Emmy went to rest a bit once she helped Mamá clean up the kitchen after dinner, while Rafael and I went out for a paseo around the neighborhood. The night was pleasant, if a bit humid thanks to an earlier rain.

“You say you are done for now,” Rafael said after buying the two of us ice cream cones from a street vendor.

“Yeah,” I agreed, enjoying the amazingly rich vanilla. “We took care of the group that sent the killers,” I said after glancing around to make sure nobody could hear. “Almost all of them. Certainly all of the higher-ups. There are only two unaccounted for at this point.”

“Out of how many?” Rafael asked.

“Thirty-four.”

“You say the two are unimportant?” Rafael probed.

“Not unimportant, but low-level,” I explained after we passed another group also out for a walk. “In a way, them being loose helps us a bit- they’ll spread the word that we aren’t to be fucked with, right? We’ll probably find them eventually, if they don’t surrender to us first. We know their names and what they look like, after all. Somebody will eventually hand them to us.”

“You don’t think they can do any further harm?"

“Realistically, no, probably not. They’ve seen the videos of me, and heard the stories. Now that they know we can wipe out a well-hidden, large group in one night, nobody is going to stick their necks out and make themselves a target,” I said.

“What about official investigations?” Rafael asked.

“I doubt there will be any repercussions,” I said with a shrug. “You have to remember, these people hide very well and live on the margins of society. Nobody will notice or report it to the police if they go missing. We’ve been really careful about witnesses, and we’ve made sure we aren’t leaving evidence behind. We’ve taken all the bodies, except for the one guy that got hit by a train. No bodies and no evidence of a crime means no investigation.”

“You have thought this through,” Rafael grudgingly admitted.

“We’ve had the time to plan it out right,” I agreed. “Which brings us to the next part,” I said as we took the stairs to the top of the old city wall. “We got confirmation that the attack was encouraged and paid for by an outsider. He came to the New York group and offered them a lot of money to kill Angela and Emmy’s babies in specific. We know his name and where he came from, and putting two and two together, we’re pretty sure we know who was behind it. The thing is, this is a much tougher target, and also way over in Istanbul. It’s going to be a whole additional level of difficulty to wipe them out.”

“But you plan to do this,” Rafael said. It wasn’t a question. He was merely voicing his conviction that it was inevitable.

“We do. I need to talk to some people and get some wheels in motion. It might take six months, it might take a year, but we’ll get them. They don’t know it now, but they’re dead men walking.”

“Let me know how I can help,” Rafael said, nodding in approval.

“Like I said, we can maybe use your urban warfare skills to train my guys. I want us to go in like the fist of God and leave no survivors. The better trained and prepared we are, the smoother it’ll go,” I said as we looked out over the moonlit Caribbean.

“How did the operation on the New York group go?” Rafael asked.

“Perfectly. We were in and they were done in a matter of just a few minutes. None of our guys got hurt. Everybody did everything just exactly the way we’d trained. It was flawless.”

“Good,” Rafael said. Then, after a moment, he asked, “How many men were involved in the operation?”

“Twenty-five, all told,” I said. “Twenty-six if you count me.”

“A decent number,” Rafael said. “And you are sure of their loyalty?”

“Very,” I confirmed as we resumed walking.

“What are your plans for the next six months to a year?”

“Gather intel and train,” I said. “A lot of both. I want to go in as ready as we were in New York. I want to sweep in, clean them out, and be gone before anybody even knows what happened.”

“In Istanbul,” Rafael said doubtfully.

“In Istanbul,” I confirmed. “It’s actually really important to strike at their base of strength. I mean, sure, we could wait for an opportunity to catch the big guy out and about somewhere, but that wouldn’t have the same impact. I want the rest of the Night Children world to know that we mean business. We are not to be messed with.”

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“That is understandable,” Rafael admitted. “It will take a lot of reconnaissance and a lot of preparation to do this, but don’t ignore the other things in your life while you are planning your operation. Emmy needs you. Don’t lose yourself in revenge.”

“At this point it isn’t really revenge,” I said. “If it’s the guy I’m pretty sure it is, he’s been a source of problems for us for years. After all this I just need to deal with him once and for all to eliminate him as a threat.”

“Lo que sea,” Rafael said, waving his hand in dismissal. “My point is valid. You need to be there for Emmy more than you need to kill this man in Istanbul.”

“You aren’t wrong,” I agreed. “A lot of the preparations will go on in the background. I don’t need to be directly involved.”

“Good,” he said as we turned down the narrow street towards the Castro family home.

Emmy was in the living room teaching Cecilia some chords on the guitar when we entered. It was obviously not Cecy’s first lesson, but it was clear that she was still very much a beginner. I briefly wondered if she’d only just started learning now that Emmy was staying there, and figured it was probably the case. It was nice to see the two of them spending time together like that and I hoped that the two would continue to forge a relationship aside from having had Angela in common.

“Hey, babe,” I said, leaning down to give Emmy a kiss.

“Did you and Papá have a nice walk?” she asked.

“We did,” I said. “I’ll tell you about it later.”

“O.K. Cecy and I are going to practice for another half an hour,” she said, glancing at her watch. “Then I will come to bed.”

“Perfect,” I replied.

Later, snuggled in Angela’s old bed, Emmy in my arms, I just wanted to fall asleep but Emmy was ready to talk. I spared her the details of the New York operation, only telling her that the people that had sent the killers to Atlanta were all dead.

“I hate that you had to do that,” Emmy said, her voice soft. “But thank you for doing it. Is it strange that I feel guilty for feeling glad they are dead?”

“No, it’s not strange at all,” I assured her. “It shows that you’re a decent person, regretting the loss of life even if they were your enemies.”

“I wish they had not been enemies,” Emmy said.

“Me, too,” I agreed, and we both fell silent for a while. I must have fallen asleep, since it was morning next thing I knew.

Mamá was already in the kitchen, bustling about, but Rafael and Cecilia were elsewhere.

“Have something to eat,” she commanded, setting down a plate of a sort of mix of beans and onions and peppers, along with some other ingredients I didn’t recognize. It smelled delicious, so I dug right in.

“What are you going to do today?” Mamá asked as she set a glass of juice down for me.

“Well, honestly, I don’t have anything planned for today,” I said. “I need to go out to Tierra Bomba and to Barrio Albornoz, but that doesn’t have to happen today. My main goal is to just spend time relaxing and resting with Emmy until she feels ready to face the world again.”

“That is a good goal,” Mamá agreed. “She is still in very much pain. I don’ think it will go away very soon, but spending time with you will help.”

“I hope so,” I said. “I don’t know what else we can do.”

“Show her you love her,” Mamá said decisively. “Celebrate Angela’s life, together, the two of you. That is the only way you can move on.”

“How are you doing, Mamá?” I asked, standing up and crossing the kitchen to give her a hug. “I miss her more than anything, and I only had her for a little while. You and Papá had her for most of her life.”

“I am very sad,” Mamá said, returning my hug. “Very sad.” We stood like that for a while before Mamá let me go, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Mi Angela, she was precious. Too precious for this world.”

“She was,” I agreed, wiping my own eyes.

After Emmy had breakfast she also asked what my plans were. When I told her that my main goal was to spend time with her, her face lit up in a smile.

“You do not have anywhere you need to be or anything you need to do?” she asked, pleased and surprised.

“Nothing that can’t wait,” I told her. “While we’re here in Colombia I’ll take care of some things with the local Night Children, but I can do that any time. First and foremost is being here, with you, while we both heal up.”

“Thank you,” she said, almost too softly to hear.

“I love you, Em. More than I can possibly say.”

We didn’t wind up doing anything to speak of that day. We just lazed around for the most part. When Cecilia got home from school we finally had something to do- Emmy helped Ceciila with her homework while I got my laptop out and did some work of my own. That evening after dinner we went to bed early, mostly so we could talk, just the two of us.

“Leah,” Emmy said, her body draped across mine. “When I am healed I want to try to have another baby.”

“I was really hoping you would,” I said, stroking her hair.

“I have been talking with Mamá. We talked about losing one’s baby, and how much it hurts. She told me that after she lost her first baby, she felt that she could never love another child the way she had that first infant growing in her womb. But then, she got pregnant again and discovered a new love. No, it was not the same, but it was not lesser.”

Emmy took a long moment to think about what to say next, while I simply kept holding her, silently encouraging her to continue.

“I loved Angela differently than I love you, because you and she were different people, but that does not make my love for her any lesser. It did not matter that she was not the first- I treasured her in a different way than I treasure you. So what Mamá said resonated with me. No, I will not feel for a second baby the way I did for the first, but that will not make her inferior.”

Keeping my response short and simple to encourage Emmy to say more, all I said was “No, it won’t.” In my heart, though, I was dancing with joy. I had hoped that Emmy would come to this realization, and very, very grateful for Mamá’s sympathy and understanding that helped Emmy get to this point.

“I want to try again as soon as the doctors say that I am healed enough to try,” Emmy said, sitting upright so she could look at my face.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I said. “We still have the egg cells.”

“Leah,” she said, her voice turning soft. “Would it be- would you … how would you feel if we used one of Angela’s eggs to fertilize mine? Would that be O.K. with you?”

I reached up and smoothed the worry lines from Emmy’s brow. “I would love that little girl more than anything in the world,” I said, absolutely meaning it.