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Waking up in Chance's arms served to remind me that despite all our recent troubles, I had a lot of good things in my life. Chance booked us on the earliest flight, so we skipped breakfast until we were checked in and through security at the airport. We picked up drinks and breakfast sandwiches on the way to our gate.
"I can't believe we're headed home," I said, as we enjoyed our breakfast and waited for takeoff.
"What's it been, like 10 days?" Chance asked.
"Too long. That's for sure," I said.
"You're awfully quiet," Chance said after we'd been in the air for a while.
"I just can't figure out how to move forward. I know we need to get on with our lives, but how do we do that exactly?"
"We need to remain vigilant, but that's really all we can do. I do think we should both get concealed carry permits and small handguns that we never leave home without. You might want to carry a knife too."
"All good ideas. Depressing that we need to take those steps, but maybe they'll make me feel a little more in control."
"Just be warned, I suspect for the next few months I'll be signing you up for every type of self-defense class I can find, and you probably will get really tired of me going everywhere with you."
"I'll try to buck up," I said, wrapping my arms around his bicep and leaning my head on his shoulder.
XXX
Laurie was waiting for us in baggage claim. "Welcome home," she said, stepping in to hug me. "When we get on the road you need to tell me what's been going on. You guys were whisked away in the night, and we've all been really concerned about you. Is Chance OK?"
He was at the carousel waiting for our luggage while I talked to Laurie. "He's back to normal."
"He certainly looks as good as ever," she said, blushing.
"Yeah, he does," I agreed as we both watched him lift our single bag from the carousel and walk our way.
"Let's go home," he said. "Thanks for picking us up, Laurie. How are your folks doing?"
No matter how much time we spend together, Laurie still acts like a smitten school girl around Chance. She giggled. "They're fine. Tom's great. I'm the one trying to figure out what to do with my life."
"How's that going?" I asked as we climbed into her car.
"I have some ideas to discuss with you once you get settled back into your life."
"That's great. Something to look forward to," I said.
"Do you guys want to stop for lunch at the Pioneer or someplace?"
"Excellent idea," Chance said. "Lunch with two of my favorite women."
Laurie nearly drove off the road. I was sitting in the back seat, so I reach up and pinched the back of Chance's neck. He turned and gave me a look that said he had no idea what he'd done. Sadly, that was probably true. He didn't intentionally flirt, he was just really friendly, and women reacted to him.
"Can you tell me what happened? It seemed like things got a little crazy," Laurie said.
"Why don't you tell us what happened at the hospital after we left, and we’ll fill in the gaps," I prompted.
"The nurses told us some doctor showed up and said he was taking over your care and transporting you to a private facility. I heard the nurses didn't even have time to call your doctor, Chance. The first I knew about it was when Tom called. He went by the next morning and ran into some DHS agents that said they'd been sent to guard you or something. By the time they got there, you were already gone. He said they were pretty pissed. It sounded like a lot of wires got crossed."
"You could say that," I agreed. I should have thought to ask Chance what we should or shouldn't tell people about what happened. I knew he'd end up telling Tom everything, but I suspected there were parts of the story he wouldn't be comfortable sharing with my BFF. Laurie wasn't really into the whole cryptid scene, and my kidnapping and Gracie Layne's had pushed her limits emotionally.
"We were indeed whisked away so that the doctor we met when Em got shot during Gracie Layne's kidnaping could care for me at a private facility," Chance explained. "Turns out he used some experimental medicine on Jared Dickenson and me, and we both had allergic reactions to it."
"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. I'm glad it all worked out."
That seemed to be enough explanation for her, so we left it at that. She caught us up on the Wilkins' Gap gossip we'd missed while we were gone and that kept us entertained until we stopped at the Pioneer.