She sighed, wrapped her arms around him, and the two of them watched as Jerricho and her father gently wrangled together as they headed down to the lake. “Does Jerricho really want to go fishing?”
“You know what? I think he actually does.”
“Oh, thank heavens,” she said. “I really don’t like fishing.”
He burst out laughing and said, “Well, have you got something better you want to do today?”
She looked up, gave him a cheeky grin, and said, “Absolutely. I’m pretty sure we didn’t finish what we started earlier.”
He gave a shout of laughter and said, “Well, in that case, I think we need to spend a little bit of time together.” And the two of them raced down to the little cabin. As he landed on the deck, she was there, waiting for him. She stopped, looked at him, and said, “And this isn’t just for the moment, is it?”
He looked at her in surprise, shook his head, and said, “Absolutely not. It’s for every moment of every day that we enjoy being with each other.” He added, “And I really hope it’s forever.”
She looked up, smiled, and said, “Remember. When you’re young, it takes a lot of work, and, when you’re older, you know what works.”
“Sure,” he said. “What do you mean though?”
She said, “It can be forever, if we want it to be.”
“I want it to be,” he said instantly. “You?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said. She threw her arms around his neck and said, “Forever.”
He lowered his head, and, just before their lips touched, he whispered right back, “Forever.”
Epilogue
Jerricho came back from the fishing trip with a smile in his heart. He really had taken to fishing, like he hadn’t ever expected. He would never be quite as addicted to the sport as was Greg, Eva’s father, but Jerricho had gotten up every morning at five a.m. the past few days and couldn’t wait to get on that lake. They had even tried afternoon fishing and evening fishing. The joy of catching that first fish had hooked Jerricho for life. He had promised to come back soon and often. And that was a promise that he would thoroughly enjoy keeping.
As it was, he headed back to what was his soulless apartment now. After being at the cabin, where the four of them were ensconced in Greg’s environment and his joy in life, plus recuperating from exhaustion and the emotional impact of everything they’d been through, Jerricho found his apartment empty and without merit anymore.
He had never really cared before, but it was starting to really, just after this trip, get to him. As he sat here, out on his deck, a cold beer in his hand, his phone rang.
He looked down to see Diesel as the Caller ID. “Hey, Diesel,” he said. “Did you catch any fish for me this morning?”
“Actually,” he said, “I caught my first trout.”
“Damn!” he said. “I’m so sad I had to leave.”
“Did you have to leave though?” he asked. “Couldn’t you have stayed?”
“Well, I still have to get my life together. You get to sit back and relax now. I’m not sure exactly what you’ll do with your life or what she’ll do with your life,” he said, “but I just felt like it was time for me to leave.”
“Well, what I’ll do now is,” he said, “is usher you into your next mission.”
There was a moment’s pause, then he said, “Seriously?”
“Yep, seriously.”
“When?”
“Well you better finish that beer in your hand,” he said in a dry tone.
“Shit! Are you watching me?”
“I wouldn’t be so intrusive,” he said, “but I have to tell you that’s what I do too, when I hit home. I sit back on the deck, and I pull out a beer.”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m doing. So what am I supposed to be doing, if I have to finish this beer?”
“You’re heading out in less than three hours.”
“Crap!” he said. “I haven’t even done laundry.”
“First thing you do after a mission,” he said, “is you check out what you need to get done to leave again.”
“I didn’t have a chance yet. I’ve only been home a couple hours.”
“You got enough clean clothes?”
“If I don’t, you’ll find them for me, won’t you?”
“I absolutely will,” he said.
“So where am I going?” he said.
“Switzerland,” he said with a laugh. “You fly out very soon.”
“Why?”
“Well, I’d tell you but, you know what? I don’t want to ruin it for you.”
“What’ll ruin it for me?”
“Somebody you know is in trouble,” he said. “It came through official channels, but, when I recognized the name, I figured you’d want to know.”
“Who?” he asked, hopping to his feet. “Not too many people in my world I care about.”
He said, “Yeah, I hear you there. And then I remembered the conversation we had with Eva.”
At that, his stomach sank. “Jesus Christ,” he said, “is it Brenna?”
“Yes, it is,” Diesel said. “She was on a media trip. I didn’t realize she was a journalist.”
“I didn’t either. And what happened?”
“She and her cameraman have been kidnapped. They were on a trip through Switzerland, heading toward Libya. Obviously they didn’t make it. They have disappeared in the mountains.”
“Ah, hell,” he said. “Where’s her husband?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” he said, “I don’t have any record of a husband.”
“Last I heard, she was getting married,” he protested.
“Well, maybe you heard wrong, but she’s over there, alone, except for the one cameraman with her.”
“Any … any other intel?”
“I’ll send it as soon as I get it,” he said. “You need to get a move on now.” And, with that, Diesel rang off.
Jerricho turned to look around at the small apartment, and, out loud, he said, “Well, I didn’t like this place anyway.”
He threw back the rest of his beer, quickly switched out the dirty clothes in his duffel bag with a clean batch, and was out the door. As he made it to the front curb, he realized he didn’t have a ride.
When a vehicle raced toward him, he laughed. “Damn, I
