30. Dana
I’m lost, disoriented. I can’t see anything but the pot plants growing around me.
Link switched to text after he told me Michael was on his way, and every couple of minutes he texts to tell me if I’m going the right way or not. I had to turn the screen’s brightness way down so it doesn’t give away my location.
His directions have been helpful, because I’ve had to adjust course based on what I think I hear around me.
Wayne has gone completely silent again, but now and then I’ll hear something.
My lack of sight and the limited sounds out here in the middle of nowhere have wreaked havoc, and paranoia has set in.
Shadows play tricks on my mind, and I’ve had to stifle a scream more than once when it looked like someone was standing just beyond the row of cannabis.
The cold has settled into my bones, and my fingers ache when I glance at the phone once more, hoping to get the message that Michael is here, but there is nothing.
When I look up, Wayne is standing in my path. He’s in a thin row of cannabis plants thirty feet in front of me with his gun aimed.
He doesn’t hesitate with any last words.
Click.
My soul shakes within the confines of my bones when the gun doesn’t fire.
I turn and run as he tosses it aside and races after me.
Leaves whip my face as I run, then pivot and try to shake him off.
“I’ll have to do it myself,” he growls as he grabs me around the waist.
I kick and scream as he whips me around, then tosses me down. My phone bounces out of my hand and is immediately swallowed up by the plants.
I grab a fistful of dirt before he hauls me to my feet.
There is no way I’ll win in a fair fight, so it’s a good thing I know how to play dirty.
I toss the dirt in his face, then go for the hardest kick to his groin when he tries to rub his eyes.
“OW! FUCKING BITCH!”
I race to get away, but he dives for my leg, tripping me up.
I go down as he gets up, and he tangles his hand in my hair. Rage twists his expression, and my blood runs cold when he shakes me hard, then wraps his meaty hand around my throat and squeezes tight.
Pain sears through my scalp when I wrench my body against the grip he has in my hair. I twist just enough to put all of my weight behind my next attack and focus on the joint in his knee. The connection vibrates up my leg as he howls, and this time I’m able to get away before he grabs me.
There’s no threat of gunfire, so I run in what I’m almost positive is the right direction. I steady my breath and reach my fastest speed in no time as he curses and yells behind me.
I glance over my shoulder. His face is twisted in pain and rage, but he still manages to charge after me.
If he gets his hands on me again, I’m dead.
I’m going to wear myself out at this speed, but I can’t stop because he knows exactly where I am.
I fist my hand that held that phone. It was my only lifeline, and now it’s gone.
“DANA!”
I didn’t think I could run any faster, but my strength manifests. The anger in his voice fuels me, and I pump my arms as adrenaline and terror fill my veins.
There’s a five-foot gap between the tree line and the cannabis fields, and I race through the copse as the branches whip then cut into my skin.
When I break out the other side, the field is empty, but I run straight through it, certain that he’s going to be right behind me.
The cop cars are parked too far to my left, so I continue running toward the edge of the lavender fields.
My labored breath fills the silent field around me as my lungs ache to manage the air that burns down my throat.
Tears sting my eyes when I realize Wayne is going to break through the tree line any second, and I am utterly helpless out here. A sob escapes from deep in my gut when my thoughts go to who is going to find me.
I inhale to cry some more when I’m suddenly cut off.
An engine revs a second before an SUV plows up the side of a ditch in front of me. It crashes through the brush and soars into the fields, eviscerating the lavender harvest, and races toward me.
It turns quickly, kicking up dirt around its headlights before it stops.
The passenger’s side door opens, and Michael jumps out, racing toward me with his gun drawn. I catch the thin red line of a laser coming from the top of the vehicle before Michael yells, “DANA! GET DOWN!”
My legs give out, and I crumple to the earth, covering my head as bullets fly over me in rapid succession.
My own screams and sobs drown out the noise around me.
Panic grips me, locking my muscles and sending a tremor through me that I can’t stop.
My fear breaks when a hand splays over my back, and I kick and scream, fighting to get away.
“Dana! It’s me. You’re safe. He’s dead. I have you.” Michael lifts me and sits back on his ass, pulling me into his lap. He hugs me tight while pushing his lips into my hair and shushing me as he rocks back and forth.
“MICHAEL,” I sob. “I thought I—he was going to?—”
A shiver wracks my body. He cups his large hands around my head, tipping my face into the crook of his neck, and I cry all over him. I inhale each breath like I’m suffocating, and his scent fills my mind, telling me he’s here and I’m safe.
“I know. It’s over. I’m so proud of you, baby.”
I hiccup and choke on my breaths until they even out, and I try to push away from Michael, but he won’t let me go.
“Kaley is in the car. Wayne gave her something.”
He only holds me tighter. “Logan and Eagle are over there now. I can see her from here. They’re taking care of her. Let me take care of you.”
He sits with me until my breaths slow. The threat is gone, and it’s taken every molecule of fight I had with it. The muscles in my body relax until my limbs become too heavy to lift, and I drift off with my head against his chest as I listen to his heart beating.
I jostle awake when he rises and carries me to the car, not once suggesting I walk on my own. My feet dangle uselessly with each step he takes.
Then he slides into the back seat with me, unwilling to let me go.
I fought my fight. I’m not sure if I won, but it doesn’t matter.
Michael has taken over, and I’ve decided to let him handle things for a while.
* * *
The next time I open my eyes, Jessa is hovering over me.
Her face lights up as she announces I’m awake, and there’s a flurry of activity around me.
She braces one hand on each cheek and smooshes my face together until my lips pucker. “I was so scared, Dana.”
“Where’s Kaley?”
Jessa releases her hold on my face. “They brought her back to the bar. Dale, Barnes, and Tyler are on their way to Spokane with her to get her leg checked out. She’s in pain, but she’s going to be fine.”
The smell of apple and cinnamon fills my nose as a mug is held close to my head.
“I made this for her,” Grey says as he sets it on the table.
Logan nudges him out of the way. “Give her space,” he admonishes, rolling his eyes. “Dana, can you sit up? We’d like to make sure you’re okay.”
I nod and swing my legs out, but there’s something stopping me.
Or someone.
Michael lifts his head from my stomach and squeezes my hand. I didn’t realize he was holding it from his spot on the floor beside me on the couch in the Miller cabin.
“Hey.”
His smile and that one simple word do me in.
Tears pour over my cheeks.
There was a moment when I never thought I would see him again.
With worry crossing his face, he rises to his knees and tells everyone to give us a moment, and they step away until it’s just us.
He helps me to sit, then nudges his hips between my knees and pulls my forehead to his.
“I thought I’d lost you, Dana.” Crushing his lips against mine, he kisses me like I’m his, and I close my eyes and sink into him. When he breaks away, he smiles at me and says the two words I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear: “It’s over.”
“For real this time?”
That makes him chuckle, and Jessa, Jack, and Logan close in around me.
Jessa lifts my hand, circling hers around it and squeezing. “Thanks to Link, your copy of Zane, and a twenty-year-old laptop that Dale let me use, I hacked Denver’s contract and set a virus to detonate on the buyer’s system the next time they log in to check their progress. So if anyone is still looking for you, they’ll have to go through me first.”
“Denver?”
Logan answers me. “That was Wayne Talbott’s alias.” He taps Michael on the shoulder, and Michael finally relinquishes his spot. “Now, we still want to check to make sure you’re okay.”
He crouches in front of me, and I answer him before he asks. “I have a bunch of cuts from the branches, and some scrapes.” I lift my hands, turning them over, and sure enough, the heels of my palms are scraped up where I hit the ground when Wayne threw me down. My wounds have been cleaned. One of my hands, the one that took the brunt of my fall, was even bandaged while I was out. “My knees are probably bruised too. I fell a few times.” I glance at my pants, thankful there is no dried blood seeping through and the fabric is still intact, but I wince when I poke at my knee.
Logan leans into me, lifting my hair off my neck, and whatever Michael sees there darkens his expression. When I lift my hand to my throat, the memory returns. “Right. He grabbed my hair and choked me—but I got away.”
My answer seems to satisfy Logan, and he raises his voice and calls to Grey, who’s returned to the kitchen. “Get me some painkillers and a glass of water.” Then he looks at me and pinches his lips into a smile. “Our resident doctor is back on base, so the best you got is me, and it’s my opinion that you’re going to be okay.”
He watches me in silence as I accept the glass from Grey and drink down the two little white pills. Then he clears his throat. “Dana, I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you. I want to thank you for seeing beyond that, and for attempting to barter for my life when we were taken. I didn’t deserve your kindness then, but I hope you’ll give me a chance to prove to you that I am worthy of it now.”
I take a long look at everyone around me.
Logan kept so much of his personal life to himself, and I sense he still fights with the ghosts of his past.
I thought I’d lost Jessa, and that pain drove every decision I made to be difficult.
But through it all, Michael stood by my side, unwavering in his determination to keep me safe.
This is the closest I’ve felt to being a part of a family since high school, when Jessa’s parents made me feel welcome.
“We’re both at fault, Logan. I’m sorry I lied to you.”
From the corner of my eye, Jack tugs on Jessa’s arm, and he walks her away from our group.
“You had your reasons. I didn’t make it easy. I’ll do better.” He clears his throat again when he realizes it’s just the three of us now.
Everyone else has moved as far away as possible, with Eagle and Grey leaving the cabin altogether.
“What happens now?” I glance between Logan and Michael.
Logan stands and taps Michael on the shoulder. “I’ll let you two talk.” Then, with a smile, he excuses himself.
Michael takes the spot beside me when I swing my legs off the couch.
It’s now I notice the dawn creeping into the room.
“How long have I been out?”
“A few hours. You crashed after all the adrenaline left your body. You needed to rest.”
I rest my palm on my stomach where Michael laid his head. “You stayed with me?”
“I never left your side.” He leans over, wrapping his arm around me and gently pulling me into him. “I’ve made that mistake before—a couple of times. Never again.”
Michael sits with me in silence for a long time. His hand fists on his lap as he watches his team members come and go. Eagle and Grey store their equipment into boxes while Logan unplugs the computers and packs them away.
I reach for the mug Grey left for me and take a gulp of the warm tea, humming to myself before curling my feet under me and settling into the couch.
“Listen, our team is preparing to move out—today. We don’t want to waste any time getting back, and Jack is uneasy about having Jessa out in the open.”
I sit with his words for a long time.
I can’t describe how happy I am that Jessa is alive, but at the same time, their compound doesn’t hold the same sense of comfort for me.
“I—I’m not sure I want to go back there.” I stare into my tea for a long minute as Michael’s gaze burns into the side of my face. “Do I have a—choice?”
“Can I ask if it’s the place you don’t want to return to, or is it?—”
He stops himself from finishing his sentence, and it takes me a moment before my eyes round and I shake my head.
“Oh, no—it’s not you Michael.” I should have phrased it better. “I mean, you are the only reason I was considering it at all. I know Jessa has Jack, I’m just—I think I need to make my own home. Does that make sense?”
Michael’s smile goes straight to his eyes. Without taking his eyes off me, he raises his voice, drawing Logan’s attention.
“I’ll take the job.”
My eyebrows furrow in confusion, but Logan must understand him, because he takes his phone and heads for the door. “I had a feeling you would. I’ll let Link know.”
“Know what? What’s going on, Michael.”
He cups his fingers under the mug in my hand and lifts, urging me to drink more. “An opportunity has opened up to expand Cypher, and Logan asked me if I was interested in taking the lead. I wanted to wait until you made your choice before I answered.”
“That’s, um, that’s great, but…”
“Dana. It’s here. I’m going to stay here, and I hope you’ll stay with me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The old mining camp has been abandoned for decades. The land it’s built on is owned by the government, and Logan has initiated talks to purchase it. We’ve had a quick talk with Dale about what jobs a new compound would bring to the area, and he thinks the townspeople would be all for destroying their grow op in exchange for the security we could offer to anyone who wanted to work.”
“What? That’s?—”
“It gets better. I’m going to stay behind to start laying the foundation, then I’m going to head up this division if it goes through. The Millers have rented this cabin to us for the next six months while we get started—and it’s my hope you would stay here with me.”
Michael’s image blurs as tears fill my eyes.
“I can stay?”
“Yes. I’ve been told many times that this town is very protective of its coffee, and besides, I wouldn’t do this without you.”
I sniffle, then let my tears fall.
I wouldn’t have Jessa close by, but I’d have everything else I want—and I’d have Michael.
“Would I see Jessa?”
He rolls his eyes. “From what she’s already told me, probably a few times a year. The only question left is: is this what you want?”