I snorted.

Mina had explained that Tunnel really wanted a certain song to be played at his funeral, and had nearly died laughing when we heard Another One Bites the Dust roll through the speakers.

Some of the older folks in the crowd found the song horrific; me, I found it perfect.

It perfectly expressed Tunnel's love for life flawlessly.

"That's Tunnel for you," Viddy said as she placed a bag of sliced cheese into the fridge beside the other four.

"What got to me was the twenty one gun salute. When Sienna started calling for her daddy when she heard the gun shots, it d.a.m.n near killed me," I said sadly.

They all agreed with me.

h.e.l.l, even a few of the men wiped a tear or two away after that one.

The door behind us opened, causing us all to turn and watch as Cleo walked into the kitchen.

He looked tired.

His eyes were all for me.

"You ready to go, babe?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, just let me finish putting all this up, and then I'll meet you outside? Okay?"

He nodded, ruffled Viddy's hair, and left.

It didn't take me long to finish.

Each of us took some of the nearly forty bags of food with us. Mina had already left with Sienna, and her own ten bags of food.

"Alright, ladies. I'll see y'all later," I called my goodbye.

A chorus of bye's were called to my back, and I lifted my hand with two sacks of food, and started towards where I heard Cleo's voice.

I found him in the main room, standing with DP and Cord as he told them about Tunnel.

"He sounded like a good man," DP said softly.

"He was," I agreed.

They turned and smiled at me.

"I'm ready," I stated the obvious.

They each walked towards me, divesting me of my bags.

"Y'all staying with us?" I asked as I walked between the two men, with Cleo at my front, leading the way.

They each nodded. "Yeah, the hotels were booked solid. So it's couch and air mattress night at the Caruso residence," Cord said dryly.

I gave him a wink. "We can build a fort in the living room and have a pillow fight."

Cleo gave me a look over his shoulder and I zipped my mouth up tight.

Once we reached Cleo's truck, he opened the door for me and stowed the multiple bags in the floorboard.

The other two men got into another vehicle, a few car lengths away, and drove out of the parking lot without waiting.

"Where are they off to in such a hurry?" I asked in surprise.

"Beer. Lots and lots of beer. This day calls for getting drunk," Cleo explained as he walked around the front of the truck and got in.

It did, too. Especially after hearing from the cops that the fire that had taken Tunnel's life, had also taken an elderly man's life in the apartment below my own.

The fire marshal had explained what had happened quite adequately.

It'd been a nothing but luck on Vanessa's part.

We'd never know how exactly she'd gotten to Tunnel, only that she had, and then set the place on fire as she walked out.

Paired with the fact that every single piece of my furniture was old wood, it'd only acted as extra accelerant, fueling the fire until it raged out of control.

Tunnel never stood a chance, and surprisingly, neither had I.

It was only by a divine stroke of fate that left me alive today.

In all honesty, I should be in that morgue beside Tunnel.

However, I knew that I'd lived for a reason, and I was going to make Tunnel's life mean something. Make his death meaningful.

Before Cleo started the truck, he turned only his head and asked, "Are you ready to go home?"

Home.

Home wasn't something I'd ever thought that I'd have again, but now, looking into Cleo's eyes, I knew I'd have a home and more with him.

I'd learned a lot of things over the past few months.

The main thing, though?

That Cleo and I were made for each other.

Cleo was mine, just as I was his.

He was the flight of my life.

Chapter 23.

And for my next trick, I'm going to convince you all that I'm a functioning adult.

-E-card Rue 3 months later "Did you know Hunstville State Penitentiary executes the most inmates in the state of Texas?" Cody asked as he read an article online.

I grunted.

Why he was looking up where Vanessa was currently imprisoned, was beyond me.

If I never thought of that b.i.t.c.h again, it'd be too soon.

Her trial had gone quickly.

Killing a police officer would do that, though.

She never even had a chance.

I'd never seen a case go by so fast, and I'd been a witness to quite a few over the course of my SANE career.

The trial that Vanessa had been a part of in the first place was quickly decided in Brendan's favor. They were both investigated, Brendan being found to have no involvement in the entire fiasco.

And he'd been investigated very thoroughly.

Tunnel's death was huge.

The entire Ark-La-Tex had been in on the investigation.

FBI, state police, local police.

If they were a law enforcement official, they were affected.

It didn't' matter if they'd never met Tunnel before.

Cops had other cops' backs. No matter what.

If one fell, you'd better believe that the wrath of the entire police community nationwide would feel it.

"That's interesting. I voted for the death penalty, but the judge ignored me," I muttered darkly.

"I'm sure you're not the only one, darlin'," Cody snorted. "I heard DP and Cord finally went home last week."

I nodded. That'd been an interesting three months, sharing living s.p.a.ce with three men.

DP and Cord lived in Southern Louisiana, about an hour outside of New Orleans.

They'd both stayed here for nearly a month, helping any way they could, where they could, staying for days at a time. When they'd gone home, they still came up every other weekend. Mainly it was to help Cleo, though. He felt incredible guilt over the fire, as did I.

They knew when they were needed, and Cleo definitely needed them.

This week, he'd finally told them they could stop coming, and they'd agreed to cool it.

"You're man is here," Danita said as she hung up the phone.

I looked up from my paperwork I was inputting for my patient in room six and smiled.

I hadn't seen him in a two days.

We'd both been working hard, especially him.

When Silas bought Life Flight, he'd implemented some new policies, making Cleo pull a lot of overtime trying to make sure everything ran smoothly.

I missed him.

"Really? What's he bringing in?" I asked as I signed off on my chart and pulled up the next one.

"He's not. He's coming to see you, I'm a.s.suming. He just called and told me to send you out front in five minutes," she said cagily.

Looking at her like she was a loony bird, I stood, and started walking towards the ambulance bay.

I don't know what I expected.

The Life Flight helicopter...his bike maybe, but not this.

I stood at the gla.s.s, taking in the spectacle before me, and nearly dropped to my knees.

"What the h.e.l.l?" I said breathily, as I pressed the little silver b.u.t.ton on the wall that would open the doors for me.

As soon as they slid open enough for me to exit, I dashed through the doors and started running, coming to a stop once I was ten feet away from him.

"Come closer," he ordered.

He was just standing there.

In full gear.

The helicopter's blades were spinning slowly as if they'd turned off only moments earlier.

I crept closer, slowly placing one foot in front of the other until I came to within a few feet of him.

He was wearing his flight suit. His helmet. His aviator sungla.s.ses.

"What's going on?" I asked in confusion.