EPILOGUE
“Dad, do you have my homework?” Isla called down over the balcony.
“Why would I have your homework?” Jeffrey chuckled and shook his head as he continued to pack her lunch for school. “Check your backpack.”
She dashed back into her bedroom and a moment later shouted with glee, “Found it!”
Isla was doing extremely well, all things considered, and was settling into her new life with the skill that came from years of being forced to adapt.
He was struck by how different his own life had become in six short months.
This morning, instead of securing his firearm in his holster, he was standing in his kitchen putting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his daughter’s soft-sided, pink cooler with unicorns all over it.
Jeffrey had moved Maya and Isla in with him right away. He’d had an inexplicable need to keep them close, and fortunately, both of them had felt the same way. They’d filed for a marriage license, and he and Maya tied the knot before the ink dried on the paperwork.
Twelve years was plenty long enough to wait to be together.
The ceremony had been small and limited to a few friends, including some of the O’Hallerans who weren’t out on ops. Isla was her mom’s maid of honor, and his goddaughter, Ashling, was their flower girl. Shortly after that, his daughter legally took his last name. To say it had been a proud moment for him would be a massive understatement.
Jeffrey’s life as a solitary bachelor had come to an end, and he’d never been happier. Maya and Isla filled a gap in his soul he hadn’t known existed.
“Look at you, being all domestic.” His wife strolled toward him, smiling. The solitaire diamond necklace he’d given her as a wedding gift flashed where it rested against her chest.
“Hey, I have all kinds of hidden talents.” He was happy to see she’d gained back the weight she’d lost while on the run. She’d also stopped dying her hair, and it was back to its original golden blond.
“The one you showed me last night was pretty impressive.” Her warm breath whispered close to his ear, and she drew back enough to wink at him .
“Woman, you are playing with fire.” He glanced up to the loft area and, not seeing their daughter, tugged Maya in for a deep kiss.
As always happened, the heat that perpetually simmered between them shot up in an instant. Their tongues dueled and their breaths became heavy as their bodies hungered for each other.
“Mom, Dad, can I take Mr. Snickets to school today?” Isla’s voice from upstairs snapped them back to the moment.
He reluctantly drew his lips away from Maya’s. She pivoted toward the sound of their daughter rumbling down the stairs, and he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
Isla walked over to them with her backpack over her shoulder, her one-eyed hamster cradled gently in her hands. Initially, she’d wanted a kitten, but their sensitive little girl changed her mind when she saw the hamster with only one eye tucked away in the corner of a cage all by itself. She felt sad that he was all alone and opted to get the hamster instead. She’d named him after a character from one of the stories she’d written about a lonely old man who just wanted to make friends. The parallels to her own life were not lost on them.
They made a deal with her that, if she could show she was responsible enough to take care of the hamster, then she could get a kitten. She’d immediately launched into a flurry of youthful excitement, rattling off all of the other animals she wanted “someday.”
He’d gotten the distinct feeling someday would come sooner rather than later. So, in anticipation of their home becoming a menagerie of animals, he’d asked Michaleen to design a barn to match the house. He’d suggested to Maya that they surprise Isla with a couple of baby goats for her birthday.
She’d rolled her eyes and said, “That child has you wrapped around her little finger. You know that, right?”
“Guilty as charged,” had been his immediate response .
Jeffrey had a lot of birthdays to make up for and wanted to ensure his daughter had the best life possible, with family, friends, and a place she could call home.
They’d stuck to his original commitment to have Christmas with the O’Hallerans, and Michaleen had already sketched out the perfect-size barn in the same style as the main house. He’d even included a fenced area for animals.
Maya had been a bit apprehensive about meeting them. She was very aware of their loyalty to Jeffrey and was concerned they held some sort of animosity toward her for running off and not telling him about his child.
Isla, being an intuitive kid, had sensed her mother’s concern and had been nervous, too.
As he’d known they would, the O’Hallerans immediately accepted and embraced both of them, literally and figuratively. The O’Hallerans were big huggers. They were treated like family and made to feel welcome. By the end of their visit, plans were already being made to get together again.
“I want to take him today because it’s show-and-tell day and I really, really, reeeally want to show him to my friends. I know everyone is going love him because he’s so cute and adorable and because I’ll have the coolest show-and-tell ever.” Once her rapid-fire explanation ceased, she held Mr. Snickets next to her cheek and hit them with her puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeease?”
“Why didn’t you ask us about this earlier?” Maya set her hands over Jeffrey’s where they rested on her tummy.
“Um, I kinda forgot it was today.” She stroked her finger down the hamster’s back. “But I just figured, if anything happens, you’ll be right there at my school anyway.”
Maya chose not to return to her old career—she’d had enough of espionage, death, and especially bitter betrayal. The latter had been fueled by learning that Nigel had unwittingly been the one responsible for King Khaled Al-Mansoori finding out who killed his son.
Unbeknownst to Maya, MI6 had already become suspicious of Nigel and had been conducting their own covert investigation. They discovered Nigel’s wife was not from Saudi Arabia, as her immigration documents stated, but that she was actually from Qadira. The Qadirans had targeted him as a weakness within MI6 that could be exploited. She was sent to the UK for the sole purpose of gaining his trust and marrying him. Once married, she used sex to convince him to work from home, which gave her access to his laptop.
Nigel had frequently accessed the MI6 mainframe via a secured VPN connection. He had no idea his wife had installed a software program that basically gave her handlers an undetectable backdoor to his hard drive and to the mainframe whenever he accessed it. Everything Nigel did on his computer was being mirrored and sent to an offsite server.
At some point, Nigel’s wife had reached out to her contact in Qadira to let them know she was beginning to have regrets about her part in the whole scheme and admitted to having told her husband everything.
Two days later, she was killed in a freak car accident.
Before his wife was even buried, Al-Mansoori himself contacted Nigel with an offer he couldn’t refuse. Either he continued as things were or what happened to his wife would seem like nothing compared to what harm could possibly befall his children. Of course, Nigel agreed.
He was eventually arrested and, because of his background, was labeled a flight risk. His passport was revoked, and he was currently awaiting trial in London. His six-year-old twin boys were added to the list of seventy thousand plus other kids currently in the foster care system in the UK .
As angry and hurt as she was at finding out Nigel had been the cause of her misery—whether coerced or not—Maya had been heartbroken that his children would be without their parents. Hating to see her so upset, Jeffrey had called a contact in the UK to check on the kids, and he’d assured them that the brothers were not only together but that they were happy, healthy, and flourishing.
After walking away from her old life, Maya knew exactly what she wanted to do. She became a volunteer, helping out wherever she was needed at Isla’s private school. She enjoyed the work and the people, and being on-site made it easier for her to watch over not only their daughter but everyone else.
Once a protector, always a protector.
“Can I? Please?” Isla was really laying it on thick.
Jeffrey stepped around Maya to stand next to his daughter. “What d’ya say, Mom?”
She looked back and forth between them and threw up her hands. “Sure, why not?”
“Yay! You get to come to school with me today, Mr. Snickets.” Isla kissed the top of the hamster’s head.
“Remember, you are responsible for him, and it is very likely he will be nervous in a new environment. Your friends may pet Mr. Snickets, but you are to be the only one who holds him.” She laid her hand on Isla’s shoulder. “Is that understood? ”
“Yes, I understand.” Isla nodded and gave her mom a one-armed hug around her waist, then did the same to Jeffrey. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. This is all your mom,” he said.
“Why don’t you go get what you need for him, then we’ll head out.” Maya reached out and gave the hamster a little pet.
“And don’t forget his little plastic cave so he has a place to hide.” Jeffrey figured the little guy might need a break from all the prying eyes.
“Good idea.” She slid her backpack off her shoulder and set it on the table. As she walked away, she could be heard saying, “You’re going to really like my friends, Mr. Snickets.”
“She’s doing well, right?” Maya watched her walk away, then turned to him. “I’m not just seeing what I want to see?”
“Ah, babe.” He embraced his wife. “She’s doing fine, and she’s come such a long way.”
The first month or so, Isla would awaken almost nightly, disoriented and terrified by nightmares. Fortunately, the child psychologist Mike recommended understood their daughter’s unique history and tailored her approach accordingly. Isla seemed comfortable talking to her, and it had been almost three months since she’d had a nightmare .
Seeing their little girl happy, making friends, and doing well in school—basically, just being a normal kid—was so satisfying.
She’d only asked one time about what happened to the man who took her, and Jeffrey assured her he would never hurt her again. He’d seen to it personally.
The Capitol Police took Nadim Al-Mansoori to the Central Detention Facility in DC. However, because of his diplomatic status, the judge released him on his own recognizance with explicit instructions to remain at the Qadiran embassy until a preliminary hearing could be held.
As expected, Al-Mansoori grabbed up his family, fled the United States in the dark of night, and returned to Qadira.
Come to find out, certain influential individuals at the State Department had pressured the judge to reach his decision to release Al-Mansoori. Jeffrey knew exactly why—those same individuals had a personal financial interest in ensuring the oil continued to flow from Qadira. So in order to protect their own self-interests, those traitorous pieces of shit cut loose a murdering despot.
Unfortunately for them, he possessed enough intel about their schemes to put them away for the rest of their lives.
Within moments of finding out Al-Mansoori had fled, as a courtesy, Jeffrey met with his old friend, the president, to brief him on what he knew. The president had a deep disdain for the people involved, saw this as an opportunity to root them out, and had quickly agreed that action needed to be taken.
Before leaving the Oval Office, Jeffrey had forwarded all of the evidence he had gathered to the head of every major network, as well as some influential individuals on various social media platforms.
The traitors who had chosen money over country were now defending themselves in front of various congressional committees in a futile effort to stay out of federal prison.
Their actions could’ve gotten Maya and Isla killed, so Jeffrey had made sure they would regret the day they ever fucked with his family.
He’d also sent an encrypted e-mail to the media in Qadira and every major country who did business with the royal family, including the US, exposing what the former king had done to Akram Fakhoury.
By the time Al-Mansoori’s plane touched down in Qadira, every television and radio station in the country was already talking about how the former King of Qadira not only killed Akram Fakhoury but that he forged documents to steal his land. They played the audio recording of Khaled Al-Mansoori telling Rahim Kassab, the trusted head of his royal guard, exactly where to dispose of Fakhoury’s body. Every dirty, disgusting little detail was exposed, including the fact his son, Nadim, knew everything but chose to cover for his treacherous father.
Qadirans from every socioeconomic level united in their outrage, and there was an uprising against Nadim and his family. They finally had no choice but to flee their own country or face harsh punishment at the hands of an angry citizenship.
Thirteen days after their plane touched down in Ecuador—the anniversary of Nakhoury’s murder—Nadim Al-Mansoori was assassinated when the car he was riding in exploded. Apparently, his evil deeds finally caught up to him. His wife, children, mother, and other members of the royal family now lived in exile in Tarapoa, Ecuador, a tiny community surrounded by dense jungle.
When Jeffrey told Maya about Al-Mansoori’s death, she’d cried in his arms knowing their days of running really were over.
Three days after his death at the hands of his best friend, Adnan Bashar’s entire family left the embassy and accompanied his body back to Qadira. His younger brother led one of the largest groups during the coup and was now helping to establish a new, more democratic leadership model for their country.
Akram Fakhoury’s family regained ownership of their land and went from living in poverty to being one of the richest, most benevolent families in Qadira. Akram’s granddaughter worked side by side with Bashar’s brother, and rumor had it they were romantically involved.
“We’re ready to go!” Isla walked over from the stairs carrying a bright green, travel-size cage. “Mr. Snickets is so excited.” She lifted it up to look at him. “Aren’t you, Mr. Snickets?”
“I don’t think he’s the only one who’s excited.” Jeffrey held Maya’s coat while she tucked her arms into the sleeves, then put on his own jacket.
His daughter giggled, and an adorable blush lit her cheeks.
Jeffrey grabbed her backpack and lunch and started to enter the security code into the pad by the door.
“Can I do it?” Isla loved tapping in the code.
“Go for it.” He stepped out of her way.
One of the first things he’d done after they moved in was to show them how the security system worked, including taking them down the long tunnel. Both of them had a hard-earned appreciation for the importance of personal safety, and he’d made sure they knew exactly what to do in any emergency situation.
At the sound of the beeps, Jeffrey opened the door and waited for them to walk through before pulling it shut. He listened to make sure the magnetic deadbolt settled into place, then jogged down the steps to where his SUV was parked next to Maya’s .
“Why don’t we put Mr. Snickets on the floor behind my seat.” Maya swung open the back door, and Isla gently set the cage on the floor. “I promise, he’ll be nice and safe there.”
“Your chariot awaits, madame.” Isla hurried around to where Jeffrey held her door open.
“You’re so silly, Dad.” She rolled her eyes, then crooked her finger.
He leaned down so she could kiss his cheek.
“You have a super fabtabulous day.” To her giggles and squeals of delight, he lifted her right off the ground and hugged her.
“You have a super fabtabulous day, too.” She repeated their morning mantra and kissed him on the cheek again. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too, honey.” Jeffrey closed his eyes and breathed in the soft scent of her tear-free, strawberry shampoo.
He set her on her feet, and she climbed into the back, passenger-side seat. He waited until her seat belt was clicked in place before closing the door, then walked around to where Maya stood at the driver’s door.
“You are such a good dad.” Maya closed her arms around his waist. “Have I told you recently how much I love you?”
“Yes, but I’m always up for hearing it again.” He placed a soft kiss to the middle of her forehead .
“I love you, Jeffrey Burke.” Maya circled her arms around his neck and lifted to her tiptoes. “So very very much.”
“And I love you, Maya Burke.” He lowered his face to hers and kissed his wife for giving him their beautiful daughter and for finding her way back to him.
Finding her way back to them .
Thank you for reading Dangerous Protocol !