False Regret: Pikorua - Book 1 (41 page)

He
reached up and grabbed my hand, pulling me down to my knees in front of him. “I’m
sorry you’ve been dealing with this alone. I should have been here when that
damn box came in the first place,” he said. “Last night, half my anger was at
myself.”

“I’m
not trying to make you feel guilty. I know, in your heart, you believe chasing
my father and bringing him to justice was the only way to remove the danger,
and maybe it was. This dilemma, I brought upon myself. I shouldn’t have opened
the box. Lucas would have handled everything if I’d just called him first.” His
muscles tensed as if it were an insult. I hadn’t meant it that way, so I leaned
over and kissed his cheek. “Call it in, Cade. Let the FBI take the money. That’s
my decision.”

“Are
you sure?” he asked.

“Yes,
I’m sure.”

By
day’s end, I’d turned in the cash and made an official statement. After
everyone left, it was well past the dinner hour. We sat down to eat the take-out
Cade fetched, but a heavy silence swarmed between us.

He
gave Cayden a bath and rocked him to sleep before joining me in the living room
where I handed him a beer. “Did he go down easy?” I asked.

“Yes,
I sang to him and bored him right to sleep.” He smiled at me and joined me on
the sofa.

“We
missed you.”

“I
missed you, too.” He was quiet, staring into his beer bottle as if it held all
the answers. “Do you realize how much I love you and Cayden?”

 Taking
his beer bottle and putting it on the table, I wrapped my arms around him. “Only
as much as we love you.”  

“Are
we going to be okay?” he asked brushing his lips against my ear.

“Yes,
we will be.” And not one part of me doubted it.

***

Cade
married me a month later. It was a small ceremony with only my mother and a few
friends from the Bureau. We postponed a honeymoon, neither of us willing to be
away from Cayden that long. We agreed to a fresh start in another state where
Cade could continue working in a new division.  Our first move was to Virginia,
near D.C. I hoped to return to work one day, but I was a little fearful of
leaving Cayden just yet. Lucas remained a close friend to both of us, and he also
moved. He took a lateral position in the D.C. headquarters, and it was nice
knowing another person in the vicinity. It was the start of a new life, a
normal life, the life we’d dreamed of since we were seventeen. Nothing would
separate us again. We were each other’s Pikorua--our journey always leading
back to where we began—together.

***

Almost
three years later, as I stood by the kitchen table trying to get my defiant
toddler to eat his vegetables, Cade stormed through the door. We’d been living
an ordinary life, raising our little boy with no extraordinary threats to his
safety. Cade worked typical hours and had even started up a band again. He
played small venues on the weekends, and Lucas along with his fiancé, often
took care of Cayden so I could go watch him play. We both understood Cade’s
music would forever stay a hobby which made me sad sometimes, but it didn’t
seem to bother him anymore. He seemed, at last, happy and content in his life—as
was I.  I went back to work part time and found a wonderful daycare for Cayden. 
My mother visited when she could, and she Skyped with us when she couldn’t. I
loved the close relationship we had forged, and I felt blessed to have her.

The
money remained in FBI custody, even though it was untraceable to any criminal
activity and proved to be from Marisha’s family inheritance, like she said. It
sat waiting for me to claim it if I ever chose to do so, but I didn’t let myself
think about it too often. Money had been the root of all our problems, and it could
rot for all I cared. I had everything I needed.

When
Cade burst through the door that afternoon, his face skewed in worry, I knew my
utopian existence was about to come crashing down around me. The look on his
face said it all.

He
pulled me into a quick hug before facing me. “Today, they tried to move your
dad to a federal prison. They transported him in a custodial van, but three
commercial trucks ran it off the road. The posse who wrecked the van, executed
all four guards in charge of the transfer. Somehow your father recruited a band
of people to aid in the escape.  He’s in the wind, El.”

The
bowl of peas I’d been holding in my hand fell to the tile and shattered,
sending green pods all over the floor. I heard Cayden laugh; delighted he
wouldn’t have to eat them now.

“What
does this mean, Cade? Are we in danger again?” I asked but already knew the
answer. As long as my dad was free, I would never be safe. “Oh, God.” My hands shook,
and the tears fell.  It had been ages since I had cried, and the salty drops
felt like foreign invaders. I knew in my heart, we’d soon be old friends again.

The
End

Book
II available soon.