that your plan? Because I can see some problems with it. My sister won’t believe it.”
“Your sister?” Wayne nodded toward one of the men by the pool table, and he stalked over, brushing past Lark and slowing her down. “Are you talking about your cop sister? You think she can save you from me? You better stay sitting, Sawyer. Or I’ll have to find a new place for you.”
His heart rate tripled because they were going to start in on Sabrina. They were going to make her hurt in order to get Wyatt to talk. He couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t.
Sabrina looked his way and put a hand on his arm. “I’ll be okay. I will. I can handle it. Please, Sawyer, don’t make this worse.”
The man reached down and hauled Sabrina up. Wyatt started toward her, but two more of Wayne’s men grabbed him and held him back.
Please don’t let him lose it. If Wyatt lost it, Sawyer wouldn’t be able to work his plan. Wyatt wouldn’t care the world was on fire. All he cared about in that state was taking out anyone in front of him.
He would have to risk it because there was no way he was leaving Sabrina in their hands for long. He knew she was tough, knew she could handle a lot. But the reality of watching her get hurt was far fucking too much for him. She might be strong, but when it came to this Sawyer was delicate.
She gasped as they drug her away, one of her kitten heels coming off as she tried to stay on her feet.
“You leave her alone,” Wyatt yelled.
Lark stopped at the table, her eyes on the scene in front of them. Exactly where everyone’s eyes were. Wyatt was causing a scene, and he was good at it. “What should I do? We can’t call out.”
He kept his tone low. “Deputy Leal and Henry Flanders are already in the building. Nate’s on his way, but we’re going to need to avoid a hostage situation. Nate being outside won’t stop them from holding us inside, and then they’ll get desperate. We need to get everyone outside.”
“How?” Lark breathed.
“Torch the whole place, Lark,” he said. “By now Elisa and Henry will have gotten the rest of the crew out. Make some Molotov cocktails. No one is watching you. When they’re ready, light this place up. They’ll be forced to run.”
“Sawyer,” she began, finally looking at him even as Sabrina was held away from Wyatt.
“Do it. Try to hit the curtains in the back. The ones my granddad wouldn’t get rid of because he was so cheap.” They were out of place. Filmy and delicate in their own way.
They would go up quickly.
Wayne would have to make some hard choices.
“He doesn’t know anything because he didn’t do it,” Sabrina was saying as Lark moved away.
A loud smack went through the room, and Sawyer felt frozen in place. Wayne. He’d hit Sabrina. He’d fucking slapped her, and there was a hand mark on her face, and he was going to make this man eat his own colon.
Wyatt pushed at the men holding him, his face red. But he seemed to be holding on. There wasn’t any glassiness to his eyes. Just normal rage at men harming someone he loved.
Time. He needed time. “Hey, Wayne, your guys are taking too long back there. How do I know they’re not stealing my shit?”
Wayne looked over, his eyes widening as though he’d forgotten Sawyer was there for a moment. He glanced back down the hallway. “Hey, anyone here? Come out right now.”
Sawyer watched as Lark made her way around the bar, leaning so no one could see what she was doing.
Only a couple of minutes and he would have the chaos he needed. “They better not be fucking with my stuff, Wayne. I’m not joking. I don’t care what you do with those two, but you mess with my bar and we’ll have trouble.”
Wayne was about to understand he would burn the whole place down for them, for his family. But for now, his former occupation of complete misanthrope came in handy.
“How you like hearing that, Wyatt?” Wayne asked, getting into his brother’s space. “Your best friend doesn’t care about you. Did you think anyone would?”
Wyatt turned his way, a bit of desperation on his face. “I suppose I should have expected it from you. All you care about is money and power.”
Okay, they were going to have to work on his dialogue skills. Wyatt was obviously a reader and not a writer, though he had caught on quickly. They were going to have to act a little. Play out a drama to give Lark time. Wyatt wouldn’t know what he was buying time for, but he’d caught the line Sawyer had thrown out. “What did you think I would do, Wyatt? Burn down the bar for you?”
Wyatt’s eyes widened as though to say, you sure that’s the way we’re going? But he turned and looked his brother directly in the eyes even as he spoke to Sawyer. “No. You would think I would have learned the lesson a long time ago. Brotherhood means nothing.”
“Brotherhood is everything,” Wayne insisted. “You are the one who broke the bonds. And now you’ll be the one to pay the price.”
Wayne drew back his fist.
“Still no idea where your men got to?” Sawyer tossed the question out before Wayne could hit Wyatt. “There’s no good help these days. How many have you lost so far? Is it four or five? How dumb are your men that they can’t find their way around a small building?”
Wayne stopped, his expression changing to something in between rage and trepidation.
He was starting to understand things weren’t going to go as planned.
Wayne turned to Sawyer. “Who’s back there?”
Sawyer shrugged. “They’re your men. I don’t know their names. I would probably call them something offensive like Bloated Asshole and Dude with No Hair.”
It’s what he did call them in his head.
Wayne’s eyes narrowed. “I mean who is back there and what are they doing to my men?” He looked over at the pool table bikers. “Tiny and Ed, go and make sure the jammer’s still working.” He snarled when they hesitated. “And kill anyone you find.”
Sawyer felt comfortable neither Tiny nor Ed would be able to find Henry and Elisa if they didn’t want to be found. But they would have been watching and listening.
The men strode to the back.
Two more down. The odds were getting better all the time.
“I don’t know what you think you’re going to find, but I hope it’s not your men wrecking my stuff,” Sawyer insisted.
“My men are well trained, Sawyer. You should know since you used to be one,” Wayne reminded him.
“I was there for one reason and one reason only.” Sawyer kept his hands down. The zip ties were holding on by a thread thanks to Sabrina’s help. If there weren’t so many guns involved, he would wrap his hands around Wayne’s throat and squeeze until the man turned blue.
“Yeah, you were there for a brother who no longer gives a shit about you,” Wayne pointed out. “So you thought you could take mine. Here’s the truth, Sawyer. You shouldn’t care about your shit because you’re not going to be alive to enjoy it. I was never going to let any of you live. I’m going to torture the two of you until Wyatt can’t take it no more and gives me what I want. Then I’ll put him out of his miserable existence, and I won’t think about him ever again. I thought I would start with the teacher, but you’ve pissed me off enough. I think we’ll begin with you.”
Sawyer was perfectly content even though he knew the next few minutes were going to hurt like a motherfucker. The pain would be his and not Sabrina’s. He could handle anything as long as she was safe.
He felt movement behind him and got ready to take whatever they threw his way.
And then something was being thrown, though it wasn’t a punch. It was a bottle of… Was that the good vodka? Damn it. Lark could have thrown the cheap stuff, but no, she had to pick the French vodka Taggart’s wife liked.
It hit the back wall and sort of exploded, the drapes going up as quickly as he’d expected.
“Wyatt, cover her,” he yelled as he kicked back in the chair, pulling his hands apart and hitting the guy straight behind him. It caused him to stumble to the side which turned out to be a good thing since he narrowly avoided the bullet flying by him. He felt a slight burning sensation but no blinding pain.
Wayne was done playing. Sawyer heard another bottle slam against the far wall and someone screamed. The lights went out. Henry and Elisa had apparently been making plans. The darkness gave him some cover, though he could hear the bullets starting to fly.
Two walls were clearly on fire now, and Sawyer rolled to his right, getting under the table he’d sat at with Sabrina. He needed to figure out where Wyatt had her. He would do whatever it took to get Sabrina out. Blue lights suddenly made a ghostly appearance through the smoke.
Nate. Nate was here, and now all they had to do was get the fuck out with their lives and this would be over.
“You should probably try to get out the back,” Sawyer yelled at Wayne over the chaos. The front door had already been thrown open as several of the bikers and the women they’d brought with them started to run. Sure enough, a couple took off for the back.
The bullets were flying all around them.
Sabrina was out there. She could get hit. Damn, now that he was here, fear took over. Not for himself. He was terrified he could lose her or Wyatt.
Then Sawyer felt the chill of metal at the back of his head.
“You get up real slow now,” Wayne warned. “Otherwise I might accidently blow your fucking head off. I need a hostage if I’m going to get out of here, and the little lady has left the building.”
A wild sense of relief swept through him. Sabrina was safe. He wasn’t, but it didn’t matter. The people he loved were safe, and that was everything. The rest, well, he would trust Nate and Elisa and Henry to get him out of the current shitty situation he found himself in. The heat was starting to pulse through the bar like a dragon breathing fire. Smoke rolled in, threatening to choke him.
He got to his feet, hands held up.
“Damn, I don’t know how you’re still moving, but you start to make for the exit and know if I see anyone coming, I’ll kill ’em if you don’t get them to back down,” Wayne explained, his voice shaky.
He wasn’t sure why he shouldn’t be moving, but it was suddenly harder than it had been a moment before. His chest ached but he didn’t touch it since he had his hands in the air trying to show Wayne he wasn’t a threat.
“Move it, asshole,” Wayne said. “You should know when I get out of this, I’m going to find your bitch and I’m going to show her what a real man is like. I’m going to…”
A loud thunk ended whatever Wayne had been planning to say, and Sawyer spun around, his head getting light. Wayne slumped to the floor and there was Sabrina. His Teach was standing there with the fire extinguisher in her hands.
Wyatt ran in. “Sabrina. Damn it, I told you…” He looked at Sawyer. “Oh, no. Sawyer…”
They were okay, so now he could deal with the bullet he’d taken straight to his chest. Yep. It had been adrenaline that kept him upright, and now he slumped down, vision beginning to recede.
Wyatt caught him and he heard shouting, saw Sabrina’s desperate eyes. She looked really pretty in the firelight.
It was a good way to die.
* * * *
Sabrina stood as Wyatt entered with two cups of coffee in his hands. The waiting room of the small hospital in Del Norte was packed with Bliss citizens. Henry’s wife, Nell, had joined them, bringing muffins and some incense she claimed would calm them all down, but the hospital had said no. Which earned them a slot on Nell’s protest schedule.
Elisa and Van and Hale were sitting close. Elisa had a couple of scrapes but had already been cleared by the EMT who’d come to the bar with Nate. He’d ridden in with the Creede department at his back, and they’d managed to take down everyone that Henry and Elisa hadn’t.
Including Wyatt’s brother, who was now in custody and likely dealing with a hell of a headache.
“Here you go,” Wyatt said, passing her one of the cups.
“Any word?” She knew she’d asked the question a hundred times, but she couldn’t quite stop herself.
“On Sawyer, no.” Wyatt slumped down beside her. “On those dipshits who started this clusterfuck, yes. I met Sawyer’s friend Ty down in the cafeteria. He was on call when they found Marshall and Knox. Who luckily had both worn vests because they were worried I would kill them if I had a chance. So they’re alive. Nate fired them, though. Said he wouldn’t be able to trust them again.”
She knew she wouldn’t. “I’m still glad they’re alive. They can testify against the CBI agent. He lived, I suppose.”
She didn’t care if he died.
“They only wounded him,” Henry said. He sat across from them, Poppy laid out on her father’s chest sleeping away. “From what I heard, he was extremely surprised when he called in your escape and the sheriff from Creede arrested his ass.” He winced. “Sorry, baby. They arrested him.”
Nell sighed and leaned against him. “I don’t think she’s listening.” She gave him a smile and her hand went to her belly. “But this one might be.”
She’d heard rumors Nell was pregnant and being careful about it.
She wouldn’t be able to even tease the thought of having Sawyer’s babies if he didn’t pull through.
He had to pull through.
Wyatt reached out and threaded his fingers around hers. “It’s going to be okay.”
She wasn’t sure since he’d had a hole in his chest.
“Hey, Sabrina,” a feminine voice said. “I’m Lucy and this is…”
“River.” She’d seen pictures of these two along with Ty. They ranged from when they were kids to a picture at a wedding where Sawyer had stood in the back and looked utterly uncomfortable in a suit. Lucy and River and Ty were Sawyer’s cobbled-together family. “It’s nice to formally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from Sawyer.”
River sank down to one of the seats. She looked like she’d hurried to get here. She was still in PJ pants, but she’d thrown a hoodie and her sneakers on. “How long has he been in and is it true the bar is a total loss? I heard those bikers went crazy and started throwing Molotov cocktails around.”
“Oh, that was…” Wyatt began.
But Sabrina knew a couple of things. “Yep, that’s exactly what happened. When they began to realize they weren’t getting the answers they came for, they wanted to burn it all down. I’ll let the sheriff know I’m willing to go on record. Sawyer is going to need a police report if he’s going to be able to get insurance to pay out.”
Which they wouldn’t if they knew it had been Sawyer’s own employee who’d tossed the bombs.
“Yes, I heard it, too.” Ty strode in, taking a place beside Lucy, his hand holding hers. “Michael is parking, and Jax is going up to Sawyer’s to pick up Bella. She can stay with River and Jax for a few days.”
“For tonight it’s fine, but I want her with me at home,” Sabrina said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound rude. I don’t like the idea of Bella not knowing where we are.”
River leaned over, putting a hand on hers. “It’s okay. We’ll keep her overnight since I doubt you’ll be leaving.”
The only way she would leave tonight would be if he…
Caleb Burke walked in. He’d been with Nate, too, and had ridden in the ambulance with Sawyer. Now he walked toward them in scrubs, looking beyond tired.
Sabrina stood. “He looks upset.”
Henry waved the thought off. “Nah. That’s just his face. He’s got a perpetual look of doom on his face. Sawyer’s good.”
“He is,” the doc said. “He’s going to need some rest, but he’s a tough bastard.”
A wave of relief flooded Sabrina, and she slumped against Wyatt, clutching him like she would never let him go. She couldn’t stop the tears that had been building up. He was okay. He was alive.
Would he ever forgive her for the terrible things she’d said? She’d been so afraid he would die thinking she didn’t love him with all of her heart.
She looked up to Wyatt. “I said things…”
Wyatt squeezed her. “What things, baby? Don’t cry. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“I said I didn’t love him. I told your brother I was only with him because I loved you and you were a packaged deal. I never thought he would hear me,” she admitted.
Wyatt sighed and stroked a hand down her hair. “Baby, you were playing a role. I also accused him of only caring about money and power.”
Lucy snorted. “Power? Sawyer tries to avoid being placed in any position of power. It would mean talking too much.”
Wyatt forced her to look at him. “Baby, do you remember when he said he didn’t care what happened to us? Only to the bar? And then he proceeded to do something we will never talk about in front of insurance agents. He didn’t mean it any more than you did. Now I do believe he’s going to want to talk to you about sneaking away from safety and running back into a burning bar to save him.”
“Yeah, I might talk to her about running into danger,” her sister said with a shake of her head.
“Well, do all of that on your time. For now, Sawyer’s out of surgery, and we’re moving him to one of the Bliss suites. I assume you’re staying.” Caleb pulled his scrub cap off.
“There’s a Bliss suite?” Wyatt asked the question she was curious about, too.
“Oh, yeah. A couple of years back Stef built a wing of the hospital, and now we get this big old suite with overnight privileges for two instead of one,” Lucy explained. “We have to use it way more than you would think.”
River had her cell in hand. “We’ll get back home now that we know he’s okay, but you should understand life is about to change. We’re done waiting for him to decide he wants to come out of his shell. We’re pulling him out. You’re about to get a bunch of invitations, and I hope you’ll accept them. He has a family that loves him, and we’ll love you, too, if you let us. We’ll start with dinner at my place next week, but you should remember the holidays are coming up.”
Sabrina gave River a watery smile. “Yes, we would love to be invited. And we’ll be there for dinner as long as Sawyer’s able.”
Caleb shrugged. “He’ll make it. He’s strong as a damn ox. I should be able to let him go home tomorrow if he promises to rest. Were they able to save any of the bar?”
Sawyer’s employees had stayed behind, helping with the volunteer fire fighting team trying to save Hell on Wheels. Lark had texted her when they’d finally gotten the fire out. “It’s pretty bad, but the structure held. We’ve got a ton of work ahead of us.”
It didn’t scare her. She only hoped Sawyer wouldn’t be too upset about the bargain he’d made.
Hours later, Sabrina came awake to the feel of a hand squeezing hers. She blinked in the early morning light and for a moment she was disoriented. She was in Del Norte. In the hospital. She’d fallen asleep sitting next to Sawyer, praying he would wake up because despite all the doc’s promises, he looked so vulnerable.
“Hey, Teach,” he said with weary eyes, but his lips were curling to a smile. “You okay? That was a killer swing.”
She sat straight up, putting his hand to her chest. “You scared the hell out of us. Don’t ever, ever get shot again. I swear I can’t handle it.”
Wyatt rolled over on the second bed that was in the room. He’d fallen asleep at some point, and now he rubbed his eyes and got to his feet. “Damn, man. When you want to cause some chaos, you can cause some chaos. I barely managed to get Sabrina out. Everyone panicked. The ones who took off out the back got caught by Elisa and Henry, and Nate and Cam picked up the ones who ran out the front.”
“And when did you lose track of her?” Sawyer asked, his voice a little gravelly. “I caused chaos so you could protect her.”
“She’s slippery,” Wyatt pointed out.
“If I hadn’t gone back for you, you would…” She couldn’t even say the words.
Sawyer’s hand squeezed hers. “Shh, Teach. I’m all right, and we’re not going to have to worry about Wayne Kemp again.”
“No, we won’t because I talked to Dennis,” Wyatt said. “He wants to testify, and he’s got proof. He was afraid for a long time, but he wants to come forward now.”
That was news to her. Maybe she had fallen asleep before him. “You called him.”
“He called me,” Wyatt explained. “Henry really did know where he was and had him moved. Apparently he also talked to him and convinced him the only way to be safe is to put Wayne behind bars for life. I know I’m going to testify. You should understand I might have to spend some time away.”
Sawyer groaned. “No, you won’t. Nate’ll make sure you get a deal in exchange for giving up the club.”
She would feel better when Wayne was safely behind bars. Forever. She held a hand out to Wyatt. “We’re not letting you go to jail. Neither one of us is great at cooking. If you leave, we’ll starve.”
“And I have a bar to rebuild,” Sawyer said with a chuckle that made him wince. “I can’t do it alone.”
“Somehow I think you’ll have plenty of help.” Sabrina held both their hands. “Sawyer, you know what I said…”
His dark eyes rolled. “You mean your lies so they didn’t immediately start beating me? Yeah, babe. I got that. But Wyatt needs to work on his bad dialogue. I only care about power? Who the fuck am I?”
Wyatt grinned, the expression lighting up her world. “I thought it was pretty good myself.” He sobered. “It was touch and go, but I stayed calm. I never want to do that again. Let’s be the most boring threesome this town has ever seen.”
Sawyer nodded. “I think boring sounds fine to me. I think I want to build the booths for the new bar. That’s the most excitement I want. I want to build something new, something for us and the town.”
She couldn’t think of anything better.
The door came open and her adoptive dad strode through, Cassidy behind him. She moved in and opened her arms.
“Come here, sweet girl,” Cass said, wrapping her arms around Sabrina. “We were so worried when we heard. I’m sorry this is the first chance we got to come in. It was our night watch out on the highway, and Mel is serious about keeping the lines of communication open.”
Her dad nodded, putting down the bag he’d been carrying. “It’s almost time for breeding season again. Got to keep a watch out. Now Sawyer, how are you feeling? We stopped by the house and brought you some snacks.”
Sawyer frowned. “Like chips? Or beets?”
Mel shrugged. “Why not both? Beet chips. They’ll keep you healthy, son.”
Sawyer sent her a look. Yeah, there probably wasn’t a lot of moving her dad. Beets were his love language. And alien hunting. Sawyer and Wyatt probably had some training in their futures.
The futures she would share with them.
“I think River is bringing us breakfast, but we’re happy to have some nice snacks, Dad,” she said, hugging him, too.
“Damn, did he already bring the beets?” Her sister strode in dressed in civies and carrying a couple of bags with her. “I thought you might get a day or two.”
Mel winked Elisa’s way. “You know aliens like to plant their seeds when a man is at his most vulnerable, daughter.”
Sawyer frowned. “I think I’ll take those beets now.”
Wyatt stood by his partner. “Yeah, I don’t want any seeds planted in me. I’ll eat the beet chips. Maybe they’ll go with the breakfast burritos River’s picking up.” He looked down at Sawyer. “I mean not for you, buddy. You’re on a hospital diet for a couple of days.”
“What?” Sawyer put a hand to his chest. “I should have killed your brother. What a fucking asshole.”
It did not surprise her he was more pissed off about the loss of breakfast burritos than nearly dying. She turned to her sister. “Hey. How are you this morning?”
Elisa hugged Cassidy and then joined Sabrina. “I’m good. Henry is scary, by the way. Like do not piss him off. I went in thinking I would have to protect him. Nope. The CIA did a good job. He might not have killed a son of a bitch recently, but he definitely remembers how. I drove by the bar this morning. Lark and the others are already working to save what they can. It’s going to be a long haul, but it’s salvageable.”
She wasn’t afraid of some hard work. “And the school? I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t call and make arrangements.”
“You were going through some things,” Cassidy said. “There’s nothing for you to worry about, sweet girl. Del is stepping up. Rachel and Jen and Callie are helping today, and Laura, Nell, and Holly will take care of tomorrow. They hope you’ll feel like you can come back later in the week. And Stef was so freaked out you might leave after nearly getting murdered that he’s giving you a blank check for the library and promises he won’t make a single suggestion. I could have told him our girl is made of stronger stuff, but I thought you would appreciate the check. Maybe if you cry, he’ll throw in a gym. Your dad and I have been discussing how to train the next generation.”
Oh, she hadn’t even thought about the fact that her adoptive parents would view alien hunting as something to teach in public schools. She was going to have to find a way to turn it into a fun PE class. The idea of Paige Harper learning how to use various weapons scared her. “I’ll see what I can do.”
The next few years would be all about building. Rebuilding the bar. Building the school system.
Building her family.
The good news? She wouldn’t be doing it alone. Not even close.
Cassidy started to explain how she made the beet chips to Wyatt and Sawyer, while Mel nodded and agreed with her, looking on with all the love in the world on his face.
And Sabrina’s world went watery. “How did we get here? We shouldn’t be here.”
Her sister’s hand slid into hers. “Because of history? Sure, maybe our history set us up to be too afraid to ever take a chance. Maybe the woman who raised us wanted us to never leave home, to stay stuck in the life she chose for herself, but she made a mistake.”
“She met your bio dad,” Sabrina said quietly. “And it gave you the courage to completely change your life. And you gave me the courage to change mine.”
Elisa’s head shook. “No. You gave me that gift, little sis. You’re rewriting history. You found Mel. You tracked him down. You did it because I was failing. I’d beaten cancer but I didn’t care. I did it because I had to. Because I couldn’t leave you. Today, I would do it because I don’t want to leave any of this. Because I love this life you led us to. I might have been brave enough to follow the thread you passed to me, but don’t ever think I don’t know what it could have cost you. We’ve never talked about this. Were you afraid?”
“Was I afraid you would come out here, find a new family, and I would lose you?” Sabrina asked. “Yeah. I was terrified, but I knew I could also lose you to Mom’s never-ending darkness. I think if we’d stayed in that house, we wouldn’t have left again. We would have lived out our lives there like she thought we should. Instead, you came here and you found Van and Hale.”
Elisa’s eyes were bright with tears as she leaned against Sabrina. “And you found Wyatt and a big, gorgeous asshole.”
“I heard that,” Sawyer said from across the room. And then he grinned. “It’s accurate. Proceed.”
Sabrina realized everyone was watching them.
Wyatt sniffled a little. “I’m glad you got out, baby. And I’m glad I did, too. I’m glad somehow, someway we all found our way to this town.”
“I was born here,” Sawyer added needlessly. “I didn’t have to like take a journey.”
“Well, I was born here, too, son,” Mel said. “But then I was taken to the planet Araxia, and that was quite a journey.”
“I was born in Del Norte,” Cassidy offered. “But I was happy to find Bliss, too. And so happy to share a beautiful family with the man I love. I don’t think you should be so hard on your momma. I think maybe she had a disease she couldn’t deal with. I choose to believe she’s somewhere better, somewhere happier, and no one is prouder of her girls than she is.”
The tears flowed freely now, and she found herself wrapped in a hug from her sister. Then Wyatt joined, putting his head against hers and whispering that he loved her. Mel and Cassidy worked their way into the best bear hug she’d ever received. Only one thing was missing.
“Finally a good reason to be shot,” Sawyer snarked from his bed. He gave her a thumbs-up. “You go, Teach. I’ll be here when the sappy stuff is over and you need an or…” He seemed to remember they weren’t alone. “Some more affection.”
Mel snorted and stepped back. “Sure, son. That’s what you’re talking about. You won’t be getting any affection for a while. You have to rest.”
Sawyer’s expression went beyond sad. “But I wasn’t shot in my dick.”
Wyatt seemed to think Sawyer was hysterical, and River and Lucy and the gang chose that moment to make their entrance complete with breakfast burritos and coffees and tons of stories about what it was like to grow up in Bliss.
Sabrina listened and dreamed of her own blissfully ever after.