“Thanks, man. Thanks for helping bring these guys down and for taking care of Kelly.”
Julio smiled. “No thanks needed. Oh, and the doc can take care of herself.”
“Yeah. I bet she can.” Tony was smiling so hard his cheeks began to hurt. “Hey, why don’t we go grab some drinks and have a little dinner? We can fill each other in on everything. We have a debriefing in the morning with the feds, but it might be good to wind down some, share notes.”
Julio shook his head. “You know, I think that’s a great idea…for you two. I actually want to go and see Eric.” On the flight back, they had received word that Eric was in the hospital, recovering from an attack at his apartment.
“Oh, we need to go there, too,” Kelly said.
“Tell you what, why don’t you let me visit him tonight and you can swing by in the morning? Get some dinner.” He winked at Kelly.
She smiled at Julio, getting the message. “Please give Eric my best…and find out how Baby S. is doing,” She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for everything.”
Julio said goodbye and headed inside the airport.
She turned back to Tony and took his hand. “You know what?”
“What?” he asked.
“I would love to have dinner with you. But I don’t want to talk about any of this.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. After a minute, he pulled away. “Deal. Drinks, dinner, and maybe a little dessert. Doesn’t get any better than that.”
They headed into the terminal, holding hands.
EPILOGUE
One Year Later
“Champagne?” the waiter asked.
“Yes, please,” Gem replied, taking the flute from a tray. She caught Pazzini’s eye and raised her glass in his direction. He had one arm around Kelly’s waist. A large diamond ring flashed brightly on the doc’s left hand. She was so happy for them.
Across the room, Gem spotted Julio and Eric talking animatedly together. Somehow, they’d been able to patch up their relationship and, best of all, were now the proud parents of a little girl. Samantha (formerly known as Baby S).
As for Gem herself, well, things had gone from good to great. They were all there celebrating her bestselling book. The Covert Reich Project. It was the story of Peter Redding, The Brotherhood, and their demise. In it, Gem detailed first-hand many of the events that brought The Brotherhood to its knees. She’d worked with the whole gang: Pazzini, Kelly, Dr. Horner and his wife, Eric Sorensen, and Julio…all of them to weave a complex and riveting tale of greed and bigotry and heroism. Not only was her book a New York Times Bestseller, a movie was also in the works. Gem sighed happily and took another swig of the champagne.
“Cheers!” she called out loudly. Then, “More champagne please!”
Author Note
I hope that you enjoyed COVERT REICH. It is a book of fiction and meant for pure entertainment. To learn more about how the book came about and the reasons why I wrote it, I hope you will take time to visit my blog and at http://www.adventuresnwriting.blogspot.com and my website at http://www.michelescott.com.
I also would like to acknowledge those wonderful people who helped see this book through to completion; Jennifer Meegan who is an amazing editor, Jessica Park who is an awesome friend, Lori Gondelman who reads and honestly reviews my work, Cassie Hagey who makes sure the marketing runs smoothly, Aaron Keith who keeps me on schedule, and Mitch Edwards who helps me understand what it is really all about.
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