Special Forces Rendezvous

Epilogue



“Sebastian and the doctor are catching a flight with Ricardo.” Tate strode onto the back patio of the beach house, where he found Nick standing by the rail, gazing out at the peaceful ocean.

Nick glanced over his shoulder. “When?”

“They’re landing early tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll pick them up,” the young lieutenant said with a nod.

Tate nodded back. “Thanks. I’d go, but you know I don’t like leaving Eva and Rafe here alone.”

“You know they’re not alone if I’m with them, right?” Humor rang from Nick’s voice.

With a sheepish shrug, Tate approached the railing. “Fine. I guess I should say, I don’t like leaving Eva and Rafe. Period.”

And who would’ve ever seen that coming. Captain Robert Tate, the man who’d once had nothing left to live for, now head over heels in love and the father figure of a three-year-old. It only went to show how your circumstances could change in the blink of an eye. Tate suspected Stone’s circumstances had evolved, too, if Sebastian’s reverent tone when referring to Julia Davenport was any indication.

“You know what I don’t get?” Nick spoke up, sounding troubled. “Why did that DoD aide try to kill Seb? News of the virus had gone public by then. And that’s why we had targets painted on our backs, no? Because they didn’t want our unit to figure out that the villagers’ deaths in Corazón were because of a virus and not the rebels, right?”

“Right.”

“So whoever authorized Project Aries didn’t want anyone to know about it. But now everyone knows about it,” Nick pointed out. “Yet someone deliberately slipped Seb the virus after the news broke. Why? It couldn’t have been about shutting him up—he’s no longer a threat in terms of going public about the virus, because the news is already out.”

Tate rested his elbows on the wooden ledge and focused on the waves lapping against the shore, mulling over everything Nick had just said.

“You’re wrong,” he realized. “Sebastian still is a threat. We all are. See, all these people who now know about the virus—they just found out. They haven’t been hunted down, haven’t been forced into hiding. They’ll act horrified and rave about the injustice of it, vow to find out who was calling the shots about the testing of Meridian, but in the end, they’ll run out of steam and quit looking for answers.”

“But we won’t,” Nick said slowly.

“Not a chance. And I think the man in charge knows that we won’t stop searching for the truth.” Tate set his jaw. “I don’t know about you, but I plan on finding the bastard who green-lighted the tests, the bastard who thought it was a good idea to treat those villagers like lab rats, the bastard who ordered someone to blow my brains out when I walked out my front door.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m also looking forward to meeting the bastard in question.”

“And he knows that. He knows we’re after revenge, and the only way for him to keep his identity hidden is by getting rid of us before we find him.” A deadly smile stretched across Tate’s mouth. “Damn shame for him that he won’t succeed.”

“You saying what I think you’re saying, Captain?”

“Damn right I am. We’re going hunting, Nicky.”

Nick broke out in a grin. “Can’t. Frickin’. Wait.”

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