Epilogue
JL pushed back from the table and ran her fingers through her hair.
“I think I’ve looked over these plans so many times all the drawings seem the same. When Grant signs off on them, you should be ready to start building.”
Cole set a mug of fresh tea in front of her. “We want to be sure everything you need is included.”
“Are you sure about all this? It’s a huge expense.”
No lie. After all the disasters, and the awareness the formula could continue to be a target for greedy people, she had agreed to have a facility built on Cole’s property near the Lone Star Phoenix site.
“We salvaged most of the equipment from the lab,” he reminded her. “Horner wasn’t interested in any of that because he’d outfitted his own. This won’t be the last project you work on, and all of them may require security in some form or other. It’s a win/win situation.”
“I do like your idea about taking half an acre in the corner of that area to plant the test seeds.”
He nodded and dropped into the chair across from her. “That area will need protection, too,” he reminded her. “It’s easier to keep it all under one roof. So to speak.”
Ten days had passed since everything had come to a head at her father’s place. JL still felt the vestiges of the fear from when her father had called to tell her Horner was at his place. She still had nightmares in which she heard glass breaking and saw Horner’s head exploding as he pitched forward. She awoke every night, heart hammering and sweat drenching her body. Cole always held her and soothed her, brought her tea, and curled her into his warmth until she was able to fall sleep again. She didn’t know what she would have done without him.
The Phoenix Agency had done its thing, closing up the lab for her and securing the equipment. They had also scheduled visits to Cassandra Grigsby and the Cervantes brothers. It stunned JL they had made a trip to South America expressly to warn people to stay away from her. Whenever she tried to thank them, all any of them said was, “It’s what we do.”
“What’s the latest on the other culprits? And on Horner’s organization?”
Cole checked his watch. “As a matter of fact, we’re due for a Skype conference right about now. Let’s go into the den and sign on.”
Cole insisted JL sit in the desk chair while he pulled an ottoman over next to her.
“How are you doing, JL?” Mark Halloran asked as soon as they were live.
“Much better, Mark. Thank you so much.” She smiled at Cole. “Big thanks to Cole, of course. And to all of you for letting him off the hook for the past few days till I got my brains back together.”
“No problem,” Dan Romeo chimed in. “We’re all glad to see you smiling again. How’s your dad?”
“Feisty as ever.” She laughed. “He keeps saying it takes more than some guy with a gun to put him off his feed.”
“Speaking of which,” Cole said, “what’s the latest on the mop-up?”
“Horner’s empire is pretty much dust,” Dan answered. “It was already crumbling—he was leveraged to the max. And with the civil unrest in some of the countries where he was used to drawing down the big bucks, he was in a shaky situation before he even heard about the formula. And big surprise—a lot of his deals didn’t pass the smell test. The feds are all over the conglomerate.”
“He deserved whatever he got,” Troy said. “The person we all feel for is his wife. She knew nothing about his business or the things he’d done. And she won’t be left with much, either.” He sighed. “Plus, we really feel for all the employees who also lost everything.”
JL shivered. “I can’t imagine what kind of woman would marry a man like him.”
“You’d be surprised,” Dan told her. “She’s a pretty nice person. In a way, I feel sorry for her.”
“What about Leo Guerra?” Cole asked. “We have him on video at the break-in, and who knows what else he did.”
“He’s in the wind. Apparently after he got Horner out of the building that day, he pulled money out of all his accounts and disappeared like smoke. If we’re lucky, we’ll never hear from him again, but you can bet we’ll keep an eye out for him. Electronic and otherwise.”
“I had a nice chat with Cassandra Grigsby,” Mark told them. “Up close and personal. I think she understands she made some calculated mistakes here, although the only illegal thing she did was sending someone to break into the lab. She’s assured me she’ll be checking other areas of development, and I assured her when the grain formula is ready, she’ll be invited to submit a bid.”
“That’s more than I would have done,” JL said.
“You know what they say. ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’”
“Mike, did you actually go all the way to Argentina to meet with the Cervantes brothers? That’s a long trip to take.”
“I wanted to deliver the message in person that we don’t take well to pressure up here in the great state of Texas. I don’t think we’ll be hearing from them again.”
“How are the plans for the building coming along?” Troy wanted to know.
“Great,” Cole answered for both of them. “I expect to put it out for bids next week and get started shortly after that. The downtime has been good for JL.” He winked at her and grinned. “Although I think she’s getting antsy to get back to work.”
“Actually,” she chimed in, “it gives me time to do a little more research on other strains and talk to people at other labs, so it’s all good.”
“Cole, if you’re ready to get in the saddle, we’ve had calls from three clients—one in Texas and two in Arizona—who want to meet with you about having Phoenix train their corporate security.”
“Send along the information, and I’ll get right on it.” He paused. “JL got a call from one of her old friends yesterday, who asked if she could come talk to her about something. To me, actually. JL had told her about us and a little about what we do. I don’t know if there’s anything there, but if there is, I’ve got Jace Whitney plus the agents we added before we rescued JL. I expect we’ll be pretty busy here.”
“Good.” Dan smiled. “Always music to my ears. By the way, Cole, we checked out your friend Tom Schrader. He’s squeaky clean. He really needed help securing his prize bull. The attempted thefts just came coincidentally at the same time as the rest of this.”
“Good to know. That makes me feel a lot better.”
“And now he’s turned into a legitimate Phoenix client.” He smiled at Cole. “And we cut h a big break because he’s a longtime friend.”
Cole didn’t know how to thank these people enough,
Dan turned to JL. “Mia wants to know if you can come up to San Antonio in the next week or so and meet with the women about your role in the Psi Department. Rick and Kelly will be in town, so it’s a chance for all of you to get together. That is, if it won’t interfere with your lab work.”
“That will never get in the way, Dan. I owe all of you so much. And I’m honored to be a part of it.” She meant every word of it, too. “Have her call me, and we’ll set a date.”
“Good deal. Mike or Ed will come down and get you in one of the helos.”
Cole looked at JL, and she nodded. “One more thing, guys. We’d like it if all of you and your wives could come down here next weekend for a barbecue and celebration. The runway’s fully functional, so you could bring the plane.”
“What’s the occasion?” Troy asked.
Cole lifted JL’s left hand so they could all see the exquisite solitaire on it.
“You finally going to make an honest man of him, JL?” Mark teased.
“I’m giving it my best shot. So can you make it? A week from Saturday?”
They all consulted their calendars and nodded, noting they still had to check with their wives.
“Although I don’t see it as a problem,” Mark commented. “This is one event they’ll really want to help celebrate. Congratulations, you two. From all of us.”
After a few odds and ends, they all signed off.
Cole closed the Skype program and tugged JL up from the chair.
“Can I tell you how glad I am to have you in my life?” He brushed his lips lightly against hers.
“Same goes.” She tunneled her fingers through his thick hair. “I never thought I’d be able to love again. I was afraid of so many things after what happened with—well, you know.”
“JL . . .”
She shook her head. “No. Let me finish. This is so much more than I had before. And there’s a trust between us that was missing my first time around. I’m not sure what Brian and I had was even love. But this? This is real. I’m all in. I told you that when you asked me to marry you.”
“Same goes. I love you.” His voice was raw. “You are my life.”
“I love you, too. Always. Forever.” She ran her fingers through his hair and stroked his cheeks. Stared hard into his eyes and saw everything there she’d always wanted.
“Forever,” she repeated.
He nodded and smiled. “Forever.”