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Not free, exactly. But freer than I was.

I finally nod and stare out at the sea. Wondering if that woman—Johnny’s mother?—wondering if

she’s the missing queen in the chess game. Because I recognized her voice immediately. She was the

woman handling me on this job to bring Johnny in.

And that means—

Gunshots.

I stand up quickly, then realize it’s just Johnny. Shooting down a drone. It falls out of the sky in

pieces as he points his gun at the other ones hovering nearby, spewing out threats. Warnings about

what will happen if they get too close to him.

If she’s the queen, then he’s… my prince.

“He’s something, isn’t he?” Samuel says.

And when I glance up at him, he’s looking at Johnny. Who is now yelling into the phone at Logan.

“We’ll talk about it later, goddammit. Just come alone. We have passengers!”

“He sure is,” I muse. Then slip my father’s hand through the white ribbon and tighten it around his

wrist.

I look up at him and find him staring at me. Tears in his eyes.

I pat his hand and say, “It’s going to be OK now, Daddy.”

And somehow… I might even believe that.

I don’t accompany my father and Samuel to Osprey Cay when we get there. Johnny and I just

stand on the upper deck of Logan’s superyacht and watch the little tender boat ferry them to the

marina. My gaze wanders to the mansion where I grew up. Wondering if I will ever see the inside of

that place again.

Decide I won’t.

Decide that part of my life is over.

We still have our secret and I wish I could’ve talked to my father about what we did and what we

should do going forward, but I’m guessing that’s why they broke his jaw. He could’ve written me

notes while he was here on Logan’s yacht with us. Given me some hint at what to do next, but he either didn’t want to or the pain killers he was on were too strong for him to think clearly.

“He’ll be OK,” Johnny says. Comforting me by slipping an arm around my waist and pulling me

closer to him.

“Yeah,” I say back. “He will.”