The team was battered, wounded, and obviously solid. Good. This was her team, and that mattered. Even her dad was there.
“This is the best day ever,” she whispered to Raider.
He coughed. “Okay.” Then he nudged a stack of papers toward Sean. “Hey. You’re the only one who can walk without crying right now. Will you please hand these to Agent Fields?” Raider looked at the older agent, who was watching the scene unfold while chewing what looked like a cough drop. “Sign these. Now.”
Rutherford didn’t wait. Instead, he strode forward to grab the papers and started reading. He looked up. “Not a chance.”
Brigid looked at Raider. “What is it?”
“An amendment to your plea agreement,” he said, not looking away from the agents. “It basically ends it, says you’ve done your job, and that all charges against you are dismissed. You’re no longer obligated to the HDD.”
Angus nodded. “You’re free, Brigid. You can do anything you want.”
Her heart leapt. “I want to stay here. To work with the team.” To be a part of something good that included a wild dog and silly cat.
“You got it. You sure?” Angus reached for her hand, his grip tight.
She laughed. “Of course. This is my team.”
“Thank God.” He released her and slumped in his chair again.
“No,” Rutherford said, again. He looked around at the wounded group. “You’re all freaking crazy.”
“Well, yeah,” Wolfe agreed, leaning back against the wall.
“Maybe so.” Raider lowered his voice. “Sign these papers, or we go public with everything we have on this unit, how you’ve operated it, and how you blackmailed and scared Brigid into signing a bad plea deal. The HDD has enough public relations problems that by the time I’m done with you, you’ll wish you’d never met us.”
“I already wish that,” Rutherford shot back. “That’s extortion, Agent Tanaka.”
Brigid straightened. “See? Total bad boy.” She kissed him on his bruised temple. “I’ll go public with the fact that you collect miniature tea sets, Rutherford. Your BuyOnline account isn’t secure.”
“Those were for my nieces,” he gritted out.
Her smile even felt mean. “Not by the time I’m done with you. It’ll be a fetish.” She looked at Fields. “And you. A serious involvement with Buffy, Angel, and the Avengers.” She shrugged. “But it’s the Whedonverse, and Joss Whedon is awesome. So I can’t argue with your choices.”
Fields just kept chewing. “Think they’ll ever make a sequel movie toSerenity?”
“No,” she said sadly. “I don’t think so.”
“Me either, but I can’t help but hope,” he said, grabbing the papers from his partner and striding forward to take a pen off the desk and quickly sign. “There you go.”
“Hey—” Rutherford started.
Fields calmly turned around and headed for the elevator. “We lost this one. Sometimes it happens. Now I want waffles.” He entered the elevator and turned around. “Hurry up, or I’ll leave you here with them.”
“This isn’t over,” Rutherford snapped, turning on his polished loafer and following his partner.
“I hope they get stuck,” Wolfe muttered.
Brigid shuddered. “The bad guys are all gone.” Then a thought occurred to her. “Where do you think Josh the Bear is?”
“Dunno,” Raider said, stretching his legs and wincing. “The guy didn’t exist until he worked for the senator, so maybe he’s moved on to another life. Could turn into a model citizen, or he might start his own crime organization. Dollars to donuts, we’ll never see him again.”
Weird. Definitely weird.
Roscoe barked once at the elevator and then flipped a perfect U-turn in the air, running full bore for Angus’s office.
“Stop him!” Angus bellowed, turning in his chair. “I left the Jack Daniel’s out.”
