He said, “I’ll need a little more than a minute.”
She smiled, then slid her hand down his torso and over his hips, to the thick coarse hair between his legs, only to find him already stirring. “Oh, is that right?” she asked.
He stared at her in shock, looked down at her hand, and said, “Well, that’s never happened.”
She snorted. “Well then,” she said, “how about a replay—in a few minutes?”
“How about a replay right now?” he said, shifting onto his back, underneath her.
She smiled and said, “Sounds good to me.” Then she straddled him, and, in a slow and deep rocking motion, she slowly took them both up to the edge, as the initial passion had already taken the edge off, and the slow gentle loving followed. One that she loved, just as much as the one before. The resulting climax they shared was just as powerful in its own way. When she finally slid down across his chest, breathless and gasping for air, she whispered, “Is it okay if I go back to sleep again?”
“I sure hope so,” he said. “I’m already there ahead of you.” With that, he tucked his arms around her, and the two of them fell back asleep.
She had a smile on her face, dreaming about the days to come.
Epilogue
Kano left the hospital, after having spent quite a bit of time talking to Gregg, and made his way back to Charles’s house.
Charles smiled at him. “I’d say it’s been a good day, but you look pretty angry.”
“We didn’t get the car,” he said. “And nobody’s been able to track it. Jonas said he’s got a team on it, but he’s pissed.”
“Oh, dear,” Charles replied. “Now what?”
“I’ll go see that bitch,” he said.
“Not alone,” Charles warned Kano.
“Well, it’s not what I want to do, and I think backup would help, but I don’t want to take Garret. He needs to spend some time with Astra and his brother. A bunch of healing needs to go on there with Amy too.”
“And?” Charles said. “That doesn’t mean you go alone.”
Just then a knock came from the other side of the dividing wall. “You expecting company?” Kano asked, puzzled.
Charles nodded. “I am, indeed.” He opened the door, and Fallon stepped through.
Kano looked at his buddy in surprise, then reached out and hugged him, hard. “Damn good to see you,” he said. “We could have used you these last few days.”
“I was on my way already,” Fallon said, “when I heard all the updates from Charles. I’m glad I’m here. We’ve filled in Ice and Blanchard too. Still no progress on the hunt for Bullard yet, unfortunately.” He looked from one to the other. “So where are we going next?”
Kano looked at him in surprise, then at Charles, and asked, “Did you arrange this?”
Charles smiled and said, “I cannot tell a lie.”
Kano chuckled and said, “Well, it’s good that you’re here, Fallon, and your timing is perfect.”
“You haven’t told me where we’re going yet,” Fallon said.
“First stop, Paris,” Kano said.
“The bitch Deedee, who’s always been after Bullard?” Fallon stopped, paused, and said, “Now that’s an interesting concept.”
“The question is whether she hates him enough to do something like this,” Kano said.
“I wouldn’t have said so,” Fallon said slowly. “But I do agree, it’s time we go find out. The team is running out of avenues to follow. You keep giving us new ones, but everything comes down to a dead end.”
“Except for Deedee,” Charles said. “If nothing else, you need to go knock her off the list.” He looked at Kano and asked, “Did you get any sleep yet?”
“No,” he said. “I need to crash and burn for a bit.”
“I could use some rest too actually,” Fallon said. “The flights were not great for that.”
Charles looked at his watch and said, “It’s almost midnight now. How about we have some food, a nightcap, and then you can both get a good night’s sleep and leave in the morning.”
The men agreed with that, and Fallon turned and asked, “Where’s Garret?”
At that, both men chuckled.
Fallon looked at them, surprised, and asked, “What’s so funny?”
“He’s in bed.”
“Garret’s in bed?”
“Yeah, but not alone.”
At that, Fallon’s eyebrows slowly climbed. “Amy?” he asked in shock.
“No, hell no, not Amy,” Kano said. “Amy’s sister. Astra.”
Fallon looked at him in surprise, and Kano smiled and said, “This is a good thing.”
“She’s okay?” he asked hesitantly.
“Astra’s a good person,” he said. “She saved our ass, shot a couple bad guys in the process, and didn’t even turn a hair. She took a punch in the face too because Gregg was still a prisoner and would get shot, if somebody didn’t show up and diffuse the gunman’s anger.”
“Is she okay?” Fallon asked in alarm.
“She’s more than okay. She’s even better now. She apparently has loved Garret since he hooked up with Amy.”
“Jesus,” he said. “If only Garret had seen the right sister back then.”
“History could be well rewritten on hindsight,” Charles said. “Now let’s get some food. We’ll leave those two alone to rest up and to heal, on many levels,” he said firmly. “If you want to talk to them, we’ll do that at breakfast.”
“Hell no,” Kano said. “We need to be gone, before they’re even up.”
Fallon looked at him in surprise. “Why?”
“Otherwise Garret will insist on coming,” he said.
“No, I’m here for this leg of the journey,” Fallon said. “It’s my turn to get into the nitty-gritty of this investigation. It’s frustrating as hell being on the outside, trying to give suggestions, but not actually being here. Garret jumped back in way too early, considering the major head injury he got when the plane went down.”
“Exactly why I called you,” Charles said, as he led the way to the kitchen. Indeed, a perfectly browned pot roast sat on the counter, with its juices just settling in. The roasted veggies and gravy were also kept warm on the stovetop.
“How the hell did you even know that he was coming right now?” Kano asked Charles.
“Obviously,” Charles said, “because I arranged it. Now let’s eat!” After two minutes to dish up the plates, they sat down to eat and began to discuss the nightmare of Deedee.
Fallon stopped eating, halfway through his roast, stared, and said, “Wait, Kano. Wasn’t there something about you and Deedee?”
“Oh, hell no,” he said forcibly. “Deedee’s like thirty years my senior. She was also sweet on Bullard, not that he cared.”
“I thought something was there though,” Fallon said, concentrating, as if trying to remember.
Charles looked at him and smiled. “Not a daughter by any chance, was it?”