Page 73

I t was after midnight, and they should’ve been sleeping in their soft beds.

Instead, they sat on the beach beside a large bonfire, drinking beer, watching the flames grow taller and taller—everyone, that is, except for Alex Parker, who was on guard duty for the next hour, and Mallory, who was watching the baby and probably enjoying some much-needed sleep.

What would that be like? Dealing with a baby again? The idea grabbed hold of something in Kurt’s chest and squeezed hard.

Rowena lay on a blanket in the sand with her head on his thigh as he stroked her hair. She’d fallen asleep, and the light from the fire coated her cheek in gold. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve her, but he planned to earn her love every day, over and over again, until his last breath.

The soft breeze brushed the bare skin of his arms. He rubbed his clean-shaven jaw, feeling more like himself again and definitely looking more like the guy he remembered in the mirror.

The sound of helicopter rotors in the distance caught their attention.

Kurt watched the men’s hands drift lazily to their weapons.

Parker had found him a spare holster for his purloined SIG.

Haley stood and threw on another couple of pieces of firewood, her gaze going east to track possible dangers in the night sky.

Darby’s eyes grew larger, haunted by flames.

Eban put his arm around her shoulders and held tight.

The smile on her lips when she looked at the negotiator both broke Kurt’s heart and filled him with pride.

She’d survived.

She’d endured more than all of them put together and had the best revenge by living a good life and being happy.

They’d taken her to see Hurek earlier. A pathetic man. Condemned. Doomed. Too stupid to realize it. Hurek had cowered before this slight young woman with flames for hair. Begged her for forgiveness.

She hadn’t given it, and Kurt couldn’t blame her.

The chopper was getting closer. He tried to ease away without disturbing Rowena, but she woke.

“What is it?”

He didn’t want to scare her but didn’t want to lie either. “Helicopter coming this way.”

She stiffened and sat up. “Gilder? Or someone planning to rescue Hurek?”

“Neither.” A voice came out of the darkness, and Alex Parker slipped into view. “Just received a call. Gilder’s in custody. No casualties on our side.”

Kurt released a deep breath as he stood.

“Who’s in the chopper?” asked Eban.

“A few friends who needed a place to bunk down for the night. I offered. I’ll grab some blankets and some more beer. Hurek is secure. He’s not going anywhere.” Alex dropped a case of Samuel Adams in the sand.

Kurt pulled Rowena to her feet and felt his heart start to pound as he stared at the silhouette of not one but two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks.

He knew who was on board those machines.

The birds came in to land one at a time, either side of the Leonardo. The guys piled out before the pilots started shutting them down. They raced across the sand, and Kurt murmured to Rowena, “brace yourself.”

He had to fight back tears as he found himself embraced and swept up and carried around on people’s shoulders like he was in a parade. They swept Rowena up too, whose laughter reached him over the noise of celebration.

“Put me the fuck down!” He was laughing too hard to put any force into the order.

Finally, they lowered him to the ground, and he found himself engulfed in a rugby scrum of Kevlar and testosterone. When they stepped back, he stood face-to-face with Jordan Krychek.

“You’re late,” the other man told him in a gruff voice.

Kurt nodded. “Had a few delays.”

Jordan’s gaze shifted to Rowena. “Nice to meet you, Miss Smith. Your colleagues back in Madeley library were worried about you. I was able to inform them, discreetly, that you were okay.”

“You spoke to Betty and Alasdair?”

“I even met them.” He held out his hand to shake. “Jordan Krychek.”

Rowena shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. Kurt was worried about you.”

“Was he now? I was worried about him too. Glad he had you to keep him company.” Kurt didn’t miss the smile trying to twist Jordan’s lips. All the guys had a gleam of amusement in their eyes along with relief. “By the way, Marianne says hi.”

“Marianne?” Kurt and Rowena exchanged a look.

“Came all the way to DC in order to help.”

“Oh my God. I’m so glad she’s okay.”

He wrapped his arm around Rowena’s shoulders and pulled her close. It was a relief to know Marianne hadn’t betrayed them.

“You arrest Marty Sinclair for treason yet?”

Jordan nodded. “He was extracted earlier.”

The guys all took turns introducing themselves to Rowena before helping themselves to a beer and settling down on the sand around the fire. Haley, Darby, and Quentin had run up to the house for some food, which appeared in the form of giant hot dogs that they cooked in a large pot over the fire.

Meghan Donnelly held out her hand to him. “Pleased to meet you, sir. Miss Smith.”

“Congratulations on making it onto the teams, Operator Donnelly.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Call me Kurt.”

“Call me Row.” Rowena shook her hand enthusiastically. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Donnelly’s eyes widened. “How is that even possible?”

“FNGs.” Rowena grinned as everyone within hearing distance laughed.

“Donnelly just saved us weeks of sitting on our asses.” Ryan Sullivan stood behind the female operator, his eyes full of mischief, wearing that smile that always had the ladies salivating stretched across his too handsome face.

“Did she now?”

Ryan nodded. “Pretended to be Gilder’s high-priced attorney, waltzed straight into the safe room, and then took them down.”

“Single-handedly?”

“You betcha.”

“What about his bodyguard, Gerrit-the-gorilla?” Rowena covered her mouth in a sign of distress.

“Him too.” Ryan sounded like a proud papa showing off at a parent-teacher conference.

Rowena stared at Donnelly with a look of fierce admiration. “I want to be like you when I grow up.”

“Me too,” said Ryan.

Donnelly flicked a look up and down him. “No danger of that happening any time soon.” With that she headed toward the beer.

“Ouch.” Kurt winced.

“Not sure what I did to upset her this time.” Ryan stepped forward. Held out his hand first to Kurt, then to Rowena .

He clasped her hand in both of his. Kurt gritted his teeth.

“So this is why you took a month off to go on an all-expenses-paid cruise around the world. I can’t say I blame you.”

Kurt put his arm around Rowena again, and she beamed at Ryan. “You must be Cowboy.”

The other man blinked. Tilted his head to one side in inquiry. “Exactly how did you know that when I’m not even wearing my leather chaps?”

“I could tell you.” She grinned at Kurt, and he knew he was about to pay a price for his insecurity. “But then Kurt would have to kill you.” Taking Kurt by surprise she pulled him in for a kiss, not letting him draw breath for a full thirty seconds. He didn’t exactly try to get away.

Rowena was staking a very public claim, and she was doing it because of his fragile ego. Finally, she let him go, holding his gaze for a few moments before they both realized the whole gathering had gone quiet. Only the gentle tumble of waves broke the silence.

Ryan stood there stock-still, as if scared to move. Then he started clapping, and so did everyone else. Whistling, hollering, making Kurt glad it wasn’t light enough to see his reddened cheeks.

“I’ll have what she’s having,” Ryan called out and headed off to greet the others by the fire.

Kurt drew Rowena in close and murmured in her ear, “No, he damned well won’t.”

“Don’t forget to tell them you love them.”

He rolled his eyes, then swallowed. “They know.”

“I love you.”

He smiled. Kissed her again. “I know.”