20. Epilogue What We Harness
Epilogue: What We Harness
Steve
By half past seven, Jan and I are home, barefoot and eating Chinese takeout from containers spread across the coffee table.
My beer is cold. Jan’s got a Dr Pepper.
Faris is having the time of his life.
He dooks his way around the living room, disappears behind an armchair, reappears beside the coffee table and immediately sticks his nose into the bag our dinner came in.
“Oi.”
His head pops up.
“That’s ours.”
Faris stares at me, entirely unconvinced by the concept of ownership, then scampers toward the couch and disappears underneath it.
Jan laughs. “He’s missed having us both sitting still long enough to entertain him.”
“He’s investigating.”
“For what?”
“Anything we don’t want him to have.”
Something rustles under the couch.
I point my beer toward it. “See?”
Jan takes another forkful of noodles. “We’ll deal with whatever he finds when he comes out.”
That sounds like an excellent philosophy for the rest of the night.
It’s been one hell of a week, and nobody needed another late night at HQ. Bear and Jax are heading south to put eyes on the property outside Phoenix, but they’re under strict instructions to observe only. Everyone else has been sent home.
Hope is safe.
Thandiwe is safe.
Victor and Adrian made it back from Saint-Pierre.
Ethan, Mateo and Noah are settling in after their first operation with Bear.
Forest, Jasper, Col and Pete joined HAVEN this afternoon.
Harmony’s evidence packages are already moving through trusted channels, and Faith says the first financial pressure is starting to show. Nothing dramatic yet, but enough to prove the machinery works when we push in the right places.
Phoenix can wait until we know exactly what’s behind those walls.
Tonight, nobody needs us chasing another lead.
And for once, there isn’t an immediate disaster demanding I put my dinner down.
Jan reaches for one of the containers. “Sweet and sour?”
I nod and she passes it over.
“You realize what we just did?” I ask, spooning food onto my plate.
“Ate half our body weight in Chinese food?”
“Besides that.”
She looks at me over another container.
“That was our second dual operation.”
Her eyebrows lift.
“Washington and Baltimore,” I say. “Then Las Vegas and Saint-Pierre. Two operations running at the same time, different teams, different objectives.”
“Plus Vegas turned into two ops. And everyone came home.”
“Exactly.”
She takes a sip of Dr Pepper.
“So, what you’re saying is we’re getting good at this?”
I give her a look.
“Don’t say things like that.”
Jan laughs. “Why?”
“Because Victor will hear about it and decide we can run three next time.”
“He probably already thinks we can.”
“Then we tell him we can’t.”
“You’d lie to Victor?”
“Absolutely. For the greater good.”
She laughs again, settling deeper into the couch. Underneath us, something scrapes across the floorboards.
We both stop.
I look down.
“Faris.”
Silence.
Jan bites back a smile.
I take another drink of beer.
“Whatever he’s got, I’m not dealing with it until I finish my dinner.”
After the week we’ve had, that might be the easiest decision I’ve made.
Hollands Residence, Pacific Heights. 2000 hours.
Jan’s halfway through another spring roll when her phone vibrates on the coffee table.
She glances at the screen.
“Verity.”
“Work?”
“An article.”
She opens the message and turns the phone so I can see it.
Prominent International Businessman Gerald Whitmore Reported Missing
I stop chewing.
The article is already being picked up by several outlets. Whitmore hasn’t been seen since earlier in the week. His company says his whereabouts are unknown. His family has asked anyone with information to contact authorities.
Jan reads further.
“Last confirmed sighting was before he traveled privately to Newfoundland.”
I lean back against the couch.
“That’ll complicate things.”
“For Legacy?”
“For whoever has to explain where he went after Newfoundland.”
We both know the answer. Saint-Pierre. A closed meeting room. Westbrook pulling a gun and shooting him in front of Victor and Adrian.
The rest of the world knows none of it.
Jan scrolls farther.
“They’re saying there’s no evidence of foul play.”
“Yet.”
She gives me a look.
“Someone will start asking questions.”
“They already are.”
I take another drink of beer.
“You know, we could put Westbrook in deep shit if we released the recording of Whitmore’s murder.”
Jan looks at me.
“We could.”
“Clear footage. His face, the gun, Whitmore going down. Hard to explain that one away.”
“Also hard to explain how we got it.”
“Yeah.”
That’s the problem. The recording is useful, but Saint-Pierre is more useful.
Another message from Verity appears beneath the article. She’s highlighted three paragraphs and added a note.
Whitmore’s financial interests overlap with two companies in Alexei’s files. I’m checking whether his disappearance gives us anything usable without exposing Saint-Pierre.
Jan reads it aloud.
“That woman really doesn’t switch off.”
“Says the woman reading it during dinner.”
“Fair.”
She sends Verity a quick acknowledgment, then lowers the phone.
The article sits there between us anyway.
One missing businessman.
Twelve Legacy families.
Forty-seven compromised officials across twelve countries.
Seventeen companies we didn’t know belonged in the picture until Saint-Pierre.
And now we’re already pushing against some of them.
Harmony’s first evidence package went out before lunch, and the rest of the team has been pulling apart the financial, political and logistical connections ever since.
Phoenix is still sitting there too, heavily guarded and tied to enough medical supply orders to make every instinct I have tell me there are people inside who need us.
But Bear and Jax are watching, not moving. That matters.
We’re not reacting blind anymore. We’ve finally got enough information to choose where we put pressure and enough discipline not to kick a door in before we understand what’s behind it.
Jan picks up her Dr Pepper.
“They’re going to notice.”
“Yeah.”
“Soon.”
“Probably.”
Her eyes meet mine. There’s no fear there. Just awareness.
We knew this part was coming the second Victor decided HAVEN wasn’t going to spend the rest of its existence waiting for Legacy to strike first.
I reach over and turn her phone facedown.
“Tomorrow problem.”
Jan smiles.
“You’re getting very relaxed.”
“I’ve had one beer.”
“That explains everything.”
I lift the bottle.
“Medical miracle.”
She laughs and steals one of my dumplings.
“Hey.”
“Tomorrow problem.”
I stare at her.
“That was my last one.”
“Should’ve protected your assets better.”
Under the couch, Faris starts dooking again then scuttles into his room to play in the custom tunnel system I built for him.
Jan grins.
“Apparently you’re being outmaneuvered on multiple fronts tonight.”
I take another drink.
Could be worse.
Hollands Residence, Pacific Heights. 2030 hours.
By the time we finish eating, most of the containers are empty and Faris has emerged from under the couch carrying a bottle cap like he’s discovered buried treasure.
Jan points at him.
“Where did you get that?”
Faris dooks and disappears behind the armchair.
“Not answering questions without representation,” I say.
Jan starts stacking the containers.
“I’ll get those.”
“So will I.”
“I know you can. I’m still carrying them.”
“I’m pregnant, Steve, not fragile.”
“I know.”
She gives me a look but lets me take the containers.
When I come back, she’s curled into the corner of the couch with her Dr Pepper, reading another update.
“Phoenix?” I ask.
She nods.
“Bear and Jax are in position. Nothing worth moving on yet.”
“Perfect.”
She looks at me.
“That sounded very enthusiastic for nothing happening.”
“Nothing happening means nobody’s decided to improvise.”
“Fair point.”
I sit beside her.
The Phoenix property is different from almost everything we’ve done before. We found it because we finally have enough of Legacy’s structure to start looking where they don’t want us looking.
“That’s the part I keep coming back to,” I say.
Jan turns toward me.
“Phoenix?”
“Yeah. We found them before they found us.”
Her expression changes slightly.
I continue.
“For years, we’ve been picking people up after Meridian already got to them. Someone disappears, someone runs, someone leaves behind enough of a trail for us to follow.”
“And now?”
“Now we know where to look.”
Jan takes that in.
“That changes everything.”
“I bloody hope so.”
The financial freezes matter. The investigations matter. So do the companies, routes and officials Harmony and the others are starting to expose.
But Phoenix feels different.
If there are victims inside that property, we found them because HAVEN went looking. Not because they somehow survived long enough to find us.
And if Phoenix is what we think it is, there’ll be more places like it.
That’s the part none of us can ignore now. Legacy built systems. Routes. Properties. People paid to look the other way.
For some time now, we’ve only seen pieces of it. Now we’re finally starting to see the shape.
Jan leans back against the couch.
“Victor was right.”
“Don’t tell him.”
She smiles.
“You say that like he won’t know.”
“He knows enough.”
“And what was he right about?”
I look toward her.
“We can hurt them now.”
Her smile fades.
“And they can hurt back.”
“Yeah.”
There’s no point pretending otherwise. Legacy knows somebody is pulling at the structure they spent years hiding. Eventually they’re going to understand exactly who.
Maybe they already do. I reach over and take her hand.
“But today, everyone we sent out this week came home.”
Jan squeezes my fingers.
“That’s enough for now.”
“More than enough.”
Faris reappears, bottle cap still clenched between his teeth.
Jan sighs.
“And apparently we’ve got one more extraction to run.”
I laugh and get up.
“Leave this one to me.”
Hollands Residence, Pacific Heights. 2100 hours.
By the time I convince Faris to surrender the bottle cap, Jan has cleared the last of the takeout containers and disappeared down the hall.
I find her in our bedroom changing into one of my T-shirts.
I lean against the doorframe.
“That’s mine.”
She looks down at herself. “You sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
“Prove it.”
I grin.
“Could take a while.”
“We’ve got nowhere to be.”
That might be the best thing anyone’s said to me all week. I cross the room and wrap my arms around her from behind, resting my hands over her belly.
Still no baby bump. Nothing I can see or feel yet. But our baby is there.
“Wee Scottie’s already helped run two dual HAVEN operations,” I murmur.
Jan covers my hands with hers. “Overachiever.”
“Gets that from you.”
“Definitely.”
I kiss the side of her neck.
“Maybe we should encourage a safer career.”
“Such as?”
“Policing?”
She turns her head and gives me a look.
“Right. Terrible example.”
Her laugh turns into a smile as she turns in my arms.
For once, there’s nothing demanding my attention beyond this room, and nobody waiting for me to make the next decision.
Just my wife.
I kiss her.
Jan is already wearing one of my blue T-shirts, the hem brushing her mid-thighs. I strip down to my skin and climb beneath the duvet, pulling her back against my chest in a comfortable spoon.
She tilts her chin, turning her head back over her shoulder so I can catch her mouth in a slow, lingering kiss. The gentle contact heats up fast. I shift over her, settling my weight carefully between her parted thighs while my mouth stays fused to hers.
My hand slides up under the hem of the soft cotton shirt, palm smoothing over her ribs until I cup her breast, rolling the sensitive nipple between my fingers.
Then I slide my hand lower, testing her entrance to find her nice and slick and ready for me.
I give her a few slow pumps to get her started. She doesn’t take long. She never does.
I line myself up and glide home in one smooth, sure stroke.
Keeping the pace easy, I move with gentle caution to make sure I don’t put unnecessary pressure on her. Jan chuckles softly against my neck, feeling the restraint in my hips.
“I’m fine, love. Truly.”
To prove it, her hands slide down to my backside, her fingers squeezing my glutes with possessive strength as she pulls me deeper inside.
As the rhythm builds, her hands travel up to my shoulder blades, her blunt nails digging sharp into my skin.
I don’t mind the sting at all. She can mark me however she likes, lost in the sensation and not even realizing she’s doing it.
I plant my palms flat on the mattress, straightening my arms to lift my torso and change the angle. The shift lets me penetrate deeper, reaching right to her core.
Her breath hitches, her moans turning into sweet, breathless gasps that tell me she’s right on the edge. The pressure coils fiercely in my lower belly, bringing me right alongside her. I make every stroke count, driving deep and firm into her heat, just the way she loves it.
I know every change in Jan’s breathing by now. The tiny hitch when she’s close. The way her fingers dig into me when she wants more. The sound she makes right before she stops caring how much noise she’s making.
There it is.
“Steve.”
I give her exactly what she wants, keeping the pace deep and steady until she comes around me with a broken cry. Watching my wife fall apart because of me never gets old.
I hold her through it, kiss the side of her neck and let myself follow, her name the only thing I manage before everything else disappears.
When I can think again, Jan is still wrapped around me. Exactly where I want her.
I rest beside her for a minute, then get up to grab a warm cloth for cleanup.
Later, Jan is curled against me beneath the covers, her head on my shoulder.
“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” I say.
“I’m aware.”
“No alarms.”
“Okay.”
“No HQ.”
She lifts her head. “Unless someone needs us.”
“Nobody’s going to need us.”
“You really believe that?”
“Absolutely.”
She stares at me.
“All right. I’m hoping nobody needs us.”
“Better.”
I pull her closer.
“Reckon we can make it until lunch? Go for a Saturday arvo ride?”
“Breakfast.”
“Have some faith in us, woman.”
“I know us.”
I laugh and kiss her forehead. She settles against me again.
Whatever tomorrow brings, it can wait until morning.
Tonight, everyone we sent out came home.
Jan is here.
Our baby is safe.
And for a few hours, HAVEN can manage without us.
THE END…