by Lauren Carr
After enjoying a hearty chuckle at Jessica’s sarcasm, Murphy pointed out, “Don’t laugh. If this case hadn’t landed in my lap, it could have happened.”
“No wonder Kalashov was so angry when Graham ended up dead,” Joshua said. “With all the murders the mob had committed on his behalf, with all they had on Graham, if he had made it to the White House …” He shook his head. “Think of all the potential political favors that went down the tube when Graham plunged that pen into his neck.”
“Still …” Cameron shook her head with a sigh, “Paige not only simply stayed with that animal, she actually went to the trouble of having people killed to protect him. That’s not normal.”
“What’s normal to you?” Jessica shot back.
In thought, Cameron narrowed her eyes and cocked her head.
“Based on Paige’s background,” Jessica said, “her father was a dock worker who had ties to the mob. That means she grew up in and around that environment.”
“Complete with their ethics or lack thereof,” Joshua said.
“She lived with Adrian Kalashov for a while,” Jessica said, “who was being groomed to take over the Kalashov operation—whose businesses included prostitution and pornography.”
“So she was surrounded by people who believed women were property to be used for profit,” Murphy said. “Then she took up with Graham, who viewed them as prey.”
“Funny how that happens,” Jessica said.
“What happens?” Murphy asked.
“That people like that,” Jessica said, “a serial predator like Graham and a psychopath like Paige find each other. That actually happens a lot. I don’t know if it’s a signal they send out to each other or what, but somehow …” With a shake of her head, she shrugged her shoulders. “People are weird.”
“Well,” Joshua said, “we were able to put a stop to both of them.”
“Score one for the good guys,” Murphy said while opening the door to allow Izzy and Spencer, both draped in wet towels to run inside.
“Do we have ice cream?” Izzy asked. “Blue and I are starving!” Without waiting for a response, they ran down the hallway to the bedroom she had claimed for her own.
“What about dinner?” Murphy called after her.
“If we have room after dessert, then we’ll eat dinner,” she replied before slamming the bedroom door.
With a chuckle, Joshua told Murphy, “Reminds me of you when you were that age.”
Murphy and Jessica were the first to turn in. Judging by their tired expressions, Joshua doubted if they were going to be participating in any newlywed activities after closing the door to their master suite.
Izzy crashed next, her head dropping onto the table in the middle of a poker game with Joshua and Cameron. Gingerly, Joshua lifted her from the kitchen chair and carried her down the hallway to her room.
One step ahead of them, Irving led the way down the hallway and into the bedroom. Inside, he jumped up onto the bed and went up to the pillows. Turning to Joshua, he seemed to order, “Put her here. I’ll watch over her.”
At Izzy’s insistence, Monique’s tank had been set up on the dresser so that she could care for the spider until Tristan’s return.
Cameron pulled back the covers for Joshua to place the girl between the sheets. When Cameron started to pull up the covers, Joshua stopped her so that he could remove her shoes. Irving curled up next to her while Spencer took the foot of the bed.
“Should she be sleeping with all these animals?” Cameron asked.
“I don’t think Izzy or they would have it any other way.” Joshua ushered her out the door and turned off the light. Taking her by the hand, he led her into the next bedroom and closed the door. “Let’s go to bed.” Taking her in his arms, he kissed her passionately while backing up to the bed until they tumbled down onto it.
“I missed you.” Joshua rolled over on top of her. He breathed into her ear. “You have no idea how much you mean to me.” He reached his hands up under her shirt.
“I suspect I do,” she said while he kissed her on the neck. “After this week, the way you came flying out here—blowing your case—shaving your beard and cutting your hair to help me and Murphy—I have no doubt that you would do anything for me.”
He kissed her deeply on the lips. “I love you, Cam.”
She caressed his face in both of her hands. The seriousness of her expression made his heart sink.
“Joshua, we have to talk,” she said.
Seventh Floor Pentagon - Twelve Hours Later
Murphy was back in his whites and sitting on that same hard wooden bench outside the Joint Chiefs of Staff chamber. This time, it was Captain Joshua Thornton inside. Together, the two of them had debriefed the Joint Chiefs about the case, which had unveiled a long, ongoing conspiracy and cover-up to protect a war hero.
Immediately, General Johnston, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, announced that he was delaying his retirement until there was a full investigation. How, he wanted to know, was a serial rapist able to rise through the ranks without someone in the beginning having the guts to put a stop to him—like when he committed his first known assaults at West Point or the military police who had investigated the rape that took place in Kuwait—before that rapist returned to the states as a hero?
First on his agenda, after withdrawing his request to retire, was to make an example of Colonel Lincoln Clark by taking action to have him court-martialed for behavior unbefitting an officer by not reporting General Sebastian Graham’s actions against his wife. In addition, Clark was being brought up on multiple charges of conspiracy and accessory to commit murder.
Even if Colonel Lincoln Clark managed to escape jail time, his military career was over.
Upon hearing about the Russian mob participating in the cover-ups with hopes of using General Sebastian Graham’s power to their advantage, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “This is precisely why good character is not something to be dismissed as a nice-to-have quality. It is essential for people in positions of power because good character is the root of making wise choices. Bad character is what makes one vulnerable to be exploited by our enemies—both on our shores and abroad.”
Soon after that, Murphy was dismissed while the Joint Chiefs of Staff continued onto the next matter on their agenda.
Considering that the Joint Chiefs had not called in their assistants, Murphy had a sick feeling in his stomach that the topic of this discussion was the fate of the Phantoms. Joshua had warned that General Sebastian Graham had gotten too close. If he had succeeded with his goal of getting on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then not only would he have had access to the Phantoms, but the Russian crime organization could have, through General Graham, used the team for their own benefit—all under the guise of a covert military operation.
Unable to sit any longer, Murphy got up and paced down the hallway to peer out a window. Down below, he could see the National 9-11 memorial dedicated to the tragic events that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. All 184 lives lost in the attack on the Pentagon were represented by “Memorial Units.” Each unit had a victim’s age and location at the time of the attack inscribed on it.
How could so many people here in Washington forget about what happened on that day and the evil behind it—the evil that is still striving to kill us because we don’t believe the way they do?
“Murphy?”
The tone of his father’s voice was enough to tell Murphy the decision made in the meeting was not going to go well for him. Turning around, he made his way back to the bench, where Joshua gestured with his hand for him to sit down. With a sigh, Murphy lowered himself onto the bench and braced himself.
Joshua looked at the wall directly across from them. “Son, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have made the decision to disband the Phantoms. I’m sorry.”
“Because we’re too dangerou
s.”
“In the wrong hands, yes.”
“What about—”
“They assured me that they will take good care of you.” Joshua allowed himself to grasp Murphy’s wrist. “Patterson will give you free choice of where you want to go. The SEALS want you. All you have to do is say the word and you’ll be out from behind that desk—away from Koch—and out in the field.”
Murphy looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. “Was I imagining that you had met Crotch before?”
“I’m sorry about that,” Joshua said.
“What did you do?”
“I should have buried Hillary Koch when she was working for me,” Joshua said. “She used to be in JAG. I was her CO. To make a long story short, she screwed up big. I caught her doing things to win cases that, while they were legal, were unethical. I found out when the wife of a marine called me personally to beg for help. Her husband spent over a year in jail for a crime he didn’t commit because Koch was too lazy to check out a statement from a witness and used a jailhouse source who had a long history of lying. After that, I dug deeper and found a whole history of unethical, crooked, and improper actions that she was taking to win cases.”
“She’s a lawyer?” Murphy asked.
Joshua shook his head. “Not anymore. While she was as crooked at they come, I couldn’t find enough evidence to have her disbarred. But I did find enough circumstantial evidence of her fraternizing with an enlisted man. That was enough to drum her out of JAG and force her to resign from the navy or face a dishonorable discharge. She became an assistant county prosecutor. A couple of years later, her license was yanked. I don’t know the particulars of that.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I should have pushed for a dishonorable discharge. If I had, then NCIS would never have hired her.”
“Jessie was right then,” Murphy said.
“Jessie?”
“After meeting her for only a few minutes,” Murphy said, “Jessie analyzed Crotch and said that she was prejudiced against the military and white males because she was drummed out of the military by a white male.” He uttered a low laugh. “I guess that was you. No wonder she hates me.”
“Jessie can be very perceptive.” Joshua grinned. “If you join the SEALS, you’ll never have to deal with Crotch again.”
“I’ll go to SEALS then,” Murphy said in a low voice. “It’s where I was going to go until Admiral Patterson recruited me for the Phantoms.”
“You’ll be on home leave for six weeks to find a new house,” Joshua said. “Until you move, you will remain in the safe house. When you return to active duty, you’ll go on to your next assignment with a SEAL team.”
“Wherever that is.”
“Sarah will be so jealous,” Joshua said. “Her dream is to be the first female SEAL.”
“Well, that’s one good thing that’s come from this.”
The two men folded their arms across their chests and stared at the wall across from them. After a long silence filled with reflection on the last several days and their respective situations, Joshua broke the silence. “Cameron and I are going to adopt Izzy.”
The announcement made Murphy uncross his arms and sit up in his seat. He turned to Joshua. “Seriously? I thought Cameron wasn’t the maternal type.”
“She is when it comes to Izzy,” Joshua said. “Those two have made a connection of some sort. Jessica would say that it is because Nick was looking for Izzy when he was murdered … or because Izzy’s mother died in Nick’s arms.” He shrugged. “I don’t know but I saw it when Cameron went rushing back to the cruiser to help Izzy out.”
“Do you want to adopt her?” Murphy asked. “That’ll make six kids.”
“Yes, I do,” Joshua said with conviction in his tone. “Your mother always said there are never too many children for a parent to love.” With a shrug of his shoulders, he added, “Besides, there’s no telling what Irving will do if we go home without her.”
With a chuckle, Murphy sat back in his seat and folded his arms again. “Then I have a new sister.”
“Do you object?”
“No,” Murphy replied with a firm shake of his head. “I’ve been worried about what would become of her since she has no family … except Tommy Clark who turns out to be her half-brother.”
“Izzy was talking last night about wanting to visit Tommy regularly since she’s his big sister,” Joshua said. “Maureen’s brother is already suing for full custody of Tommy. Since Colonel Clark is not his biological father, and played a role in Maureen’s murder, then they stand a good chance of winning.”
“Did you talk to Izzy about the adoption?”
“I’m making phone calls to find out how to go about it,” Joshua said. “Once I know what all is involved, then Cameron and I will sit down to talk to her about it tonight.”
“What about Donny?”
“I called him first thing this morning,” Joshua said. “You know him.”
“Mr. Laidback himself,” Murphy said. “As long as he gets to keep his bedroom, he’ll be fine.”
“That’s pretty much what he said verbatim.”
The two men resumed staring at the wall, lost in their thoughts about the changes that were coming in both of their lives.
“Murphy,” Joshua said with a sigh, “about the watch.”
“What watch?” Murphy’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.
“The one I gave Tawkeel … I saw that you recognized it. You gave it to me as a gift and—”
“You told me you lost it,” Murphy said.
“I lied,” Joshua confessed. “You were like five years old and I didn’t know how to tell you I gave it to another boy.”
“Who needed it more,” Murphy said. “Dad, I get it. Here was a child who was being ripped from his home—his mother was murdered by her own family—he was coming to a strange land and that watch—with the American Eagle on it—served as a symbol of all the promises that our country offered to him. And to be given it by the big white knight named Billy—” He grinned. “You represent everything I want to be.”
Joshua let out a big sigh of relief. “I’m glad you understand.”
“Only one thing I don’t understand,” Murphy said. “Why did they call you Billy?”
“Short for hillbilly,” Joshua said. “No one ever let me forget I came from West Virginia.” He stood up. “Guess it’s time for us to go. I need to make phone calls and get Cameron and Izzy on their way back home before Donny turns the house into the county’s party center.”
“Everyone made out in this case except me,” Murphy said miserably. “We lost our house. Now they’re taking the Phantoms away from me.”
Joshua shrugged. “But you still have Jessica.”
A smile came to Murphy’s lips. “I guess I have everything I need then, huh?”
Epilogue
Thornton Family Home—Chester, West Virginia—One Month Later
That would never happen. Some crime writers. Don’t they even know how to use Google? With a snarl on her lips, Cameron forwarded the police procedural on her e-reader to the next page when she heard the front door open downstairs. Multiple voices filled the lower levels of the house.
Picking out Izzy’s voice among them, Irving jumped up from where he was lounging against Cameron’s leg and raced out of the master bedroom. As he went out, Izzy ran in and threw herself onto the bed next to Cameron. Seeing the object of his affection, Irving whirled around, jumped back up onto the bed, and climbed up to rub against her chin.
After greeting Cameron with a hug and a kiss, Izzy said, “Oh, Cam, you should have come to the rehearsal and dinner afterwards!” Sitting up, she stroked Irving from the top of his head all the way down to the tip of his tail. “They had chicken and prime rib and this really delicious sauce for the prime rib—and the dessert!” She rolled her eyes. “Chocolate fudge tux
edo cheesecake. Tracy made it from scratch! Murphy let me have his piece, so I ate two!” She held up her fingers.
Tossing the e-reader aside, Cameron told her, “I’m glad you had a good time, Izzy.”
The girl cocked her head at her. “Tracy says you’re not going to come to the wedding. Why not? This is the first time that I’ve been a real bridesmaid and I want everyone to be there to see me.”
“Josh and everyone else will be there,” Cameron said.
“But I want you to see me in my strapless dress and high heels,” Izzy said. “I look like I’m seventeen. Donny is going to introduce me to the brother of one of his friends. He says he’s cute. Maybe he’ll dance with me. Wouldn’t that be cool?”
“I don’t do well at weddings,” Cameron said.
“Because you and Nick had a big wedding and then he died four months later?”
“Something like that.”
Izzy laid down next to her and rested her head on her shoulder. “But this is different.”
“Not really,” Cameron said.
“Yes, it is,” Izzy argued. “When Nick died, you were left alone. All you had were your memories of him and that was all you could think about. But you’re not alone anymore. You have Dad and this big wonderful family—not the least of whom now includes me.”
She sprang up and smiled so broadly that Cameron couldn’t help but laugh.
“And Irving!” Izzy picked up the cat and gave him a big hug. “And Admiral.” She reached down to stroke the huge Irish Wolfhound-Great Dane mix who seemed bigger than the petite teenaged girl. “This wedding will be totally different because everywhere you look, you won’t see memories of things that are lost, but everything that you now have. Dad said at his toast tonight that without family, you have nothing. With family, you have everything. Man, is he right!”