"Let's get you cleaned up before you go in there and scare her, okay?" Ellie said to her when Cain stood up. She took her to the bathroom and gently wiped Cain's face with a towel. "Emma's a lucky woman," Ellie told her as she rinsed the towel in cold water again. "It's not often that a woman knows she's loved this much, but you've never kept it from her. That's what saved her today, and what will sustain her as she deals with the aftermath."

"Thanks," Cain said, feeling so tired she wanted to curl up beside Emma and sleep for a week. She stepped into the room and locked eyes with Emma. To Cain she appeared lost.

"I'll leave you two alone for a minute,then I'll come in and talk to you together," Ellie said and stepped out.

"I'm so sorry, la.s.s," Cain said, going to the bed and taking Emma's hands in hers. "I'm sorry that the darkness of my life touched you like this."

"I knew you'd find me. Juan and Anthony kept taunting me and telling me you'd never figure it out in time, but I knew. Just like that day with Danny, you made it before I could get hurt."

"Shelby found you before I did."

"She didn't tell you where she was, though, didshe ?" Emma brought their hands up and kissed the back of Cain's. "You figured it out and you came for me. There's nothing else that means anything to me but that."

"Did Ellie talk to you?"

"If this one's a boy, I want to name him William, and I have a feeling it's going to be a boy." Emma kissed her hand again and tugged her forward to lie with her on the bed.

"What makes you so sure?" Cain asked, feeling the same relief as she had in the hall when Ellie had told her that Emma would be all right and so would the baby, with plenty of bed rest and peace.

Emma stayed on her back and smiled at Cain as she propped her head in her hand and placed the other one on her hip. "Because I've given birth to two Casey children, and this one strikes me as a William, but we'll only call him that when he's in trouble. The rest of the time he'll go by the name Billy Cain Casey, a charmer who'll skip through a blessed life because of what happened today. Sort of like two other Casey siblings I know and love."

"What happened today is something that won't be repeated, if I can help it."

"I know that, and he knows that." Emma took Cain's hand and placed it on her middle. "He's a Casey through and through, which means he's a fighter. He can't help ithe's ours."

"I love you, and you're no slouch in the fighter department." Cain kissed both cheeks and gently tweaked the tip of her nose. "And your number-one son is going to think you're the coolest with two black eyes." She tried to joke it off, but the sight of Emma so banged up was tearing at her heart.

"Can you do something for me?" Emma whispered.

"Anything you want is yours."

"Find him," she said with authority. "Find Juan and kill him. I don't care how you do it, or when you do it, but I do want you to tell me that it's done. I want him dead."

"That's my promise to you." Cain stayed until Ellie and Sam came by again and talked to them about Emma staying in the hospital for a few days, as a precaution. After that, Cain posted a man outside the door and Nick inside, in the chair she'd been using, so she could go check on Merrick.

Katlin was asleep in the chair next to the bed holding her lover's hand, but Merrick's eyes were open. "I owe you my life," Cain whispered to her after she kissed her forehead. "Thank you for taking care of what's most precious to me."

Merrick shook her head, not able to talk yet. From her expression Cain could tell she didn't believe her. "When you get out of here, you're coming to stay with us until you're back on your feet. The day that happens, Emma will expect you at eight as usual with that surly att.i.tude in place. She wanted me to make sure and mention that last part to you." Merrick finally smiled and nodded. "You take care and I'll be by tomorrow to check on you. You bear no blame for what happened today." Cain shook her head and placed her hand against Merrick's cheek. "You did your job, got her out alive, and took a bullet for her. I owe you whatever you ask."

"We just want to do our jobs and be happy together." Katlin voiced what Merrick could not.

"And you'll have that, with every blessing I can give you." Cain kissed them both before going down to stay with Emma for the night.

The kids and Ross came for a visit, and he asked for what Emma had requested, adding that he wanted Juan's head on a spike for what he'd almost done to his daughter.

"What are you thinking about, mobster?" Emma asked in the middle of the night. The hospital was quiet and Cain had taken her up on her invitation to hold her. "I promise you won't hurt me if you fall asleep."

"I was thinking about my mother, and I was enjoying watching you sleep."

"What about your mother?"

"That day you came for dinner and met my family for the first time, she told me something that stuck with me." Cain pulled the covers back and placed their hands over Emma's heart. "She told me she wished my Da had lived longer so he could've met you. I'd dated plenty before you, and she'd never said that about any of them before, not that she'd met of any of them at Sunday lunch. No one was ever in the same category as you."

"Why she'd say it about me?" Emma asked, turning on her side slightly.

"My mother wasn't what most would call an educated woman, but she was smarter than most people I've known. She figured something out that day, and because of it she said you two had a lot in common."

"You've never told me that."

"With everything we've been through in the years we've been together, it slipped my mind," Cain teased her. "She said you both had brains and a love for her child. You loved me and I'd never be able to live without what you brought to my life. She said you made me chase you until you caught me, like she'd done to one formidable Dalton Casey years before."

"She thinks I trapped you?" Emma laughed.

"Traps are things most want to get out of, my love, and that couldn't be further from the truth. No, I think she meant you showed me a life full of the possibilities that comes only when you accept that your other half has found you. She wanted me to embrace the chance you were giving me, and that way she could rest in peace."

"You did, and your mom would be proud of the life you've built. I love you and I'm looking forward to years of late-night talks with you."

Cain held Emma as she drifted off to sleep again and left her for a while in the morning as Lou returned with the news she'd asked for.

"They've disappeared like mist in a strong wind. The feds have warrants out on both Juan and Anthony, and Rodolfo asked for a sit-down at your earliest convenience. And to show you he's working in good faith, he promised to deliver Juan to you if he finds him first. Juan acted without his permission, and he said if he can do anything for Emma, just call."

Cain nodded and ma.s.saged the back of her neck."And the rest?"

"In the excitement of yesterday, Remi and Ramon let Nunzio go, after a quick call to Hector Delarosa to tell him Nunzio didn't have the capital to pull off whatever his father had talked to him about."

Lou pressed his back to the cinderblock wall and sighed. "The last they saw of Nunzio he was boarding a plane for New York, probably for his father's funeral."

"That's where he is," Remi said as she walked up. "I would've been here sooner, but I didn't want to get in your way. How's Emma?"

"We've been worried sick," Dallas added.

Cain told her, "I'm sure she's awake and wondering where I am, so go on in."

Remi followed Cain to the waiting room down the hall next to the window where visitors could see the new babies. "We've got a lot of loose ends," Remi said.

"We do, and I'm not going to stop until I find Juan Luis and rip his b.a.l.l.s off with my bare hands, before I gut him and strangle him with his entrails. No matter what it takes or what it costs, I'm going to find him and kill him."

"Remember we're partners now, and you won't be searching alone.

I'm here to help you, as are my father and brother. The load's not all on you anymore, Cain."

"My priority right now is Emma, and the baby she's carrying. The rest of it won't mean s.h.i.t if anything happens to her."

"We'll take care of business or anything else you need from us."

"I'm only going to take the time I need to make sure Emma's fine at home, then we'll work together to make sure our problems aren't so troublesome in the future." Cain stood and walked her back to the room. When they opened the door, Emma was talking and laughing with Dallas.

Wherever Juan had run, Cain hoped he didn't stay hidden for long, and he wouldn't. Men like Juan were dangerous but they were predictable. They couldn't help but try again, whether they were able to succeed or not, and that was always their downfall. She watched Emma and smiled when she winked at her but was just as engrossed in whatever Dallas was telling her.

Juan would try again, but this time when the snake poked his head from his hole, Cain would be waiting to cut it off. No matter how long it took, she'd be ready, but for now she intended to enjoy her friends, her children, and most importantly the woman whom she chased until she'd been caught. "Mum, you were right about that,"

she whispered to the heavens. "Emma was my fate, but more importantly, she's the whole of what's good in my life."

Emma held her hand up, motioning her to come closer. "I'll let no one take from me what's mine. That's a lesson you and Da started teaching me, but Emma's completed my education." Happiness was something you accepted like a gift, and after Cain took Emma's hand and sat on the edge of the bed, she leaned forward and kissed her.

"I love when you do that," Emma said to her with a relaxed smile.

"Sometimes I need to show you what's in here." Cain tapped over her heart. "I'm just glad you're inclined to see."

Right at that moment it's all that mattered. Cain would gladly face the rest when she had to, but right now the ones she loved were safe.

She had a lot to celebrate, but she wouldn't give in to the complete joy of it until the black cloud looming on the horizon was gone.

end.