Page 70 of Taken By Raider Kings

“The Tribes will make sure he meets dead ends.Cullen told me so.”I’m not sure how I feel about that part.That’s someone else’s body in there.

“Damn bears.”Zach sighed, shifted in the seat.

She watched as the mourners began moving away, the knot of people fraying, coming apart.Margo walked with her head down, the hankie balled in one fist.Detective Andreeson stood watching, even after the minister left.

He was still there when the backhoe lumbered into place and started filling in the hole, too.

That’s Sophie Harris’s grave.She was cold for a moment; themajirmoved restlessly, their voices rising in a chorus of comfort.

Andreeson finally turned sharply.Walked away, his shoulders hunched.Sophie crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself.For a moment, the feeling of being invisible, inconsequential, nameless, or dead—she couldn’t quite figure out which—was overwhelming.

Who am I now?

Zach’s fingers touched her shoulder.He didn’t squeeze, just rested his hand, warmth spreading from the touch.

Andreeson stopped, his head rising as if he’d just had a good idea.

Or remembered something.Themajirswirled, warning her.

I know who I am.“Time to go,” Sophie whispered.

Zach’s touch vanished.He turned the key; the van roused quietly, slipped into gear, crept forward.Andreeson turned.Fresh rain spotted the windshield.

This narrow, one-lane paved strip turned toward an exit onto Alderson Avenue.Sophie twisted in her seat, watching as Andreeson looked…

…the other way.By the time the detective turned to his left, the vehicle would already be gone behind a screen of dark, soaked junipers.Still, she held her breath until wet greenery shielded them.There were tinted windows and she wouldn’t be visible at this distance, anyway, but still.

“We’ll pick up the others and head out of town.”Zach turned the wipers on.“Do you know where you want to go?”

“Kidnapping me again.”But she smiled, and when he glanced at her, he was smiling, too.It did wonders for his face.“I don’t know, Zach.Anywhere’s fine as long so it’s not here.I don’t think I ever want to come back here again.”

It was funny, in a way.It should have felt like she was leaving home; she wouldn’t even get to see Lucy’s headstone, apparently still being carved.

Instead she felt strangely light, even though her heart ached.Was this what freedom felt like?

“You got it, shaman.South, then.Nice and warm.I’ll see you on the beach in a bikini.”

Sophie settled, propped her head on seat back.“I don’t wear bikinis.”Never even went swimming.Because of Marc.Because of the bruises.

“Huh.”He sounded more disappointed than she would have thought possible.

Sophie closed her eyes.The van’s engine hummed, its tires shushing on wet roadway.Themajirhummed, chirped.And beside her, Zach tapped the wheel as he drove, a rhythm of deep thought.He was planning, anticipating.Being responsible.

“But you never know,” she said finally.“Anything can happen.”

“Amen to that,” he said, and Sophie laughed.

finis