My chin snaps up just as my computer dings, letting me know the transfer is complete.
“Delete the footage,” I tell them. “I’ll delete the rest.”
“What are you talking about?” Tony yells as I climb down from the roof of the RV and start jogging out of the clearing.
“Remember I told you I was going to blow the place before I realized there might be innocent people in there?”
“There’s not any innocent people left,” Quinn says, finishing my thought.
A moment of silence passes as we all look at one another, processing my intentions. I worry for a moment that they might try to stop me.
“Quinn, delete the footage while Mara and I pack up. Then we’ll go together.”
Three minutes later, we’re hiking down the hill to get closer to the back edge of the property. We stop a little ways back from the electric fence, a buzz letting us know that the current is live.
“Are you ready?” Tony asks, standing on one side of me.
Quinn takes up my other side, a smirk on his face as usual. “She’s been ready.”
“Alright then, blow it up, baby.”
My thumb flicks back the cover on the detonator, caressing the small black button. For a moment, I close my eyes and think back to the few memories I have of my parents. I focus on their faces, for the first time seeing their smiles instead of the destruction caused by Jackson Adley and BioCere, Inc.
“This is for you, mom,” I whisper, choking with emotion.
I push the button, and a second later, an explosion wracks through the building. The sound is deafening as one charge sets off another, moving through the building one after another. The ground rumbles as something, some kind of gas maybe, catches fire and causes the building to erupt in flames.
Standing there, I revel in the heat from the flames that I can feel even from this far back. I let the heat wash over me, staring into the flames that grow larger, reaching for the dark night sky.
And I smile.
Epilogue
Tony
Six Months Later
The three of us walk up to the estate that Bennet and his family have been calling home.
“It’s gorgeous,” Mara breathes. “Look at all the wildflowers.” I follow her gaze to the landscape, purples and yellows and blues mixed in with the tall grass. There’s a shimmering lake beyond the lawn. The view is truly stunning.
“Apparently this place used to be a Bed & Breakfast,” Quinn says, reaching out to press the doorbell. “I bet it was popular.”
The door opens and an older woman with white hair and a huge grin steps out.
“You must be Tony,” she says, looking straight at me.
“How did you know?” I ask, grinning back at her because I can’t help it. She’s such a warm presence that I kind of want to hug her.
I don’t have to ask, though, because she comes to me, wrapping her arms around my torso. “Thank you for saving our Bennet,” she says, wiping away a tear as she steps back.
“You must be Mrs. Coolson, I’ve heard a lot about you,” I say kindly, wanting to turn the attention away from myself. Bennet has told me a lot about the older couple that take care of the estate. She raised Jackson, and has insisted on staying on board to help take care of the house and all of them by proxy.
“Please, please, come in. Who do you have with you?”
It occurs to me I still don’t know how to introduce us as a unit, but then again, Mrs. Coolson lives with Bennet and his family of six. Mara and Quinn introduce themselves and get wrapped in a warm hug as well. I’m watching them all fondly as they chat up the old lady, looking around at the interior that is just as gorgeous and welcoming as the outside of the estate.
A throat clears behind me and I turn to see Bennet Adley, leaning against the doorframe. He looks surprisingly casual in a pair of dark jeans and a white button-down shirt. As long as I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him in anything other than a suit and tie. But I suppose these last few months have changed us all.
