Page 7 (1/2)

This job could get to you if you weren’t cautious Spending so much time up to your neck in the worst-case scenarios caused erosion on your soul and ot too serious with anyone They wouldn’t understand, and she didn’t want the vulnerability that ca with love

Her mind turned to the event that had shattered her life Most people were fortunate enough to live under the assuedies that happened in the news She’d learned at twenty-one that was bullshit

Quantico was close enough to her hoet back within a couple of hours—the perfect a involved She loved her parents, but they expected her to return to the person she’d once been, before Clark’s death She never could

It was painful having to choose bethoe and kids weren’t even a blip on her radar There was too much to do How could she ever be truly happy when Clark’s round, and the world seeo to hell a little more each day?

When she reached her black SUV she placed her satchel in the passenger seat, slipped behind the wheel, and started the car She connected her MP3 player and pulled up the playlist sih the speakers and she was taken back to that golden time when the Three Musketeers were untouched and happy

As the ia, a fresh wave of regret and guilt broke over her She did Carey dirty, abandoned him when he needed her most The cowardly act haunted her Ironic I can hunt down hardened criize to my childhood friend and move on

AC/DC exploded over the speakers and she laughed This would forever remind her of the Carr boys They inherited their father’s love for classic rock and by proxy passed it on to her She couldn’t listen to anything pre-1980 without thinking of them

As the tires ate up the road, her happy re turned somber The question she never found an answer for her snaked its way to the forefront Why did I survive when Clark didn’t?

Despite how bad itapart her life Had she done enough with the extra tiave his life for hers Did she prove her worth? By the time she pulled into the city limits she was a frazzled mess Her hands trembled and her stomach churned like the water in the sound

Parked outside the local florist, she stepped frolasses still in place The last thing she wanted the people to be flapping their gums about was poor Savannah West and her puffy, red eyes

The scent of freshly-cut flowers and the cheery atmosphere were lost to her as she scanned the area froht bouquet caught her gaze froht Thebeacon

She opened

the case, removed the bundle, and turned on her heel Chill bumps broke out over her skin Déjà vu hit This extra sensory perception had occurred that night she’d been kidnapped Her internal compass had become the catalyst that led her to her position in the FBI Training kicked in She did a sweep of the area froait and lax body language When she came up empty, she chalked the unease up to the anniversary

I hate being off ame After the dust from the explosion of life as she knew it settled, she put Savannah West back together, piece by piece, and decided to dedicate her life to helping victims of cri the ladder was a nasty, no-holds-barred fight a the ranks

Still, she had an affinity for reading people, getting into their psyche and under their skin It was a gift she’d previously taken for granted The nagging feeling in the back of her head that told her when a situation or a person was safe or not, the one her mother called her inner voice, served her well Coached to listen to her inner voice froined it would coht