Epilogue
Charlotte
“Char, you flip the pancakes while I make the orange juice. River, you set the table.” My mother pointed at him across the kitchen.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a huge grin. He looked adorable this morning in plaid flannel pajamas, a knit beanie pulled down over his forehead to ward off the cold. I was in a fleece robe and fuzzy slippers.
I took the spatula my mom handed me. “You know, you never make fresh squeezed juice when it’s just Megan or Cora or me visiting.”
My mother glanced at me primly while slicing a Valencia in half. “That’s because it’s River’s favorite.”
He paused with a plate in his hand. “You remembered that, Mrs. McKinley?”
“Of course I did. Moms remember all those little things. And please River, it’s about time that you started calling me Beverly.”
A rosy flush crept up his neck. River almost never blushed, but it was so dang cute when he did. I knew what he was probably thinking. That his own mother never remembered things like that.
“All right, Beverly. Thank you.”
Our moms were still friends after all these years, but they couldn’t have been more different. And I had never been so thankful for it.
I flipped the pancakes, then snuck over to River and gave him a lingering closed-mouth kiss. “I love you,” I’m murmured against his lips.
“Love you too, Charlie-baby.”
A choked cough came from behind us. My dad had just walked into the kitchen. River and I glanced over at him, smiling. And my dad, to his credit, returned our smiles with his typical enthusiasm.
“Oh, good. Everyone’s all the way up and rarin’ for action this morning.”
River snorted, trying to cover his laugh, and I wasn’t faring much better.
“Minds out of the gutter, children,” my mom said over her shoulder.
This was our first visit back to my parents’ house as a couple. I’d been nervous. How would my parents react to seeing me and River together, after I’d spent quite a few years engaged to his brother?
It had been awkward over the phone when I’d first broached the subject. But my parents had always been nonconformists. As long as I was happy, that was all that mattered.
And I was happy. I was back doing my job in Denver. River had visited me several times, and he’d won over Cleo. In fact, she now liked him better than me. Probably because he always took over the job of feeding her while I was away at work. Just last week, I’d caught the two of them actually cuddling on the couch. Cuddling .
But River did have a way of winning over even the grumpiest of souls. I had to give him credit for that.
My parents had welcomed River back like a part of the family. I knew how much that meant to him. Even if my dad still got weird about seeing us kissing. Dad had been that way with all of my boyfriends. Some things didn’t change, and really, I liked it that way.
Next month, we would visit River’s mother in California for New Year’s. Ross and his wife would be flying in from Seoul. That would be a whole new level of weirdness. But I was optimistic. I’d spoken to Ross a couple of times now on the phone, and we were all in a good place. Maybe it would even be fun.
But today, Dad was taking us ice fishing down at the creek. It was harder to get the fish to bite in winter, but he had his favorite spots. Mom planned to spend all day in her studio.
After breakfast, River and I headed for the garage. Dad was already out there gathering his fishing supplies.
Snow had transformed the property into a winter wonderland. Glittering icicles hung from the eaves, and white fluff covered the evergreen branches. My dad was fastidious about plowing and shoveling, so we had a clear path between the house and the garage. In the course of supervising the repairs, he’d insisted on keeping a couple of the bullet holes in the garage walls. Dad loved regaling the neighbors with stories like he’d been here himself during the battle.
He and Mom had been horrorstruck to learn the truth about Jud, but all in all, they’d been handling the chaos well. Few reporters made the mistake of turning onto their driveway these days.
Dad didn’t brandish a shotgun. Nope, he had his bow and arrow ready to defend their property against unwelcome trespassers. His reputation had spread .
Don’t mess with the McKinleys .
River and I had remained mum about the ongoing FBI investigation of Stillwater. That was highly sensitive, highly confidential information. Tomorrow, we would head to Hartley to discuss the latest with the Protectors.
But first, a day spent outdoors with my dad. It wasn’t warm outside like those summers River had spent here long ago, but it was still a reminder of the good old days.
When we reached the garage, River stopped me. “How about I go in and help your dad? I doubt we need three sets of hands. You can wait here.”
I understood what he was trying to do. Keep me from having to see the inside of the garage. The place where we’d interrogated Jud and where River had been held by the FBI.
Processing the events of a few months ago had not been easy for me. I’d been up late many nights. Nightmares had woken me. It had been especially hard on those nights that River hadn’t been by my side.
But my strategy was to face things head on. Whether it was the awful memory of Jud’s murder, or Agent Rainey’s attack, or whenever I was arguing policy with the opposing party. In fact, just making this trip home had been cathartic. Seeing this place as a happy home again.
“I’m good,” I said. “How about I go in and you wait out here? Bet I can carry more than you.”
River laughed. “Okay, sweetheart. You don’t have to make a competition out of it.”
“You sure about that?” I hip-checked him, beating him through the door into the garage.
River and I had sorted out more of the wrinkles from our fugitive days. We’d returned the stolen 4Runner to its original owner with only a few minor scratches, which River had paid to repair. The owner had been upset at first, but I’d smoothed things over further when I invited the man to a swanky, black-tie event in Denver to commend Agent Torres for his exceptional bravery in the line of duty.
The ceremony had been one of the few occasions I’d posed for as many pictures as the media wanted. Aside from that interview with Genevieve, I’d persistently refused most requests for comment on Stillwater or the pending investigation. And I never talked about my personal life. My relationship with River was my business, and I intended to keep it that way.
But as far as I could tell, Agent Torres was extremely happy with his love life, and didn’t mind anyone knowing it. He’d been all smiles at the commendation ceremony, with a surgeon he’d met at the hospital on his arm. He deserved it.
“All set?” Dad asked.
“Yep,” I said, “we’re geared up.”
We followed Dad down the hill to the creek. The sky was a gorgeous blue, the sun glinting off the frozen surface of the water.
It was a great day. Sitting and laughing with my dad, sipping hot cocoa and my mom’s special Irish coffee. River and I had a bet over who could catch the most fish, and it drove him nuts when I beat him two to one. River shrugged it off like he didn’t care, but it bugged him when he wasn’t instantly amazing at something.
We got to arguing, which of course resulted in me tackling River into the snow like we were kids instead of in our thirties.
I don’t think my dad minded when we wandered off into the woods, hand-in-hand, to catch a few minutes alone.
“Seems like your mom and dad are handling this well,” River said.
“They are. I mean, they did put us in the room with the bunk beds, but they’re getting used to it.”
He laughed. “Your sisters will be another matter. ”
“Are you kidding? They’ve always loved you. Megan and Cora will probably be annoyed at me for not figuring myself out sooner.”
He tugged on my hand, pulling me into his embrace. “Well, I can’t disagree with them there.”
The long distance thing wasn’t easy. When we were apart, I missed him every single day. My heart ached that I couldn’t come home to him at night. But we texted and video-called religiously. When I was busy with work, or vice versa, we gave each other the space we needed. And neither of us ever doubted that our love was just as strong.
Someday, we’d be together all the time. We would figure it out. But for now, this worked.
I’d thought I was bad at picking relationships before, but really, I’d been in denial about the one man who had always been perfect for me. It had taken a crisis for me to wise up. To bring him back into my life. But I believed we would’ve found our way together eventually.
Thank goodness River’s stubborn heart had never given up on me completely.
River dug into the pocket of his jacket. “I have something for you.”
“Is this an early Christmas present? I thought we weren’t getting each other anything.”
“Not Christmas. But I hate to break it to you, Charlie. I’ll buy you gifts whenever I feel like it. You can’t stop me.”
“Issue a challenge like that, and I just might accept it.”
“Except this is one contest I’ll always win. Remember? Guy with a trust fund.”
I guffawed. “It’s rude to throw your money around. I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Believe me, I know. That’s why this gift wasn’t expensive. But it made me think of you the minute I saw it.”
He held out a small packet of tissue paper. I unwrapped it carefully. Inside sat a tiny ring. I lifted it and held it in the sunlight. It was translucent, with tiny flowers trapped inside.
“It’s made of resin. Those are real flowers.”
My chest squeezed, and a thousand butterflies took flight in my stomach. “It’s beautiful.” I went to try it on.
But River’s hand closed over mine, stopping me. “Hold on a second. You might not want to do that just yet.”
“Why?”
River sank to one knee in the snow, and I gasped. Icy air filled my lungs. “What are you doing ?”
“What feels right. I know it’s only been a few months. You don’t have to say yes right away. Or at all, if marriage isn’t something you had in mind. I certainly didn’t. Couldn’t imagine that I would ever be in this spot. But you’ve always been the exception.”
I brought my hands up to my mouth. They were shaking.
“I love you,” he said. “From the moment I realized it, that’s never wavered for me. Even when I tried to deny you, I couldn’t. So I’m done with that, Charlie. I want to make you mine forever. Whatever that looks like. A big wedding, or eloping just the two of us. On a tropical island or in the middle of a forest just like this one. I don’t care. I’ll wait however long it takes. Just think about marrying me someday. And when you’re ready to say yes, you can put on this ring.”
I stared down at the small circle on his open palm. It blurred in front of my eyes.
Then I picked up the ring and slid it onto my finger.
River
Was it possible to be too happy ?
As we told the McKinleys our news, I was pretty sure I’d sprained something with how wide I was grinning. Tom and Beverly couldn’t hide their shock. I didn’t blame them. This whole thing was pretty wild. Me and Charlie ending up together after all this time.
We’d decided to tell our family and friends, but publicly, we’d keep our engagement to ourselves. Charlie would wear her ring on another finger in Denver until we were officially married, and neither of us knew when that would be.
For now, it was enough to know that she’d said yes. She’d said yes . This woman made me want all the romance. All that lovey-dovey stuff.
Genevieve was going to give me so much crap about it.
The next day, we drove into Hartley and went straight to Last Refuge. Charlie was halfway in my lap for the entire drive from her parents’ house. Kissing my neck and sucking on my earlobe. Massaging my thigh. I was already about to combust, and we wouldn’t get any privacy for a while yet.
I pulled into the Last Refuge parking lot and reached over to stroke my hand up and down her leg. “You’re killing me. I can’t walk in there yet.”
She smiled deviously, unbuckling her seatbelt. “Then I guess you’ll just have to meet me inside. I have a meeting to attend.”
“Hey!”
Charlie didn’t actually get out. She waited for me, and we swung our hands as we headed toward a new portion of the Last Refuge complex.
“They finished it!” she exclaimed. “The inn looks amazing.”
The last time Charlie had been here, they had been wrapping up construction. This was a brand new structure, the final phase of the Last Refuge Inn and Tavern. With the guest house open, all big windows and rustic accents, Jessi and Aiden could take on more visitors. Both those who were paying, and those who needed our help.
“But that’s not the best part,” I said. “This way.” I steered her toward the far side, where a secluded walkway led toward an inconspicuous building cradled against the mountainside.
The official headquarters for the Last Refuge Protectors.
Well, perhaps it was unofficial. Even though the FBI and Stillwater both knew about us, we still tried to keep our existence as quiet as possible.
At the door, I entered my code and pressed my hand to the biometric lock. With a salute to the camera overhead, I ushered Charlie inside.
The heart of the building was the open space in the middle. A long conference table of reclaimed wood occupied the center. A kitchen was off to one side, comfortable couches to the other. Offices and storage bordered the edges, plus a dedicated room for our surveillance system and servers.
The style was both rustic and sleek, with exposed brick, timber floors, and dark leather furniture. A huge screen on one wall currently displayed feeds from various cameras around the property.
And of course, we had a walk-in vault to store our gear, weaponry, and other goodies that Trace and I brought in whenever inspiration struck us.
The place looked pretty badass. We’d all had a hand in designing it. Aiden, Trace, Owen, and me. The original Protectors. But we had plenty of room here for more.
I pulled Charlie in front of me, hugging her around the waist. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s perfect. Makes me want to get to work.”
I laughed. I adored this woman.
We found Trace at the computer in his office. Aiden appeared next, then Owen, who was walking in with Brynn. The FBI agent had just driven down from Denver.
In fact, Brynn was the one who’d called this meeting.
After greetings and hugs all around, we did exactly what Charlie had wanted. We got to work.
Brynn connected her laptop to our system, and she put a schematic up on the wall screen. It looked like an organizational chart, but with an amorphous shape. Names, titles, connecting lines. Some were blank.
The rest of us gathered around the table, waiting for her to explain. I put my arm loosely around Charlie’s waist.
“As you all know,” Brynn said, “the FBI has been spinning its wheels trying to investigate Stillwater for the last few months. Their results have been abysmal. Or at least, that’s how it appears. You also know the truth. That we’ve created a secret task force within the FBI to make use of the list that River decrypted.”
She nodded at me. I nodded back.
“Most of Stillwater’s moles, we had to leave in place,” Brynn continued. “That was a difficult choice. One that we all struggled with, because that meant allowing them to continue operating. It was the only way to make Stillwater believe that we’d never gotten access to the list. But we made contact with several of those operatives. Persuaded them to become double agents.”
I had an idea of what that persuasion looked like.
The FBI had hushed up Agent Rainey’s connection to Stillwater. It would’ve been way too embarrassing for them. As far as the public knew, Rainey had buckled under the stress of his job and lashed out against his partner and the lieutenant governor as a desperate cry for help.
Rainey had been in federal custody, having pled not guilty by reason of insanity, when he’d died mysteriously in his cell.
Stillwater had gotten to him. At least, I assumed so. Maybe the FBI had disposed of that problem themselves. Either way, SAC Stanford’s task force could point to Rainey’s death when they made contact with Stillwater’s other moles.
Do you want to work with us? Or do you want to end up like Rainey and Jud Hale?
Brynn gestured at the screen. “Well, I’m finally able to share the results of the task force’s investigation.”
“About time,” Trace muttered.
“Lieutenant Governor, gentlemen, this is Stillwater. Everything we’ve learned about their internal structure over the last few months. We have the identities of those at the top of Stillwater’s operations. Their inner ruling circle.”
Aiden crossed his arms. “You’re sure it’s accurate? You weren’t being fed misinformation by people still loyal to Stillwater?”
“Extremely sure. By flipping their operatives, we’ve been able to feed false info back into Stillwater. We have everything in place to take them down. And that’s where you come in.” Brynn looked around the room. “I told you we’d bring you in when it was time. I’m ready to make good on my promise. A joint undercover op. But this will be completely off the books. The rest of the FBI will disavow any knowledge.”
Trace glanced at me, and I nodded at him. Agent Somerton was speaking our language. Aiden and Owen voiced no objection. I couldn’t imagine they had one.
“I can leave you alone if you’d like to discuss,” Brynn offered.
“Not necessary,” Trace said. “We’re in.”
After the meeting finished, Charlie pulled me into an empty office and shut the door.
I laced our fingers together. My thumb nudged at her engagement ring. Nobody had noticed it yet. But I loved that she was wearing it here. A declaration to everyone that she was mine, and I was hers.
But she was chewing her lip. I knew that look. She was worried and trying to figure out how to voice it.
“You’re okay with this, right?” I asked. “I thought we talked about it. You were in favor of the Protectors working with the FBI.”
“I was. I am okay with it. But this undercover op. It had better not be you.”
Smiling, I touched her chin. “Sweetheart, I’ve been in the news way too much lately. Stillwater knows me, and they know Aiden, Trace, and Owen too. We’ll have to bring in someone else.”
“Hodge?”
“Probably not. He never liked undercover stuff. I’m thinking of someone else.” I’d have to talk about it with the others. We had time to get all that into place.
Charlie breathed out slowly. “Rationally, I realized it wouldn’t be you. But just now, I started thinking of the men and firepower Stillwater devoted to hurting me. And how vicious Agent Rainey was when he…”
“He’s gone.”
“I know.”
I hugged her, and she buried her face against my shoulder.
“Being a Protector isn’t really your job,” she said. “It’s a calling. I see that. I know you’ll face danger again and again. But not Stillwater. Please. I can’t think of you facing them again.”
“I won’t be on the front lines next time. Brynn will, though. She’s your best friend.”
“Yes, but Brynn will kick their asses. She’s got this.”
I barked a laugh. “Wait a minute. Now you’re doubting my abilities? ”
She lifted her head. “Not doubting. But I want all your abilities to myself.”
“I promise to save my very best for you.”
Charlie’s gaze grew heated. Her hands trailed down my back to grip my ass. We exchanged lazy kisses. Her tongue dipped into my mouth with a soft moan.
“Don’t get me worked up again,” I said. “Not until later.”
She pouted. Something the lieutenant governor would never do in front of anyone but me.
“I love you,” I whispered to her.
“Love you too.”
When we emerged, Aiden was pouring shots of whiskey to seal our partnership. Jessi, Scarlett, and Genevieve had arrived, greeting Brynn warmly.
Our war meeting had turned to a party-like atmosphere. A celebration of our connections. Our family . This ragtag group of ours that kept expanding.
Aiden passed around shot glasses. I lifted mine. “Can I propose a toast?”
Every head turned my way. I lifted my eyebrows at Charlie, asking permission. She dipped her chin and smiled.
“Charlie and I are engaged.”
I tipped back my glass, and the whiskey hit my throat with a smooth, smokey burn.
After I’d swallowed, everyone was still staring.
“What?” I asked. “Is it so hard to believe she’d say yes?”
Brynn reacted first, rushing over to Charlie to hug her and study the ring. The other women followed. Aiden brought the whiskey bottle to refill my glass. Trace nodded at me knowingly, while Owen shook his head and grinned. At least they weren’t that surprised.
But then Aiden hooked his arm around my neck, lowering his voice to a downright threatening register.
“You skipped my engagement to Jessi. Now you’re rolling in and stealing my thunder before I can marry her? You can’t tolerate not having the spotlight on you?”
“It’s what I do. Also, fuck you very much.”
We were both smiling.
Aiden tightened his grip on me, practically a stranglehold, but there was nothing but affection beneath. “I swear, if you throw some kinda million dollar wedding with a designer dress that shows up what Jessi is planning…”
I winked at my friend. “That won’t be an issue.” I’d offered Charlie a big wedding, but my instincts said she’d go for something small and intimate. Personal to us, just like the ring I’d picked for her.
“Then I’m happy for you, Rubicon. You’re domesticated like us now.”
“Happens to the best of us,” Trace chimed in.
I made my way back over to Charlie. Brynn and I made eye contact, and she didn’t look like she wanted to kill me. I took that as her best-friend blessing.
And then I wrapped my fiancée in my arms and kissed her. “You ready to get out of here?” I asked.
“Race you to the car? Winner gets to drive.” Then she whispered, “And I don’t mean driving the car.”
Oh, hell yeah. I liked those odds.
“You’re on.”