Like the spell had been broken, everyone started talking at once. Her dad started apologizing as if he were personally responsible for her being taken. Her big brother was full of questions about her safety. Her little brother made silly jokes in an attempt to get her to smile. And her mom kept asking over and over if she was okay.
It was overwhelming, but not in the horrible way she’d been thinking. Her family seemed to know not to ask questions yet about what she’d been through, and they didn't seem to be angry with her for delaying contact when the last thirteen years must have been excruciating for them, too. It was definitely overwhelming in a good way, like a tidal wave of love and comfort had just washed over her.
“I'm okay, Mommy,” she answered her mom’s question first. “As okay as I can be.” The amendment was more accurate because Maya was aware that she would never truly be okay again, but she could find a new version of all right. “And it’s not your fault, Daddy. You couldn’t be with me every second of the day. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm in the safest place in the world, Jim, I promise you that I am. And it might have been thirteen years, but, Fraiser, you are still not a funny guy.”
Her younger brother burst into laughter, and her big brother and parents looked momentarily reassured that she was holding it together as best as she could, given the circumstances, and that she was in no immediate danger.
Noimmediatedanger.
But the danger was still there.
Just like when she’d fallen asleep in the treehouse, Maya was so very aware that Dr. Gardner was still out there. The man wanted Thunder and his team back because he considered them investments, assets that belonged to him. Indigo was another of his successful experiments, so he wanted her back, and Whitney was the one who had created the drug in the first place, so he thought he owned her as well. Then the scientist’s connections to Rose and to her were both more personal, but he was likely every bit as invested in getting his sister and his slave back under his thumb as well.
This new little family she was slowly accepting would never be safe while that lunatic was still out there, and she was beginning to form a plan on how they might be able to get to him, erase him from the equation.
Erase him from the world.
Before she discussed it with Thunder, she had half a lifetime’s worth of catching up with her family to do.
Chapter
Seventeen
March 5th
2:44 P.M.
“Thank you.”
The second Thunder closed the lid of the laptop, Maya threw herself into his arms, her words of thanks cut off short as she crushed her mouth to his, kissing him like she could never get enough.
Same here, babydoll. Can't ever get enough of you.
“Are you glad you talked to them?” he asked when they eventually broke apart. From what he could see, the call seemed to have gone well. After those first few awkward seconds passed, the family seemed to start opening up to one another. But he had to be sure how Maya was handling everything, so he could offer her whatever support she needed.
One thing that had become clear to him over the last few months, watching his teammates fall in love one by one, was that healing wasn't a straight journey. It wasn't like climbing a ladder where you kept moving up a rung until finally you reached the top. It was a much messier journey than that. Filled with upsand downs, and sideways moments too. Maya would never be the version of herself that would have existed if she hadn't been abducted, but she could still live a happy and fulfilling life.
He knew that, but he needed to ensure she did too.
When she didn't immediately offer a response, his hackles went straight up. Maybe the call hadn't gone as well as he’d thought. Maybe Maya hadn't connected with her family in the way she’d been pretending to. Maybe something was wrong, and his instincts demanded that he find out what it was and fix it for her.
“What's wrong?” he demanded, hauling her into his lap as though his mere proximity could make things better.
“Nothing is wrong,” she assured him, running her fingers back and forth across his chest, soothing him. It seemed the tables had turned, and now she was the one giving comfort, even though he could quite literally feel the tension humming through her body.
“You're lying, babydoll,” he murmured as he pressed his face to the curve of her neck and inhaled deeply. While he didn't have Dragon’s ability to smell people’s emotions, Thunder would have sworn he could scent the anxiety wafting off her.
“I'm not lying, Thunder. I was just thinking, that’s all.”
“Thinking about what?” Whatever it was, it seemed big enough to wipe away the joy and peace she seemed to have found talking with her family and seeing for herself that they still loved and accepted her.
“As long as Dr. Gardner is still out there, I can't—wecan't—move on. None of us can, it feels like being stuck. I want to rebuild my relationships with my family, meet my new sisters-in-law, and my nieces and nephews. I want to properly explore these feelings we have for each other. I want to find a way to heal and move forward with my life. But how can I do any of thatwhen he’s still out there somewhere, just waiting for a chance to ruin all of it?”
While he knew that Maya knew Dr. Gardner would always be a risk to her so long as he was free, it was the reason he hadn't let her run that night she tried to escape, he hadn't realized the extent to which she’d been worrying about it.
“My team and I won't give up until we find him,” he assured her, nuzzling her neck, trying to infuse confidence into his statement even though his team had been trying and failing to get their hands on the scientist for years now.
“I don’t doubt you,” Maya soothed, her fingers tracing little circles around his nipples. It would have been sensual if he couldn’t still feel the tension radiating off her. “And I want to help.”