Page 184 of Enemy Within

“We have Americans still being held in Lubyanka Prison, with the other Madigan trash. We’re working on extradition orders for them. Since they were actively serving military officers who fled with Madigan, it’s a delicate maneuvering between three court systems. It could take time.”

She shrugged. “I won’t weep if any of Madigan’s men are inconvenienced in Lubyanka Prison. It might take quite a while to extradite them.”

He grunted. “And General Moroshkin is still at large.”

“I’m not worried about him. He left Nunavut a broken man. He was the one who let the dog in the back door in Russia. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find his bones off St. Petersburg in the Gulf of Finland one day.”

“We can hope.” Allen sighed.“Our teams in the Arctic recovered the bodies of the SEAL team as well. They’re coming home under honors. I’d like to be at the base with you when they land.”

“Absolutely. I’m reaching out to their families. Senator, what about Madigan’s network? His supporters in the United States? General Bell’s testimony says he’s convinced there are more of his followers still out there.”

“We think this was his last stand. His infrastructure was crumbling. Reichenbach and his team dogged his every move. He was penned in in Somalia until Sergeant Wright, working for Madigan, killed his teammate and put Lieutenant Cooper’s team out of commission. These were the acts of a man scraping his forces together for a final battle.”

“But did we get them all?”

Senator Allen was quiet. “I can’t answer that. And neither can our intelligence community.”

She shook her head. “What about the rest of the world? The threat forecast for the future looks pretty bleak.”

“We took big hits with this one. Madigan, Moroshkin, and his Russian forces on our back door. The Chinese turned their navy around, but we still had two of the world’s biggest armies heading for us at the same time. One hundred and ninety-six countries saw that. They watched Madigan give us bloody noses, again and again. We’re still bleeding. Russia’s broken. Europe took a step back from us. We’re going to have a hard time for a while.”

Elizabeth chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the committee’s final recommendation. “One of the committee’s assessments and recommendations is the creation of an off-the-books black team. Under presidential oversight, and reporting back to the president and your Senate Select Committee. A team that could act, decisively and quickly, when needed. Politically, diplomatically… clandestinely.”

“We need this kind of team. We can finance it through our black asset program. Who knows what we’ll be coming at us now? More internal threats? Who can we definitively trust right now? This team needs be people we can rely on, one hundred percent.” Allen sighed, and leather creaked over the phone like he was leaning back in his own chair. “We’re going to face outside attacks. People are going to want to take a swing at us right now. We need to be able to stop them. Ideally, before they get a chance to strike.”

“I agree, Senator. And I have a few ideas.”

79

Texas

JACK ROLLED INTO ETHAN, his hands running over Ethan’s face, his neck. Ethan held Jack, beaming.

They heard a loud whoop rise in the house, Andrew’s hearty cheer, Mary’s gasp, and then sobbing. TNN played in the background, the news alert falling from the screen door on the back porch.

“We’re free. Ethan, we’re free.” Jack laughed, joy pulsing through him. He was free, and he was in Ethan’s arms.

Their future unfolded before them, open and wide, full of opportunity. Of choice.

“Now what?” Jack cradled Ethan’s face, looping one leg through Ethan’s thighs and scooting as close as he could on the hammock. They swayed, rocked by the late-afternoon breeze. “We can do anything.”

“First—” Ethan smiled, covering Jack’s hand with his own. “We’re going on our honeymoon.” He kissed Jack, slowly. Pulling back, he pressed their foreheads together, his half-lidded eyes warm as they held Jack’s gaze. “After that, we can do anything. Anything we want.”

“What Elizabeth said the other night...” Jack’s brows furrowed, his thoughts starting to string together, possibilities he hadn’t considered at the time, had refused to think about, bubbling up to the surface.

Ethan kissed him again, smiling. “Anything, Jack. It’s your life.”

“It’sourlife. Together.”

Smiling, Ethan laced their hands together, brought Jack’s fingers to his lips, and kissed Jack’s wedding ring. “And I’m with you all the way.”

The End