Twisted and Tied (Marshals 4)

“I’ve had that done. It’s not enjoyable,” Ian told her.

“I could have lived my whole life without knowing that,” Aruna told him.

As we sat in the boarding area and Janet prepared to breastfeed Cody while Catherine draped his baby blanket over the top of baby and boob, Janet started to shake.

“What?” I asked, seeing the fear flood her features.

“I just—what if cops come and surround us, and Ned gets them to take Cody, and—”

“That’s why I took the cops with me when I picked him up,” Ian explained. “That way if any new paperwork comes across their desk, they know that the restraining order trumps it, and they have my contact information for questions. They’ve also got the number for Min’s lawyer friend who filed the papers for you.”

She inhaled quickly. “Okay. Okay.”

“So a divorce?” I asked Janet. “You’re sure?”

“It feels like the only answer right this second,” she said, taking a breath. “But I guess thinking about it from his perspective, he might truly think that me not wanting to leave the baby for even a dinner out is me being depressed.”

I was quiet, just listening.

“I mean, he might actually be worried about me, and all of this was him showing his love,” she conceded. “But if you guys could have seen him yesterday, looking at his mother instead of me, taking his prompts from her…. I can’t… I can’t have that. I’ve always known I was second to her, but when I saw her nodding, and then the way she smiled at me as they were dragging me away from my baby—there’s no way.”

“Don’t worry anymore,” Ian murmured, and we all looked at him because his voice had gone cold in a way that was a little scary. Every now and then, I was reminded Ian was trained to kill because… every now and then… it slithered to the surface, and it was there in the slow blink of his eyes, the sneer on his lips, and the languid sprawl of his body that could come, instantly, to deadly movement.

“Okay,” Janet agreed, eyes big as she stared at him.

On the plane, Janet passed Cody to Aruna, took a shuddering breath, lifted the armrest between us, leaned into me, and was out seconds later. Aruna gave Cody some water during takeoff because we needed his ears to pop.

“I think we should go into business doing this,” Aruna said brightly. We sat three and three, Aruna and Catherine next to a stranger who appeared pleased to see Catherine until he saw the ice rink on her ring finger. “Rescuing people, saving kids.”

“Miro already does that,” Ian said hoarsely, sliding a hand up my thigh.

“Oh? What are you doing?” Catherine wanted to know.

So I explained about Custodial WITSEC on the ride home, and I noted Catherine’s huge smile along with Aruna’s.

“What?” I rumbled.

“Oh, honey,” Catherine almost squeaked, all choked up, “that’s like the perfect job for you. You’ll be so good with the kids because you’ll totally get where they’re coming from.”

“I know,” Aruna whimpered. “He’s gonna save all the babies.”

“It’s not gonna be all sunshine and roses,” I protested.

“Wow, that boss of yours,” Catherine went on, completely ignoring me. “Can he spot talent or what?”

“I know,” Aruna agreed. “And he’s yummy too. Remember how great he looked at their wedding in that suit that fit like a glove?”

“Ohmygod, that’s right,” Catherine agreed, nodding, eyes wide. “So hot. If I wasn’t married, I’d tap that.”

It was horrifying to think of Kage in any kind of sexual anything. “That’s disgusting,” I assured them, and when I glanced over at Ian, he looked just as revolted.

“Oh, Ian got a new job too,” Aruna announced. “He’s in charge now, aren’t you, bunny?”

“Bunny?” Ian repeated, looking pale.

“Tell me all about it,” Catherine purred, elbow on the armrest, looking at him like he was the second coming.

And Ian, who always found Catherine overbearing, found that being the center of her attention really wasn’t all that bad.

WHEN WE got to O’Hare and exited the terminal, Aruna pushing Cody in his stroller—the way it all hooked together was beyond me, but apparently Ian had it down after having only done it once before—we found Min waiting. She was looking for us, and when we got closer, she put her hand over her mouth and started crying. Janet was a go with the waterworks then too.

They ran to each other, arms out, and collapsed to the floor together, sobbing, laughing, hugging the daylights out of each other, and generally making a spectacle of themselves in public as people had to walk around them.

I saw Jensen standing off to the side, and when I waved, he returned the gesture but moved for Ian, hand out, ready to shake. I was surprised Ian hugged him instead, though briefly, before they turned to watch the wailing women.