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His eyes were on her irl astray if she weren’t chained to the path "I’ll take the first No, wait, the second, when you kissed otta think about this" And from one moment to the next, his eyes closed, his head fell to the side, and he was out
She stood over hi special she saw in hirit She had to admit she didn’t mind the pretty face, surely a treat to see across the breakfast table every single , but she knew if the Fairy God, she would still fly to hih her twenties, she’d coent until--until what? Until she ran the Agency? Now, there was a thought--all alone at the top? Maybe there could be so else in her life now
"Anna?"
She jumped, turned to see Ruth in the doorway
"Sorry I startled you How’s Griffin?"
"He’s out, but before he cashed in his chips, he thought he inning the jackpot" Well, she felt like she’d surely won
The silly look on Anna’s face gave Ruth a very clear picture of what had happened Very nice, she thought Very nice indeed "Nothing like anesthesia and drugs," Ruth said "Dr Chesney said he’d be sht hours Then he’d hurt a bit, but he’ll heal quickly, and that’s all that counts All the rest fades into the past over time"
"He wants to be out of here too We’ll see how he feels in the ot all our people out, federal and local,for those morons who attacked you No luck yet"
"What about Salazar?"
"Everyone’s agreed now, noa federal search warrant on Salazar’s place in theIn fact, we’re bringing in every MS-13 thug we can find in three counties They’ve started a war by attacking you and Griffin, and they’re going to lose it"
"Griffin’s gonna want to be in on all of it"
"Sure thing, if he’s up to it"
Anna looked down again at Griffin, saas breathing easily, deeply "I think I’ll stay here with hiht Did you find Monk?"
"I finally found him under your bed He’d ripped open the bottom of the mattress and burrowed up inside I pulled hi case, and took hi with cat food and his litter box He’s calmed do"
"What did Brewster think of a cat who could eat hiood twenty pounds"
"It was Brewster who got hi case The boys were ready to hurl themselves in front of Brewster if Monk attacked hi is, after the two of therowled, and hissed, they decided to have a nap together The boys are still hovering, in case Don’t worry When I left to co hiuard" Ruth patted her arm "Griffin’s okay, cat’s okay, all of you are safe" Ruth looked at the Band-Aid on Anna’s cheek Both of them were very lucky She started to ask her if she’d rather come home with her, but kept silent It was probably safer here, both for her and for Griffin, especially with the guard posted outside the door
"You do need to rest, Anna; even if you didn’t get shot or burned, you’ll feel it toave her a hug and said against her hair, "This will be over soon It can’t be long now"
• • •
WHEN GRIFFIN CAME TO at three o’clock in the ood He queried his leg Surprisingly, he didn’t feel a lick of pain The nurses had propped his leg up on two skinny hospital pillows and he was toasty wars He heard breathing and froze, reached out his hand to flip on the directional lamp fastened to the side of his bed He saw Anna not six feet from him, sound asleep on a narrow hospital cot, covers pulled up to her nose Her face was turned toward hi over the side of the cot nearly to the floor He hadn’t realized her hair was so long, since she usually wore it braided or up in a ponytail He knew her face well now, and after only two days Aainst him, how she was so brave it scared him He decided then and there that he wanted to visit Bosard, Louisiana, with her, wanted to look out at the bayou with her, and have her show hiators He wanted to meet her family and see if she resembled the mother who’d named her Lilyanna