Chapter 41
Savannah tried to move her head and couldn’t. There was something on her neck. Her senses began to return with the scent of
mud and grass and the sounds around her. Was that a siren? Pain filtered in and her memories with it.
Simon.
She opened her eyes and winced at the lights flashing on top of an ambulance. Hez’s worried face swam into view, and she reached
for his hand. “Michael has Simon!” She tried to sit.
“Whoa, whoa.” He pressed her back. “The paramedics are going to take you to the hospital. And we’ve got Simon.” He gestured
to her other side.
She cast her glance that way since she couldn’t move her neck. Simon hovered on his haunches beside her on her right side.
“I’m okay, Aunt Savannah. You’re not supposed to move.” His blue eyes studied her face. “You’re going to have a shiner for
the wedding.” He rose. “I’m going to go pack the rest of my stuff. I’ll be right back. Don’t leave without me.”
She touched her puffy face. A shiner? At least they were all alive. “We won’t go anywhere without you.” When Simon walked
toward the house, she reached for Hez’s hand. “Where’s Michael?”
His hand touched her hair gently. “In custody for Jess’s murder. They caught Jimbo too.”
She closed her eyes a moment as her chest contracted with pain. Jess would still be here, ready to be her maid of honor at
the wedding. Instead, Simon was an orphan, and Savannah would never see her again. No, that wasn’t true. Jess was safe with
Jesus, and the knowledge they’d be together again someday meant everything.
Hez’s lips touched hers. “I’m sorry, babe. I know it hurts to realize her own father killed her.”
She opened her eyes. “How do they know it was him?”
“I was with Augusta on her way to make the arrest. Your dad’s file had a picture of Michael standing next to a truck. Augusta
had it examined to see what was in the back of the vehicle, and it contained boxes of industrial explosives—a very powerful
and rare type. When they went through the evidence baggies Ed retrieved, they found residue from the same type of explosive
on fragments of my car. That's enough for an arrest warrant. They should find more evidence once they search his home and
business.”
“He was after you.”
“Yes. We think he was determined to stop me from interfering with his elaborate plans to destroy TGU and your family.”
“Jess was part of it, all of it. His desire for revenge had infected her too. She believed he loved her, but she never stopped
to think about how a father’s love didn’t include putting her in danger and sending her on a path of deceit and destruction.
My father is no better. He modeled selfishness and a drive for control and wealth that made it easy for Michael.”
His hand cupped her unharmed cheek. “I think Michael really loved your mother. Losing her warped him, and he never recovered from it. He tried to kill himself at the same spot Marie died, but Augusta and I stopped him. To tell you the truth, I feel sorry for him. I’m thankful I didn’t have to watch you live with another man. ”
Her heart swelled with love and gratitude. “You are the strongest man I’ve ever met. You saw how you needed to change, and
you did it. You came here determined to restore our relationship, and I’m thankful you’re the kind of man who wasn’t puffed
up with pride like my dad and Michael. You were willing to do whatever it took to restore our marriage.” She reached up and
cupped his face with her palms. “I’m so blessed you’re mine.”
His smile turned even more tender. “This is all you, babe. The thought of that fierce heart of yours never really let go of
me. I hit bottom and knew I had to have it back—have you back. You forgave me, and not many women would have been so generous.
Who would have thought we could slog through all this to get to where we are now? And we’ll have a son soon.”
“We’ll be able to adopt Simon?”
Hez nodded. “There shouldn’t be any hiccup to adopting him. And after today I think he won’t mind having his name changed
to Webster. He saw Michael for who he really is.” Hez’s blue eyes hardened. “Michael threw Simon out of the truck, Savannah.
Like an unwanted dog.”
Her eyes burned, and she planned to hug Simon and tell him how much she loved him.
No ten-year-old should have to go through what he’d endured.
She put her hand to her forehead, which had begun to throb in earnest. “Can I just get something for the pain? I don’t need to go to the hospital.
There’s so much to do before the wedding. ”
“Sorry, babe, you have to get checked out. We need to take some pictures of that beautiful head of yours and make sure you
don’t collapse on me before you can say ‘I do.’ They’re coming to load you now, and I’ll wait at the hospital with Simon.
The three of us can go back to the house when you’re released. Simon will get to sleep in his new room for the first time.”
Hez rose and his smile widened as the paramedics shouldered him out of the way. “It’s over, finally over, and the future is
waiting.”
Tears filled her eyes and she nodded, unable to speak. God was good to have brought them through so much. She couldn’t wait
to see what he would do next.
Hez raised his glass. “To stolen hours.”
Candlelight danced in Savannah’s eyes, bringing out the gold flecks. The purple-and-yellow bruise under her left eye drew
a few curious stares, but she wore it like what it was: a badge of honor. She raised her glass and tapped it against his with
a soft chime. “The sweetest kind.”
They’d slipped away to Billy’s Seafood Restaurant for a quiet date—and made a point of not telling anyone where they were.
The craziness of the last few days had been overwhelming, and they craved a little quiet time just to connect. Will was staying
at the house with Simon.
Hez sipped his citrus-infused sparkling water. Billy’s made it themselves with fresh fruit and local spring water, and it was delicious. He could almost forget that it wasn’t champagne. “Every hour alone with you is sweet, babe.”
She rewarded him with a luminous smile. “We haven’t had many of those recently, have we?”
“Nope, but I intend to fix that as soon as possible. I can’t wait to carry you across the threshold of our new home and have
you all to myself for a loooong time.”
“It’s very mutual.” She winked. “Poor Simon. If everything goes right, he’s going to get adopted and abandoned on the same
day.” She took a sip from her glass. “I can’t believe the wedding is only two days away. I wonder how many messages will be
waiting for us by the end of the evening.”
“I don’t want to think about it. Or about the legal loose ends I have to tie up before then.”
She dipped a morsel of bread in a little dish of spiced olive oil. “Is there any news?”
The server delivered their oyster appetizers before Hez could respond. He slid one into his mouth, savoring the salty meat.
“Mmm. I always think these can’t be as good as I remember, and I’m always wrong.” He pulled out his phone and put it on the
table. “I hate to do this—but now that you mention it, I’m waiting for a text from Scott confirming that the judge signed
the adoption order. The guardian supported our new petition, so I don’t think the outcome is in doubt—but the timing might
be. The judge is going on vacation tomorrow, and Scott is pulling in every favor he can to get this signed before His Honor
leaves.”
“If it were anything else, I’d make you put that phone right back in your pocket.
” She popped an oyster in her mouth, and he took the opportunity to do the same.
She gave him a slightly apprehensive look as she swallowed.
“Have you heard from Hope or Augusta? You mentioned that they were going to execute a warrant at Michael’s home and office. ”
He sighed. “I don’t want to ruin your appetite.”
She pressed her perfect lips together. “What did they find?”
“They found more traces of the explosive used to kill Jess. It was on the floor of his basement and a storage locker rented
by his trucking company. They also found financial records from an offshore account that traced the Hornbrook blackmail payments
to him.”
“So he really was behind that too. Why am I not surprised?” She studied Hez’s face. “Is there anything else?”
“There is.” He fiddled with his flatware. “They found a hidden safe that contained files on me, your dad, and you—surveillance
pictures, papers that seem to have come from our trash, and other stuff.”
She shivered. “He had people watching us the whole time.”
“He did—including when I was taking a shower one night at the new house.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s how they knew about your birthmark!” She reached across the table and took his hand. “I’m doubly
sorry I doubted you.”
“I would have doubted me too.” He put his other hand on hers. “There’s more. The file on Ella’s death was in that safe.”
She gripped his hand. “So he did kill her.”
“That’s what Hope thinks.”
“But why did he want the file on her death? There was nothing in there even hinting that she was murdered, was there?”
“There may have been clues that the police overlooked because everyone thought it was an accident, but—” He hesitated. “Sociopaths sometimes keep mementos or trophies from their crimes.”
She turned pale. “I feel sick.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I ruined our date.”
She swallowed. “It’s my fault for asking.”
His phone buzzed.
She pinned on a smile. “You should check that. Maybe it’s good news.”
He checked his phone—and his pulse spiked. “It’s Bruno! Someone is breaking into the room where he left that fake burner phone.”
“The police station is only a couple blocks away!” She pulled back her hand and ran. Hez raced after her, shooting an apologetic
glance at their startled server on the way out the door.