by Medley, Lisa
“I like him,” Ellie said. “Let’s keep him.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Tanner and Sarah sat at the all-night diner in the wee hours of the morning. Sarah had texted Agent Sykes as soon as she’d parked the car back in the garage. There was no need prolonging the inevitable. Sarah wanted any surveillance the agent still had in place terminated, and Tanner was ready to hand over the notebook. They were both a little shaky. The ring was destroyed, part of it buried at Chatham. The rest was scattered somewhere downriver. Tanner remained, alive and very much in the flesh three miles from the hexed ring and was currently drinking a cup of coffee. That fact alone chased their remaining concerns into the shadows. Mostly.
With this one loose end wrapped up, Tanner would be truly free from the Brothers of Peril and all that it had unleashed upon him. Sarah was more than willing to spend the rest of her days helping him forget his past and make a new future together. She hadn’t even asked to see the code key. The less she knew about it, the better they both would be. A clean break and they would be out. Everyone would be free to live their lives. Everyone except Jason, but there was no undoing what was done. What he had done. She knew Tanner held guilt about what had happened with Jason, but it wasn’t his fault.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Sarah asked.
“I’m afraid my thoughts are much too muddled to be worth anywhere close to a penny.” Tanner smiled.
Sarah pulled one of his hands from the coffee cup and held it in her own. “Perhaps we can achieve some clarification as soon as we’re finished with Agent Sykes.”
Tanner stroked his thumb across her hand in a suggestive way. “That would be lovely.”
“Ahem.” Agent Sykes appeared beside their table like a specter. They hadn’t even noticed him come through the door. Had the entry bell chimed? “May I?”
Sykes pulled up a chair at the end of the booth and pressed his palms flat on the table. “Mr. Dawson. I have to say I’m a bit surprised to see you here. See Agent Falkner went ahead, after my strong suggestion and conducted a much more in depth search for James Tanner Dawson. I suggested he go back further into the archives. Much further. Which, of course, he did and found this.” Sykes handed Tanner a photo, a reproduction of one he’d had made when he joined the service. “And this.” Sykes laid another piece of paper on the table between them. “A death record from Chatham. See, the thing is, it’s from 1862. So this tells me something very important about you, Mr. Dawson. Either you’re a liar, and you’re using a stolen identity, just happening to look very, very much like this soldier in the photo, right down to your coat, I might add, or you’re something…other. Considering how you managed to vanish right before Falkner’s eyes—he’s pretty shook up about that still, by the way—I’m betting on ‘other.’ We’ll work that out later, I suppose. For now, Sarah said you two had something for me?”
Tanner looked up from the photo and the death certificate, meeting Agent Sykes’ curious gaze. “Pericula noctis.”
Sykes stilled, his breathing stopped, and he took a quick survey around the diner before leaning in and responding. “Numerus signorum, Mr. Dawson.”
Tanner reached inside his coat and produced the notebook. He laid it on the table between them, his palm pressed tightly against it. “Power like this can change more than our future, Agent Sykes. The key to the grimoire is here. With this last contribution, I submit my resignation from the Brothers of Peril and demand release from my service. Do not contact me further. Remove your eyes and ears from Sarah’s home, from her life and leave us be. That is the price for this gift.”
Sykes grimaced, his hand curled and his thumb and forefinger rubbed together. “The Grand Inspector General will want to know where this came from. He’ll have follow-up questions.”
“And you’ll craft answers sufficient to appease his inquiries, leaving Sarah and me out of it hence forward. I have given all to the Brothers of Peril, including my life. I won’t do it again.”
Tanner pushed the notebook toward Sykes and sat back against the hard booth.
“Done. I suppose this means those questions I have about you are off the table as well?” Sykes asked.
“You’ll have enough answers within these pages to keep you busy for a good long time, Agent Sykes, I’ve no doubt.”
Agent Sykes’ lips pressed into a grim line. “I’ll send an agent over in a few hours to remove the surveillance. Sarah, there will still be questions concerning Jason I’m afraid you’ll have to answer. The sooner the better.”
Sarah nodded. “Thank you, Agent Sykes. For everything.”
“I think I’m the one who should be thanking you two. You’ve done a great service to your country with this. To the Brothers of Peril as well, Tanner.”
“Use it wisely,” Tanner warned.
“Of course.”
Epilogue
“Hurry up, Sarah! We’ll miss the first band.”
Sarah flipped the brass cover and peeked through her new peephole to see Adam and Ellie on the other side. “We’re coming,” she said.
Tanner’s arms slid around Sarah from behind, eliciting a squeak that she hoped Ellie didn’t hear through the door. She spun around in his arms.
“Are you certain you can walk in those shoes all night?” Real concern sent crow’s feet fanning from the corners of his eyes.
“No, but it will give us an excuse to come home early.”
“You are a clever, clever woman, dear one.” Tanner pressed his lips to hers, and for a moment the entire evening plan was forgotten.
“The car is parked in the fire zone. Seriously, we need to go. Now,” Ellie implored.
Sarah sighed. She’d been excited about WZRK’s Rocking New Year’s party when she’d won the tickets last month, but now? She wanted to burrow in and enjoy every second alone with Tanner. With Ellie all but moved in next door with Adam, she’d barely had a moment’s peace. Ellie was constant with the pop-overs. Still, life was settling into something that felt right despite their unusual start. This party would be the first night out they would enjoy together as a foursome. And Tanner was in for a huge culture shock.
Now that they were free to move about together unfettered, Sarah had taken Tanner up and down every street of Fredericksburg. They’d learned the history since 1862 together and Tanner still marveled at the changes and modern conveniences. None of which surprised him more than to discover the country was currently led by a black president. His childlike amazement and thirst for knowledge endeared him to her even more. Still, he wrote daily love notes and left them for her to find. She kept them all in a box under her bed. She was enamored.
And Bitly? Bitly seemed to love Tanner even more than Sarah. The cat slept on his shoulder every night, and Tanner patiently tolerated the attention.
Sarah opened the door, catching Ellie in a full-on pout.
“About time,” Ellie said, racing ahead of them down the stairs.
Ellie got into the driver’s seat, and Tanner opened the back door of the new Ford Fusion for Sarah. Despite Ellie’s protests, Sarah had followed through on her gift. The prize car was now Ellie’s. In return, Ellie had sold her Mustang and given Sarah the money, which helped fund a new wardrobe for Tanner, among other things.
The past two weeks had been a whirlwind of police investigations, FBI questions concerning Candace and helping Tanner acclimate to life in the twenty-first century.
Ellie hit her cell phone’s 80s playlist, and it started playing across the Fusion’s Bluetooth. “I thought you two might like this one. Full circle and all,” she said, smiling into the rearview mirror.
Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield” filled the car.
Tanner turned to Sarah, confusion written on his face. “It’s a song about war?”
“It’s a song about love. That sometimes you have to fight for it.”
Tanner’s eyes searched her face and his hand wound around hers.
“Indeed.”
The End
Lisa adores beasties of all sorts, fictional as well as real, and has a farm full of them in her Southwest Missouri home, including: one child, one husband, two dogs, two cats, a dozen hens, thousands of Italian bees and a guinea pig.
She may or may not keep a complete zombie apocalypse bug-out bag in her trunk at all times, including a machete. Just. In. Case.
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Other Books by Lisa Medley
Reap & Repent (Book I of The Reaper Series) - March 2015
Reap & Redeem (Book II of The Reaper Series) - May 2015
Reap & Reveal (Book III of The Reaper Series) - July 2015
Reap & Reckon (Book IV of The Reaper Series) - September 2015
The Reaper Series:
A small group of reapers and supernatural beings in Meridian, Arkansas are all that stands between humanity and the apocalypse when a fallen angel stages a demonic invasion. In their battle to save the world, each will meet his or her match, discovering the power of love…and the importance of risking everything to protect it.
The only thing worse than having nothing to live for…is having everything to live for.
Bibliography
Have YOU Been HEXED? Recognizing and Breaking Curses by Alexandra Chauran
Secrets of the Freemasons by Michael Bradley
Civil War Love Stories by Gill Paul
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank: Cara Bristol for talking me down from the ledge time and again. Holly Atkinson for her keen eye for story structure. Allison Merritt for reading my work more times than anyone else. Jill Slack for her eagle eye for proofing. My Street Team members for being patient and supportive. And finally my husband, for reading everything I write and waiting patiently for his chance to become a kept man.