“Hang on, darlin’,” Travis insisted.
“Dani?” she whispered. “Is Dani—?”
“Safe. In the truck.”
“Alive?” she choked out, her heart leaping, relief washing over her.
“Yes. Alive. Safe!”
Tears of relief filled her eyes. “How did you find me?” she cried, the roar of the fire behind them filling her ears.
“Dani was held here at this cabin. Nate knew the area. You trained Atlas well, and the forest service helped out. I’ll tell you about it later. Where’s the maniac?”
“Inside.”
Travis looked over his shoulder to a cabin that was fully engulfed, fire crackling and crawling toward the night like fingers from hell. “Good.”
Over the roar of conflagration she heard sirens approaching. It was too late for Ryan. This time, she was certain, he’d died. Gasping, sobbing, clinging to Travis, she started to shake and cry. It was over. Her daughter was safe. Travis was here and finally, finally Ryan, the abuser, the murderer was dead. At his own hand. She looked back to the burning cabin. The only noise was the hungry roar of the fire. Ryan’s screams had died with him.
“He can’t hurt you any more,” Travis said as if reading her mind. “Never again. I swear.” Shannon clung to him and kissed his lips. When she pulled her head away, he grinned his slow, sexy smile. “I’ve got you, darlin’,” he said, a catch in his voice as he carried her along a path away from the burning cabin. “I’ve got you and I’m never gonna let you go again.”
She looked up and saw Nate and Dani standing at the side of the truck. Sirens shrilled as huge trucks, lights flashing, bore down on them. The girl took a step forward.
“Dani!” Shannon cried, her heart aching at the sight of her daughter.
At that moment, the teenager started running forward, racing through the brush and dry weeds. Through the sheen of her own tears, Shannon saw that Dani, too, was crying, tracks of tears staining her dirty cheeks. She flung herself at her father. “I’m so sorry!” she cried, her arms surrounding both of them. “I’m so sorry…Shannon.”
Shannon sniffed and nearly laughed at the absurdity of Dani’s guilt. “Shhh,” she whispered, her throat clogged. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“But, I—”
“You found me. Brought your dad and me together.”
Travis gently disengaged his daughter. He started to carry Shannon to a waiting ambulance, but Shannon reached for Dani’s hand. Dani held on tightly. Mother and daughter stared at each other, hungry for the sight of each other’s faces.
Her throat thick with emotion, Shannon said, “I hope, if you’ll give me a chance, we can all make up for lost time.”
Dani nodded jerkily.
Then Shannon looked up at Travis, a smile trembling on her lips. He kissed her fervently.
“We have a future together,” he said in an unsteady voice.
“All of us,” Shannon whispered.
Dani didn’t respond, but she refused to let go of Shannon’s hand, and that was the loudest answer of all.
Epilogue
Christmas Eve
“And so this is Christmas…” John Lennon’s voice played through
the new speakers, swirling around the decorated tree and into the rooms of the new cottage by the lake.
It was Christmas Eve morning, over two months since the night Ryan Carlyle died. Since then Shannon had learned that Ryan had been the son of Blanche Johnson, the woman who had given him up for adoption at birth, the woman whom he’d slain. Blanche had also raised a second son, another murderer who had been on a killing spree in Oregon last winter.
It was a long, terrible horror. And now it was over.