Isabel had healed from her head injury. Leo had surprised and attacked her in her home. She didn’t remember anything after being hit in the head. She had no memory of the shed, which Victoria thought was extremely lucky; her own shed memories would last a lifetime. She’d visited Isabel in the hospital, explaining how Leo had claimed she was Isabel’s daughter. The older woman had stared at her for a long time. “It’s possible,” Isabel had admitted grudgingly. “Abbadelli put my baby girl up for adoption. I wanted out of there. At first I’d been thankful for a roof over my head after getting away from a boyfriend who liked to beat on me, but Abbadelli gave me the creeps. I was happy to leave the baby behind. I didn’t want any memories of that man.” She’d offered to give a DNA sample for Victoria to compare.

Victoria hadn’t taken her up on the offer. Yet.

Maybe someday she would.

Dr. Campbell had agreed to postpone his retirement a few weeks to lend a helping hand as a deputy examiner and offer advice as Seth took over his position.

Seth was now Victoria’s boss. And bossy he’d been. “Don’t lift that,” “Don’t do that,” “Let me do that” were the phrases she was utterly sick of hearing from his mouth. She’d moved into his hotel room while her house was cleaned and renewed from the fire damage.

Next week they were flying to Sacramento to meet Eden.

Oddly Victoria wasn’t nervous. She’d developed a fondness for teen girls that she was positive would extend to Eden. She was an extension of Seth. How could she not instinctively love her?

She hadn’t been out of Seth’s sight for three days. He’d said that when she’d walked away from him that night with Trinity, his heart had feared he’d never see her again. Now he frequently touched her arm, reassuring himself that she was close by. He’d been back in her life for a few days, and she couldn’t imagine her future without him.

Today they’d visited the recovery site. She’d fought the urge to give direction over the shoulders of the diggers. Instead she and Seth had hung back, watching the investigators crawl through the house, shed, and woods. The gigantic scope of the investigation made Victoria’s brain spin. And the main characters were dead. The police might find answers to lingering questions, but there’d never be anyone to punish for the crimes.

At least Brooke had survived. She’d slowly regained function of her brain and body. To Trinity’s relief, she’d known her best friend. But her short-term memory was shot. Her doctors were optimistic that she’d return to full health over time. She’d revealed to the police that she’d communicated with the photographer through his Facebook professional page. He hadn’t been in her list of friends, where investigators had first sought a common ground between the victims; he’d been in her “Likes.” It’d been a moot point, because the page had been removed the day of the deaths.

Seth had finally dragged Victoria away from the site, pulling her down a path away from the bustle of the scene. For once, it wasn’t raining. The sky was a depressing gray, but was holding tight to its water for the moment. Victoria breathed in the ripe wet scent of the trees and damp undergrowth.

“How could Cesare hide his true colors from so many people? And present himself as a spiritual leader?” she asked.

Seth paced silently beside her for a long moment. “I think people saw what they wanted to see. At one time, his personality must have been pretty charismatic to convince people to not see through his façade.”

“And those who did, didn’t report him. I hope Jason gets over his guilt about not going directly to the police with his suspicions about his father and grandfather.”

“He’s lucky no one else was killed by Leo. That level of guilt would have messed him up for life.” He didn’t add how close the both of them came to losing their lives.

“Do you think he’ll always wonder if he has an evil side, directing some of his actions or waiting to come out of his personality at the wrong time?” Victoria said slowly.

Seth stopped and turned her to face him. “You do not have rotten blood in your veins. You are living proof that a good heart can overpower anything that nature throws in your genes. You are not Abbadelli or Isabel. You’re Victoria Peres, forensic anthropologist extraordinaire, dragon-boat queen, high-school teen hero, and my Tori.” He pulled her into him, carefully avoiding crushing her hurt wrist. “I love you, and I never want to be in the position of wondering if some crazy nut has hurt you again. I plan on not letting you out of my sight for a very long time. Maybe never.”

She squirmed in his embrace. “Never? That has a bit of a compulsive implication about it. I don’t know if—”

He cut off her teasing words with a kiss, pressing his lips against hers. She opened to meet him, seeking his heat and reassurance. She moved closer, loving the strength and hardness of his body next to hers. Soft drops of rain hit her cheeks, bringing back memories of their first kiss. Their first kiss this time around. A rare second chance at being together. She wasn’t going to waste it. They’d been given a precious gift, and she would embrace it with everything she had.

“I love you, too,” she spoke against his lips.

If this was an example of how Seth needed to keep her in his sight, she was the luckiest woman in the world.