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I nodded. “Thanks for being here with us.”
“We’ve got nothing else better to do.” Easton winked.
Teddy caught my eyes in the rearview mirror. “He means no place else we’d rather be.”
I chuckled while checking my watch, realizing Michael’s plane would be landing Stateside soon. “So glad he’s almost home with his family and okay,” I said softly, musing my thoughts out loud as if the others were clued in on them.
“I talked to Julia while you were trying on outfit number fifty-seven,” Oliver teased, “and they’ll be transporting Michael to Walter Reed until he’s fully recovered. Plenty of security provided, too.”
“The guy really is the Man of Steel,” Teddy remarked. “Thank God for that.”
“You’re all heroes.” I sighed, squeezing Oliver’s hand, so relieved we were on the verge of this ending so we could start our lives.
“We’re about there,” Teddy let us know as Oliver’s phone began buzzing.
“If Griffin’s calling, do you think that means they got into the vault?” I asked after eyeing his name on the caller ID.
Griffin had been the only one from Falcon who’d gone with Nick Vasquez, to be a friendly face for Nick when attempting to crack into what was supposed to be an “uncrackable” safe.
“I guess we’re about to find out.” Oliver placed the call on speaker, letting Griffin know who else was on the line when the call connected.
“Anyone up for knowing who really killed JFK?” Griffin was probably kidding, but at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised about anything.
“So, you got in.” More good news. Just let it keep raining with all the positives, please.
“Yeah, I, uh, was kidding about the JFK part. Channeling Jack, I suppose,” Griffin answered. “I wouldn’t be shocked if they were part of that, though. Bet there’s something on Area 51. There’s a lot down here. And I mean a lot. It’ll take time for the team to go through it all.”
Guess that’s why The Collective couldn’t up and move everything and tried the drone strike first.
“Once everything is secure, does Mya have the go-ahead to reveal the names from the list? Tell the world who they are?” Oliver asked the all-important question.
“It’d help to have a few photos to go along with it, like from those archives,” I said before Griffin responded.
“POTUS is thinking within four or so weeks. He wants to round up as many assholes from that list as he can first. But since Uncle Sam already neutralized their insiders on that French vessel outside Abu Dhabi, and handled the assholes in Lake Como who tried to drone strike this place, it’s safe to say the cat’s out of the bag. The Collective knows we’re gunning for them,” Griffin shared as we rolled up to the side of the police station, making my heart work double time.
“Don’t worry,” Oliver began, realizing I was about to become a blubbering mess, he urged me to look at him, “I’ll get her back to the safe house within an hour.”
Now that we had The Collective’s names, as well as their hidden operatives’ identities all over the world, it made it easier to avoid certain people or places in the process of dismantling their group. We were able to confirm no one was on their payroll in law enforcement in Florence.
“And you all plan to stay there while POTUS begins the purge?” I’d swear I heard Jack talking through Griffin again, which was almost comical since once upon a time ago Jack had hated Griffin. Fortunately the misunderstanding that’d caused those feelings had since been resolved.
Oliver looked to me to answer as Teddy parked and we both unbuckled.
“As long as I don’t endanger my parents and sister by staying here, then yes.” I borrowed Teddy’s words and tweaked them, sharing, “There’s no place I’d rather be.”
“No place like home,” Teddy said as he shut off the engine, reminding me of how I’d once felt a bit like Dorothy winding up in Oz. And, jeez . . .
I kind of am. There was even someone behind the curtain, too. Twelve of them. Well, now down to ten.
“Roger that,” Griffin responded. “Savanna gives her love, by the way. She’d kill me if I forgot to tell you.”
“Send my love to her as well. Tell her thank you, and I’m sorry she’s postponing her book release for all of this, but we’ll make it one hell of a party when this is finished,” I promised. And that reminded me, I still needed to get my advanced copy from Sam’s cabin.
“Ah, her book release is the last thing she’s worried about, trust me. But she’ll be good.” Despite where Griffin was at, and what he’d just done, I could still hear the pride in his tone when talking about his wife. “She said something about maybe it’d be best to get her second book written before releasing her first. Anyway, uh, good luck. Break a leg? Hell, I don’t know what to say in this situation, but uh, enjoy?”
His statement-questions had me smiling as I said, “Thank you.”
Once Oliver ended the call, he quickly exited the SUV and circled it to open the door for me. He helped me out, drew both my hands into his big ones, and nuzzled his nose against mine while murmuring, “You’re about to make their family whole again.”
