The End of Games

by Tara Brown

  We all clinked and drank. He ordered four more. Jack lifted his, "To Lucile."

  We clinked again. Eventually, we toasted everything under the sun and drank the bottle dry. But even then, we all had the same haunted look in our eyes. I knew the initial horror would fade away, but that night when I laid down to sleep in the arms of Coop, I could feel the stain of it would always be left on my soul.

  As I drifted off to sleep, I tried not to think about the way the nun had known Servario so well. It was an odd thing, a drug dealer with a conscience.

  Epilogue

  My mom passed me one of Fitz’s coffees and sat on the huge back deck. I snuggled into the blanket and rocked my chair.

  “It’s nice here, isn’t it?”

  I nodded, “I’m surprised. I always thought Canada was snow and rain. This is just like Montana, very desert and country-like.”

  She sighed, “You need to cut things off with Coop. You can’t be involved with a member of the team.”

  I gave her a sideways glance, “Like you and Dad, you mean?”

  She smiled, “Exactly. Look at my marriage, what kind of life is that?”

  I shook my head, “I don’t know, but I know he makes me feel normal and safe. He is very good at this.”

  She nodded, “You don’t have to tell me. He’s the best I’ve seen, besides Servario, who is the best ever.”

  My heart skipped a beat. My mom must have heard it somehow. She gave me a knowing look, “You can’t fight what you feel. It won’t ever go away.”

  I shrugged, “I’m okay with that. I don’t need it to go away, I just need it to not hurt so much.”

  “Good luck with that.”

  I rocked and took a deep breath, “We are safe here, aren’t we?”

  She nodded, “Safe as we will ever be.”

  “Why don’t you go and join Dad?”

  Her smile became forced, “You are a mother, Evie. You know what you would do for your children. He made his decision and I made mine.”

  I winced. She had chosen us over him, where as he had chosen the world over her. I hated that. She gave me a look, “Servario and your father are very much alike. Everything is about the cause.”

  I swallowed my emotions. She didn’t need to know Servario might not be as much like Dad as she imagined him to be.

  “When will this be over, Mom?”

  She sipped her tea, “When the whole thing has been destroyed.”

  “That sounds like treason.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything else. She didn’t have to. I felt the same as she did; I would rather destroy the whole thing than live the way we were, always looking over our shoulders.

  Jack came out onto the deck with Luce right behind him. She gave me a grin, “We are headed for Dubai in three days.”

  I grimaced, “Why?”

  Jack gave me a look. It was the one from the helicopter. I nodded, looking down, “Are any of these people on the list, or are we just ridding the world of evil.”

  Jack smiled at that, “No, this is a two birds with one stone sort of thing. Karl was on the list.”

  Coop came out and sat on the huge bench next to Jack.

  My mom smiled and pulled her phone out. She made a call, “We’re ready.”

  She hung up and the four of us all gave her the same face. A car drove up to the house moments later and parked at the back of the house. It was a fully-tinted, red sports car of sorts. I couldn’t see who the driver was, but the car screamed Servario. The door opened and he stepped out. He pulled his sunglasses off and walked up to the back of the house. He climbed the steps and sat in the only empty chair.

  “Nice house.”

  I gave my mom a look. She laughed, “Servario and I have something to talk to you about.”

  Jack laughed, “You’re getting married?”

  Servario’s eyes never left mine. “I have been withholding information from you.”

  I mocked a gasp, “Not you. Not you and my mother together, no way.”

  He sighed, “The list of names was never just people searching for the Burrow. It is a list of people who are part of something much worse.”

  Where Luce and Jack’s faces held the same apprehension and confusion as mine, Coop looked stoic. He knew what they were about to say. He didn’t turn his face to meet mine when I looked at him.

  My mother smiled, “When I was first brought into this, I was asked to track down a group of people who had banded together after the Second World War. We called them the Organization.”

  Jack cocked an eyebrow. My mom shook her head, “It’s not as cheesy as it sounds. The richest of the rich belong to it, as well as many of our presidents and other leaders. They work the markets of whole countries to get richer, ruin countries for sport, and dabble in the worst of the worst. They truly are the very worst people in the world. The people on that list are the ones who belong to the Organization.”

  I gave Servario a blank look, “You belong to them?”

  He nodded slowly.

  “Double agent?”

  He shook his head.

  I scowled, “I don’t understand.”

  Jack looked at my mom, “Fitz?”

  She nodded.

  Servario tapped his fingers against the chair, “I am for many of the things they do, but not the arms race for the Burrow.”

  “You agree in the organized crime part though?”

  He nodded, “I do.”

  I sighed and looked at Coop, “And you knew all along about the Organization and that was who the mole in CI belongs to? Whoever the mole is, they are part of this Organization?”

  Coop sighed, “Yup.”

  “Does the commander know?”

  He blinked, “The CI has members who are part of that. The CIA too. The Burrow is like a single island, all on its own and everyone is trying to find it. The arms race is actually controlled by one group of people. The Americans, the British, the Russians, the Germans, the Koreans, the Chinese, even some of the Japanese, and everyone else is part of it. Every government in the world has members and they want the Burrow to take control of the world.”

  Jack cocked his eyebrow again, “This sounds like New World Order. Like a conspiracy theory.”

  Servario raised his eyebrows, confirming Jack’s statement. I looked at him with disgust, “You agree with one governing power for the world?”

  He sighed, “You never listen. I disagree with that one point. I don’t think the Organization should have the Burrow and take the power from everyone. I disagree with the New World Order.”

  My mom nodded, “As does Fitz. He has never believed anyone should have it.”

  Luce took a deep breath, “Whoa.”

  Coop nodded, “This is why we have to find a way to destroy the Burrow. We will get rid of the list and then the Burrow, and it ends with them.”

  Servario nodded, “That is the best plan.”

  My mom nodded, “That is what we will be working towards. We will be alone on this one. No more CI, except whatever dummy missions the commander sends you on, and you will do those to make it appear as if you are part of the team. The rest of the time we will work for one goal, death of the Burrow.”

  I swallowed hard, “We swore to protect the Burrow and the scientists.”

  Servario nodded, “That’s the thing that will keep you alive. While you are killing off the list, the Burrow will believe you to be on their team. I will be working with Fitz to devise a plan to get the Burrow and finding out how the Organization plans on killing you all off, when they discover who you are. We will have kept our fingers in many pots and not have to worry about anyone double-crossing us.”

  I nodded, “Wow, this sounds like a really bad plan. I don’t see how my kids will be safe at all, and what about the poor scientists? It’s not fair that they get killed ‘cause they’re smart. Won’t Dad be in danger too?”

  Coop took my hands in his, “We take it one day at a time. You can’t plan for every second
of the next year or two that we need to finish this and take back our lives.”

  I sighed and got up. I walked inside and sat on the couch, blocking it all out.

  “Mom, I have hockey in fifteen minutes. Can you drive Matt too? His mom is on the phone.”

  I looked over my shoulder and nodded, “Of course.” I got up and loaded the gear into the truck. When Mitch got in he gave me a smile, “I like it here.”

  I smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “Me too.”

  He pushed me off, “Mom, jeesh. No kisses. Someone could have seen.” I nodded at Coop standing in front of the truck. He nodded at me, “I’m driving.”

  I smiled and shoved over so he could drive. He climbed in, “You score tonight and I’ll let you play my new Assassin’s Creed.”

  I shook my head, “Nope. No way. Pulling mom veto. No violent games.”

  Mitch moaned, “MOMMMMMM! Come on. All the guys play it.”

  Coop nodded, “It’s true. I asked the other dads at the game, they all play it. I double checked.”

  Mitch put his hands up, “Two goals, I’ll get two goals and you let me play?”

  I smirked, “Five goals and I let you play.”

  His jaw dropped but he thought for a second, “Done.” He put a hand out. I shook it, “You’ll never get five goals.” I looked back over at Coop, “This is exactly the sort of hockey-parent behavior they try to discourage.”

  He scoffed, “Whatever. It’s a competitive sport. The kids need to be motivated.”

  I shook my head, “You are both bad.”

  An hour and a half later, I was screaming my face off as he scored his sixth goal. He pointed up at me in the crowd as his team screamed and lifted him off the ice.

  I sat down, flustered and excited, “I can’t believe he got six goals.”

  Coop laughed, “Oh ye of little faith, I totally knew he would.”

  Jack passed me a coffee as he and Luce climbed back up the stairs. I sipped it and made a face. He rolled his eyes, “You’ll get used to it.”

  I looked at them and smiled. In the corner of my eye, I saw Servario sipping coffee and watching the game from below. I looked away from him and kissed Coop on the cheek, “I wish this were our real life.”

  He smiled back at me, “One day at a time. Today, this is our life.”

  I grinned, “How did you get so smart for someone so young?”

  He shrugged, “I hang out with a lot of older people.”

  I laughed and shook my head, “You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

  He shook his head, “I am sleeping wherever you are.”

  I sighed, it was a happy sigh, and looked out onto the ice as my boy had the game of the year. I was excited that even though I had learned of the uphill battle we faced, that was my life today.

  I couldn’t help but glance down at where Servario had been. He was gone. He had wanted me to see him so I knew he was there. He was always there.

  I hoped that he always would be and told myself it was because I wanted him to keep me safe. I looked back over at Coop and smiled at the way he beamed proudly as he cheered for my kid. My kid he made feel safe.

  My mom’s words trickled through my head, but I pushed them away and let it just be about that day. One day at a time, we would succeed and get our lives back. One day at a time, we would win. And one day, we would look back and know we had made the right choice for all the people who had no clue how crazy the world had gotten.

  Did I have all the answers? No. I still wanted to know what was on the phone Servario sold me out for. I still wanted to know what butterflies and nightingales had in common. I still wanted to know what my mother had over Servario that made him come and save me. Mostly, I wanted to know what was more important than me to Servario, considering I felt pretty important to him. Through it all, I felt like I mattered.

  I pushed those thoughts away and let it be about Mitch, 'cause in the end it really was about the kids.

  The End.

  Stay tuned for the third book in the series, due out in the spring of 2014.