Page 114 of Poison Evidence

She jumped from the bed and picked up her purse, which she’d dropped on the floor as soon as they’d entered the stateroom. She pulled out her cell phone. “Laurel sent me this picture today.”

She showed him the image of a grinning Julian on a ride in the theme park. He’d just lost his first baby tooth last week, leaving an adorable gap in his smile.

“He’ll be starting kindergarten in the fall,” Matt said.

She nodded. “He’s so smart. So ready for school.”

“I have a plan. After our whirlwind romance and I get to ‘meet’ him, we’ll date for a bit and it will become clear to your family that we’re serious…I’m going to suggest that we take off this summer, three months on my boat, before Julian starts school. It will give us a chance to become a family away from prying eyes. Give me a chance to get to know Julian quickly, without having to play a role for others.”

“I think that’s an amazing idea.” Living on a boat with the two most important males in her world sounded like a slice of heaven.

“You can take the time off work?”

She nodded. “I’ll take a leave of absence. CAM has been handed over to the Pentagon, I’m in the final stages of refinement and training so others can operate the system, then I’m out. I have no interest in being a spy, and won’t dare risk using the system again myself now that terrorist groups are after it. I’ve got money saved and can afford the leave. But what about you? I assume you’re working for the CIA now. Are they going to let you go?”

“They have all the intelligence I could give them, and in the future, I’ll be called in to evaluate new intelligence as it comes in, but it will be consulting mostly. Dimitri Veselov saved every penny he could to set up his sister and her son with a new life. I’m going to use that money now to take care of Julian, like I always wanted.”

“So this is really going to happen? We can really sail off into the sunset together?” Just the idea of it made her heart race. Once upon a time, Dimitri had told her there would be no happy endings for him, and they’d both believed him.

“It will, and we can. Just like I predicted, Russian spy Dimitri Veselov died when the AUUV was handed over in the jungle. But it turns out, American CIA analyst Matthew Dimitri Clark has an amazing future.”