“You did not!”
David chuckled. “I did. And guess who was shadow boxing in the barn the other day?”
“Mystic?” I guessed.
David laughed again. “Unbelievable.”
I laughed with him. “Amazing is what it is.”
Mike Share, David’s dad, came out of the house and caught sight of us. “Hey kids.”
We both smiled.
He scooted past us. “Sissy and I are going to the movies later. Wanna join us?” he asked David. “A little family bonding?”
David smiled. “Sure.”
Mr. Share continued on, crossing over to the tree to join Beaker, Parrot, and his mom.
“How long’s your dad in town?”
“Just for the week. IPNC’s sending him to Alaska on Sunday.”
“I’m glad for you.” I was glad for all my teammates. We’d arrived here a year and a half ago quite the hodge-podge group. And look, just look, at the interesting twists and turns our lives had taken.
We’d grown, we’d developed . . . coming here, joining The Specialists, was hands down the best decision I’d ever made. I finally had a family.
“GiGi?”
“Hm?”
David turned to me. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to say what I want to say and . . .” he sighed. “I’m just going to be blunt.” He took a deep breath. “I want you back. I don’t want to be just friends. I miss you.”
My heart paused a beat, and my insides went to liquid mush. “Oh, David.”
He reached out and took my hand. “You’ve got me all twisted up inside. I don’t quite know what to think of you, Miss GiGi.”
I smiled. “I never wanted to be just friends to begin with.”
Closing his eyes, David brought my hand to his lips. Slowly, he pressed a kiss to each knuckle and then rubbed his cheek across the back of my hand.
I stared at the side of his face, drinking in his slight stubble, his handsome dark features, his delicious scent. My stomach whirled as he opened his eyes and stared deeply into mine. They did that sexy crinkly thing and I fell a little more.
“Whadaya say,” he whispered, “when I get home tonight from the movies, you and I go on a late night picnic in the moonlight.”
I swallowed. “Sounds great.” Sounded heavenly, actually.
The sound of an engine had us glancing away from each other and down the driveway to the gate. It swung open and a banged up beetle bug drove through. It putt-putted up the driveway and came to a stop in front of the ranch house.
I tried to see who was inside, but the windows were unusually dark tinted. The door opened, and a tall blonde woman climbed out.
She propped her sunglasses on top her head and gazed at me across the top of the beetle bug. “Hello, Kelly. I’m your sister.”
I didn’t move from my spot on the front step. I couldn’t move. Numb with shock, disbelief, and joy, I stared across the driveway at my older sister. My older sister.
David nudged me out of my staring trance, and slowly, I got to my feet.
I didn’t remember crossing the gravel. I didn’t remember rounding the front of her Beetle Bug. I didn’t remember anything as I stood in front of her staring up into her familiar eyes.
She shut the door of her car and turned to me. One corner of her mouth tilted up in a half smile as she returned my stare. She stood taller than me with a slender, athletic build. Her blonde hair was darker and her skin tan. Her face was similar, yet different. She wore no makeup, only a slight sun burn.
Swallowing I held out my hand. “Hi.”
She took my hand. “I’m Sandy.”
“Sandy,” I repeated, and then we both moved at once, pulling each other into a warm, snug embrace.
A good solid minute later, we pulled apart, and I gazed back up into her face. “You look like dad.”
She smiled. “So do you.” Shaking her head, she huffed out a laugh. “Unbelievable. I have a baby sister.”
“You didn’t know?” For some reason I thought she had and because of top secret reasons chose not to have a relationship with me all these years.
“I didn’t even know I had a dad until a few years ago.”
I furrowed my brow. “What are you talking about?”
“Our dad and my mom were married. They got divorced and she moved to Europe. She never told him she was pregnant. She had me and raised me in Germany. From day one she told me my dad was dead. That’d he’d died in a car accident.”
“That was a lie.”
Sandy nodded. “She didn’t want me to go looking for him, I guess. When I was eighteen she broke the news to me that she was a secret agent for the German government. She recruited me into the life.”
Sandy took the shades off her head and slipped them on over her eyes. “Years later I figured out I could make more money working independently, so I broke from the German government.”
“How did you find out about dad?” I asked.
“I decided one day to research who he was, his death. And that’s where it all unfolded. I found out about his connection with the IPNC, Eduardo Villanueva, and I discovered he had a wife. I also found out they’d died in a plane crash. I never knew about you, though.” She smiled. “Good job leaving clues in cyberspace so I’d find you.”
I grinned. “Thanks.”
Sandy shook her head. “And to think of all the years we could’ve had together.”
“Well, just think of all the years to come.”
We both smiled at that.
“So you never knew dad?” I asked.
“No, I’m sorry to say.” She reached out and took my hand. “But I’m looking forward to knowing you.”
I squeezed her hand. “Me, too.” In my peripheral, I saw everyone standing around staring at us. With a big smile, I turned to them “Hey, everybody! Come meet my sister!”
THE END
Thank you to all my fabulous readers who made this series such a success. I hope this installment brought you what you were hoping for in this final book. I’m sad to say goodbye to GiGi and all her friends. Who knows maybe one day I’ll resurrect them!
~Shannon Greenland
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Also by Shannon Greenland
The Specialists
Model Spy
Down to the Wire
The Winning Element
Native Tongue
Fight To The Finish
The Specialists Anthology
Watch for more at Shannon Greenland’s site.
About the Author
Shannon Greenland writes under that name as well as her pen, S. E. Green. She is the award winning author of the teen thriller, Killer Instinct, a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers; the teen suspense, Ultimate Sacrifice, a #1 Amazon bestseller; the teen spy series, The Specialists, an ALA Popular Paperback and a National Reader’s Choice recipient; and the teen contemporary novels, The Summer My Life Began, Shadow of a Girl, and Watching You. Her books have been translated into several languages and are currently on numerous state reading lists.
Shannon grew up in Tennessee where she dreaded all things reading and writing. She didn’t even read her first book for enjoyment until she was twenty-five. After that she was hooked! When she’s not writing, she works as an adjunct math professor and lives on the coast in Florida with her very grouchy dog. Find her online everywhere @segreenauthor
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Read more at Shannon Greenland’s site.
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