Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
“You’re young. You’ll do fine. I have no idea where Levi Green is,” Tag said flatly. “I can’t help you.”
“All right. I get it. I even understand it.” Drake pushed his chair back and faced Kim. “Ms. Solomon, I’ve been given the go-ahead to offer you any position you want at the Agency.”
So she would tell them what happened to Levi Green? He snorted.
Kim looked back his way. “You’re not worried I’m tempted?”
Not for a second. “You have a job.”
Kim stood and offered Drake a hand. “I’m afraid my fiancé is right. I’ve found a much better position.”
Drake shook her hand. “Here? McKay-Taggart is taking a lot of our talent.”
Taggart finally flashed something like a real smile. “Nope. She turned me down flat, and she’s taking Beck with her. But she’s going to another place that seems to suck a whole lot of talent up. They won’t be the only ex-Agency employees there. And I’ve heard there are aliens.”
Drake’s expression turned distinctly horrified. “Are you talking about that weird place John Bishop ended up in? You know most feds avoid it like the plague. What the hell are you going to do in Colorado?”
“I’m a nature guide with the best tour agency in Southern Colorado. Mountain Adventures,” Kim announced. “And Beck has a job with a group Adam Miles works with from time to time. The Kincaid-Briggs Group. They’re private investigators who work specifically with small law enforcement offices and cold case files.”
He’d talked to the former FBI agents and found himself excited to focus his talents on solving mysteries, on giving families peace. “The pay is crap, but moneybags here already bought us a gorgeous piece of land on the Rio Grande.”
“They’re staying at my cabin until theirs is built,” Tag acknowledged. “We usually go up for a month before school starts, but not this year. My family is keeping close to home for a while. Drake, you need to let your bosses know I won’t handle any further interference in my business or my family life well.”
Drake picked up the bag he’d carried in. “I will. And Tag, if you do need anything, call me. I know you don’t like who I work for, but I owe you.” He stopped. “I need to know if my cousin should worry. She’s a good kid. She got taken in by Levi, too. I just want her to feel safe.”
“Your cousin shouldn’t worry.” Tag gave him a nod. “And thank you, Drake.”
The CIA agent breathed a sigh of relief and walked out.
Tag stood. “You leaving this afternoon?”
Beck held out a hand. “We’re all packed up. The paperwork on the sale of the house should go through in a couple of weeks, but I told Hutch he can move in whenever he likes. I’m glad he’s taking the place.”
“I’m glad he’s getting out of that apartment he’s been in for years. We’ll miss you around here, but I think you’ll like Bliss. Well, except for Max Harper. He’s annoying,” Tag admitted. “And all the protests. You should get used to listening to Nell Flanders sing protest songs through a bullhorn.”
“I can handle it.” He hoped. He’d only been there once, and it hadn’t seemed so weird to him. When he thought about it, his life had started again in that tiny Colorado town where he’d met up with his wife after years apart.
“And the beets. There are so many beets.” Tag shook his head. “And the nudists. Whole lot of junk on display on the mountain, if you know what I mean.”
It was starting to come back to him. Maybe he should rethink this.
Kim’s hand found his. “Stop scaring him. We’re going to love it there. And thank you for everything.” She went on her toes and kissed him. “Let’s get our son and pick up Ezra. He only has a couple of weeks before he’s got to get back to Malta.”
He was road tripping with his wife and son and brother. It would be bliss.
He followed his wife out and into their new lives.
Epilogue
Later that afternoon
Hutch sank into the chair in front of Ian’s desk. “Hey, boss. How is the family?”
The office had been oddly hushed the last week out of respect for what the Taggarts were going through.
“We’re good,” Tag said solemnly. “I find myself walking the edge a lot of parents do. I have to find a way to keep my kids safe while not breaking everything that’s good about them. They were being loyal. They were trying to be brave. They were being stupid because they’re kids and not spies. But they were emulating me and their mom. I thought I would be more angry. I just find myself…I don’t even know. Wear a condom, man.”
He wasn’t used to contemplative Tag. “I do, boss. Every single time.”
He wasn’t even close to being ready for kids. He’d barely had a real girlfriend. He’d lived with a waitress from Top for a couple of months, but it hadn’t worked out. He wasn’t sure there was some mystical one for him out there. He’d managed to be good friends with some of the women he’d shared a bed with, but he’d never felt that spark his friends with wives talked about.