“Just tell me what you remember now, and I’ll come back later for the rest. First, I apologize for my officers. They thought it would take more force to move you to take down the suspect and didn’t expect such a fight to get him down.”
Cas makes a little humph, from beside me and I catch my hand in his.
“How did you know it was Kit?” I ask. “How were you all even there?”
Patrick gestures toward Caleb. “Caleb figured it out. That’s all him.”
Bishop and Patrick both turn to Caleb, who just gives a small smile.“Sorry I didn’t get there earlier. I just finally figured out why everything connected back to you. Because you were the one he was after, not Cas. I started looking at it like that and everything made sense.”
“You have to check the set, his plan was to get an exclusive on me and Cas, and in exchange, he would undo certain mishaps he had engineered on the set. Things where Cas would get hurt.”
“We are on it,” Caleb says.
“Where were you going when you left the building?” Patrick asks, and I give them the entire run down of what happened. All the things Kit said.
Patrick assures me they know about the cabin in the woods and there are agents already on their way there and to the set.
“Thank you, Bish, Caleb,” I manage, hooking my hand into Cas’s. He’s been snuggly under my good arm.
Bish smiles, Quinn right beside him. “I just made a phone call or two, that’s all. Caleb is the real hero.”
I hold my hand out to Caleb and he shakes it, and he and Cas share a long, silent exchange. I’ll have to ask about that later.
With the edges of the pain dulled, I drift, content to be still and let Cas hold me. People move around my house, but the lights stay low. And I think I could almost fall asleep here with Cas.
Perrin sits down, and Jack joins him, and I eye him warily.
“You okay, brother?” I ask Perrin, who drifts closer to check the immobilizing sling like he can’t help it.
“I’m just fine, Bee,” he says, pulling the warm blanket back over me. “We will go soon, you need rest. Let Cas take care of you.”
“But...” I protest, the worries from my office coming back to me. I remember why it didn’t seem right for Perrin to be there. “That was similar to. . .” I drift off, not wanting to say aloud it was similar to his own experiences with a former lover.
Perrin shrugs. “It was, in a way. But, no issues. Farrow didn’t even growl when I brought her here. I think she is more worried about you than me.” He straightens from where he has been crouched by my side, Jack standing beside him. Perrin laughs as Farrow doesn’t move from her position at my feet.
Perrin stares at Jack for a long moment. “Maybe I really am ready for this baby.”
Jack’s face softens, in a way that says he knew Perrin was ready, but he’s glad Perrin also got there on his own.
Instead of saying anything, his gaze is glued to Perrin as Perrin fishes out his ringing cell from his jeans, hand finding Jack’s without his eyes leaving the screen.
“We need to take this,” he says, his voice going breathless and accented as he pulls Jack away, toward my study.
Matt and Theo have been doing what they do best, which is making everyone feel at home, including me, in my own house. They drift over, and we are all sitting close, even Ellen and Rita.
When Perrin and Jack walk back into the living room, Jack’s eyes are red-rimmed, and Perrin looks completely overjoyed and terrified at the same time. Like he found Aladdin’s lamp and realizes he can have everything he wants.
“We have to go,” Jack says, unable to look anywhere but at his husband. “That was the agency, and it looks like our baby is being born. Tonight.”
There is a crack of silence so loud and so full it bursts into laughs and claps of delight in an instant.
“What do you need?” Ellen asks. “We will meet you in the morning, you all take off.”
Perrin and Jack still look at each other.“We just need to be there, we want to be part of the immediate bonding after birth, if possible, but she’s in Denver. So. . .”
Patrick grins, twirling his keys. “I’m heading in that direction, too. How about an FBI escort? Get you there faster?”
Jack and Perrin finally focus on Patrick. “That would be amazing,” Jack says. “Thank you. We have bags already packed in my vehicle.”
