EPILOGUE
By the time it was done, she wanted a week’s long shower, she wanted to sleep for a year.
Ella-Loo’s recounting didn’t vary by much. It might not have been as romantic as Darryl’s, might not have included rides on shooting stars, but she rolled it all out.
Some was fear – fear for herself at the idea of being in a place where someone could do to her what she had done to others. And some was her sick and terrible need for the man who’d flipped that murderous switch inside her.
In the end, with Ella-Loo fighting the restraints, cursing Eve, screaming at the federal officers who hauled her up and out, Eve kept her promise.
They pulled Darryl out of his interview room at the same time.
And they saw each other.
“Darryl, Darryl, help me. Don’t let them hurt me.”
He fought like a madman, screaming for her. “Ella-Loo! I love you, Ella-Loo! I’ll find you. They won’t keep us apart.”
“I love you, Darryl! I’ll wait for you. I’ll wait forever!”
The feds pulled them off in opposite directions, with the corridor echoing with their desperate declarations of love.
Zweck held out a hand for Eve’s. “Lieutenant, anytime you need anything from me. Anything, anytime, you’ve got it.”
“Appreciate it. I’d like to know where they end up.”
“Worlds apart, Lieutenant. That much I can promise.”
When he walked off, Eve pressed her fingers to her eyes. When she dropped her hands, she looked straight at Roarke.
“You’re still here?”
“I’ve come and gone a few times, but yes.” When he laid his hands on her shoulders, she gestured him into interview. Shut the door.
Then let herself lean, let herself be held.
“You always think, this is the worst. It can’t be worse than this. You have to think it, or you can’t do the job. You have to think it even knowing there’s going to be worse. So far, this is the worst. Hearing them tell it, how they enjoyed it, how they needed it, how they got off on it – and that was how they defined love.”
“You abdicated to the FBI, did the work and handed the result to them. That’s love. For the victims, for justice, for the job. And this is love.”
He drew her in again, laid his lips on hers. A long kiss, gentle and kind that brought the sting of tears to her eyes.
“I know it. Helps to hear it, but I know it. Need to pull it together.”
“I want to take you home.”
“Not yet. I need to contact Kuper’s mother, tell her we got them.”
“Of course. Yes.”
“Maybe help her close a door. And I want to check on Campbell.”
“She’s alive. Both Mira and Whitney have been checking. She’s quite a fighter.” He drew her back, rubbed her shoulders. “She’s alive, and her chances are good now. She’s not clear, but her chances are good. And she’s not alone. She has friends and family with her, as does the boy. Mulligan.”
“Good, okay, good. That’s a bright spot in this muck. And I’ve got another. You should come with me. You could use it, too.”
“I like bright spots.”
She started to open the door, looked back at him. “Whatever came before, whatever comes after, I know what love is because of you.”