“Anna! Are you okay?” Agent Hammond takes Agent Parker from Ethan and Will and throws her against the brick wall, twisting her hands behind her back.
“Find me something to tie her hands together,” he says to Will and Ethan.
Will grabs an old piece of rope near a Dumpster and Agent Hammond binds her hands together behind her back.
Ethan and I both run to each other at the same time. I throw myself at Ethan and he grunts in pain. He hugs me back with his one good arm while the other is tucked away in a sling.
“Sorry! I just didn’t think I would ever see you again.”
He digs his hand in the back of my hair and says, “Me, too. God, Anna, when I saw her pointing that gun at you, I didn’t think we would make it in time.”
“Okay, Ethan, move back. My turn.” And then Will hugs me tight. “I’m still mad at you.”
I laugh. “I’m okay with that.”
“Okay, give me my girl back,” Ethan says.
And then I’m back in Ethan’s arms.
“It’s over. Finally. Forever.”
Agent Hammond starts walking a very pissed-off Agent Parker back toward Ursuline. “I need to call Agent Williams,” he says. “Tell him we got her.”
There is a crowd surrounding the convent and lots of speculation of what has been going on inside here. They would all be so disappointed to know that it had nothing to do with the supernatural or vampires or any other crazy thing they will try to come up with. There are local cops and federal agents all over the place. Thankfully, Agent Parker has been taken away.
“Anna, we’re going to have to go back to that hotel and walk them through what happened,” Agent Hammond says.
I shiver at the thought of seeing all those dead bodies again. “Is it…like it was when we left?”
He nods. “I’m sorry you’ll have to see that again, but you won’t have to stay long. I promise.”
“And I’ll be with you,” Ethan says and looks at Agent Hammond like he dares him to say any different.
A few hours later, all the loose ends start coming together. Agent Parker is spilling her guts hoping for some leniency. She said Noah was kidnapped so they could control Agent Williams. He was also told to go to a specific hotel in Mandeville and wait to be contacted. He did exactly as he was told. The plan was for him to be led to the scene where Vega and Hammond would be dead. Thomas would have planted something there to lead him to Ursuline for further proof of Hammond’s guilt. Or so they hoped.
Agent Williams is beating himself up for trusting Parker. I thought he was going to kill her when he got here, but he settled down rather quickly once Noah arrived. Someone made an anonymous call to the New Orleans Police Department telling them where Noah was. I’m pretty sure it was Tyler, but we’ll never know for sure.
Tyler is gone. Really gone. I told them everything I knew, including the names on the fake passports. An agent went to the airport and sure enough there was a Rafael Costa who left the airport. The problem is, the records showed him leaving on five different planes, in five different directions. Maybe I didn’t give Tyler enough credit.
Ethan, Will, and I are sitting on the curb of the back parking lot, waiting for them to let us go. Dad and the Landrys should be here any minute. I’m sure they drove like bats out of hell from Arkansas.
There was no sign of anyone watching the island, but they did find several webcams scattered throughout the campground.
We’ve been getting all of our information from Agent Hammond. He’s been back and forth all evening, relaying information, and it’s twisted how deep Thomas’s plan was. Some agents went to Baton Rouge earlier and were able to use one of the trackers to flush out a man there who was watching Catherine’s family’s house. They are questioning him now, but it seems he was hired just for that job and doesn’t even know by whom. Dad picked up Catherine and Teeny on the way here.
I watch Hammond talk to Agent Williams, and I say to Ethan, “I feel sorry for Agent Williams. Do you think he’s going to get in trouble for not telling anyone what was going on?”
Ethan shrugs. “I don’t know. I’m sure there will be some sort of internal investigation.”
One of the cops walks to where we’re sitting—he’s holding a small bag in his hand. He hands it to me and says, “This was found inside and we’re not sure what it is. Agent Williams asked me to show it to you to see if you knew.”
He hands me the bag and I open it. It’s the letters, the pocket watch, and the framed photograph of Henry. “These are my sister’s things.”
The cop waits, like I’m going to give it back to him, and when he realizes I’m not, he finally walks away.
“Teeny’s gonna be thrilled when she sees this,” Ethan says. “I was already prepared to lose a fortune buying it back.”
Not caring who’s looking, I pull Ethan in for a deep kiss. “I love that you would have gone back for that stuff for her.”
