They waited in a comfortable silence while she watched to see if anyone had followed them. A car pulled down the street. In it sat man and a woman. In the backseat were two young children, both in car seats.
“Do you want to get married?” she asked.
“You mean, like, now? Next week? Whaddya have in mind?”
She smiled. “Road’s clear. You can drive.”
He pulled out, continued toward her parents’. “Yes, marriage. How ‘bout you?”
“I would love to be married, someday. It’s funny to think back… when I was in college, I became obsessed with wedding gowns. I’d picked out a few, but never tried them on. I thought it was bad luck, which was crazy because I’m not superstitious like that. Well, except if I see a black cat, especially on Halloween, I think that’s good luck. Like serious good luck.”
He parked in front of her parents’ home. “You okay?” He turned toward her.
“I’ve never asked anyone about marriage, so I got a little wiggly.”
“Lemme see that wiggle.”
She did a half-wiggle, half-shimmy, and he laughed. “Nice.”
Be brave. Tell him.
“If this is it—and my gut says it is—we can get married and start a family whenever we want.”
Concerned she’d said too much, she stilled.
His lips spread into a grin, the happiness on his face touching the deepest part of her. The part that longed for that forever connection. For the person she’d call her other half.
“I’m all-in,” he said.
“Thanks for letting me be me,” was all she said.
“That’s the only Sydney I want. I got you, and I can handle whatever you throw my way.”
Her gaze stayed locked on his for several precious seconds, but it was time to get real. They needed information, and she hoped her mom could help.
Sydney glanced out the window. “It looks like they’ve got company. The two cars in the driveway aren’t theirs.”
They exited the SUV, hurried to the front door. She keyed her way inside. Voices from the dining room caught her ear and she stopped in the foyer.
When she turned around, Tank put his finger to his lips tosilence her, then he pressed his mouth to her ear and whispered, “Gabriel’s in there.”
What the hell?
“They need to be eliminated,” said a man Sydney didn’t recognize.
“I agree,” her mom said.
Ohmygod, what is going on?
“We have to be very careful,” said the man who sounded like Gabriel. “This has to be a clean job with no way to trace or track.”
“Agreed,” said her dad. “And it needs to beallof them. If anyone gets out, it’s a fail.”
“I hear you on that, Mark,” said the unidentified man.
Feeling lightheaded, Sydney grabbed Tank’s arm to steady herself. Then, she sneezed. It came on so fast, she couldn’t stop it, couldn’t muffle it either.
Silence.
