Chapter 12
It was near dawn when the team met to make the four hour trek to Brandonvale. They decided to take two SUVs. Lockwood, Hurtz, and Ashcroft rode in one. Donovan, Rachel, and Lily rode in the other. Lily, who was to have teamed up with Lockwood, was supposed to ride in the other SUV. However, she protested. She didn't want to ride with Ashcroft. She wanted to ride with Rachel and Donovan. They needed to have a long conversation before they arrived in Brandonvale. She had several pieces of documentation that she didn't want Ashcroft to see. One way or another, she was going to take a side. She didn't think it would be accomplished in the other vehicle.
The agents loaded themselves up quickly, quietly. Lily noticed how Ashcroft eyed her curiously. He was probably wondering why she chose to ride with Rachel and Donovan. She didn't have a chance in breaking that up at all. He wanted to grab her arm, drag her over to their SUV, and take off. He didn't. He wasn't one to get physical with women, but she had her head in the clouds, convinced she was going to be Donovan's soul mate.
Donovan, Rachel, and Lily flipped for who would drive, and Donovan was the odd man out. He climbed behind the wheel. He asked Rachel if she wanted to sit up front, but she declined. Her stomach was a little unsettled, and unlike other folks who felt better up front, she wasn't one of them. Lily climbed into the seat beside Donovan, instantly feeling out of place, the odd woman out. She had a purpose for riding with them. She needed to talk to them about her research. If she didn't say something soon, she would burst.
As Donovan revved the engine and put it in gear, he glanced at Lily from the periphery of one eye. She seemed nervous, tentative. He didn't know what was bringing her feelings on, but if she felt awkward around Rachel, then perhaps she should have ridden in the other car. He didn't say anything directly to her. He simply pulled out of the parking lot and fell safely behind the other car. He glanced at Rachel from the rearview mirror and noticed that she was engrossed in what looked like a legal brief. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on in this car, but he was about to find out. They had a long ride ahead of them, and he was not going to let the silence kill him. He could have turned on the radio, but he wasn't much on listening to music while driving.
"Are you coming out with it or not," Donovan finally asked.
Lily jumped almost three feet out of her seat. They had barely gotten onto the highway, and he already knew something was out of whack. Hell, he probably knew the instant the three of them climbed into the SUV. She didn't know how soon she wanted to get into it, but if she didn't speak, Donovan would keep on prodding. She glanced up at the rearview mirror and noticed that suddenly, Rachel was paying attention as well.
"Coming out with what?" She asked innocently. Shit. Who was she kidding? He was a goddamned interrogator by profession. "I'm sorry, Frank."
"Why did you call my ex-wife?" He asked. "She called after you and said a female agent was asking all kinds of questions about my past."
Stupid bitch. She should have known the woman would call him the first chance she got. She once again wondered if she should change her focus in the FBI. She wouldn't keep her cover very long, now would she? "I'm sorry about that too, Frank. Look, Jack was at my apartment the other night…" She stopped talking, as she glanced at Rachel in the back. "Are you sure you want to hear this?"
Rachel folded her hands across her lap. "Of course I do. Go on."
Lily sighed. "Okay. Jack was at my apartment the other night. He was insinuating that something was awry with our team. I suppose it has been stuck in his craw since he discovered you were with IA, Rachel. He had this cryptic way of speaking, which was driving me a little crazy. When I had the chance, I went to the computer lab at work, and I-"
"You hacked files you had no reason to hack," Donovan finished for her. He knew it was where Lily's talents lay. "What were you looking for?"
She hated the way Donovan was looking at her. He wasn't looking at her like a woman he had gone to bed with a couple of times. He was scrutinizing her as if she were a suspect. She had really walked in the doo doo, all right. "I don't know what I was looking for, just an explanation. I saw that you had aliases in the CIA, that you were working as a double agent. I saw where Rachel enabled the conviction of a drug dealer using information she stole from an encrypted CIA file. I saw it all. Jack has it in his mind that the two of you are the TSK team. That's why I called your ex-wife, Frank."
Donovan was very angry. He was angry to the point of screaming at her for breaching his files like that. What right did she have to do that? What right did she have to call his damned ex-wife, for God's sake? He had spent the better half of an hour trying to explain to Megan that nothing was wrong, that everything was okay, and it would be fine to send the boys to him this summer. Megan argued with him for so long, he thought he would lose his mind. If Alton and Adam didn't come to Miami because of this cluster fuck, he didn't know if he could ever forgive Lily.
"Frank, she obviously didn't mean any harm," Rachel said from behind him. It was almost as if she could read his mind. She didn't know Megan any better than Lily did, but considering how guarded she was with the boys, she could almost guess. "So, Lily. Have you changed your mind? Do you think Frank and I are TSK?"
She chewed on her thumb nail until it was ragged. She hated pointing fingers at people who were thoroughly not guilty. Then again, what did she know that was different than last night? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. However, she remembered what her thoughts had been. They were just thoughts thrown together.
"The way I see it," Lily began. "If it isn't you and Frank, it's Jack and someone else."
The minute Lily's words were out in the open, Rachel's hand instinctively fell on her stomach. She saw Donovan's eyes dart her way. He was thinking the same thing. She could not fathom the idea that her baby's father was a sick murderer. There was nothing in Jack's past to point that way, was there? He had had an exemplary tenure in the FBI. She had seen nothing but glowing reports of his work. He had won several medals while in service. Up until he moved out, they had been hanging on the wall of their den. However, she knew that Jack had skill with computers as well. He wasn't much of a hacker, but he knew how to make things disappear.
"Lily, what did you find on Jack?" Rachel finally asked.
"Nothing. And I looked until my eyes crossed." She turned in her seat as much as she could with the seat belt on. She looked at Rachel for a very long time. "He knows you're pregnant, Rachel."
Her face whitened immediately. Thank God there were car sick bags close at hand. She grabbed for one just before she vomited all down her sensible blouse. Donovan radioed the other vehicle, told them to go on ahead. They had to make a detour. He pulled the SUV into a nearby service station. The car had barely stopped before Rachel made a dive for the ladies room inside a crowded convenience store. Donovan started to get out to check on her, but Lily placed her hand on his.
"Let me?"
He didn't know if he wanted her to, but he nodded and sat back in the seat. He watched Lily gracefully walk into the store. The ladies room had more than one stall inside. Lily pushed open the door, immediately hearing the industrial grinding noise of either nervous sickness or morning sickness. Whichever it was, Lily hated listening to the sound of it. She could take a lot of things, but listening to another person puke was something she couldn't stand. However, she felt responsible for this particular attack, and spite hell, she was going to make amends.
Lily rapped lightly on the stall door. "Rachel, are you okay?"
The retching finally stopped from within, and a loud whoosh sounded off as she flushed the toilet. "I'm going to be okay," she said weakly, sounding as if she was going to be anything but. "Why are you being so nice to me? I don't deserve it."
Lily sighed. Ah yes. She was talking about the thing with Donovan. No, she didn't want to be nice to her, but she couldn't help it. She actually liked Rachel. She didn't know why. She had thousands of reasons to hate her. "If it didn't work out between us, Rachel, perhaps it wasn't meant to be. I brought this on for you."
Rachel came out of the stall, her face white, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She didn't look one hundred percent just yet. "How did he find out?" She asked in tears. "How? Did he tell you how this came to him?"
Lily took a swatch of paper towel and tried to blot the beads of moisture off Rachel's forehead. "He only said that someone at your OBGYN office spilled it. He's adamant about this child, Rachel. Stubbornly so."
"I can't believe him," she whispered. "He never cared about having kids, never wanted to get married." Rachel moved to the sink and washed her hands. When she turned to grab a couple of paper towels, she focused her eyes on Lily. "You're a good woman, Lily. I haven't given you many reasons to like me, and you may never like me, but I respect you. I never meant to ruin your relationship with Frank."
"I know you didn't," Lily said. "And the same with Jack. It was stupid and juvenile. I never meant to hurt you, either."
Just as Donovan was about to leave the vehicle to check on the women, they came out together. Both of them were laughing. It was not something he expected to see. Perhaps he had judged both women wrongly. They climbed into the car, Lily up front, and Rachel in the back.
He turned in his seat to look at Rachel. She seemed flushed, but looked fine. "Can you continue?"
She nodded. "Yes, I'm good in that department."
Approximately five or ten minutes from Brandonvale, the team pulled over at a rest stop. They put away their side arms, hid their shields, and dressed for their covers. Lockwood and Lily were posing as a married couple, third cousins to the deputy. Ashcroft and Hurtz were posing as newspaper writers from another county. Donovan and Rachel were staying with the Chief of Police. They hadn't thought much about their covers, but decided to work on it as they went along. Their first night was to be spent familiarizing themselves with Brandonvale and the fair grounds. It was an intense operation that they had little time to learn.
Dale and Maude Shempert met Rachel and Donovan at their spacious country home. It was built on stilts in the woods. Surrounding the property was swamp land as far as the eye could see. A long set of steps led up to the covered front porch. Maude Shempert told them that she and the husband liked to sit outside to watch the fireflies flit by. Even before the sun set, Rachel could hear the night coming alive. There were frogs praying for rain, cranes screaming in the night, and of course, the shuffle of animals trying to escape the gators. Oh yes, they had been warned about nosing around the marshes at night. There were alligators out here and Rachel had no intention of becoming dinner for one.
The house was similar to a hunter's cabin in its shape, but inside, it was a showplace. The walls were made of pine lumber slabs, just like a cabin. There was a tall open ceiling with a spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. Assuming that they were a couple, Maude Shempert showed them to their room. It was huge, with its own fireplace and fancy four poster bed. How in the world a small town Chief of Police could afford all this was beyond Rachel. However, it was gorgeous. There were a series of floor to ceiling windows along one wall. Sliding doors led to their own private deck. Rachel had always considered herself a city girl, but she would trade her Miami house for this room alone. It was absolutely gorgeous.
They had no time to enjoy the view. Chief Shempert, already upset they were here, announced that they needed to go inspect the fairgrounds. Together as a group, they drove out to the darkened area that would serve as their county fair. The way everything was set up, it was spooky and dark, the rides themselves having an appearance of hulking monsters. They each had six sectors to inspect. Chief Shempert stayed with his deputy by their patrol cars. The agents kept contact by Bluetooth.
Lily set off in the direction of the taller rides. There were plenty of places to hide out here. Anyone skulking about could do whatever they wanted. However, if this fair drew large crowds like most did, who would have a chance to grab someone? Then again, if the TSK worked as a pair, one would definitely be the bait while the other waited. And if it was someone like Jack Ashcroft, he could charm a nun out of her panties. She moved around quietly, draped in black, with a small flashlight leading the way. It was incredibly dark right now, but with the fair in full swing the way would be lighted nicely. She moved along, checked out her sector, and was pretty much satisfied with what she saw. That was until Jack Ashcroft jumped out of a shadow and grabbed her.
Lily didn't scream, but she jabbed his ribs a good one with her sharp, skinny elbow. She slapped his chest. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She demanded, ensuring that she turned off her headset.
He laughed heartily, his black eyes shining. "Oh, come on, Lily. It was fun. I wanted to jump out at Rachel, but I was afraid she would call Donovan after me. I also didn't want to bring on a miscarriage."
He was cruel and had some nerve about him. "You're an asshole. What the fuck ever did I see in you?" She cried indignantly. "You try that shit on me Fair night, and you'll taste the butt of my gun, Chester."
His eyes were still sparkling. "Okay, okay, I'll go my own way. I just thought you would laugh. Later, babe. Watch for those shadows."
As he walked away, she remembered it was something he had said before. More and more she was leaning toward him as the killer. It was hard to comprehend. Hard to understand that as long as he had been an agent, he could also be a killer. It made no sense. Who ever heard of a killer FBI agent? She hadn't. She turned in the other direction where she could see the penlight used by Jess Lockwood. Now, he was a hottie. Perhaps she would get to know him better, since she was now playing his wifey.
Rachel picked the south end of the fairgrounds. This was the area where most of the animal exhibits would be. There were a series of three covered stalls that might hold a hundred animals or more. There were bays for pigs, stalls for horses, and areas for prized cows. If someone knew the layout of the fairgrounds, one could easily dig a trench to hold a victim hostage. She could see where, if a person had time, they could build a box large enough to hold at least one person. These were areas that needed security guards all the time. This area did not give her a good feeling at all. It gave her the creeps.
She moved between the sheds, flashing her light in each stall to ensure that nothing like a trench had been dug yet. She moved along swiftly, eager to get back with another human being. When she rounded a corner, she ran right into Jack. She stepped back, deactivated her headset, and slapped his face as hard as she could.
"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded.
He smiled at her. Sheesh. These FBI chicks had bugs up their asses. "Working. What does it look like?" He walked around her in a perfect circle, eyeing her cautiously. "You certainly don't look pregnant. How's our kid?"
She didn't like the way he was circling her as if he were a vulture. He looked so very different than the man she used to love. He was a former shell of himself. Rachel said nothing back in response to his question. She glared at him as he continued to circle her as if she were his prey. Maybe he was TSK. If he wasn't, she knew one agent who needed time off immediately. She would mention this to Fitzgerald as soon as they returned to Miami.
"Aren't you going to answer me?" He asked, finally coming to a stop in front of her. "I know you're pregnant, and I know the baby is mine. You weren't with Frank long enough for him to knock you up. I, on the other hand, was. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know until you left for Favron," she told him. She had failed to mention that she came out to Favron, but he probably already knew. "By then, we were over."
"We won't be over until our little one turns eighteen, babe," he said with a smile. "I'm sorry, Rachel. I'm sorry for being such a jerk. When we go back to Miami, I'll move back in with you and we can start over. We have a child on the way. I know how much you have always wanted to be a mother."
"But you," she growled as she dug her index finger into his chest, "never wanted kids. You never wanted marriage. Why now? Why the sudden interest in something you never wanted? What if I don't want to keep the baby?"
"You would never have an abortion, you would never put the baby up for adoption. I know you, Rachel, I know you better than you know yourself," he said gently. "I'm serious, babe. I want to get back together for this baby. A child needs two parents. You know how I feel about that."
She did. His parents divorced when he was still a baby, then they later died in a bizarre accident. Jack was close to his mother, but hated the mention of his father's name. If he had seen the man on the street, he would have spat in his direction. "Two people can raise a child without being married. Frank does."
He made a face at the mention of Donovan's name. "Who has the kids, Rachel? His ex. I don't want you to raise a child without me being in his life. I'm not letting you do that to my kid, Rachel. I won't do to my child what my father did to me. A kid needs a father, two parents, in the same house."
She laughed sarcastically. "What are you suggesting, Jack? That we run away and get married? You left me, you left me before I had even cheated on you. Suddenly, you want to make a happy family the moment you find out I'm pregnant? I can't marry you, Jack. I won't."
"Suit yourself, Rachel," he said. "I don't mind fighting for what I think is mine."
"Go ahead," she said quietly. "Do what you wish. Will you leave me alone now? I have a lot of ground to cover."
Ashcroft tried to take her hand, but she wouldn't let him. He held up his hands in defeat. "Do what you want for now, Rachel. Watch those shadows, though. There are a lot of them out there, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to my child."
She turned away from him before he left her. She nearly ran away in the night, going somewhere, anywhere, wherever he wasn't. That was where she wanted to be. Rachel found herself in an area that Heath Hurtz had already checked. She could see the rest of the agents milling about, coming together at their agreed rendezvous point. Donovan immediately noticed that neither Rachel nor Lily were speaking much. He saw that Lily had literally attached herself to her 'husband' for the duration of their stay. Rachel, on the other hand, stood off to herself, away from the group. Something had happened to both women. When he looked at Ashcroft, he noticed that he seemed to be having a ball. His enthusiasm was both inappropriate and odd.
It was late by the time Rachel and Donovan found their way back to the Shempert's home. Rachel didn't bother taking a shower just yet. She covered herself with mosquito repellent and went out to sit on the deck. There were two wicker glider chairs. Once she sank down into the cushions, she felt thousands of times better. She looked up when Donovan decided to join her. When she first sat down, she didn't think she wanted company, but as soon as he joined her, she was profoundly grateful for his presence.
"What happened out there?" Donovan asked.
The lady of the house had set out a tall pitcher of iced tea. Rachel poured herself a glass and drank almost half of it in one long gulp. "Jack asserted his right as papa to my little stranger."
Donovan sighed angrily. "He must have done something to Lily as well. She seemed messed up. Although I couldn't ask, she was hanging onto Jess."
"He's a good looking young man. I might have grabbed onto him as well," she said jokingly. "But I like those tall, long haired types."
Donovan poured his own glass of tea. He sipped tentatively, although it was delicious, he wanted to savor it. For all of Dale Shempert's ire, his wife certainly was his exact opposite. "Did he hurt you?"
"Not really," she answered. "He irritated me. He asked me to marry him for the sake of the baby."
He, too, knew about Ashcroft's childhood. Like Rachel, he also knew the other man was a staunch bachelor uninterested in fathering a brood of children. Until he met Rachel, he was a Johnny Appleseed type, he loved spreading it around. "Was your answer no or fuck no?"
Rachel, in the process of sipping her tea, damned near felt it spewing out of her nose. When her laughter died out some, she shook her head. "Oh, it was no, all right. It has taken me an amazingly short time to forget why I loved him. Is that funny?"
He looked her way and shook his head. "No, because after all the time we spent separating and reuniting, it has taken only a few milliseconds for me to realize I love you. And not in that generic way I spoke it before."
She was rather touched, feeling the bitter sting of tears burning her eyes, desperate to be shed. She kept telling herself she was not going to cry. "I know what you mean. I love you, too, probably more so now. But it's unfair to you, Frank, asking you to step in, be my lover, when I'm carrying Jack's baby. I want you to be happy, Donovan. I want you to find a woman who can give you what you need. I want you to go back and be with Lily. She is a wonderful person who deserves you. You don't need a woman who is pregnant with another man's baby. Stop pretending and flirting, my love. Go for Lily."
"Do you believe that is the answer to make us both happy?" He began. He walked over to her chair, proffered his hand. She took it willingly enough, coming up slowly to her feet. "Lily deserves love. I completely understand that, but I don't know if she was meant to be with me. I wanted you, Sloane. I still want you. When the anger subsided, I realized why I fought you at every turn, just like you fought me. It's what people do when they're crazy about each other but too afraid to admit it."
Rachel smiled, bit her lip, and blinked tears out of her eyes. "I love you, Frank. I don't think you need me. I don't think you need someone with all this baggage. Make Lily happy, make yourself happy. Patch things up with Lily. She is who I want to be."
"Rachel, I love you. When I first saw you after coming back to Florida, I loved you then. I was bursting with it. Megan was a substitute for you. I wouldn't trade my sons for anything, but if I had been thinking clearly when Rivera shot me, I would have begged you to stay." He kissed her forehead, eyelids, and ended with her lips. Their tongues touched as a bolt of electricity shot through them. "Do you love me?"
Tears had begun to slowly drop down her cheeks. She was chewing on her bottom lip like mad. "You know I do," she whispered. "You're all I can think about, day or night. The day you came to me after Aspen died, I wanted to tell you then. But you don't need a baby dragged into your life. Your sons are just two years away from college."
"Stop telling me what I need," he said evenly. "Whatever happens this time will eventually lead us where we should have gone back in college. I won't let Jack Ashcroft stand in my way. What I need, what I want, is you. If you decide to keep your baby, welcome it into a family, Rachel, our family."
"You don't know what you're saying," she said softly.
He smiled down at her, into her lovely, lovely sapphire eyes. "I think I do. I think I've made myself clear. "I am so very in love with you. If you would do me the honor, I would like for you to welcome me back into your heart."
In a move she had done before, she took his hand and placed it on her chest, over her beating heart. "You never left."
Donovan kissed her deeply, tasting her sweet mouth, allowing her to taste his. He tasted of strawberries and wine. He worked his hands underneath her blouse, seeking and finding her breasts. He cupped them with both hands, caressing them in slow, circular motions. Her hands worked his shirt from his pants. Her hands caressed every inch of flesh she could reach. While kissing him deeply, she unsnapped his pants, and drew his zipper down slowly. Her hand reached inside and her fingers gave him a gentle caress. He groaned underneath his breath as her hand performed a wicked caress. Her work was quick, her touch light. He hardened instantly. He took hold of her wrist, breaking the kiss at the same time.
"There is nothing I couldn't give you," he said against her lips. "Nothing I would ever withhold. Just let me have you, all of you."
"It's yours," she said softly. "From now, to the future, and beyond." She kissed him again. "Let's go inside. Make love to me, Frank. Make me never have the desire to lose you again. Make me want no other again, for the rest of my natural life. Don't ever doubt my love for you again."
"Never, my love," he said, his lips almost against her ear.
"Let's go inside before we give the Shempert's a peep show," she said, pulling away from his embrace.
He reluctantly moved inside behind her. She didn't bother locking the sliding glass doors. They should have never parted after their last encounter. She should have had more faith in him, in his love for her. She would never forgive herself for allowing him to languish in Hawaii, alone, and bitter. Her one regret was Lily. Donovan may have not been able to sense it, but she knew how Lily felt. They were crazy for doing this, crazy as a squirrel madly foraging for acorns.
There was a small bed near the windows. Knowing that they would have privacy all night long, if they wanted it, neither of them made an effort to close the blinds.
Rachel took joy in undressing him so very slowly. She kissed every inch of his body, moving over him, her mouth nipping at the scars on his chest. A fevered wanting attacked them both. It forced Donovan to sit up in bed, removing everything. Rachel had begun undressing herself, but the task was taken over by Donovan. As soon as she was free of her clothing barriers, he laid her down onto the soft bed. His lips and tongue did amazing things to her. She was mad with desire, begging him to end her torment.
When he entered her, she dug her fingernails into his back, leaving deep grooves. He didn't seem to mind. Their lovemaking was the way of the tides. They crested and subsided, subsided, and crested. Their souls mated, became an unstoppable force, one to be reckoned with. At the end of it, Rachel molded her body into his, trying her best to remember every line of his body, the taut muscles, the incredible way he loved a woman. They loved each other as if this would be the last time they made love.
After, they donned robes and carried their pitcher of iced tea back outside to the deck. They sat together in one chair, she on his lap. The only sounds were the area wildlife. Rachel felt safe in Donovan's strong arms, she felt safer here than anywhere on the planet. They drank their iced tea and watched as curious possums waddled their way around looking for a garbage can to raid. They smiled and made a game of finding the most animals. Every now and again, they would kiss and whisper words of no interest to anyone else who might not have made love with their partners tonight.
He slid his hand down the front of her robe, feeling the frantic beating of her heart. It was incredible to be with her, to feel like this. He ran his fingers gently over her flesh, feeling the familiarity of another body. To have her back, to have her heart, was an amazing gift he didn't intend on frittering away.
The night sky was dark, there was little light filtering in through the mass of trees littering the Shempert property. Donovan had never felt so alive or connected in his life. "How would you like to live out here some day?"
His question was unexpected, so much so, that she didn't know how to answer. "It is beautiful, Frank. I think I would love it very much. It reminds me of this cabin my parents once had. I loved going there as a child."
"You know something?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist, snuggling against her.
"What's that?" She asked with a tired grin.
"I love you," he said. "I didn't know how much that was true until tonight."
She smiled and snuggled further into his embrace. "Me too, Frank," she whispered. "After the fair, after we hopefully catch a psycho, I think I'd like to have a place like this for the weekends. It would be one bitch of a commute from Miami every morning."
He chuckled lazily and caressed her middle. "Vacation spot? Summer lodge? I like that idea. The boys would love it. They're all about nature."
She placed her hands over his. "Then let's find a place here."
Her words made him immensely happy. He didn't expect her to want to move so fast. Although her child was Ashcroft's, he would love the baby as much as his own boys. Before his divorce, Donovan had spoken of having another child. Megan insisted on not having any more. He wanted a big family, with at least four kids, maybe more.
"We will, when we get back to Miami," he said. "You'll love it and so will the stranger."
"You're an amazing man, Franklin Wilson Donovan, one with whom I'm very much in love," she said. "I want a house just like this, with our own spins, of course."
"Yes," he said, loving the fantasy the more they spoke about it.
"I'm sorry about Lily," she began. "She is a nice girl, serious about her job, serious about you. Do you regret not seeing her anymore?"
"No, none. We can work out our differences. She tried to help us both earlier. Remember? She deserves the best, better than I could ever give her. What you have is what she doesn't. My heart."
"I wish I could be sorry about Jack," she said sadly. "I can't be. He can have time with the baby, I won't deny him that. What I will deny is his constant demands that I marry him."
"He'll be okay," Donovan said. "As long as he has access to your baby, he'll be all right. It was hard for me at first without my boys. But I've accepted it. The ideal situation would be for them to live with me. Since they can't, they are only a phone call, a plane ticket, or an email away."
"Whatever happens with this case, I'll always be there for you," she said. "I think fate intervened and brought us here. It also has struck up an idea for us to get a home here. Imagine that."
"I can." And he could. He could see them in their own home, sitting out on the porch, drinking iced tea. He could see his boys running around playing football or baseball. He could see the little one growing inside Rachel's body, playing with its step brothers. He could see it all, and a wonderful picture it was. Absolutely wonderful.
"Wow, I think I'm going to cry," she said with a smile. "It's a wonderful fantasy that we need to make come true soon. Do you want to go to bed? I'm worn out."
Donovan kissed the side of her neck. "I think I'll sit out here for a little while longer, if that's okay with you."
"It is. Don't be long, though. Okay?"
As she stood to say good night, he promised her he wouldn't keep her alone in bed long. She disappeared into the house and Donovan focused his eyes on movement out in the swamp that made a startling resemblance to an alligator. Whatever it was, it didn't want to emerge out of the water just yet. Another moment and he would join Rachel. Right now, he needed to think about some things, and he thought best when alone.
Oh ho, but Frank Donovan was not alone. In the murky depths of the swamp, a man watched as Donovan contemplated his life changes. If he was close enough, he might have been able to shoot Donovan where he sat. He was off guard, distracted. If he stayed out at least another hour, it would give him time to visit Rachel Sloane. He had plans for Lily Wells as well. However, Sloane was an easier target as long as he could keep her away from Frank Donovan.