She burrowed her face into his neck and he whispered something in her ear, and it was an intensely private and intimate moment. And that’s when I realized Cole loved her. Really loved her. I didn’t think he realized it yet, but he would at some point, and it was going to scare the daylights out of him.
“It’s nice, huh,” Jack said, nodding at them.
“You knew all along, didn’t you?” I asked.
“Of course,” he said. “One man in love recognizes another.” And then he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “I’m glad you’re my ride or die.”
“I kind of feel left out,” Martinez said, looking around.
Commander Rikes was walking toward us from the back of the auditorium with Dojo, and they climbed onto the stage.
“Dojo found the device pretty easily,” Rikes said. “He had it in the office safe, so it took me a minute to get in there, but I was able to get it contained before you irritated him into hitting the detonator.”
Jack grinned. “We were all playing a part. I knew what he needed.”
“Your psychology is showing,” Rikes said, smirking. “Now what?”
“Now he rots in prison, just like I told him he would, and no one will remember his name.”
“Don’t bet on it,” I said. “You promised Carrie Colson an interview.”
“After this debacle?” Jack asked. “Carrie will be lucky if he says two words to her. I think his theater days are over.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I looked at the screen. “It’s Doug,” I said and answered on speaker.
“What are you guys doing?” he asked. “Chen and I finally finished going through these programs. Guess what we found in the very last batch?”
“What?” I asked, unable to help the grin. I was feeling pretty good now that I knew we were going to live another day.
“We found the programs with Juliet Dunnegan in them, though her name was Juliet Martin back then, and Bruno Corelli. But guess who else was in the program?”
“Rick Early,” I said.
Doug was silent for a few seconds. “Man, I wanted to beat you to it. That sucks. All that for nothing.”
“You did good work,” Jack said. “See if you can talk Chen into making her famous pancakes. She puts chocolate chips in them.”
“I’m all for that,” Doug said.
“I’m hanging up now,” Jack said. “We’ve got some things to tie up here and then we’ll head home.”
“Are you even going to tell me what happened?”
“I thought you would have seen it on livestream,” Jack said.
“Hello?” Doug said. “Didn’t you hear me say Chen and I were buried to our eyeballs in those stupid programs. They smelled like mothballs. I think I’m allergic.”
Jack laughed, and pulled me in closer. “You’re the best, Doug. One of a kind.”
“If I’m the best why are you in such a rush to get off the phone?” he asked. “Am I missing something good?”
“You sure are,” Jack said. “I’m about to kiss my wife. It feels good to not get blown up.”
Jack hung up in the middle of Doug’s splutters and kissed me hard.
“Ride or die,” I said, when he pulled back. “But let’s try not to die next time.”
He grinned and said, “You got it, Doc.”
Epilogue
“Happy Valentine’s Day,” Jack said when I walked into the kitchen.
I smelled French toast and coffee and bacon, and I was debating on whether to rip his clothes off before or after I ate.
“Oh, is that today?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in question. “Whatever should we spend the day doing?”
I looked over my shoulder, but knew there was no way Doug would be awake so early, and then I loosened the belt on my robe and let it dip off one shoulder teasingly.
Jack stopped in his tracks, his gaze caught by the peek of flesh. “I’m sure we can think of something. I can think of a lot of things, actually.” He turned off the stove and moved quickly, grabbing the belt of my robe and pulling me toward him.
I laughed in surprise. “I always forget how fast you are when you want to be,” I said, my hands gripping his shoulders.
“Sometimes a situation calls for fast,” he said, the corner of his mouth tilting in a cocky grin. And then he leaned down and whispered in my ear. “And sometimes a situation calls for slow. Very, very slow.”
My breath caught in my chest, and I’d forgotten all about coffee and breakfast. “We can eat later,” I said, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him out of the kitchen.
We almost ran into Doug head-on. He was barreling down the stairs toward us, a look of pure panic on his face.
“Uncle Ben called,” he said. “He said the FBI is searching his house and seizing all his electronics.”
“Where’s Carver?” Jack asked.
“He said he’s safe,” Doug said. “Didn’t tell me where.”
Jack looked at me, and I could see the worry there. “I can’t interfere,” Jack said, and then he looked back at Doug. “Do you still have Magnolia?”
Doug swallowed and nodded silently. “I was going to take her back after the case was over. I just haven’t had the chance.” And then he tried to grin, but didn’t quite succeed. “I was dissecting some of the newer programs Uncle Ben installed so I could use them on Mackenzie.”
“That’s good,” Jack said. “Why don’t you keep her a little longer. And we’ll keep that between us.”
“Is Uncle Ben in trouble?” Doug asked.
“It looks like it,” Jack said. “But I know Carver better than anyone. He’s the best of the good guys. If he’s in trouble it’s because he did something right, and someone doesn’t want him to. Don’t text him unless he texts you. And don’t mention Magnolia.”
Doug nodded. “He told me the same thing. He used the encrypted software in Mackenzie to call me. It’ll be untraceable from either end.”
“It’ll be okay,” Jack said. “I’m going to go over to the house and see if they’ll share any information out of courtesy. Don’t worry about your uncle. He’s a genius. He could outthink those field agents at the FBI while in a coma.”
Doug blew out a relieved breath. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks. I’m going back to bed. I’ve got a date tonight.”
Jack and I must have had identical looks on our face because Doug blushed slightly. “She knows I’m sixteen. She’s only eighteen. It’s not a big deal. And I’ll be seventeen soon, so it’s not that big of an age gap.”
“Sounds like fun,” Jack said, grinning, but I could tell his mind was a million miles away.
As soon as Doug ran back up the stairs Jack went to get his coat and keys. “I’m going to see what I can find out.”
“I wish he would have told us what’s going on,” I said. “We could’ve been prepared.”
“He’s protecting us,” Jack said. “Whatever has happened is bigger than the connections Carver has. At that level, it usually means people start becoming expendable. The government is an expert at making people look like they committed suicide. Especially if you’re holding information they deem as dangerous.”