“Hot damn.” Ollie stood and pounded his fist on my back. “Looks like this investigation is going international.” He pulled his phone out. “Let me call JC, see if he can start working back channels with some pack alphas in Europe.”
“Yeah,” I muttered.
Ollie walked into the hall, his voice fading as the door closed. I barely breathed as I stared at the screen. There was still a lot that had to be done before I could call this a victory, but something about this feltbig.
Swallowing, I found my throat dry. Could this be the thing that finally healed all the old wounds in Cameron’s family? If we did find her father and brought him home, then all our livescould begin on a fresh footing. Not just mine and Cameron’s, but her mother, brother, and father’s as well. It was almost too much to hope for.
Ollie leaned back into the office and grinned at me. “JC’s making the calls. We’re gonna find this guy. I promise, Nate. He’s coming home if it’s the last thing we do.”
My face broke into a smile, and I pulled my phone out to call Cameron. It was time to make her day.
EPILOGUE
Cameron
Nate’s hand was warm in mine, the cold wind of the mid-November afternoon blustering around us. The frigid air did nothing to quell my nervousness and excitement. Mom stood next to me, Gael pressed against her side. We all stared at the vacant train tracks in anticipation.
“You’re sure he’s on the next train?” I asked Nate.
He chuckled. “That’s the same question you asked ten minutes ago. He’s on the train.”
I smiled wanly. “Sorry. I’m nervous.”
“You’renervous,mija?” Mom said, glancing at me. “Imagine what this is like for me.”
That was true. When Nate and Ollie told me that they thought they’d found my father, I’d been too shocked to say much, and too worried it wasn’t true to tell Mom. But then, three weeks later, my world had shifted. JC had confirmed my father’s location and informed us that a European special forces team comprised of only shifters had raided the drug factory andextracted him. He’d told me he’d have my father home in a few days.
Nate had spun a fairly good tale to Mom and Gael about where he’d been all this time. He’d left out the shifter portions and only focused on the drug-dealing, blackmail, and kidnapping. Mom had actually fainted when he told her my father was coming home. Like, honest to God, slumped-over-unconscious-on-the-floor fainted.
As Nate and I had tried to wake her, Gael tapped my shoulder.
“Yeah, buddy?” I said.
Gael looked down awkwardly. “Is your dad gonna be my dad? Or am I gonna get left out?”
My heart nearly shattered. His real father had vanished before Gael was born. I’d always wondered if he felt hurt by that loss. That man had left because he hadn’t wanted anything to do with a baby. Asshole move on his part. Gael was a great kid and deserved all the love in the world.
I’d put my hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. “Gael, all Mom ever talked about was how amazing my father was. He was a good man, and I think once he meets you and sees how much you’re like Mom and me, he’ll be overjoyed to be your father. Heck, I’ve never actually met him, either, so we’ll be in this together.”
He chewed on his lower before nodding hesitantly. “Okay.”
Now, he stood there with Mom, looking down the tracks hopefully, nervous excitement on his face. A similar expression was probably on my own face. All my insecurities had been swirling around inside my head since I woke up that morning. Would my father recognize me? I was a baby when he’d vanished. Would he like me? What if he thought I was silly or stupid? My father was a scientist, and I was a reporter. Would that disappoint him? What if he didn’t love Mom anymore? Icould think of nothing more devastating than for him to give her a wave, then leave again to start a new life without us.
It was all ridiculous, I knew that, but I couldn’t stop those intrusive thoughts.
Nate leaned down to whisper in my ear so the others couldn’t hear. “It’s going to be all right.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s just a lot, you know?”
“I do,” he said, then nodded at JC and Ollie.
The two men were twenty feet back, giving us plenty of room for our reunion. Ollie waved, and JC gave him a nod. Before I could wave back at them, the steady rumble of an approaching train broke through the silence of the day. Mom let out a little gasp, and Nate squeezed my hand.
“It’s coming!” Gael shouted, pointing toward the train in the distance.
The platform was mostly deserted. Only a few others stood around, waiting for arrivals. That was good. The fewer witnesses to what was bound to be an emotional and private affair, the better.
The train came to a stop in front of us, its brakes squealing, and the door slid open. A dozen or so people streamed off and headed toward their friends or family, while others headed straight for the exits.
