Nodding uncertainly, Dana put the passport down and picked up a second. This time the Russian-born American citizen had short dark hair and dark, nearly black eyes.
“Contact lenses. And yes, I’m equally fluent in Russian. German as well,” she added with a touch of humor.
The last passport had yet another slightly different version of Kellen. Closer to her current reality, except it had a different name and identified her place of birth as Louisiana.
Dana held it in her hand, stared at the photograph. “Is this where you’re from originally?”
Her question brought a faint smile to Kellen’s face. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m not sure.” Dana shrugged. “I guess because you have a trace of an accent I’ve always wondered about.”
“That’s funny, because you’re not the first person to think that. And New Orleans happens to be one of my favorite places. But no. I wasn’t born there.”
“Um, okay. But can I ask how—” She indicated the passports, uncertain how to frame her question.
“When you live on the street, you meet all kinds of people. And if you’re willing to pay, you can get top quality for whatever you want. Good enough to pass any customs or border check.”
“Oh.” Reaching over, Dana tucked a few stray strands of hair behind Kellen’s ear. “And if I asked, would you tell me where you were really born?”
Kellen grasped Dana’s hand and brought it to her lips, placing a gentle kiss on her fingers. “Of course. I was born in New York.”
Dana lowered her eyes and nodded, even as she tried to understand and absorb everything she’d seen and heard over the last few minutes. That she and Kellen were lovers was not in question. But Dana was uncertain how or when she’d given Kellen reason to trust her with so much. So completely.
“I didn’t need a reason,” Kellen whispered. “I just knew—from the first time I saw you.”
“You’re reading my mind again. Do you suppose it’s something I’ll eventually learn?”
Kellen dazzled her with a smile. “Who knows? In time, I’d say anything’s possible.” And then she tipped Dana’s head back and claimed her with a kiss that ignited her senses.
Under normal circumstances, Kellen would have started her day with a workout of some kind. A run, time in the gym, or some laps in the pool. Anything to get out some of the frustration flowing in her veins. Anything to calm her less than steady nerves.
Except things were far from normal. Nor had they been for quite some time.
The FBI insisted she couldn’t go running through the woods until further notice. Not until they caught the man seemingly intent on killing her. And the woman in her bed, a woman who was consuming all her waking thoughts and dreams, had warned her to stay away from the gym and the pool, because she had no interest in stitching the bullet wound in her neck a third time. She was also restricted from going on any callouts other than avalanches.
So instead, the new normal had her spending a good part of the day in Annie’s office. Finalizing the seemingly endless plans for the grand opening of the medical clinic. The event had been intended as a celebration, involving financial backers and the local communities that would benefit from the clinic. But now, security measures had taken on a life of their own.
The lack of escape avenues available to her had Kellen tied up in knots, leaving her feeling grateful when a telephone call from Harrison Parker interrupted the ongoing discussion. Special Agent Grant stepped out of the room and Kellen put the senator’s call on speakerphone, enabling Dana and Annie to participate in the conversation.
Except the senator wasn’t calling about the opening. He made that perfectly clear as he quickly got to the heart of the matter.
“I’ve spoken to your grandmother’s lawyer, Kellen. He’s agreed to call off his investigator if I can provide him with a blood sample that can be used for DNA testing to prove who you are. He’s also agreed he doesn’t need to know
where
you are if my lawyers act on your behalf and handle the bequest.”
“I can handle the blood sample,” Dana said.
“I figured as much,” Harrison said. “Kellen? You do understand it’s a mere formality, don’t you? Anyone who’s ever seen you and knows who your father is—well, there should be no doubt. Feature for feature, you are the very image of your father. As for strength of character, we can all be grateful you turned out like neither of your parents.”
“Thank you, Senator.”
“You’re very welcome.” There was a noticeable pause before Harrison spoke again. “You should also know I ran into your parents at a showing in DC a couple of days ago.”
Kellen tried to push back an immediate reaction as her heart began to jackhammer and she felt an unwelcome weakness in her knees. “I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do. At least not yet.” His voice was remarkably gentle. “I made it a point to speak with them. I hope you don’t mind, but I let them know I was speaking to them on your behalf. I told them you are alive and well and under my protection, and that I plan to keep you that way. And then I showed them a sample of some documents and photographs I obtained from a hospital in Chicago, relating to an eleven- or twelve-year-old Jane Doe who’d been savagely beaten and raped almost twenty years ago.”
“Oh God.” Kellen’s eyes burned and the edges of her vision grayed. Her legs started to fold and she staggered, reaching for anything to keep herself upright before dropping to her knees. But she could still hear the senator.
“You saved my daughter’s life, Kellen. In the years since that time, you allowed me to get to know you. Enough that you’ve become like a second daughter to me. I consider you family and I protect my own. So I told them if they ever come near you or try to hurt you again in any way, the documents I have will be made public. I don’t care about statutes of limitation. I guarantee they will both be destroyed in the court of public opinion. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Kellen tried to speak, tried to respond, but she couldn’t get any words out. All she could think was that a man she respected and admired had seen the photographs. Read the reports. He knew everything her father had done to her. The knowledge rolled around in her mind until a wave of nausea threatened to bring her down.
As if from a distance, she heard the senator continue speaking to Annie and Dana. She thought she heard him ask them to make sure she was all right and that she should call him later. Once she’d had a chance to absorb what he’d told her.
Before the senator hung up, Kellen was on her feet and out the door. That she left her jacket behind didn’t matter. She didn’t feel the bite of the cold air. She didn’t feel anything except conflicting emotions.
The horror that photographs and documents revealing the extent of what had been done to her were now public knowledge. Preserved for eternity. And the sheer wonder that someone had stood up to her parents on her behalf.
She ran past Grant’s security team without stopping. But all it had taken was one look at her face and they had allowed her to pass. She even managed to make it into her cabin before being wretchedly and violently sick. After which she dragged herself into the shower, turned on the hot water, covered her face with her hands, and tried to get warm as she wept for the first time in a very long time.
*
Dana found her there thirty minutes later, still fully dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Sitting in the shower with her face pressed against her knees, shivering under a stream of scalding hot water.
If only she’d known. But then again, Dana knew she couldn’t have gotten to Kellen any sooner, because she’d had to deal with Cody and Ren. Both girls had seen Kellen run by and had been frightened. Kellen had been crying. And nothing made Kellen cry. Not ever.
So she’d talked to them. Soothed and calmed them. Explained that Annie’s father had taken steps to protect Kellen from her father, and that Kellen had been overcome by his act of kindness. His unbelievable generosity. But most of all, she assured them Kellen would be okay. Hopefully more than okay.
She barely had time to second-guess her own words when she found her. Dana turned off the water, got Kellen to her feet, and somehow helped her out of her sodden clothes. Kellen’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy with shock and she remained docile as a lamb, standing mutely while Dana dried her and got her into pajama bottoms and a fresh T-shirt. And then she allowed Dana to tuck her into bed without protest.
After picking up Kellen’s wet clothes, she left Bogart to watch over her and walked out to the kitchen. Annie was there, sitting at the table holding a bottle of wine, while Cody and Ren were at the stove making soup and sandwiches.
“Our hearts were all in the right place, but the girls are being much more practical than I was,” Annie said as she opened the wine bottle. “Soup is probably about all Kel will be able to handle when she gets up. But I thought I’d bring some wine, just in case.”
“Well, if Kellen’s not interested in the wine, I certainly am.”
“Me too.” Annie filled two glasses before asking, “How is she?”
“Overwhelmed, I think.” Dana wet her throat with the wine.
Annie nodded. “She has enough to deal with right now. I don’t know what to do for her, what to say. I don’t know how to help her, and I hate the thought that my father has somehow made things worse.”
“What your father did was probably the single most incredible thing anyone has ever done for Kellen,” Dana said. “But at the same time, I think she felt humiliated to think he saw the photographs and read the reports detailing what her father did to her.”
“That’s not—”
“She knows that wasn’t the senator’s intent.” Dana reached out and held Annie’s hand while Cody set soup bowls in front of them. “Or she will once she’s calmer and feeling a bit better.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so. But with everything else she’s been going through, with Tim getting hurt and the shooter getting so close, I don’t think she can deal with any more.”
“You’d be right.”
Dana turned at the sound of Kellen’s voice and saw her. Standing barefoot in the shadows, her damp, tangled hair haloing a pale face and accenting dark, tired eyes. “Hey, you. How come you’re up? I had hoped maybe you’d sleep for a bit.”
“My head.” Kellen shrugged uncomfortably. “I couldn’t get it to shut down. And I thought—I realized—I guess I didn’t want to be alone.” Before she could say another word, Ren was across the room and in her arms, almost knocking them both over.
“I love you, Kellen. Are you all right now?”
Dana felt her throat tighten as she watched Kellen hold Ren tight and run her hand through the girl’s silky hair. “I love you too, Ren. Don’t ever doubt that. And I’m fine. Just fine.”
“Cody and I made soup and sandwiches, and Annie brought wine.”
Approaching the table with her arm still draped around Ren’s shoulders, Kellen smiled tentatively. “My stomach’s not feeling too friendly at the moment, so I’m pretty sure I’m not up to wine. And though the soup smells wonderful, I think I’ll pass and maybe just have some juice.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
While Ren went to the fridge for the juice, Kellen looked at Dana and Annie, her face tinged with something akin to embarrassment. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I think everything got the better of me. I’ll give the senator a call later and apologize.”
“He’d like to hear from you,” Annie said. “But don’t ever feel you need to apologize for being human.”
“Human?” Kellen dropped into a chair and let out a long breath. With a slightly bemused smile, she added, “I guess that means I’m not superwoman anymore.”
Dana got up and wrapped her arms around Kellen. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”
“Please,” Cody said as Ren put the juice in front of Kellen and sat back down. “There are impressionable children present.”
Ren laughed, and for at least a moment the world felt normal.
Mine
. The thought—or feeling—had occurred to Dana the last time she and Kellen had made love. It now returned full force, except this time she realized the love she felt included Ren and Cody.
Life was curious, she mused. When she’d first come to Haven, she’d been looking to escape her family and find a place far removed from where she’d grown up. She’d been looking for a place she’d fit in. A place she could call home.
She’d found all of that. But somehow, in finding Haven, she’d also found herself a family.
*
“You haven’t eaten,” Dana said after everyone had left. “And you really could use a meal. Why don’t you let me make you something? It doesn’t have to be much. Some soup, maybe, or even just some toast.”
Kellen shook her head. “No thanks, maybe later. There’s something else I want first.”
“Name it and it’s yours. What can I get you?”
“You.” Kellen put her hands on Dana’s face and kissed her. Long and slow and deep. She slid her fingers through silky blond hair as Dana’s arms came around her. Took comfort and tried to give some in return. “You make me feel strong and whole. Like my past doesn’t matter to you. Like I can do anything, walk down any path, and you’ll be there with me. Standing beside me.”
“I am.” Dana kissed her brow, her lips, her throat. “I will be. For as long as you want me to be.”
“What if I don’t want to let you go?”
Dana eased back so that their eyes met. “I’d say that would be perfect.”
With the fire stoked and Bogart settled for the night, they walked into the bedroom, undressed, and slid onto the bed. Facing each other, they touched. Explored. As if it was their first time coming together. Tender, loving hands. Slow caresses. Quiet whispers. Unhurried passion. A gentle rise and an intimacy that came from the heart and touched the soul.
Kellen knew she’d never be as good or as comfortable with words as Dana was. But in this, in completely surrendering herself to her lover, she hoped she was saying more to Dana than words ever could.
*
Kellen looked every bit as tired as Dana felt the next morning. She found her in the kitchen, hair still wet from a shower, leaning against the counter drinking coffee.