Epilogue 2
“Well. Shit.”
-Cat
The party is in full swing when Catalina Saber’s phone vibrates. She’s been recovering in Flamingo Cove at her parents’ house for weeks since the crash that trapped her inside a car. She said nothing to them about her nightmares, but they have to know.
Cat wakes up in a cold sweat every morning, gasping for air. Her rational brain knows she made it out alive. But in the terror of the nightmares, she is trapped and can’t escape.
Her phone vibrates again.
She ignores it.
Nothing good can come out of someone calling her on a Sunday.
Cat takes in her family, milling around the latest happy couple. It’s about fucking time Cam got her head out of her ass and married that fool.
But, even though she’s happy for Cam, and all of her siblings, for that matter, it doesn’t mean Cat’s ready to take the plunge next.
There once was a time when she believed in happy ever after.
That ship sailed.
And sailed again.
And sailed. And sailed. And sailed.
Cat made peace a long time ago with the fact that she’d never get married.
She is good marriage boot camp, though.
When her phone buzzed a third time, she picked it up and yelled: “What?”
“Saber?”
The person on the other line wasn’t a car warranty or hotel timeshare call. It was her boss, Thalia Anders.
“Shit, sorry, Thal,” Cat murmured.
“No harm. No foul,” Thalia didn’t laugh the way Cat thought she might. “I realize I’m calling on a Sunday, but it’s an emergency.”
Cat immediately goes into business mode. “I understand. What’cha got?”
“The convoy transporting Dakota Helfinger and Jeffrey Rose to jail for their trials was hit,” Thalia sucks in a breath. “They’re loose. But that’s not the worst part.”
Icy cold dread slithers over Cat’s skin. “Tell me.”
“Rector and Donepudi were the Marshals assigned to the transport,” Thalia clears her throat. “They were killed during the attack.”
Cat is suddenly on the floor. She doesn’t remember falling on her ass when Thalia delivered the bad news. “What?”
“Rector and Donepudi are dead, and we have two inmates on the run,” Thalia repeats.
“How?”
“Don’t know. But, I need you to track them down,” Thalia’s voice turns to a whisper. “I’m going to send someone to help you, but trust no one else. This has to be an inside job.”
“I can’t believe this.”