"Yup."

"Is it safe for you to go home?"

"Nope."

"You think she's there?" Luke couldn't imagine making the trip to Nebraska only to discover Jessica was in San Francisco.

Jackson handed Luke back his ID and ticket. "I think the answer is there."

"Why not Portland?" Luke slung his bag over his shoulder and followed Jackson to security.

"Just a hunch."

As they waited to board the plane, Luke stared out the window at the planes taxiing down the runway. He'd heard many first-hand accounts of murder, including Jessica killing Four, but watching Jackson take the life of a human being right in front of him was a life-changing experience. Jackson was right. He didn't kill a man he hated, he saved the woman he loved.

Luke would do the same thing. He would die for Jessica. He would kill for her. He would end ten lives to save one, if that one was hers. It wasn't sane. It was far from rational. But it was love, and true walk-through-the-f.u.c.king-flames-of-h.e.l.l love was unconditional and completely insane.

"Here we go." Jackson focused on the screen of his phone then he held it in front of Luke. "I've been expecting this."

I have her. Don't be late this time.

"I knew that f.u.c.ker had her."

Jackson shook his head. "It's not Knox, just his phone." He ran his hand through his hair then squeezed the back of his neck. "f.u.c.king h.e.l.l," he said on a sigh.

Luke gripped the arms of the chair. "What does that mean? aDon't be late this time?'"

He stared at the message. "I don't know."

"Well think, G.o.ddammit!"

Jackson flinched as everyone around them quieted. Curious eyes put them center stage.

"Calm the f.u.c.k down," Jackson whispered. "The last thing we need is a scene."

"What were you late for before? This message is a reference to something. It's telling us exactly where she is."

"I-I don't know." He typed in a response.

"What the h.e.l.l?"

"Shut it. I know what I'm doing."

I'm busy. Can we set something up for next week?

"This could backfire." Luke grimaced at the screen.

Jackson nodded. "It could."

His phone vibrated with another message.

I'm afraid she won't last that long.

"Jesus ..." Luke closed his eyes as Jackson typed another response.

She's stronger than you think. Next week. See you then.

"And now we wait." Jackson stood, slipping his phone into his pocket as they made the first boarding call.

"Wait? Are you crazy? For what?"

"Her location. If they really want me there, they'll give me more than adon't be late this time.' But I'm fairly certain I've just p.i.s.sed them off and they'll need to regroup before sending another message."

"What if she's here? Why are we getting on the plane? We should wait until they message you back."

Jackson shook his head. "This isn't about Jackson Knight. Jude Day was late for something, but he's never been to Omaha, so she isn't here."

Chapter Thirty-Two.

The arctic splash brought Jillian and Knox back to life.

"Rise and shine. Aw, don't look so agitated. Think of it as a bath. You both stink."

Knox glared at Irene as she took a hit from her inhaler. It was his first time experiencing her favorite form of torture. The water wasn't just cold. It felt like a bucket from a snow-fed river high in the Rockies-a heart-stopping jolt. Jillian still preferred it to the heat or even worse, the talk of bringing Luke and Jackson to her immediate depth of h.e.l.l.

"Breakfast, darling?" She set a dish of canned dog food next to Knox.

His glare didn't falter.

"Suit yourself." She shrugged then stacked the four empty five-gallon buckets together and carried them up the stairs.

It must have taken her an hour to bring them downstairs, stopping for inhaler breaks. What did it say about Jillian and Knox's physical state that they didn't wake until she heaved them at their face?

"Your shoulder looks infected."

Jillian's gaze shifted to Knox's shoulder. "Yours probably is too, but I wouldn't know. Apparently only I need to be naked. I think she's a lesbian."

"I was married to her."

"Let me repeat, I think she's a lesbian."

"Maybe she's just trying to make you feel vulnerable, weak."

"Maybe. The lesbian scenario is more flattering."

Knox chuckled. "You are dying. You're in the hallucination phase, falling in love with your captor."

"Stockholm syndrome. It's not hallucinating and I don't have it."

He eased onto his side. Jillian winced then closed her eyes. Knox ate the dog food, just like Claire had done.

"She probably poisoned it."

He continued eating it. After wriggling and grunting back to sitting, brown food stuck to his face, he burped. "She didn't poison it. That's not her style."

"What's her style?"

"She's going to make you choose between saving your brother or Luke. Then she's going to make the one you saved kill himself, threatening to kill you if they don't. For the grand finale she's going to convince you this is all my fault so you kill me and of course ... you will die last."

His words settled like the credits at the end of a tragic movie.

"Maybe that's too predictable. She hates being predictable." Jillian smirked.

"She hates you more than me. She's going to make you kill me then she's going to watch Jackson torture and eventually kill you."

"And Luke?" Knox asked.

"Luke lives."

"Why?"

"Because she knows he's the only innocent one. She's not a monster by nature, Edgar did this to her. You did this to her. The only way she can justify her actions is if she feels like she's somehow ridding this world of sin. Luke walks. It's the only way."

A silent exchange took place. Jillian's meaning was in what she didn't say. Luke was to live ... no matter who had to die to make that happen. Everyone else was expendable.

"Now ... my father. How did he win my mother's heart?"

Knox chuckled. "He didn't."

Sunny Life and death sent Sunny and Mickey in different directions, but their love never wavered. Knox committed to serving his country in exchange for an education. They had limited time together. She worked full-time at the hotel tending bar and even picked up extra shifts cleaning rooms.

Knox got his degree in four years, serving on the weekends. He took two consecutive tours after graduation. When he came home between tours he promised her "one more year." The broken promises went on for four more years as he worked his way up in rank. Letters, phone calls, and the rare stolen weekend kept them together. He knew she hated him, she said as much in her letters. But the moment he had her back in his arms the hate faded and their love came back as strong as ever.

"How did we get here?" she asked him. Her naked body draped over his. "You were going to marry me right after graduation. Football, long nights studying, and a d.i.n.ky one-bedroom apartment off campus, remember?"

He kissed her head, relishing the feel of her flawless skin under his fingertips as he feathered them along her back. "I remember. Seems like a lifetime ago. My dad, your dad. I hated life, all of it except you."

"Mickey?"

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you propose? You never even mentioned marriage again after the ... accident."

"What my father did to you was not an accident. I blamed myself. I still do."

She sat up, straddling his waist. Sunny was a beautiful girl. He knew it from the first day he saw her. However, the woman she'd become, as impossible as it seemed, was infinitely more stunning.

"Don't say that. It wasn't your fault."

"I shouldn't have ..."

"What? Invited me to your house? Made love to me that afternoon? What, Mickey?"

Sliding his hands up her legs and letting them settle on the subtle curve of her hips, he drew in a long breath. "I blamed myself for loving you. The smart, beautiful angel I knew would never have been with anyone who didn't love her. I didn't deserve you then and I don't ..."

Sunny shook her head, long auburn hair brushing over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s-b.r.e.a.s.t.s that only he had touched. His hands owned every inch of her body.

"You deserved me then and you deserve me now. There's no you and me, it's only us. It's always been us. How can you not see that? Six months. Your tour will end and we can officially begin. I want to be Mrs. Knox McGraw. I want to feel the flutter of the babies we'll make." She pressed his hand to her stomach. "I want a life, Mickey, and I want it with you. I'm so tired of waiting to breathe."

"I want it too, baby. I want to give you everything you've ever wanted. If we're just patient, we can have the life we always dreamed of. I've been promoted again, and if I just commit to one more-"

"No!" She crawled off him and slipped on her robe, her hands fisting and cinching the sash as tight as it would go. "Not one more tour. Six months and not one day longer."

"You don't understand."

The life in her eyes vanished under a cloud of anger as she narrowed them. "Don't tell me I don't understand. I didn't go to college, but I'm far from stupid. My ability to aunderstand' is perfectly fine. Not everything in life has to make sense, Mickey. We don't make sense. We never have, but we're the only thing in this crazy world that feels right. How can you be so stupid, so ... blind?"

Tears filled her eyes. He sat up, his methodic thoughts warring with his body's desire to grab her, kiss away her tears, and just be with her.

"Mickey..." her voice broke and so did the dam of tears "...you are everything I've ever wanted. You are the life I've always dreamed of. I don't want the money. I want time. I want forever now, not another broken promise."

"I know ... I really do, baby. But what about what I want?"

Sunny pressed her fist to her lips, holding back a sob, then she sniffled. "I'm sorry." She shook her head. "Somewhere over the past two decades I got the impression that you wanted me."

That cut deep. Knox tilted his head to the side. "I do want you, but-"

"No. No buts. No more waiting. No more promises. Six more months, that's what we agreed on after all the broken promises that came before that. I want to be your forever, not your fool." She dressed, the same angry way she did the day his father died and forever changed for eternity. "Six months and not One. Day. Longer, Knox."

The door closed to the bedroom. Six months. Tangled in sheets that smelled like her, he had no doubt that he'd end his military career in six months.

One year later ...

The high that came from being promoted, the accolades, the praise, the prestige ... it numbed the pain of missing Sunny. Six months pa.s.sed, but Knox knew he'd get her back. He'd show her that it was worth the wait ... that he was worth the wait. Another year wouldn't matter. What he didn't expect was a bombing that sent shrapnel into his chest, missing his heart by less than six millimeters. Four of his men died that day.

Knox was sent stateside to recover. He didn't want to worry Sunny, so he waited until he was discharged. As fate would have it, one of his former superiors, who left the military to take a job as a DEA agent, wanted to discuss Knox joining the DEA as well. Sunny would be ecstatic to hear of his new job opportunity. They could finally begin their forever-after a lot of groveling and s.e.x. Lots of s.e.x with Sunny.