Page 56 of Echoes of Sin
“Do you want the same for your mother?”
Brook’s question brought Sarah up short. It had also prompted a quick inhalation from Jemma, who had finally brought herself to join them. She was now standing in the doorway, her frail frame in full view.
“Jacob will not stop until he finishes what he started, Sarah. If he finds you here, do you really believe that he will allow your mother to live?” Brook wasn’t going to get into specifics, because Jacob would never intentionally take the life of someone like Jemma Evanston. Fear was a powerful motivator, though. “You talk of blame, but what about you? The day that you exited the witness protection program, the second that you entered this house, you put your mother in danger.”
“Sarah, honey,” Jemma murmured as she joined her daughter on the small wicker couch. “You know that I love you. You’re my baby girl, and I will go with you wherever they send us.”
“But it won’t matter,” Sarah whispered in distress as she held her mother’s hands. “Look at me, Mom.”
Brook reached into her purse and pulled out some information that Bit had been kind enough to put together. There were only a handful of surgeons who had successfully performed a face transplant. With any luck, Jacob would still believe that Sarah was undergoing corrective surgery. He would have already searched out plastic surgeons who specialized in reconstructive surgery, and there was a good chance that Sarah would already be living a brand-new life as someone else before the thought of a face transplant crossed his mind.
It was long shot, but it was one that Brook was willing to take.
“I’m not saying that there aren’t risks,” Brook said after having explained Sarah’s options. “There are many, but you have alternatives than merely waiting around for Jacob to figure out a way to escape prison. As much as I will do everything in my power to keep my brother behind bars, I also know him well enough that no amount of security will prevail. It’s not a matter of if, but when.”
Brook reached down for her purse, and she noticed that Jemma’s gaze was drawn to the holster at her waist. Maybe now that she had a chance to be with her daughter, Jemma would finally find a way to move forward, as well. Brook stood after gauging the amount of time she’d been inside the house.
“I need your answer, Sarah.” Brook hadn’t included Jemma in her request, because she would do whatever was necessary to be with her daughter. “Are you going to wait here for Jacob to come finish what he started, or are you going to start a new life?”
Sarah stared at her mother for a moment before finally nodding her response.
“Good.” Brook slipped the strap of her purse over her shoulder. As predicted, the doorbell rang. Both mother and daughter tensed at the sound, but Brook quickly put them at ease…well, as much as possible, given the current circumstances. “You’ve been assigned a new handler. He’s waiting for you outside.”
“We need time to pack,” Jemma said in confusion as she released Sarah’s hands. “It shouldn’t take long. We can—”
“Mom.” Sarah slowly stood. “It doesn’t work that way. We can’t take anything. We simply start over.”
“But how will we pay—”
“Mrs. Evanston, your handler will explain everything to you on the way.”
Brook didn’t bother to add a destination. She had no idea where the handler would take them, and that was for the best. She’d accomplished what she’d set out to do, and time was of the essence.
“Do you have no compassion?” Sarah asked once they’d reached the front door. She’d stopped and turned around to confront Brook in what she could only assume was genuine curiosity. “None? I’ve been through this, but my mother’s world is about to be turned upside down.”
“Your mother lost her world the day that you were attacked,” Brook stated pragmatically. “The choice that I’ve given the two of you todaywasmade from compassion, Sarah. I learned a long time ago to compartmentalize. I had to, and not only in order to survive, but to get through each day knowing that I have the power to stop Jacob Walsh. And that power would mean absolutely nothing if I allowed my emotions to get in the way.”
Sarah’s mother called out to her from the porch. She hesitated briefly before reaching for a decorative scarf. She then placed it over her hair before tying the ends underneath her chin. Pulling the delicate fabric until it covered both sides of her face, she stepped outside. It was then that she looked over her shoulder to give one more parting line.
“You should have killed your brother when you had the chance.”
Brook remained on the porch as the handler escorted both women to a black sedan. Once they were both settled in the back seats, he shut the door before walking around to the driver’s side door. He lifted a hand in gesture before disappearing behind the tinted windows.
Had this situation been presented to Brook ten years ago, she might have crumbled under Sarah’s accusations. Brook would have pleaded for forgiveness, and she would have collapsed under the guilt. Time, experience, and the growth that she’d undergone in the past couple of years had her understanding that blame could be either a wasted emotion or a power motivator.
There was no changing the past, only focusing on the future.
Brook reached into the side pocket of her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She gently pressed the name on the top of her speed dial list and held the phone to her ear. The call was answered on the first ring.
“Why a private villa?”
“It’s a sanctuary of tranquility.” Graham’s rich voice carried across the line, a reminder that there was light in the darkness. One only needed to look beyond the edge of despair. “You’ll witness the rhythm of existence in the waves, and you’ll experience your heartbeat become one with the ebb and flow of the tides. It’s a surreal experience that I’d like to introduce you to, Brooklyn.”
Graham had a unique way of viewing life, even during its ugliest days. He’d suffered losses and witnessed atrocities that not even she could imagine, and yet he still managed to view every day as a blessing.
She wanted to see the world through his eyes.
More than anything, she yearned to find solace in the serenity.