Epilogue
Mason opened the door to the apartment, and stepped back to let Riley in. It had been three days since Jess had nearly been beheaded by Yurik, and she’d had the first solid night’s sleep the previous night.
Mason hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours since they had returned home. He couldn’t. His nightmares were too vivid. Too real. Too much blood and death.
So instead, he kept vigil over Jess, comforted her as soon as he could see she was being drawn into a nightmare. Provided her a safety net so she could recuperate and rest.
He also wanted to look at her for as long as he could. The end was near. She was going to be gone from his life soon. And he would never be able to see her, touch her, talk to her ever again.
“You look like hell. Have you gotten any sleep?” Riley asked.
Mason rubbed the back of his neck. “Not much.”
“How’s Jess?”
“Sleeping, so let’s keep it down. She had a good night, and I want her to sleep for as long as she can.”
Riley nodded, pulled her laptop out of her bag, and set it on the bar in the kitchen. Sliding onto a stool, she opened it. “I wanted you to see something.” She eyed him tentatively. “It’s the video taken before we got to Jess.”
Mason drew in a sharp breath. Before she nearly had her head whacked off by that madman, Yurik. He pulled his hand down his face and scrubbed the growth along his jaw.
Do I want to see this?
As if reading something in his body language, Riley said, “You need to see this, Mason. I wouldn’t show it to you otherwise.”
Mason stared at her for a moment and nodded his assent.
The video played. Jess was on her knees, hair in a tangled mess, her face stained with dried tears. But she had no tears then. Pride swelled in Mason’s chest at her strength and onryness. No way was she going to let that asshole see her cry.
Yurik was off to the side, blade in hand, gleaming in the light. A fireball of rage swirled in Mason’s gut. The sight of Yurik, and the knowledge of what he had planned for Jess, still angered Mason as much as it had when he first encountered the scene. Even knowing Jess was safe in his bed in the next room wasn’t enough to quell the rage.
Yurik was talking to the camera. Demanding Jess confess to being a murderer and acknowledge that her death was the only fit punishment. She refused.
There was something in her eyes. Resignation. She knew she was going to die. Regret flashed through them. Her mouth moved, but there was no sound.
“What did she say?” Mason asked.
Riley backed the video up. Mason stepped closer and leaned into the screen to get a better look.
I love you, Mason.
A hand reached inside Mason’s chest, clutched his heart, and squeezed so hard he nearly dropped to his knees.
“Her last thoughts before dying were about you, Tink.” Riley’s voice was low and soft. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “She needed you to know that before it was too late.”
Emotion choked Mason. He nodded, unable to speak. He knew if he opened his mouth, the sob that had built in his chest would escape.
The bedroom door opened behind them. Riley closed the laptop. Mason took a deep breath and reined in his emotions.
Jess walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, how you feeling?” Riley asked, and got off her seat and gave Jess a hug. It was odd to see any sort of PDA from Riley. But Mason knew Jess had impressed Riley, and the two had become friends over the past few weeks.
“The best I’ve felt in a while, actually,” Jess said with a small smile. “What are you doing here?”
“Just stopped by to see how you are.” Riley flashed a look at Mason. “And to go over what happens next.”
Here it was…the bad news. The beginning of the end.
And Mason wasn’t ready for it.
“Let me get some coffee,” Jess said. She filled a mug, and walked into the family room. Mason followed and sat next to her on the couch. She grabbed his hand and held tight. Riley sat in the adjacent chair.
“Okay, so your mom’s recovery has gone really well and the doctor’s expect to release her in the next two-to-three days.”
“Will she be able to go home?” Jess asked.
“Riley shook her head. “No. The RRA think both of you are dead, her from the gunshot. You in the explosion. It’s best for everyone that they continue to believe that.”
“How have you been able to keep the truth about us from getting out?” Jess said.
“I’m CIA,” Riley gave as her only explanation.
Spooks were a scary fucking group. Mason was glad Riley was on their side.
“So, what will happen to my mom?”
“She will be going into the witness protection program where she will have a new name, move to a new place, and start a new life.”
“Is that what I’ll have to do, also?” Jess asked.
Mason watched as her chest rose and fell too quickly. If she wasn’t careful she was going to go into full blown panic attack mode.
“Yes, I’m afraid so. But it’s your choice of whether you want to go with your mom or on your own.”
“How long do I have to decide?” Jess said, choking on a sob.
“We will need to know soon.” Riley leaned forward and clasped Jess’s free hand. “I’m sorry, Jess. I wish there was a way for you to go back to your old life, but if the RRA discovers your alive, they will continue to hunt you down until they find you.”
“I know.” Jess gave Riley a small smile. “And I appreciate you trying to find a way for me to stay. It is what it is, and I have to deal with it.”
“I’m going to go so you can think about things, and talk everything over with Mason. If you have any questions, just call or text me. Or I can come back by and talk things over, too. Whatever you need, okay?”
Jess nodded. Tears streamed down her face and Mason wanted to wrap her up in his arms and hide her from the world. He was so damn tired of seeing Jess in pain and not being able to do a fucking thing about it.
The front door closed behind Riley. Mason and Jess sat on the couch in silence. What now? What could he say to her that would make a difference? Nothing he spouted would make either of them feel better. She was going to leave. He was going to lose the most important person in his life.
And he had no idea had to handle the situation.
Jess swiped the tears from her face. “I’m going to take a shower.” Standing, she walked into the bedroom without waiting for a response.
No, this can’t be the end.
Mason walked into the kitchen and grabbed a water from the fridge. There had to be something he could do to keep Jess there. He took his cell phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial for Riley.
“Hey, Tink.”
“What is the least amount that needs to be accomplished for Jess to safely be able to stay here?”
“She has to become a new person. New identity. New job. No connections to her old life at all.”
“Is it doable?”
“Well, aside from the few people she associated with in Providence, most of the ones she was close to are no longer around. If she stays, she will not be able to contact her mother. And we would have to get her a new identity. I could talk to my contacts at WITSEC, but I did try to mention this as a possibility, and they were less than helpful. I’m not sure we can get her a new identity without them.”
“What if I can?” Mason asked.
“How?”
“Just answer the question.”
“If you can swing that, then I think she has a better chance of not being discovered if she stays here.”
“Thanks,” Mason said. “I’ll get back to you.” He hung up without waiting for a reply. He had a plan.
Now he had to see if he could convince Jess it was the right thing to do.
Mason paced the living room and ran his idea over and over in his head. He had one shot of getting her to agree. And it was the mother of all long shots. The idea was crazy. And Mason thought there was a fifty/fifty chance she would run from the apartment once he revealed it to her.
Jess came into the living room and dropped onto the couch with a heavy sigh. Her hair was wet, but had a bit of wave to it. Not a bit of makeup on her face. And she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She had such a bright spark of life that emanated from her. She was feisty and spunky, yet cared so deeply. At that moment, hurt and regret etched her soft features, and made Mason’s heart sink into the pit of his stomach.
He slid onto the seat next to her and took one of her hands.
“I may have a way for you to stay here,” he said.
Her eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yes, but it will require some sacrifices on your part and a huge leap of faith.”
“Okay,” she responded. “Tell me what I have to do.”
“Marry me.”
A smile slid across her face and her eyes narrowed. “What?”
“If we get married, I think you can stay here.”
“Mason, we can’t get married. How would that even help?”
“You need a new identity, right? Well, if you marry me, you can have my last name.”
“And my first name?”
Mason shrugged. “You drop it. Use your middle name.”
“Megan?”
He nodded. “Sure. Megan Hunt. No one will suspect you. And because of my position on the team, your identity as my wife would no longer be accessible. Jess Baylor would cease to exist.”
One of her eyebrows lifted. She wasn’t turning him down, but she wasn’t completely on board, either.
“Look, if they have feelers out for newbies in the area in and around Providence, they will be looking for a single woman. That won’t be you. You’ll be married.”
“What about a job—you don’t think a new graphic designer in the area will raise a flag or two?”
“You don’t have to work. My paycheck will more than cover us. But if you really want to, maybe you could start an online business, just until things settle and the RRA is convinced you are truly dead.”
“I did look into starting my own business at one time…I guess I could do that.” She stared at him for a minute. “Are you sure you want to do this, Mason? We barely know each other, and this is a really big step.”
“I know—it’s about the craziest idea I’ve ever had—and I’ve had a few, let me tell you. But I’m just not ready to let you go, Jess. I can’t imagine finding you and having to watch you walk away before we can explore how we truly feel about each other.”
Although, he already knew how he felt about her. He was so in love with her, he would give up anything for a chance to spend a lifetime with her. Never would he ever have considered giving up his career. He loved being a SEAL. Not that he wanted to quit—especially now that he was in The 13—but Jess was special. He had no doubt at all that she was the one for him. And he wasn’t about to give her up without a fight. And if that meant leaving the Navy, then that’s what he’d do.
Jess was looking down at their clasped hands. When she lifted her head, her gaze locked onto his. Slowly, a smile slid across her face. “So, how would we do this?”
“We grab the guys—and Riley—and head to Vegas. We can be married by tomorrow.” He held his breath. “What do you say?”
“I say this is perhaps the most impulsive decision I’ve ever made, but also the one that feels right.”
“So, you’ll marry me?”
“Yes, Mason Hunt,” she said, and gave him a chaste kiss. “I will marry you.”
* * *
Jess walked down the aisle of the wedding chapel high above the Las Vegas strip. Mason waited for her at the end, gorgeous smile on his face. He looked so happy. So confident.
What the hell am I doing?
There was no other for her to be with Mason without taking this massive leap into marriage. She was still trying to wrap her head around how things had gone from admitting she had feelings for him to almost losing him to exchanging vows that they would be together until parted by death.
The lifelong commitment to Mason wasn’t the part that made her heart beat to the point of nearly cracking ribs. It was forcing Mason to give up his life for her…to take this chance on them bring ‘right’ for each other. They still had so much to learn about each other. What if he found he didn’t love her after all? Maybe the fact that he had rescued her made him feel things he thought were love, but were not near the level required to sustain a lifelong relationship.
When she reached the end of the aisle, she gazed at him. So handsome in his new black dress pants and white polo shirt that was snug across his broad shoulders and chest. He was so massive. Many felt intimidated when he was in a room, even when he wasn’t trying to be intimidating. But not Jess. She loved that about him. It made her feel safe.
Mason’s gaze drifted up and down her body. He took both of her hands in his and squeezed. “You look beautiful, Jess.”
The officiant began talking, but Jess couldn’t seem to focus on his words. She was trying to look into Mason’s soul. See what he really felt. Was he only marrying her because he felt obligated to after rescuing her? Their relationship was so new…was it simply so they could see if things worked out?
Was that really the basis of a good marriage?
“Why do you want to marry me, Mason?”
The question came out involuntarily. The officiant stopped talking. The room was quiet.
Mason’s smile faltered, his head tilted to the side slightly, and he drew his eyebrows together. “What?”
“I just need to know. Why you are marrying me?”
“I guess we should’ve had this discussion earlier,” he said and glanced around. “But, then again, maybe this is exactly where I should be saying this.” He took a deep inhale and released his breath. “I have been microscopically analyzing my feelings for you since we returned from Maine. The love I feel for you—it couldn’t actually be as strong as I thought—we’ve only known each other a few weeks. It’s not possible, right?
“But why is time a factor? I mean, I have known people who have known each other for years that get married and the relationship falls apart. There is no formula that will guarantee any marriage will stand the test of time. It is all about commitment. And I am committed to making us work.”
He stepped closer to her and placed her hands over his heart. “Marrying you, spending the rest of my life with you doesn’t freak me out. Waking up without you, knowing you will never be a part of my life? That terrifies me. There is no certainty in this. There are no guarantees in life. But here is the one thing I can tell you for sure—if you had made the other decision and left, I would spend the rest of my life trying to find you.”
Tears welled in Jess’s eyes, and slid down her cheeks. That was what she needed. He was all she needed. And the fact that he felt the same way about her as she about him, made taking the next step easier. She would walk off the side of a cliff as long as she had Mason beside her. Knowing that she would have him next to her forever, made the dark, scary unknowns of life easier to face.
“I love you, Mason,” she whispered.
“I love you, too, Jess.” He tipped his head toward the officiant and waggled his eyebrows. “So, we doing this?”
A giggle burst free of Jess chest. “Yeah, let’s get hitched.”
* * *
Ben sat on the end of the aisle and watched one of his new best friends get married. He was happy for Mason, but he also couldn’t seem to swallow the bit of jealousy lodged in his throat. This should be Mia and him getting married.
Mia…God, how he missed that woman. The closer it got to her testifying against Senator William Hutton, and finally being released from protective custody, the more antsy Ben grew.
She was probably in court now. Was she nervous? He had wanted to be there, to support her, but she had insisted that one of them be at Mason’s wedding. Since she had other obligations she couldn’t get out of…she made him promise he would represent both of them.
Ever since she had discovered that Hutton’s charitable foundation had been a front for money laundering to fund the RRA, Ben, Mason, and Lance had been there to protect her. Mason and Lance had been the ones to care for her when Ben was recovering from a gunshot wound he took rescuing Mia from being beaten to death in an RRA compound in Colombia.
She was also very close to Mason and Lance. And very upset that she was missing out on Mason’s impossible wedding.
Mason barely waited for the officiant to announce he could kiss the bride before wrapping Jess up in a tight embrace and kissing her deeply. The room filled with hoots and howls of support, and a few playful admonitions of “get a room.”
Ben’s phone buzzed in his pocket, He pulled it out, hoping it was a phone call from Mia. Instead the Newport office number lit up the screen.
“Wells,” he said as he answered the call.
“Humps, it’s Flaherty.”
What the hell was Flaherty calling him for? Was he trying to get Lance or Riley?
“I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible—there was an active shooter at the federal courthouse in DC.”
“Where?”
“Inside the courtroom, where Hutton’s trial is being heard.”
The one where Mia was supposed to be testifying at that moment.
“There were apparently at least four men with guns. No one knows for sure how they got in with weapons, but all indications are that it was an inside job.”
Cold fear washed over Ben. “Mia?”
“I can’t get confirmation on her whereabouts, but, everyone has been cleared from the courthouse and the wounded taken to the hospital. I’ve checked her name against the people admitted for treatment. Ben…it’s not looking good.”
Ben cleared his throat, the fireball of fear dropped into his guy. “Maybe she’s still inside the courtroom.”
Flaherty exhaled. “The only ones left, are dead.”
The End