The Belial Stone (The Belial Series #1)(92)

She hadn’t made it through so much to die at the hands of someone like Arthur Priddle. She would make it through. She had to.

“Please, Laney. I know how strong you are. You can beat this. We need you here. Your uncle, Kati, Max, Henry, Yoni. They all need you… And me, too, Laney. I need you, too.”

And he realized it was true. Somewhere along the way, he'd fallen for her, and the idea of her not being in his world was too painful to contemplate. “Come back to me.”

He lowered his head to the bed and felt a small pressure on his hand. His eyes flew to her face. “Laney?”

Another squeeze on his hand and a small smile appeared on her face.

Jake squeezed her hand back and returned the smile, tears stinging his eyes. “Thank God.”





EPILOGUE



Syracuse, NY



Three weeks later, Laney lay curled up on her couch, a blanket across her lap. It was blessedly quiet in her house. Her chest still ached when she moved too quickly, but other than that, she was doing pretty well. The doctors had said she needed to keep her activities to a minimum.

She smiled listening to Jake rustle up lunch in the kitchen. Luckily, she had someone to make sure she did just that.

A wave of grief blindsided her and she leaned her head back, breathing deep. These moments always took her by surprise. They came out of nowhere. She’d be fine, reading a book, walking up the stairs, when an image of Drew would send her spiraling.

She, Patrick, Jake, Tom, and Henry had flown back from Montana a week ago, after stopping to visit Drew’s grave. It had been a heart-wrenching journey. She and her uncle had stood by his grave, holding on to each other, lost in their grief. It had been the first time since all this began that they had really had a chance to mourn their loss. She supposed she was going through all the stages of grief she hadn’t been able to experience with all the tumult following his death.

Drew should have had a full life, not been cut down so young. It was such a senseless loss of life. It was impossible to believe all his energy was gone. How could he truly be gone? She took a deep breath, trying to force the grief from her mind. She focused on her breath. In, out. In, out.

She breathed in the quiet, thankful for the peace. Kati had taken Max to the movies, and the nonstop stream of visitors had finally ended. In the week she'd been home, her students had been by, as well as her friends from the police force. Henry had brought Danny for a few visits. In fact, they’d rented a house not too far from here for the foreseeable future. They’d become a constant fixture in each other’s lives.

Tom had been by almost every day as well. He and Jake were getting to know each other again. Kati and Max were back. Yoni had even flown in with his very pregnant wife.

The media had also been another constant fixture since their return. Luckily, though, Henry had managed some magic and called them off. As a result, the last few days had been relatively peaceful. So she had finally been able to talk her uncle into going back to the office. He’d barely left her side these last three weeks. She couldn’t blame him. She didn't like letting him out of her sight, either.

Laney grabbed the remote, looking for something mind-numbing to distract her. But, despite her best intentions, her mind kept drifting back to the last few weeks and where everyone would go from here.

The men had all been found after they’d scattered. Over three hundred had been killed at the enclosure. According to the preliminary autopsy results, the causes of death ranged from strangulation to gunshot wounds to blunt force trauma to starvation. She’d expected the large number, but it had still come as a shock. And the men that lived all had a host of medical issues. Tom was actually in pretty good shape, relatively speaking. His friend Seeley had also survived, but it was going to be a long road back for him.

Americans for Progress had quietly settled a multimillion dollar lawsuit with the men who had survived and the families of those who hadn’t. Henry had arranged for the legal team that brought the suit on behalf of the men.

Henry had also made sure that Kenny Coleman’s family received a significant payout from the Kensington estate. He’d even established college funds for Coleman’s two grandchildren and taken care of their outstanding medical bills. It wouldn’t bring their grandfather back, but at least the family would no longer have to worry about money.

Robert Kensington and the guards who’d been rounded up would be incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives. She was pretty sure that the prison population would not welcome them with open arms. And God help her, she couldn’t work up any compassion for what they would go through in prison. Her only sympathetic thought was that maybe if they experienced enough hell in this life, they’d get some credit for time served in the next one.

The Chandler Group had officially taken over the dig in Montana. Her uncle was going to be the archaeologist in charge. The Church had already given their permission. The Church recognized the impact the findings could have on human history and they wanted to be sure they were part of it.

She, Jake, and her uncle had had a number of conversations with Henry about the Belial Stones. They all had agreed the world simply wasn’t ready for them. If any more stones were found at the site, they would be locked away, hopefully to be retrieved one day when mankind was ready.

That’s what had been resolved. But Laney’s mind kept getting caught on all the issues that hadn’t been settled. She knew that some were academic and others a matter of theoretical debate. The most pressing questions in her mind, though, didn’t involve ancient civilizations, angels, or even the nature of man. They involved the nature of just one man – Henry.