Razing Kayne

Epilogue




One month later...



Kayne kicked back on the couch, an ice cold bottle of his favorite beer in hand, his shoes off, and jeans haphazardly rolled up by the two little sprites busy polishing his toenails a glittering Pepto-Bismol pink. He'd done this to himself. Again. He'd traded two hours’ worth of cooperation while he cleaned the house in exchange for being Gracie and Isabelle's fashion guinea pig.

Kayne groaned when the doorbell rang.

“I got it, I got it! It's my turn!” Isabelle shouted jumping to her feet.

“Me, no me!” Gracie tumbled after her.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Kayne ordered, hobbling in their wake. Was he seriously going to have to answer the door like this?

The girls skidded to a halt and stared up at him impatiently.

“No opening the door by yourself,” he ordered.

Isabelle plumped out her bottom lip, folded her arms over her chest, and ducked her head in a pout. Gracie followed suit.

He was still amazed at Gracie’s resiliency. She’d been rushed to the hospital by Nick Astenbeck and one of the Alphabet-agents where she’d been treated for moderate hypothermia. Nick had stayed at her side comforting her until Kayne had arrived. Gracie had quickly bounced back physically. Emotionally: she’d been clingy at first, but she’d reverted to her old self in no time. It was as if she’d never been kidnapped.

Kayne took a quick look though the peep-hole, surprised to see the man he’d just been thinking about standing on the other side.

Kayne disengaged the alarm and opened the door, “Nick, come in.”

Nick looked pointedly at Kayne’s feet. He coughed, clearly fighting not to laugh…and failing. “Nice toes.”

Shit! Kayne would never live it down. There went his man-card.

Isabelle grabbed Nick’s hand and began tugging him toward the family room. “We can do yours, next.”

Nick stared at Kayne with a deer-in-the-crosshairs look, and Kayne laughed. Taking pity on his friend he said, “'Sabella, why don't you and Gracie go pick out a snack?”

“Yay!” As expected, they scampered off; thoughts of nail polish forgotten.

Kayne motioned Nick to follow him. He could tell something was weighing heavily on the other man’s mind, but had no idea what.

The girls had pulled out celery, peanut butter, and raisins by the time the men reached the kitchen. They wanted to build their own ants-on-a-log.

Nick took a seat at the island. “How's Jess?”

“Good. Exhausted. In fact, she's taking a nap per Doctor Mark’s orders.”

Jess had spent nearly a week in the hospital after the kidnapping. Not so surprisingly, she'd developed a case of double pneumonia. But that wasn’t why she was in bed today. No, that had to do with what they found out on her second day in the hospital.

They’d been curled up together in Jess’s hospital bed, awaiting final lab results before the hospital would release her, when their world tilted again.

After a brief knock, Mark walked in, a Cheshire Cat grin firmly in place, a piece of paper in hand. He’d then proceeded to tell them that Jess was pregnant. Kayne was pretty sure if he hadn’t already been vertical that Mark’s news would have put him there. Nick nodded. “Glad she’s following Doc’s orders.”

“To a T. She wants this baby so very much.”

“And you?”

“I want Jess safe and healthy. This is a high risk pregnancy for her, and that scares the ever living shit out of me, but my God, she’s so happy it makes her glow. I can’t help being anything but happy as well.”

Nick grinned. “I’m happy for both of you.”

Kayne sat the two tall glasses of milk on the counter and pulled up the cookie jar full of freshly made cookies—cranberry-orange oatmeal cookies, courtesy of Maddy—and took a seat.

“Thanks.”

“So, where's Ondrej? ”

Kayne smiled. “He's still staying with us. He went to run some errands and pick up the older kids from school while I do house work.”

“What do you think of him?”

Kayne shrugged. “We're still figuring each other out. Jess and the kids love him, so I guess that’s all that really matters.”

After the dust had settled, and Jess explained who Ondrej was and his role in saving Gracie, Kayne had supported her decision to invite Ondrej to stay with them while he recovered from his broken hand. Kayne couldn't imagine the horrors Ondrej had seen, but after sitting through the briefing on Volkov – he refused to acknowledge that monster as his father – he had a pretty good idea. All he cared was that the murdering bastard – Volkov – could never touch his family again. Kayne grabbed a cookie and pushed the jar closer to Nick. “I think he feels guilty about Nina’s death.”

Nick studied him closely. “How do you feel about it?”

“I honestly don’t know. No matter what she did, I feel sorry that she died that way. But I know we wouldn’t have been able to get both of them out in time, if she’d still been alive when Mark found her.” Kayne shuddered at the thought of how very close he’d been to losing Jess. If Ondrej hadn’t adjusted the chain on her manacle to allow her to reach Gracie, both would have died.

Nick nodded his understanding. “Are you taking a leave of absence until Jess has the baby?” Nick broke off a piece of cookie and popped it into his mouth.

Wasn’t that a damn good question? “I'm not sure, I've taken a few weeks off, and Ondrej has been a huge help. Balentine is riding my ass for a decision. With all the flatlanders fleeing the desert heat, summer is our busiest season. Jess has agreed to hire someone to help out while I work, if I’ll go back to work.”

Nick laughed. “Tired of you hovering, huh?”

Kayne gave a self-deprecating smile. “She’s been indulgent, but I think my lady-in-waiting routine is wearing thin.”

Nick cocked his head thoughtfully. “What about the other grandma, Lutcia, can she help?”

Kayne was still trying to wrap his mind around that. He’d thought Krysin’s men had taken her out. They hadn’t. Agents had stormed Krysin’s compound and the shots Kayne had heard were exchanges between the agents and Krysin’s men. “I don’t know that we’ll ever see Lutcia again. She’s been taken into protective custody. Once she testifies against Krysin and Volkov, they’ll help her start a new life somewhere under WitSec.”

Nick took a deep breath and blurted out, “Is it hard loving another man's children?”

Okay, straight out of left field. What?

Kayne decided to take the question at face value. “It's as easy as breathing, at least for me.”

Nick looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. “I'm leaving for Houston in a couple of hours. There was a message on my phone this morning when I got home from work. It was from my ex-partner’s wife. He was killed a couple days ago.”

Kayne’s gut clinched. It was every officer’s worst nightmare; leaving their family behind. “I'm sorry to hear that. How's his wife doing?”

Nick glanced toward the little girls, and then lowered his voice to a fierce whisper. “Seth screwed her over big time. It wasn't line-of-duty so there are no survivor’s benefits. Sarah found out all their savings is gone. He’d cashed in his retirement, and to add insult to injury, his paycheck has been being docked by court order for the last eight months for child support.” Nick shoved a hand through his short hair. “She has a meeting with an adoption agency tomorrow. She grew up on welfare until her mother abandoned her to foster care. She’s terrified of history repeating itself and thinks the only way to protect her kids is to give them up for adoption. I can't let that happen. I couldn't live with myself knowing I let her do that.”

Kayne heard the question Nick was struggling to ask. He admired him for considering an honor marriage as a solution. “Any two people can make a marriage work if they’re willing to try.”

Nick was silent for a moment. “Sarah has been my friend too, and I know giving up those babies would destroy her, but I'm scared shitless over the idea of committing to this, only to discover I'm no better than Seth or Jarred.”

Kayne looked Nick square in the eye. “I can’t speak for Seth, but, if you were anything like Jarred, you wouldn’t even be contemplating it. As far as fidelity, The Jedi master Yoda was the official voice on that. 'Do or do not, there is no try.' You choose to be faithful or you choose not to, it’s a simple as that.”

Nick rubbed his chest like it ached. “Sarah is such a sweetheart. She's tiny like Jess, but a strawberry blonde with huge gray eyes that break your heart if you look too close.”

Kayne tried to hide his smile. Nick might not realize it, but he was already half in-love with the woman.

Nick blew out a heavy breath. “God, I have to do this. I have to go figure out how to bury someone who I thought was a friend and convince his grieving widow to marry me and not necessarily in that order.”

Kayne grinned. “Sorry, I'm fresh out of armed suspects tripping on Meth while holding up a bank full of hostages.” That got an expected laugh out of Nick. They both knew facing the gunman would be less scary.

***

“Who was at the door?” a groggy Jess asked a short time later. Kayne took the woman he loved more than life itself in his arms and held her close. He gave her a soft lingering kiss, then reluctantly pulled away to explain Nick's visit.

When Kayne finished the story by confessing he'd insisted on covering the funeral costs, Jess simply smiled. Looking at her, he realized he didn't have to explain an officer's need to help the family left behind by one of the brave few who walked the thin blue line. The warmth and compassion shining in her eyes told him she understood.

Jess patted his chest. “I think we've started something here. First us, now Nick and Sarah.”

Kayne narrowed his eyes. “Now wait a minute, Sarah hasn't said yes.”

“Yet. But she will,” Jess said confidently. She reached up and brushed her fingers through his hair. “If Nick is even half the man I married, it will be the best decision she ever makes.”

“You think so, huh?” His voice was husky with emotion. Every time he looked at her he was staggered by how much he loved her.

Jess ran her hands across his face. Oh, how she loved this man. “I know so. Don’t you know you’re my hero? You charged into my world and rescued me before I knew I needed rescuing. You've made my every dream come true and then some.” She took his hand and rested their entwined fingers over her still flat stomach.

The garage door opened, interrupting anything else they might have said. They turned to watch Ondrej herd their older children and Tiffany Johnson through the door.

Jess’s heart broke for the sweet little girl. Not only had she lost a father, but the shock over what Cody had done had nearly killed his mother. Literally. Evie Johnson had had a severe stroke, and they were still unsure if she’d ever recover. As such, Tiffany had been spending a lot of time with them while Judge Johnson cared for his wife.

The house exploded into chaos, all five children trying to talk over each other. The older three talking about school, the younger two sharing the activities of home. Backpacks were thrown haphazardly onto the kitchen table and shoes were kicked off underneath it before they began raiding the refrigerator and cabinets for a snack. Their life might not be a sexy, glamorous story, but it was theirs, and Jess was so truly thankful for every moment of it.

She hugged each of her children bidding them hello, then took a seat and watched as Kayne got them settled down for a snack. Looking on, she had no doubt they’d found their happily ever after.

When Kayne looked up and caught hergaze, a huge grin on his face, his eyes alight with wonder; she knew he was thinking the exact same thing.

I love you, he signed against his chest. Forever, he mouthed, his hand still resting over his heart.

Jess covered her own heart and mouthed the words right back. Then added, With My Last Breath.



The End