“I knew you’d find me.”
I gave her a gentle squeeze, unable to admit how terrified I was I wouldn’t be able to.
“What happened to him?”
“I can tell you he was apprehended. Beyond that, you have been my priority.”
“He’s alive?”
I wanted to see her face when I answered, but I wouldn’t push that either. “He is. We are unsure if he had anything to do with three more reported kidnappings in the area.”
“Will these charges against him be dropped like the others were?”
“I promise you, Edwards will never walk free again.” Her question reminded me that I didn’t have the answer as to why the securities fraud indictment had never happened. Nor did we know whether the man found dead in his apartment had committed suicide or if Maxim would possibly be facing a murder charge as well.
“Do you swear?”
“On my own life.”
A few minutes later, she was asleep. With as little movement as possible, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. When I saw missed calls from both Diesel and Doc, I eased out from behind Maisie and went out into the hallway. I called Diesel first.
“Hey, how’s Maisie?”
“I’m not sure how to answer that. Better than a few hours ago. Is that why you called?”
“No. Do you want an update on Edwards?”
I flexed both my hands and paced the hallway before finally responding. “I don’t think so.”
“Roger that.”
“I told Doc I don’t want to know where he is.”
“Yeah, I got that memo.”
“I swore to Maisie on my life that he’d never walk free again.”
“The charges against him will help ensure that—if he lives long enough to face them.”
“Diesel, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how I feel on that subject.”
“I get it.”
“You do?” He didn’t respond, but he didn’t need to. Diesel knew me better than anyone. If he said he got it, he did.
Maisie was still asleep when I went back into her room, so I sent a text to Doc, asking about Al and Mary. He responded that he and Merrigan had taken them back to their camp, and while they were very worried about Maisie, they were thankful we’d found her and she was alive.
I sat in the room’s recliner and must have drifted off, but woke when I heard Maisie whimpering. I moved to the edge of the bed. “Wake up, beautiful. You’re having a nightmare,” I soothed, rubbing her arm.
She jolted and looked into my eyes.
“It was a nightmare. You’re safe.”
Maisie nodded, and when I stretched out beside her, she rested in my arms with her head on my chest. This would be our new normal. For who knew how long.
I called Doc again, per Maisie’s request, and asked if he and Merrigan would bring Al and Mary back. I also asked that they bring her a change of clothes and some toiletries since she’d be spending the night.
They arrived about an hour before I was due to meet with the therapist. If they hadn’t, I would’ve rescheduled. For now, I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving Maisie alone.
“I’m going to talk with the psychologist at two,” I told her.
“I saw her earlier. She said she hoped to meet with you to review a few things.”
“There’s something I need to tell you. The K19 team knows we’re married. As does the hospital. I’m sorry, Maisie. I know you wanted to tell your grandparents first.”
“I know. Someone came in and asked about my husband when we were in the emergency room, so I told them.”
I sighed, not knowing what to say. I wished it hadn’t been this way but for far more than her grandparents learning we’d eloped.
“I didn’t tell them where, though. Maybe we could do that together.”
My sigh of sadness turned into one of relief. I pulled out my phone and showed her the photo I’d made my screensaver. It was one Mabel had taken of us right after the ceremony. Maisie’s eyes filled with tears, but she grabbed my hand when I lowered the phone.
“Let me see it again.” She ran her finger over the image of us. “Can you have a print made?”
I told her I could.
“I want to be able to look at it.”
On my way to see Ms. Fasano, I sent the photo to Diesel and asked that he not just have someone print it, but have them pick up a frame and bring it to the hospital.
The psychologist and I didn’t discuss much that Doc and I hadn’t earlier. She went over the things outlined in the survivor support literature in the same way he had, reiterating that Maisie needed to process what had happened to her in her own time and in her own way.
“My understanding is you haven’t been married very long.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “It doesn’t matter when it starts when you know you’ll love someone for the rest of your days.”
“That’s a very romantic notion.”
“If your definition of ‘notion’ is that we were impulsive, I’d like to suggest you consider that you know very little about Maisie and me. In fact, you know nothing about us at all.”
“I beg to differ.”
“You know about something that happened to Maisie. A vile, horrific thing that will never define who she is.”
“You are naive when it comes to the impact of rape.”
“Miss, if you knew a thing about me, naive would be the last word you would use.” I leaned forward and put my elbows on my knees. “Earlier, I thought about how she and I would look at this time of our lives. How we’d define it. We have choices. One is that we look at it as the time before and after her abduction. Another is as the time before we fell in love and after we committed our lives to each other.” My eyes bored into hers. “Maisie means everything to me, and I will make it my mission to spend every day celebrating the commitment we made and the love we share.”
The condescending grin and the way she tilted her head, as though she felt sorry for my naivete, made me feel sorry for her. “Maybe one day you’ll be lucky enough to know what I’m talking about.”
25
RANGER
“You okay?” Diesel asked when I got off the elevator.
I shook my head. “Yeah.”
He rubbed my shoulder.
“What are you doing here?”
He handed me a bag with tissue paper sticking out of the top of it. “I’m assuming this is for Maisie.”
I moved the paper aside so I could see the framed photograph. “Thanks, man. I hope you didn’t think I was asking you to do this and certainly not in an hour.”
“Figured if you wanted her to have it, sooner would be better. By the way, it’s a great photo. You can feel the love just by looking at it.”
“Right? Maybe if the woman I just got done talking to had seen it, she would’ve had a clue about how things really are between Maisie and me.”
“Seen what?” Ms. Fasano asked, stepping out of the other elevator.
“Nothing,” I muttered. “Was there something else you needed?”