Chapter 26
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
The lights in the sky weren’t a chorus of heavenly angels.
They were helicopters.
From the FBI.
Warren had found a radio in the hunting cabin and gotten in touch with them.
Their choppers had landed in a nearby field. JJ, Rachel, and Bradford were now in custody—JJ receiving medical care.
Michael was under protective watch again, bound for a safe house somewhere far from Winterlight’s reach.
The agents had asked their questions—dozens of them—and then left.
Now, the lodge was quiet again. Too quiet.
The storm had passed.
Olive glanced out the window as her thoughts swirled. The world outside the inn lay blanketed in white, the snow glittering under a sky finally cracked open to pale blue. Sunlight filtered through the frost-streaked windows, turning the floorboards to gold.
The peace felt fragile, temporary, like glass that could crack if she breathed too deeply.
“Hard to believe it’s over.” Jason appeared beside her.
“Yes, it is. But at least it ended with the good guys winning.”
“It did. But things felt close at times.”
Olive nodded. “Too close.”
Behind them, Rex cleared his throat, and everyone turned toward him.
“I owe all of you an apology,” he said. “For keeping things from you. I suspected there was a mole within our company, but I didn’t know how deep it ran. I thought if I could contain the circle, I could control the fallout.” He shook his head. “I was wrong.”
Mitzi rubbed her arms, her usual sass dulled. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have trusted all of you,” Rex said. “You’ve all proven yourselves time and time again.”
He hesitated then—a rare pause that softened his expression.
Then he spoke again. “Years ago, I led a team overseas. Good people. Smart people. We were infiltrated from the inside, and I didn’t see it until it was too late.
Three of them never came home.” His voice caught briefly before he continued.
“Since then, I’ve believed that the fewer people who know what’s really happening, the safer everyone is.
But I realize now that secrecy doesn’t protect—it isolates.
And isolation nearly got us all killed.”
Silence filled the room, other than the fire crackling in the hearth.
Olive noted that he didn’t mention what kind of team he’d led overseas. FBI? CIA? Another organization?
And he probably wouldn’t share. The man was a mystery.
But as she glanced at Mitzi, she noticed her colleague had a new look in her gaze as she watched Rex.
Almost like . . . affection?
Wait . . . were the two of them dating?
Olive didn’t know. And she wouldn’t ask.
But she suspected there was something between them, which might explain why Mitzi had been so outspoken this weekend.
The thought made her want to smile.
Rex exhaled. “I’ve spent a long time trying to be the man who fixes everything on his own. But this retreat reminded me I’m not meant to do this alone. None of us are.” His gaze swept over the group, steady and humble. “So I’ll start again—with you. And with God’s help, I’ll try to do it better.”
“I think we all know what that’s like,” Jason said. “Every day, we all just try to do better.”
Murmurs of agreement went around the room.
“So what’s next?” Trick asked. “After I get over these terrible allergies.”
Mitzi rolled her eyes. “Terrible, terrible allergies.”
Rex glanced around. “Mara and Warren have extended the invitation for us to stay here. I suggest we take them up on their offer and stay a couple more days, as planned. We’ve earned it. The world—and any more assignments—can wait while we take a breath.”
He hesitated, looking toward the window, where snowflakes shimmered against the glass. Everyone gave him a moment to gather his thoughts.
“Christmas is a season of second chances,” Rex finally continued. “And after this, I think we all could use one.”
The words hung there—simple, but they landed deep. They settled somewhere behind Olive’s ribs, quiet and true.
Her whole life had felt like a second chance. She’d messed up. She’d lost her family, wrestled with questions, struggled with knowing who to trust.
Yet here she was with a bright future ahead of her.
She was certainly glad for the second chance she’d been given. She certainly wouldn’t deny someone else that same privilege.
“Of course we forgive you,” Olive murmured. “I just hope you know now that you can trust everyone in this room.”
A soft smile crossed Rex’s face. “I do know—and I won’t forget it.”
Outside, the air was crisp and bright.
Olive and Jason each grabbed a shovel from a rack on the porch, their boots crunching over untouched snow.
The path to the drive was still buried, glittering under the pale sun.
Warren had started to go outside and clear it, but Olive and Jason had volunteered to do it instead.
They headed down the steps. But, before starting, Jason leaned on his shovel and grinned. “Think Rex will notice if we sneak off instead of working?”
Olive smirked. “Probably—though he owes us one right now, so I don’t know how much he can complain.”
They shared a smile that lingered.
For a long moment, neither spoke—or moved. The cold bit at Olive’s cheeks, but it didn’t matter.
Everything around them—snow, sunlight, stillness—felt like a pause in a story that finally allowed them to breathe.
She took her glove off and reached into her back pocket. She’d put something there earlier and had been waiting for the chance to look at it.
She pulled it out and held the picture in front of her.
It was a photo of her family from twelve years ago.
Her heart twisted at the sight of it.
Jules and Jesse with their crooked grins. Her mom and dad looking so normal despite their not-so-normal lives. Olive with a bright smile—a smile that proved she had no idea what the future held.
Jason stepped closer. “It’s a nice photo.”
Olive nodded. “I like to imagine my family all up in heaven celebrating Christmas together. I’m not sure that’s how it works. But it makes me feel better to think about it.”
“I think it’s a nice thought—that they’re looking down at you, proud of all you’ve accomplished and all you’ve overcome.”
A soft smile stretched across her lips. “I hope so.”
She slid the picture back into her pocket and looked up at the glittering ridge in the distance, her thoughts drifting. “You know, when Rex said this was supposed to be a retreat, I didn’t think it would involve fake deaths, secret projects, and assassins.”
Jason chuckled, the sound warm against the cold air. “Yeah, not exactly Hallmark material.”
She tilted her head, lips curving. “I don’t know. There’s snow, a cozy lodge, and a lovable couple—the man dashing and the woman beautiful—who almost didn’t survive. But they did. That’s got Hallmark written all over it.”
He smiled and stepped closer, brushing a stray flake from her hair. “Guess all that’s missing is the ending.”
“You mean the happily ever after?” She rose on her toes and kissed him—soft, steady, the kind of kiss that made the world quiet again.
When she pulled back, the sun broke fully through the clouds, setting the snow ablaze in light.
And for the first time in years, Olive let herself believe that peace—even fleeting—was possible.
~~~
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