“Not tonight,” Gabby said. “We can talk about it more later.”
To Gabby’s immense relief, her mom and Sheridan were alive and well, dining with the rest of the guests. Gabby hurried over to them. “Are you both okay? I was worried!” Her mom seemed caught off guard when Gabby wrapped her in a hug.
“Gia, I owe you an apology. Markus seems like a very nice young man.”
“Now that he saved you, huh?” Gabby teased.
“What?” Her mom’s expression was pure confusion.
“Oh, nothing.” Apparently, even her mom missed the danger, which was fine. Gabby would prefer not to explain it. “You were saying?”
“I’m sorry. I never should have come down here to interrupt your wedding. You’re a grown woman, and I need to respect your choice.” She took a deep breath and said, “I’ll stop meddling.”
You could have knocked Gabby over with a feather.
“I’ve been talking to Sheridan, working on my uncommon sense.”
Gabby opened her arms and embraced her mom. “Thank you. Apology accepted.”
Sheridan sidled up to Gabby a few moments later. “What happened? I know you’re hiding something.”
Gabby quickly summarized the situation, explaining that Jasmine was the real threat but was now zip-tied and ready to be booked.
Sheridan released a breath. “Damn. I got everything wrong. It’s mortifying.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get your psychic vision machine working again after an actual vacation. If you were stressed to begin with, this must have made it worse.”
Sheridan nodded emphatically. “But no more vacations. I need to make dinner and shovel my own walkway, get re-centered.”
With everything wrapped up, Gabby hauled herself to the bridge. She stood with Valentina and Markus by the controls. As the resort came into view and they aimed for the Inner-G docks, they debriefed Valentina on everything that had happened.
“In addition to Amanda Duvall’s murder, Jasmine’s going to be charged with quite a few counts of attempted murder, blackmail, extortion, invasion of privacy… who knows what else.”
“What about Genesis and Naomi?” Gabby asked. They appeared to be clear of everything the EOD had originally suspected them of. Gabby hoped so. It was nice for Markus to bro out with a friend.
“They’re not going to get away scot-free. At the very least, Genesis violated the executive order that prohibits American citizens from doing business with North Korea, and I’d be shocked if this place filed taxes. Plus, the entire Sheridan abduction.” Valentina thought about it for a second. “But they might get that immunity deal now, or at least reduced sentences, for flipping on Jasmine.”
Gabby should have known that anyone who was selling inner beauty in a bottle was rotten. Shame on her for falling for it.
As the yacht pulled into the shelter of the bay, Valentina said, “I’ll withdraw my request to put you on administrative leave.”
Gabby exhaled with relief.
“Good job, Agents.”
Gabby stood tall and proud. For the second time, she’d accomplished the nearly impossible and saved the day. And she’d given birth twice and risen from her divorce like a phoenix. At this moment, she was feeling all of it.
“Just never bring your family on a mission again, and for fuck’s sake, follow an order if I give it to you.” Valentina gave them both a severe warning look and then sighed. “You two get some rest tonight. I’m going to book Jasmine and take Genesis and Naomi in for questioning. We’ll be executing a search of the main offices and the Loves’ mansion.”
Valentina walked down below, leaving Gabby and Markus standing on the upper deck as the rest of the passengers disembarked.
Gabby stood on her tippy-toes in her Crocs, and Markus leaned down and wrapped her in his arms. With the stars sparkling on the ocean waves and a cool ocean breeze whipping through her wedding updo, Gabby’s heart set sail. It was just them. No more lies. Well, they would continue lying to everyone else because it was the literal definition of their job, but no more lying to each other.
She shut her eyes and pressed her cheek to his. “We did it.”
“Let’s go enjoy that honeymoon cottage,” he said. “We earned it.”
Evening, Avocado Avenue, a gathering around Alphonse de Picnic Table at Justin and Hugh’s place
