Chemical capture, p.26
Chemical Capture, page 26
“What does she say?”
“I think you know.”
Steady’s mind traveled back to the first time they talked on the beach. Very looking in his eyes. You big dope. The night in the garden when she confessed her plan, you big dope. He thought of the car ride when he rescued her from Armand Krill’s clutches. You big dope.
Steady shot to his feet. “She calls you a big dope? That’s how she tells you she loves you?”
Twitch resumed eating. “It’s kind of cute, actually. I don’t think she’s ever called a man a big dope.”
Finn appeared at the entrance to the room, spotted Twitch, and crossed to where she sat. Twitch beamed at him around her sandwich.
“Just me?” Steady asked.
“Just you,” Twitch confirmed.
“I’m not a big dope. I’m the big dope.”
“Exactly,” Twitch agreed.
Steady looked at Finn with a shit-eating grin. “I’m a big dope.”
“I know,” Finn said, taking a seat beside his love.
“I’m a big dope,” Steady repeated, retook his seat, and swiped a cookie from Twitch’s plate.
Twitch stood a little off balance, and Finn took her arm. “Uh oh.” Twitch stared at the floor.
Finn came in front of her, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“I think my water just broke.”
Finn smiled and tucked a strand of copper-colored hair behind her ear. “That’s okay, angel. What do we need to do?”
Twitch looked at him with a puzzled expression, but Finn had turned to Steady.
“Why are you looking at me?” Steady asked.
“Finn.” Twitch tapped him on the shoulder, but Finn was now directing his inquiry to Nathan, who had just come in.
“You need to go to the hospital,” Nathan said.
“Right, right,” Finn nodded. “They need to plug it up. She can’t walk around leaking.”
“Finn.” Twitch tried again, but Nathan spoke at the same time.
“There’s no plugging up, Finn. You need to take her to the hospital because she’s having a baby.”
“She’s having a baby,” Finn repeated.
Nathan nodded along, waiting for Finn’s brain to catch up with his mouth.
Finn’s eyes doubled in size. “She’s having a baby!”
Bingo.
Twitch stepped around her partner, grabbed the placket of his shirt, and shook him. “She’s standing right here. Go get my bag from the downstairs closet and meet me at the car.”
Finn held Twitch close. “It’s too soon. Isn’t it too soon?”
“It’s a little soon, Finn. I’m thirty-seven weeks, but yesterday at the appointment, the doctor said I was dilated. Didn’t you pay attention?”
“I didn’t know what that meant, and I was too embarrassed to ask. Every week something’s effaced or dilated or contracting. It’s like a fucking science test in that office.”
Twitch scrunched her face up and held onto her middle. “Okay, I think we need to go.”
Chat appeared at the door holding one of three go-bags Finn had packed.
Steady looked at Chat with wide eyes. “How the hell did you know she needed the bag? That’s just freaky.”
Chat replied, “Nathan texted me.”
Finn took the duffle from Chat’s outstretched hand. “ Oh, shit, Auggie. Someone needs to get him from school.”
Nathan gathered his things as he spoke. “I’ll get Auggie. Steady, circle up with Cam and let Calliope and Tox know what’s going on.”
“Copy that.” Steady kissed Twitch on the cheek. “Good luck.”
Twitch held onto his forearm and whispered, “Very loves you, you know. You’re her big dope.”
Finn pulled her away and ushered Twitch out the door with the rest of the gang in their wake.
Beaufort, South Carolina
August 24
Very poked her head in the door of Twitch’s hospital room. Things had finally quieted after her Bishop Security family had descended en masse. A nurse had shooed everyone out, insisting the new mom needed sleep. Finn had run home to shower and change. As dawn broke, Twitch sat up in bed holding her son, Trevor Devlin-McIntyre.
“Do you want me to come back later?”
Twitch’s face lit up as she whispered, “No, come in. Meet your godson.”
Very made her way through flowers and stuffed animals and sat beside Twitch on the bed. The baby already looked like Finn, and Very ran the back of her finger down his soft cheek. “I may be biased, but I’m pretty sure he’s the most beautiful baby that’s ever been born.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“How are you feeling?” Very smoothed back her friend’s hair.
Twitch lifted her head from the bundle in her arms. “I need to tell you something.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Not ominous. It’s pretty awesome, actually.”
There, in the early morning hours, Twitch sat with Very and explained what Steady had done: how he had worked with the Feds to set up a plan, ensuring that Dr. Baker’s research was discovered and all of her evil acts were exposed. Very wanted to run to his house right then; her heart was so full she thought it might burst. But she needed to make sure Steady knew that she trusted him absolutely. She did. Very trusted Steady with her life. She trusted him with her heart.
“It’s Saturday,” Very grabbed Twitch’s phone from the side table and handed it to her. “Can you text me Chat’s number? I need to ask him for a quick favor.”
Twitch complied, then asked, “What are you cooking up?”
“I think I know a way to show Steady how I feel.” Very kissed the sleeping baby. “Wish me luck, mom.”
Twitch laughed. “Good luck.”
After promising to keep Twitch informed, Very left the room and raced out of the hospital to her car. And, with an unguarded heart, toward her future.
Steady pulled the jeep into his usual spot at the private airfield. He needed to talk to Very. He just didn’t know what to say. Steady decided that to think this through, he needed to be in the one place that had always provided clarity. The sky.
Steady jogged across the tarmac, waving to the crew performing various duties. He greeted the mechanic doing the pre-flight checks on his Cessna with a slap on the back. Then he spotted Chat standing near the cockpit, hands in his pockets.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Just helping out a friend,” Chat replied.
Steady furrowed his brow and looked around. “Who?”
Chat walked in the direction of his truck like it was every day he showed up at the airfield and loitered around Steady’s plane. “You,” he answered. “Have a nice flight.”
Perplexed, Steady opened the small door and climbed inside the plane. There, in the copilot seat, looking nervous but committed, was Very. Her pink hair was back, and her smile held a challenge.
“Very?”
“Take me flying,” she said.
“You sure? ’he asked.
“I made it this far, you big dope. Don’t scare me away.”
You big dope. Steady’s grin hit his ears as he slid into the seat next to her. “Darlin’, I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“I know. I’m not doing this on a whim, Steady. I want to fly with you. Only with you.”
“I’m not talkin’ about the plane.” He leaned over and kissed her. He started to speak, but Very covered his mouth with her fingers. “I know, Steady. I know everything you did for me.”
Steady rubbed his palms on his thighs. “Yeah, well, after our talk in the car on the drive home, I just couldn’t leave things the way they were. Dr. Baker needed to pay. I wanted to give you that.”
“That’s not exactly go-with-the-flow.”
He wrapped his hand around the back of Very’s neck and pulled her close. “I take charge when it matters.”
Steady felt her sharp intake of air.
“I see that.”
“You matter, Very. You matter the most.”
“Steady.”
“You ready to fly with me?”
“I was falling for you even before you took Dr. Baker down, so yes, let’s fly.”
“I was a goner for you the first time you called me a pervert,” he said with a laugh. “So, buckle up because, Very Valentine, your feet may never touch solid ground again.”
“No more secrets. I trust you. With everything. I love you, Jonah Lockhart.”
“You… love me?”
“I think I’ve been looking at it all wrong. Like love was a decision–the way I decided to bring down Krill and planned to avenge my mother. But falling in love… It’s something else. Do you remember those double stars you showed me that night on the beach?”
“The binary stars, sure,” he said.
“Nobody knows why they are bound together. They just are. I can’t explain it, but sharing your orbit feels like where I was always meant to be. I just do. I love you.”
Steady cradled her face in his hands. “I love you, too, Darlin’. Like I never thought I could.”
Beaufort, South Carolina
August 31
At the entry to Nathan and Emily’s dining room, Steady took in the scene as he held tightly to Very’s hand. The dinner table was packed. Finn was holding baby Trevor and adjusting his blue cap while Twitch looked on next to him. The baby flailed his little arms and took hold of his father’s pinky as Finn looked at Twitch with delight at the gesture. Auggie, their eight-year-old son, was sitting on Finn’s right and putting one of the baby’s socks back on. Tox had his arm around Calliope and was laughing at something his twin brother Miles said. Cam’s fiancée, Evan, was holding Nathan and Emily’s daughter, Charlotte, while the parents wrangled the toddlers, Charlie and Jack, into their highchairs. When the twins were secured, Nathan kissed Emily on the temple, took her hand, and led her into the kitchen to grab the food. Chat’s bright smile was broad as he listened to some crazy story Herc was telling him.
Steady remembered the feeling of watching his brothers as they found love. He recalled the certainty in Nathan’s eyes when he discovered Emily’s true identity and Tox’s ferocity when Calliope was in danger. Cam had risked his life to save Evan and then flown across the country to stand on her doorstep and beg her for a chance. And Finn, if anyone at the table deserved a happy ending, it was Finn.
Steady also remembered that odd sensation he had of being incomplete, of imagining Very’s hand reaching out for his but finding only empty air when he reciprocated. He hadn’t realized at the time what his heart was telling him.
Now he understood.
Very squeezed his fingers just then, and Steady pulled their joined hands to his lips. What he loved the most about Very was her innate ability to know what he felt, what he needed. He hoped he did the same for her. Steady wanted to. Every day. For the rest of his life.
Tox noticed them first. “Well, if it isn’t the happy couple.”
Calliope elbowed him in the ribs, and he pulled her close. Nathan and Emily returned to the room, each carrying a huge lasagna. Evan passed baby Charlotte to Cam–who cuddled the ten-month-old to his chest with the expertise gained from holding many nieces and nephews–as she hopped up to help.
Steady and Very took two of the three remaining seats and joined the party. Tox was already expediting, scooping steaming portions of lasagna on plates and passing them out. Evan followed Emily from the kitchen. She held an enormous salad bowl, and Emily carried a basket brimming with garlic bread.
Steady was excited for the meal, but he was more excited about the guest of honor.
When the doorbell rang, he helped Very scoot out of her chair. She hurried to the front door and returned a moment later with Alonso Mitchell by her side. The table fell silent before Very held up her hand. “Everyone, this is Alonso Mitchell, my dad.”
Steady jumped to his feet and came to the front of the room. It was his first time seeing Mitchell since Steady had punched him. On top of that, it was his only time meeting the parent of a girlfriend, and he was uncharacteristically nervous. Something that wasn’t lost on his brothers, who seemed to be enjoying his discomfort.
“Sir,” Steady held out a hand. “It’s great to see you, sir. Again, sorry, sir, about the, you know.” Steady mimicked a punch.
Mitchell’s face revealed nothing as he shook Steady’s hand. “I was a boxing champion in the Rangers. We may have to step into the ring. Give me a chance to even the score.”
Steady paled, and Mitchell barked a laugh. “Relax, kid, I’m joking. Very loves you. That’s all that matters to me.” Still gripping Steady’s hand, he wrapped his other arm around his daughter. “Now quit calling me “sir” and let’s eat.”
Emily crossed to the threesome. “Welcome, Alonso. I’m Emily Bishop. Come sit. We’re so happy you’re here.”
“Thank you.” Mitchell tipped his head, and the group moved into the room. Miles stood and embraced his old friend. Steady heard Tox’s twin murmur, “We did it, Lonnie.”
When Mitchell was seated, he said to the table, “I imagine you have some questions.”
Calliope and Emily had both been reporters, so the women were peppering Alonso with questions before Steady could think of where to begin.
When Alonso finished explaining how he and Very had brought down Krill, Tox looked at his brother. “And Miles? How do you fit into the picture?”
Miles took a slow sip of wine. “I’ve known Lonnie for years. Never knew he had a daughter.” He tipped his glass to Very. “Nice to meet you, by the way.” He took over the story. “A while ago, a congressman had been caught taking a bribe from Parasol. I was hired to make it go away. Lonnie was my contact at the company.” Miles set down his glass and stared at the flowers in the centerpiece. “Something about him. I don’t know. Maybe like attracts like.”
Alonso said, “After we met a couple of times to handle the bribery situation, Miles looked at me and said, ‘Lonnie,’ He’s the only person besides Trish who has ever called me that. ‘Lonnie, let’s grab a beer.’ We went out, talked about nothing. I don’t know what he could have possibly figured out from that one encounter, but as I got up to leave, he said, and I’ll never forget this, ‘Lonnie, if you ever need any help with anything, just give me a call.”
Miles opened his jacket and pulled out two Cubans. Passing one to Alonso, he said, “Taking over the Cavalry Club was my idea.”
Alonso accepted the cigar. “I told him about Krill’s obsession with prestige, about the Cavalry Club and the Vitruvian Society. This evil grin spread across his face, and he said, ‘Lonnie, we’re going to run a con.’ The plan was always to get Krill to hand over the money he thought was an initiation fee to join Vitruvian and then funnel that money into ProbeX Labs stock.”
Miles lifted his wine glass. “All while providing a poorly concealed path the SEC could trace back to Krill.”
Evan asked, “So everything at the Ridgeland lab: downloading the research, smuggling out the sample was all done intentionally to get Krill to buy out the rival lab?”
Alonso answered, “It’s Krill’s M.O. I knew if I dropped the right breadcrumbs: a struggling company that could be had for a song, a threat to what would be his most profitable drug, Krill would do what he always does, crush the little guy.”
Nathan said, “And meanwhile, Krill was unwittingly and illegally investing in ProbeX, the company he was about to acquire.”
Cam refilled Alonso’s wine glass. “That was a work of art.”
Alonso toasted Cam. “Miles deserves all the credit. I’m more of a guns-blazing kind of guy. Miles has finesse.”
Chat pushed his plate back and leaned forward. “So, what’s next for Alonso Mitchell?”
Alonso smiled. “We thought relocation was a good first step.”
Steady put his arm around Very. “Mr. Mitchell is going to move to Beaufort.”
Alonso shook his head. “Thinking about it anyway. I’m fifty-two years old. I think it’s high time for a career change.”
When dessert was served, Steady slipped away from the table and wandered out to the back porch. Miles and Alonso were down on the patio smoking their cigars. Laughter surrounded him as Nathan appeared at his side.
“Dishes are done. Children are asleep. All is right with the world.”
“Our definition of that has certainly changed over the years.”
“Or maybe we just never knew what it meant,” Nathan said.
Steady snapped his fingers. “Yes, I think that’s it.”
Side-by-side, the two men stared out into the night.
“Thank you, Nathan.”
“For what?”
“You know.”
Nathan clapped him on the back. “Sometimes, we all need a nudge. That’s why we’re here, Steady. We’re a family. A patchwork family but a family nonetheless.”
“Shall we find Very and Emily?”
“Always.” Nathan turned and walked back into the house.
Steady looked up at the starry night and smiled. Yes, all was right with the world.
South Island, South Carolina
December 1
Very and Steady took a walk on the beach. The sun was low in the rosy western sky, and the breeze at their backs propelled them forward. Tilly ran ahead, frolicking in the surf.
Steady looked casual. At least, he thought he did. He was wearing a long-sleeved gray thermal and jeans. Funny thing: when Very moved in with him, his collection of his grandfather’s Hawaiian shirts mysteriously disappeared.
He and Very had been living together for three months. Every day had been better than the one before it. Armand Krill was in prison, and his company faced even more scrutiny. Dr. Theodora Baker had not been seen since the day she disappeared with those ominous government officials. Very had left Parasol and started her own business. She opened a private evidence lab helping law enforcement and fighting for justice every day. She was beautiful and brainy and exuberant and perfect. And somehow, she had chosen him. His grandmother would say they were like apple pie and cheddar cheese; they shouldn’t go together, but somehow they did. They still pushed each other’s buttons, but now it was this heated foreplay that invariably ended in bed. Or on the kitchen table or the deck couch or the stairs or, one time, in the cockpit of his Cessna.
