“The shifter is Charlie Adler.”
Raphael’s eyes widened in surprise. “Charlie? Are you sure?”
“He showed me his true self. He said he’s been tracking me for five years.”
“Unbelievable. We’ve worked together several times in the past half a decade. I never knew he was interested in you. Never knew his true colors or his secret shifting abilities. Not even a hint of it.”
He was interrupted by a distant, explosive sound. She looked in the general direction of where she’d escaped from the spaceship. A search of the skies yielded no visible craft.
“He must have re-engaged the cloaking device.”
Diesel was talking on the phone, a stern look on his face. He hurried to join them. “Did I hear you say cloaking device?”
“Yes. I also enabled the ship’s tracking module while I was inside,” she said. “Maybe he didn’t notice that.”
Diesel talked into the phone again, “Check to see if you can track it.” And then, “You can? Excellent.” He gave Francine a thumbs-up.
“I didn’t know you were a spacecraft engineer,” Raphael said.
“I’m not, but I can read. He left the operational manual unsecured. That’s how I got the rover.”
“Great job, Francine,” Raphael said. “I see you didn’t need me to rescue you. But I did try.”
“I’ve not a single doubt. After he blew up the cabin, I was afraid you all thought I was dead and would stop looking.”
Lucy raced through the crowd and almost bowled Francine over in her exuberance to hug her. “I thought you were gone, but Raphael insisted you couldn’t be dead. He refused to go down that path.”
Francine gave her sister a strong hug, then plastered herself to Raphael’s side.
“Next time,” he said, “I take you home.”
“Next time I will be attached to your side and let you.”
“Are you tired?”
“A little.”
“Too tired to get married?”
“What?”
“I swore that if I got you back, I’d insist we get married as soon as possible. So I’m insisting. What do you think?”
“I think I’d like to change clothes first, but my answer is yes. Let’s go.”
He grinned. “We’ll face your mother’s wrath together or pretend to get married again for her benefit.”
“I’ll marry you as many times as you want.”
“I love you, Francine. I never want to be without you ever again.”
“Awesome. I love you, too. And I’ve been considering a career change from grocery clerk to bounty hunter so we can travel the galaxy joined at the hip. What do you think?”
Raphael kissed her hard, and she decided he must love the idea.
Epilogue
