Page 94 of Hot Pursuit
Jo laced her fingers through his and held on firm. Nate did the same. And it was enough. More than enough, as they silently promised each other forever.
- 31 -
Jo
~ Two Weeks Later ~
Jo kicked her flip-flops off and took a step forward, moving from the sidewalk to the beach. She wriggled her toes in the sand. Amazing how no matter where she went, it felt the same. Sometimes smooth. Sometimes rocky. But always comforting, always cathartic. The sound of softly lapping water filtered into her ears, a soothing rhythm. A faded pink sliver cut across the horizon, the last remnants of dusk as night fell. The moon glittered on the flowing black surface, lighting her path in the dark. Jo clasped the urn to her chest, not sure if she was ready to let go.
“Are you okay?” Nate murmured from behind. The deep, solid sound of his voice was reassuring, her anchor to the shore, her new rock, steadfast and constant.
Jo glanced over her shoulder, finding his eyes, holding on to the love and sympathy swirling within them. “I’m okay.”
“Do you want me to—”
Jo shook her head.
No.
Nate had already done enough. He’d saved her life. He’d convinced the FBI to recover her father’s remains. He’d followed through on his promise of an immunity deal, giving her the opportunity to see all her dreams come true. He’d done everything within his power to ease the pain, to take away her hurt. And this was something she needed to do by herself.
So she turned and took a step, and another and another, until she felt the cool kiss of water against her toes, and then she kept going until she was up to her knees. The world was different out here, surrounded by bright twinkles and deep shadow, the flow of the river pushing against her balance, the surface rippling, the shore so seemingly far away. There was something magical about it, almost surreal.
When they’d deposited her mother’s ashes in the ocean outside their private island, it had been broad daylight. Nothing but sun and turquoise water and white sand. The total opposite of this final goodbye with her father, on a small beach at the edge of the Potomac River under cover of night. But it made sense in a way. Her mother had been the serene, graceful beauty of the sunrise, her father the stark, vivid drama of the sunset, but together, they’d made the day complete. And now, they’d be reunited, somewhere in the vast sea, somewhere beyond understanding.
Jo opened the lid of the urn.
She gently turned it over, letting the wind and the current carry the ashes out of sight. There hadn’t been much recovered at the scene, so the process was quick and painless in a way Jo hadn’t expected it to be. Oh, her chest burned. Tears slid silently down her cheeks. Her hands shook. And yet, there was something hopeful, a small part of her that thought maybe it was better this way. Her mother was no longer alone, waiting. Her father was no longer alone, wanting. They were both at peace. And the alternative had been the rest of his life behind bars, an atonement he probably deserved, but one Jo was glad to not have to witness.
He’d come to her rescue.
He’d apologized for his sins.
And then he was gone, too fast to feel anything at all.
The explosion had killed him in an instant, but Jo liked to believe he hadn’t died in vain. The Russians had wired the entire exterior of the house, so all their personal possessions had been completely destroyed. The vault, however, was underground and untouched by the fire due to all the precautions her father had painstakingly taken during its construction. The priceless works and heirlooms he’d stolen were in the process of being returned to the families and museums from which they’d been taken. And thanks to his precise recordkeeping, the bureau had more than enough evidence to begin making arrests, against the Russians but also against a number of shady criminals her father had worked with over the years. Though he’d done a lot of bad things in his life, Jo hoped that in the end he’d be remembered for being good—a good person, a good husband, and a good father. She at least would always think of him that way.
Jo replaced the lid on the now-empty urn and tucked it against her hip, holding it with one hand, using the other to clasp the rings hanging from a chain around her neck. They’d been recovered in her father’s remains. Two wedding rings, scorched black, but undamaged. The agents on the scene had slipped them into an envelope and kept them off the record, handing them to Nate on the sly so Jo could keep a little part of her past. The rest was gone—lost to the explosion or confiscated by the government. Jo had nothing—at least, that was what a lot of news outlets were reporting, what some people kept telling her, what she kept reading.
A small smile quirked her lips.
I have Nate. I have these rings. I have my dreams. I have a future. I have everything—everything I could possibly need.
Well, except one thing.
Thad.
No one had heard from him or seen him. And while the evidence in her father’s vault had been invaluable, Nate said nothing convinced a jury like an eyewitness. So, the bureau was scouring the country looking for him. And Jo was positive the Russians were doing the same. But she held on to the belief that Thad was okay. He was in hiding. And somehow, someway, when it was safe, he’d find a way to contact her. A way the Russians and the FBI would never anticipate. A way only she would understand.
Jo sighed.
Slowly, she walked out of the water and up the beach, back to where Nate was patiently waiting, leaning against his crutches for support. The gunshot hadn’t inflicted any permanent damage aside from what was sure to be a wicked scar, but the recovery would be slow. She’d never tell Nate, but Jo was secretly overjoyed to have him stuck in the office and not out in the field, so he could come home to her every night and kiss her goodbye every morning.
“So how does it feel to break the law, Agent Parker?”
It was the first thing that had come to her lips, and in typical fashion, she’d spit it out without thinking. But it was easier to joke than to feel. She needed a break from her emotions. And, well, it was the truth—scattering ashes in an inland waterway, especially without a permit, wasn’t quite legal. But just this once, Nate had agreed to look the other way.
Literally.
