“Maybe, but it looked like this guy took a bullet and then was kicked to crap.”
“You know something? That could easily have been Jessie. He might have beaten her up, and she turned on him and killed him and then, out of temper, kicked him several times.”
“Some of the wounds on him are older, so he probably paid a price for her not delivering as promised too.”
“She’s alive, if you feel like going after her,” Jerricho said. “Something about going to one of the smaller islands. She’s pregnant and has to find a way to support herself.”
“We’ll keep an eye out, but she’s hardly a priority at the moment. Do you have the key?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at Killian.
“Are you going to share?”
“It’s proof of China having concentration camps. And these photos were taken from the press office, gathered by one of the other journalists.”
“Jesus, and Jessie was paid to get them?”
“Yes, by a Chinese diplomat apparently.”
“Then she’s lucky if she’s still alive. They don’t accept failure at all.”
“And that could be what happened to her boyfriend too.”
“It’s possible. Do we get a copy of it?”
He looked at Brenna. “What do you want to do?”
“Give him a copy,” she said quietly. “He helped us. And I think the more people who know about China, the better.”
Jonas called out, “I heard that. Thank you, Brenna.”
“Thank you for helping save my life, Jonas.”
“Ditto to these guys,” he said. “I sure hope you convince them to go home though,” he said. “Anytime any of this group comes through England, we end up with dead bodies.”
“I don’t think that’s our fault,” she said.
“Nope. Doesn’t matter though,” he said. “I’d like all of you to head home. By the way, your flight leaves in two hours.”
“Which means that we have to be at the airport right away,” Killian said. “And we need showers and breakfast.”
“Can’t push the flights back,” he said, “but you don’t have to appear there for an hour. Under the special circumstances, you’ll get an escort all the way there. Breakfast is being delivered as we speak. Get your own damn shower.” And then, with a laugh, he rang off.
She looked at them. “He actually seems really nice.”
“Considering the work we do, he is,” Jerricho said. “And he’s always been fair. And, with good reason, he wants us to leave. We only come when there’s trouble, so he only sees that side of us.”
“It’s also what he does himself,” Killian said, with a big grin. “Now that you two have had showers, I’ll go grab one.” And he disappeared.
She looked at Jerricho. “Are you okay?”
“Isn’t that my question?” he said, with a bright smile.
“Maybe,” she said.
“So let me ask you. Are you okay?”
“I’m really okay,” she said. “I woke up feeling calm inside for the first time in forever.”
“Good sex will do that.”
“Oh, you,” she said, laughing. “But you’re right. Good sex will do that. So will finding peace inside. So will not blaming myself anymore. And so will having you back in my life.”
He walked over, gave her a hard good-morning kiss, and said, “Ditto.”
“So we’re on?”
“Oh, we’re definitely on,” he said. “I’ve got time off coming up, so, depending on where you are in the world, we can meet up somewhere.”
“I was living in New York,” she said. “Not sure I want to stay there though.”
“You have decisions to make,” he said. “I’m in California. Why don’t you come with me?”
“Maybe we should find out where the tickets are taking us.”
He burst out laughing. “California.”
She nodded. “Then California it is. I wouldn’t mind going back,” she said. “New York is fine, for a time, but you know that there’s nothing quite like sunny weather.”
“Why don’t we spend some time in California and figure it out?” he asked, with a knowing grin.
“I’m good with that.”
He glanced down and said, “I’m good with you. So wherever you want to be, I’m happy,” he said. “I’ll have to travel from a major naval base, but, other than that, it doesn’t matter.”
She nodded. “California it is.”
“And your job?”
“I think it’s time for a new career,” she murmured.
“And what kind?”
“No clue,” she said, “but one where I don’t feel like I owe people for my existence,” she said. “So maybe just … I don’t know. I’ll … I’ll figure it out.”
“You know something? I trust that you will.” He pulled her until she stood in front of him, tucked her up tightly against him, and whispered, “To us.” And he kissed her gently.
A knock came at the door, and she laughed. “They really have shitty timing, don’t they?”
“We’re a little limited, with Killian in the shower anyway.” He walked over and opened the door to let breakfast be wheeled in.
She sat down, smiled, and said, “You know what? I like all this special treatment.”
“You travel with me,” he said, with a big wink, “you travel in style.”
She burst out laughing. “Yeah, I remember some of the styles,” she said. “I remember running across the ground in the middle of the night and that rattletrap boat.”
“See? Look at the memories we’ve already garnered,” he said, with a grin.
She reached across the table, grabbed his hand, and said, “And there’ll be many more, right?”
“How many did you want?” he said. “I’m up for another seventy years. How about you?”
She looked at him, feeling the tears in the back of her eyes and her throat, and nodded. “That sounds perfect.”
He picked up his coffee cup, and he held it up, and, when she lifted hers, he clinked the two together, and he said, “To us. Finally.”
Epilogue
Killian Nordstrom walked along the beach, picked up a piece of driftwood, and threw it out into the ocean. He had come for a run, and now he was staying because, well, it was just so damn beautiful. He stood for a long moment, smiling at the world around him. When he turned to head back, he stopped because a figure on the cliff watched him. He walked up to see his sister. “Hey, sis. How’s life?”
“It would be better,” she said, “if it weren’t for these phone calls.” She held out her own phone. He looked at it and asked, “Who is it?” But she didn’t answer, just thrust her phone at him. He grabbed her phone, frowning, putting it to his ear.
“It’s me, Jerricho,” he said. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
“I left it in my room,” he said. “It’s just been so beautiful here on the beach.”