Chapter 39
Regan
W alking across the scarred ground, I started to remember where things were when the house was still standing.
The front steps were concrete and still in place, but the bushes lining the sides of the house were burned and mangled.
Stepping past them, I felt Seth right behind me as I moved to the back yard.
Luckily, the house was isolated and there were many neighbors as we traversed across the lawn carrying a shovel. The back steps were still in place also, so I moved over to them, facing like the house would be behind me and the yard was in front as I began to walk and count.
Heel to toe, I count twenty-one steps straight out from the middle of the steps leading to nowhere. When I got to the correct point, I turned right and repeated the action, counting another eighteen steps. Finally, I turned to the left and, once again, put heel to toe as I counted out eleven steps.
The spot showed nothing special. No rocks, no mulch. Just a random open spot in a pristine yard. Pointing with my toe, I explained. “Put the shovel in right here to the end of the blade, push down and lift the plug up.”
Seth did as I asked, flipping the grass and dirt clod out of the hole.
Kneeling, I began to dig with my fingers and after a few seconds of worry, thinking I got the location wrong, I felt something under my fingers.
Scooping dirt from the hole, I tugged at the piece until a dirt covered zipper storage bag came out.
Lifting it up, I saw there wasn’t any water inside and the black book appeared to be intact.
Seth offered me his hand and I stood, brushing the dirt from my knees.
“Is that it?” he asked, and I nodded.
“This is what I suffered for. This little fucking book almost cost me my life,” I explained and slowly brought my gaze up to his.
He smiled and reasoned, “But you won, darlin’. They’re all dead, every single one, and you’re here, about to collect your spoils. So, don’t be sad, baby. Be happy.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek, whispering, “You beat every one of them.”
“I really did,” I replied, and he smiled bigger.
“Let’s fill this in and get out of here before someone calls the cops,” Seth suggested.
We kicked the dirt clod back into the hole, stepping on it until it didn’t appear to be disturbed before we walked around the scarred earth to the car.
He opened my door, and I got inside as he walked around and got into the driver’s side.
The dirty bag sat on my lap, and I looked down at it as he cranked the car and pulled away from the last place where my life was peaceful.
Until Seth came into my life. He made the bad times easier, he made the good times better, and he made loving him easy. I didn’t know if I deserved someone as good as he was, but I wasn’t giving him up, so it didn’t matter.
I was his and he was mine, and that’s all that mattered.
“Are you going to open it?” he asked as he eyes the dirt covered baggies.
“Not until we get home. I don’t want to go through things more than once, and I know everyone’s going to have questions. I’d rather wait until we’re there.”
“Whatever you want, baby.” He winked at me and said, “I’m going to stop for gas, and we can wash our hands before we get on the road.”
My fingernails were caked with dirt, and I figured he was right.
After gassing up, washing up, and getting coffee for the road, Seth turned us toward Atlanta.
I wasn’t sure where we were going in the future, but I knew in my heart, he would be by my side, protecting me, until we took our last breaths.
The lull of the road, coupled with too many things running through my mind lately, led me to fall asleep next to Seth. I knew he would keep me safe, so I let my guard down and allowed sleep to pull me in. The next thing I knew, Seth was rubbing my shoulder.
“Regan, baby. Wake up. We’re back at Rhys’s.”
I sat up, confused and disoriented from the deep sleep and I rubbed my eyes as I looked around. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sleep the whole way home.”
“Baby, you needed the rest, so don’t apologize to me for taking what you need.”
That statement had me blushing and I turned to look at him with a smile. It took a moment, but his mind shifted to this morning when we finished each other in the shower and he leaned over, kissing me slowly but passionately.
He whispered, “Whatever you need, whenever you need it. I’m here for you, baby.”
I was about to say something when a knock on the glass sounded, startling me. I gasped and spun around to see Rhys and Hannah waiting on the driveway. Looking past them and up the stairs, I saw our family was still here, waiting for us to return.
Looking at Seth, I remarked, “I guess everyone’s eager to find out what we discovered.”
“Let’s go show them how fucking amazing you are, even though they already know.”
He pecked me on the lips, and I turned to grab the dirty baggies before opening the door. Stepping out, I looked up and everyone then went back to Rhys and Hannah before I lifted the bag into the air.
When they started clapping and whistling, I chuckled and was pulled into a hug from Hannah. She released me, and I hugged Rhys as he whispered, “The results are back, but no one knows what they are. They wanted to stay for moral support, and I told them you’d be okay with it.”
“Then let’s get it over with,” I remarked as Seth joined me, taking my hand. He gave me a confused look, and I explained, “Results are back on the test.”
He kissed the back of my hand and said, “No matter what.”
“No matter what,” I returned.
It meant we would love each other, no matter what came at us or tried to come between us. No matter what attacked us or tried to betray us, we would still be side-by-side, so together, we walked up the stairs to our waiting family.
I got hugs from a few as the group walked back inside and into the living room. A small voice sounded through the group, and I turned to see where it was coming from.
“Wagan,” DJ exclaimed and ran into the room in a cute pair of dinosaur pajamas. I squatted with the book in my hand, and when he hugged himself to me, I made sure to keep the filth away from him. Not just the physical dirt, but the metaphorical as well.
“What are you doing here, buddy?” I asked as he released his strong hug from around my neck.
“Daddy said you need us, so we here.”
I looked across the room at Devlin and Elise smiling at our interaction. I looked back at DJ and asked, “He said that?” The little bugger nodded with wide blue eyes. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.”
Elise walked over and picked him up and as she turned to hand him to Devlin, I saw her eyes were glassy.
She and I had spoken briefly about the house she and I survived as children, and she felt guilty she was saved, and I was left behind.
It wasn’t her fault, and I couldn’t have her and or anyone else feeling guilt over something they couldn’t control.
Seth walked up to me, and I handed him the baggie as I slipped my hand into his free one, needing his support.
He gave a gentle squeeze as I began to address the group.
“Thank you for staying and for all your support. I don’t know what tonight is going to uncover, but I’m glad that you, my family, are here for me.
I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to love me and I can’t say thank you enough. ”
Lucian stepped up and handed me an envelope.
“It still sealed and whatever it shows, I want you to know how unbelievably impressed I am with you. You stood up to an entire criminal organization and you are the last one standing.” He lowered his voice and whispered, “You’re a badass, so don’t let him forget it. ”
I smiled as I took the envelope from him, and glancing up, I saw James and Amaya step to the front with Rhys and Hannah, followed by Stella, Hawk, Hailey, Jacob, Devlin, Elise, and Rylee, Lucian’s wife.
My hands trembled as I turned to face Seth, needing him to be the first to know, in case I don’t handle the results well.
And I don’t know which would be worse. That these amazing people aren’t my blood family, or that my own father kept me prisoner, and his death led to my torture.
Slipping my finger under the seal, I opened the envelope and pulled the paper out to read the results.
Apparently, Sergey’s DNA, along with Devlin’s, Lucian’s and Stella’s was all tested against mine and when I saw the results, tears filled my eyes.
Looking up at Seth, I felt the tears fall from my cheeks as I turned the paper so he could read it.
Ninety-nine percent probability that the sample references were a direct familial match. Seth placed his hand on my shoulder and mouthed. “Tell your family the good news.”
I turned and let the tears fall freely as I said, “I’m your sister.”
Stella walked to me with her arms open, and then the rest surrounded me, pulling me into a hug that was filled with love and acceptance. I even felt a small pair of hands wrap around my leg and knew DJ was giving me his loving embrace too.
Everyone stepped back, and I looked at Hannah. “Have you gotten the results for Waylon?”
It was harder to get his results. Ricardo had been given a bone marrow transplant when he was a kid for leukemia, and he was one of those rare people whose body carried two kinds of DNA, his and the donor’s, so there needed to be additional testing for them.
The results should have been here a day or two ago, and in all the sadness of the funeral, then the shock of my remembering, I felt like he got pushed to the side again.
And after what he . . . no, what we lived through, I wasn’t going to let him be forgotten again.