“Please! Don’t!”
“Good-bye, Missy,” he said. He leaned down and kissed her. His blood dripped into her face. She tried to blink it away. Then it all faded. His smile was the last thing she saw.
Santos held his grip on her neck for a long time after her eyes rolled back in their sockets, until they settled back and the pupils dilated and stayed that way. When he finally let go, he was sure she was gone.
Too bad for her.
He tried to push himself up and away from her, but found that his strength had gone, too. He had never felt so weak. He inched forward a hair, but that was it. He could no longer support himself on his wounded hand. He collapsed across her body, his face next to hers.
That was his last thought.
In the bowels of the ship, the CyberNation programmers and security people had panicked. They hadn’t done as good a job as they had on the train and barge. The men spraying puke foam and blasting flashbangs had moved too fast. There would be evidence here.
“Jay?”
“Already on it,” Jay said. He moved to an undamaged console and sat. Toni stood behind him, watching. “I’ve got a freezer here. Let me get it slotted. That should kill their autowipe…”
From behind them, Julio Fernandez said, “General?” He came in, leading a couple of troopers.
“Been taking a nap, Lieutenant?”
“Something I think you and the commander want to take a look at. Hey, Toni, nice to see you’re okay.”
“Nice to be okay, Julio.”
Howard nodded. “Keep an eye on things here,” he told his troops. “Lead on, Lieutenant.”
Michaels and Toni followed Howard and Fernandez up a short flight of stairs and down a corridor. In an office on the floor were two dead people: Jasmine Chance and Roberto Santos.
Michaels shook his head. “Lord. What happened?”
Julio said, “From the marks on her neck and the little hemorrhages in her eyes, I’d say she was strangled. He’s got six bullet holes in him and cuts all over his head from where somebody hit him with that little.380 PPK over there. There’s blood all over her hand and a pattern in it that matches the butt of the pistol. Way I see it is, he came at her, she blasted him, he lived long enough to choke her out.
“My God,” Howard said. “Mean people.”
“Not anymore,” Michaels said.
EPILOGUE
The wedding had been beautiful. Now, at the reception, Saji had gone to change into her traveling clothes. Jay had already shed his tux and dressed in his usual laid-back style. Toni stood next to Alex, who looked very James Bondish in his black tuxedo. John Howard and his wife, Nadine, were nearby, as were Julio Fernandez and his wife, Joanna. Julio held his squirming son, who apparently wanted to get down and destroy the place in a terrible- two frenzy. Something Toni could look forward to with Little Alex…
Saji’s mother hugged her sister, crying. Jay’s parents wiped away tears and beamed at their son from across the room.
Jay came over to shake Alex’s hand. He said, “Thanks for everything, boss.”
“You feeling better about this now?” Toni said, waving at the interior of the church’s reception area.
“Oh, yeah. Just cold feet was all. I love her. I can’t see that stopping. My parents are already talking about grandchildren. Can you imagine me being a father?”
“I think you’d do well at it,” Toni said. “But there’s no hurry.”
“Off to Bali, right?” Alex said.
“Yep. Sun, sand, drinks with fruits and flowers in them, the whole enchilada. We’re gonna make a pass by Thailand on the trip back, see some of my distant relatives, too.”
“That’s great, Jay.”
“If you’re sure you can get by without me, that is.”
“We’ll manage. With the train, barge, and boat out of commission, I don’t think those folks will be causing us any more trouble for at least a little while,” Alex said.
“But they were only wounded, not killed. They can blame somebody, offer him up as a scapegoat, keep going,” Jay said.
Alex shrugged. “You take what you can.”
“You sorry you didn’t get a chance to go head-to-head with Keller?” Toni asked.
He shrugged. “Yes and no. It would have been great for the old ego to kick his ass up and down the block. But he lost, any way you want to cut it. He’s in jail, an emotional wreck. Not much point in pouring water on a drowning man, is there? Besides, what could I do that would make him feel worse than getting the bejeezus beat out of him by a
She smiled. She looked up and saw Guru, dressed in a formal sarong and sandals, carrying the baby, who was in a cute little baseball uniform, complete with a darling little Baltimore Orioles cap. Guru came over and stood next to Jay as Saji reappeared, dressed in her traveling suit. She smiled at Jay.
“I think that’s my cue,” Jay said.
They left, amidst a hail of tossed birdseed — better than rice, because it wouldn’t hurt the birds to eat any that didn’t get swept up. As the limo drove away, Toni turned to Alex. “So romantic, a trip to Bali, don’t you think?”
“Hey, we had Hawaii. Just as nice, and they speak the same language. You complaining?”
“Not me,” she said. She took his arm. “Now we’re at the good part.”
“Oh?”
“Yep. And they lived happily ever after.”
He laughed and she joined him in it.
