Of course Ace almost never forgave us. I'm still not sure what he was more upset over, the whole house blowing up or the loss of his barn full of toys. I still owe him for that by the way. Jim did a fairly decent job of keeping my Kat's name out of the whole thing. Of course, Johnson still has his die-hard supporters that swear he was set up to take the fall for someone else. And those guys might not be too far off the mark if Jim is to be believed. But for me and Kat the story ends here. We're free to live our lives and to be happy without the shadow of the Senator lurking over us. If you ask me it was worth killing the bastard for that reason alone.
When Roberts opens his eyes the first thing he does is roll them at me. "Oh God, not you again. Isn't being shot enough of a reason for you to leave me alone?"
"Hello to you too friend." My smile is one of genuine happiness that Roberts made it through surgery and is recovering nicely. I visit him almost daily and we go through the same routine. He'll crack his eyes open and cuss me and I'll spend an hour or so visiting with him. Sometimes my girl comes with me and that's nice. I don't like having her too far out of my sight for obvious reasons.
"So is it checkers or chess today, my friend?"
The door pops open before I can get an answer and in sashays the love of my life. Her hair is still the color of snow but now cut barely past her chin. She makes it look so damned sexy and I like nothing better than to bend down and kiss her neck when she is working.
She quit her job as a numbers cruncher and now writes just like I do. Well not just like I do, she writes action-heavy romances. I couldn't be happier because I get to help her work out scenes from her book and thank God she chose erotic romance to delve into.
She pounces on my lap being very mindful of my still bandaged arm. "Mike, you're looking better and better every time I come to see you."
Even the gnarled old cop has to smile for my girl's bright enthusiasm. I'm sure of how she's changed my life for the better.
"What are you doing with this ugly pile of bones? Don't you know you deserve someone not covered in tattoos from head to toe?" It's a refrain she and Roberts go through every time.
"Yes, but someone like that couldn't keep me safe or happy." She leans forward, "I have a thing for the bad boys."
We told Roberts what happened when he woke up. It felt nice to be able to tell him we got the bastard even if it wasn't the same person that put him in here.
"I have a friend who would like to see you if you're up for it."
"You have friends?" Haha. Maybe the old guy needs another bullet to shut him up.
"He wants to offer you a job opportunity. Seems he was real impressed with how you weeded out the inside guy at your precinct and how you handled yourself during the assassination of Starling. The guy knows what he's talking about. He's been doing it for a while. I would give what he has to say a chance."
Roberts gaze tracks up to my eyes and I can see he's skeptical about who I am talking about. He probably thinks it will be a mobster from back in Russia wanting to recruit him.
As soon as Jim Archer walks through the door it's time for me and Kat to make ourselves scarce. Besides I can tell from how worked up she is that my Kitten has something she wants to tell me and I have somewhere I want to take her.
Epilogue II
____________
Ivan
Both Jim and Ace are sitting in our new home which isn’t terribly far from the farmhouse that Ace plans to rebuild. This time I doubt he'll be leaving his explosives just lying around. The men got the official word yesterday that they were done. They knew it was going to happen but it took months for it to be official. The American government runs about as slow as the Russian government on some things.
Both men are talking about what is next for them along with one more man on Jim's team. I believe they call him Remy.
"I'm still looking into the third man. I realize finding out isn't going to help us now but I have to know who sold those names to the Senator. Men like that don't need to be in our government and none of the people working are safe if they are."
"I think I'm going to go home, the one I grew up in, not the one Kat blew up," yeah he's still tender over that even though he never gives Kat shit for it. No, he saves that for me. "I want to settle back into having a normal life - whatever the hell that means. Taking time off isn't a bad thing, Jim, you might want to consider it yourself."
"What about you, Ivan? You want to work for Jim and help take bad guys down all over the world or are you going to sit on your ass like Ace, getting old and soggy with retirement. Even though we aren't official or anything we could still use a guy like you."
"Not me, Remy. I need to stay here, close to my Kitten." I can't hold the smile back from my face any longer. "I'm going to be a dad in a couple of months and that involves planning and precision."
Remy and Ace both jump up and slap me on the back and congratulate me. Jim gives his dignified head tilt that tells me he is also congratulating me. Turns out the day Kat ran into Roberts' hospital room she did have something to tell me, something very important to tell me. She had just taken a pregnancy test. I had already bought the house for her because she seemed to like the country better than the city. We both surprised one another. And she still surprises me every day. She is my perfect person made just for me.
Jim finally speaks up, "Well damn, most of my good men are dropping like flies; either they're trying to get their women knocked up or they already succeed."
"Not me Jim. I'm not trying to knock anyone up."
Without missing a beat Jim answers him, "I said my good men, Ace. Listen better next time."
Ace makes a swipe at Jim who easily sidesteps it causing Ace to hit Remy. Before I know it both of them are down on the ground, rolling around fighting. Small pale hands come from behind to wrap around me. I knew she was there, I could smell her.
"Is Ace saying hi again?"
"Something like that." I turn in her arms and offer her a kiss. I thought when I first came to America it was my new beginning but I realize now I was really just waiting for my beginning to start. Kat is my real beginning. She is my redemption from all of the sins of the past. She is the woman I am taking upstairs and fucking while the two grown-ass men can fight it out down here.
"I'll leave you to it, Ivan. You seem like you are in very good hands. Ma'am." He tilts his head at my kitten and then pushes his glasses up on his nose before wading into the two men fighting on the ground to pull them apart.
"You think he really needs those glasses or is he just wearing them for show?" Now that is a question I do not have the answer to.