“Hey, welcome back,” I whisper. “Don’t move. You had another little episode.”
“Really? Sorry,” she mumbles.
“It’s okay, my love. I take it you enjoyed yourself?”
“Baby, you have no idea…”
“Good. I don’t think I’ll ever push you this far ever again.”
“What?! Why?”
“I nearly had a heart attack, woman. I’m not putting myself through this again if I can help it.”
“You selfish prick,” she teases with humor.
She moves again, but this time, it’s to wriggle closer to me. “Will you marry me?” she whispers.
My mouth falls onto her temple, bent into a small smile. I stay there for a couple of seconds before replying, “Yes.”
The shock finishes waking her up, and she twists her neck to stare up at me. “You’re supposed to say no.”
“Ah, right. Then no. I won’t marry you, Andrea Walker. Not yet.”
Satisfied, she snuggles against me again. “Can that PAB start now?”
“Of course. What do you need?”
“Water.”
“Right. I’ll reheat the fish tacos, too. Don’t move, my darling.” I kiss her forehead again, tightening my hold briefly. “I love you.”
“Me too, baby… Me too.”
Chapter 38
Three more weeks. That’s how long it takes for Special Agent Lewis to contact us again. We’re back in Seattle when she does, still self-confining for our own safety. Horvat might be out of the picture, but we don’t know who else might try to come after us.
When she calls, it’s on Andrea’s phone. We’re working in my office together, setting up the fund and preparing the aid for Becker’s victims.
“Yes?” Andrea says, picking up the call, putting it on speaker.
“Miss Walker? This is Special Agent Lewis. Is Mr. Coleman with you?”
“Yes, he’s right here.”
“I have some news.”
“Go ahead,” I say.
“We’re doing it today,” she gravely announces. “My partner and I are landing in New York in about forty-five minutes. This afternoon, at around 5 p.m. EST, we’re proceeding to everyone’s arrests.”
Andrea gives me a luminous smile, as excited by the news as I am. “That’s great to hear,” she says, still grinning from ear to ear.
“I’ve been working tirelessly since you gave me the file,” she explains. “It would have been faster without having to keep it under the radar. But I found people I could trust in my line of command and got it done.”
“You understand why we couldn’t handle it ourselves,” Andrea winces.
“Absolutely. Four of the suspects are abroad, but we’ve been working with Interpol and local authorities in Germany, India, and Argentina to coordinate the other arrests. Yesterday, we heard that the one in the United Arab Emirates, Alhazmi, boarded his jet in Dubai to fly to New York. So I have a team ready to arrest him as soon as he sets foot on American soil.”
