© Carey MacLean, 2012
Epilogue
Every year, on the same date, there came a card to one, Mrs. Mika Ryans. The card was the same – a simple small two-by-two inches of photo-stock paper with the photo of a white oleander on it. The only one that had contained words had been the first; the day she had married the man of her dreams – Xavier. A man, that after fifteen years, still made her blood run hot and on many occasions, she still got the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach.
On her way into the house, she stopped to gather the day’s mail from the mailbox by the sidewalk.
“Mom! Can I spend the night at Alex’s?” She heard from the front door.
“Hello to you too,” she chuckled and didn’t even need to bend down to her fourteen year old son’s kiss as she came up the front steps. “You can as long as you’re back before lunch tomorrow. We have Kaylee’s birthday at the cottage.”
“Right.”
“Brent,” she gave him a warning look.
“Alright, alright! I just don’t get why I can’t go ahead with them. I mean, I’m already sleeping there,” he whined.
In case you hadn’t guessed it, Connor and Suzie had another child; a son named Alex.
Not too long after Mika’s and Xavier’s wedding, both she and Suzie had found out that they were expecting. Xavier had been on cloud nine and even more proud that they had managed to conceive quite easily despite the pre-conceived notions from Mika’s specialists telling her that her likelihood of having kids would be slim to none.
They hadn’t been all wrong. After Brent, there hadn’t been any other. It had broken Mika’s heart but Xavier had reminded her that they had the one and that their son was a miracle and was more than they could have ever hoped for.
With a slamming of a bedroom door, she was brought back to reality. She headed to the kitchen with the small stack of mail when she saw it – the white envelope with that same cursive writing that denoted her address. She was confused at the sight of it though. The cause for the confusion – the date. It had arrived a month too early. She couldn’t forget when it came; it was programmed in her mind – hers and Xavier’s anniversary.
She took a look at the oversized envelope, wondering why in the hell it was so big to begin with. Leaving the pile of bills and flyers on the counter, she went to sit herself in the den and opened it.
It wasn’t the usual photo of her deadly oleander flower.
It was a letter.
A rather lengthy one at that.
My dearest Mika,
For years you must have wondered as to who I am. Of that, by the end of this letter, you will come to know. Call me a stranger, call me a friend, a guardian angel if you will.
By receiving this letter, it means that I am no longer of this world and so, I can no longer protect you as I have over the years.
You came to me at the worst time in your life; a time where the justice system had failed you. I let you down. We all have. I look at you like you’re the daughter I’ve never had.
You are an amazing woman and I will never forget what you have done for us and that is why, when your dark side came out, I completely understood your reasons. Like you, others had suffered at the hands of those they loved most, hands that should have never struck or harmed them in any way. As a doctor, a protector yourself, I saw the need to see that justice was brought despite your unconventional and brutal ways of doing just that. I had never expected for you to have taken such extreme measures but the bastards did deserve it.
It wasn’t until after the murders were solved that I looked much closer and began to question things; facts and details that had been too easily dismissed. Clearly, Connor had had the same inkling and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to have worked with him as well as your dear Xavier. They are both two very brave and honourable men, Mika and you must never doubt that.
To this day, I’m sure you discuss how Connor had a prankster that would take off with some of his notes and papers. I’m letting you know that it had been me all along. I always wondered why he never questioned that I hadn’t lost my temper with him after denying him his request for camera surveillance within his office. I have never told the man that it had been me but I’m sure as he is smart, that he’d had figured it out for himself after all these years.
When I found out that Connor was much like me in understanding about keeping your actions and your reasons for those actions in the dark, I knew that all would end well for you. You deserve the life you had always strived for and never got with Stafford.
I’m sorry I never told you that it had been me all of these years. It was for your protection as much as it was for mine.
The enclosed medallion is for you. It’s not much but I remembered you clutching it while you shook in my arms when I handled you the night that Carter had met his end. It seemed to have provided you as an anchor during the storm of that dark night.
At this point, please know that the evidence against you is no more. Connor knows of this and in the last few months, we had both agreed that it was best to dispose of it so nothing could ever come back to haunt you or the both of us that knew of your involvement.
With the tiny gift of a medallion, the reassurance that you will remain as you should be, free and loved by more than you’ll ever be able to count, I leave you.
Love you my girl,
Captain Douglas Saunders
She stared at the pages and then down at the envelope. Tilting it over, the medallion fell out and into her hand. She cried silent tears for the man she had adopted as her father, her son’s grandfather over the years. Two weeks had gone since his passing. Cancer had claimed the strong and willful man. He may have been a ball-buster and worked hard but he loved even harder. That had always meant the world to Mika.
Hearing a bit of a commotion coming from upstairs, she quickly dried her tears, folded the letter and slipped it in her pocket and dropped the envelope in the shredder by the desk. One look at the clock and she knew that Xavier would be home within the hour.
The doorbell rang and she went to answer – Connor. He must have come to fetch Brent on his way home from the precinct.
“Is everything okay?” He asked as she felt his eyes scan her face. “You’ve been crying.”
She jumped up to hug him.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?” He rubbed her back slightly and then let her pull away.
“I got a letter from Saunders today,” she explained. “You got rid of it?”
“Yeah well, I think it was high time, don’t you?”
“High time for what?” Brent galloped down the stairs and kissed his mother on the cheek as he waited for one of them to respond.
“For you to get in the car. I thought you said you’d be waiting for me outside,” Connor ruffled his hair. “Suzie just called and dinner’s ready so you know what that means.”
Bidding the two goodbye, she shut and locked the front door and headed for the kitchen. It was her turn to get a nice dinner ready for her and her husband. Maybe a little something romantic would be in order.
As she walked the hall toward her destination, she noticed for the first time in too long since she could remember, that the light that filtered through every window was brighter, the breeze that came through the patio door was fresher and that the air she breathed in smelled and tasted that much sweeter.
With one final thought, she slipped the medallion’s chain over her head, tucked it into her shirt and smiled a smile of pure contentment.
I’m free.
The End
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