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With a story behind them no one would ever believe.
He wondered what was next. It couldn’t get any worse than this last one. But it turned out the right way.
What are you going to do? It is what it is.
Chapter Eighteen
In New York,the party split into two groups. Moira’s parents and the four Team Guys headed to San Diego. Her parents would then take a flight to Sonoma County to stay with friends until their lives could be sorted.
But he and Moira were booked on a non-stop to D.C. There was quite a bit of detritus to be picked up, messy details to put back on the shelf. Of course there would need to be a debriefing with the president. Collier was a patient man, who had weathered the wars in the nation’s capital and had the enemies to prove it. But he sided with protecting the innocent, and Dimitri knew he’d do anything for the health of his fellow countrymen.
He didn’t even care if he’d called in one too many favors on the public servant and now had to end his cushy job. As long as Moira was back and safe, that was all that mattered. He’d even agree to go work at Starbucks or perhaps write a memoir about his years in State and on the Teams, like so many other warriors were doing. None of that mattered to him any longer. He’d gotten the prize back. His life was complete. Now he could focus on living.
The two of them met with Jordan that night, over sushi and drinks at a trendy bar within walking distance of the apartment. The journalist was relieved they were home and appeared to have lost at least twenty pounds.
“You try looking over your shoulder every few minutes, sleeping for twenty minutes at a stretch, moving two to three times a day,” Jordan said. “I have so many people to thank for helping me, I’m going to have to buy thank-you notes.”
“Now the work begins,” Moira said, enthusiastically.
Dimitri’s heart sank to a new low.
“Begins? Did you saybegins?”
“Yes! Now we get to turn the screws and bring all the spiders and cockroaches out into the open so we can stomp on them!”
He wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly.
“What happened to just feeling safe, back in the home of the constitution, where people cared about doing the right thing? You and your family are finally safe.”
Jordan was smart to stay out of it.
“Not quite. There are a few cockroaches left. They’re still moving. And there is so much more to do. We’ve got to end this corruption infecting our country, Dimitri. We’ve just uncovered the tip of the iceberg!”
What had he been expecting?
“Sweetheart, what about when you said—”
“But look at what’s happened. We got two for one. We could make it a half dozen.”
“You’re talking Senator Goldberg and his cronies. You really think it will be that easy?”
“He didn’t expect that Francone and the president would team up together to get him.”
Dimitri didn’t want to believe she actually thought she could do more. They’d nearly been wiped out. He’d probably lost his job, unless he could get that genie back in the bottle. His apartment had been broken into, and he hadn’t even began to set up proper security. And the senator had assets, enormous assets. He would not go down without a full-scale war.
“That’s not how it works,” he whispered, squeezing her hand, almost pleading with her to be quiet. He was sure it was an errant thought on her part and she’d change her mind if she just thought about it for a moment or two.
Jordan wasn’t making eye contact. Dimitri looked between the two of them.
“Moira, what did you do?”
She didn’t answer at first. She sipped her drink and shared a quick glance with Jordan, who gave a short nod back. They’d hatched some plan without telling him.
He threw his chopsticks on the table, leaned back in his stiff, unforgiving wooden chair without a seat pad, laced his fingers through his hair, and then pulled his scalp to the sides, creating the Clarabelle effect, wings of striped hair. The ladies would have been pleased. The hairspray was still working.
Then he buried his forehead in his arms on the table. “Don’t tell me this,” he moaned into the tabletop. “What God-awful thing are you planning?”
“It’s done!” she said, unapologetically.
