Page 139 of One Last Stand

“Said that he was trying to stop an international terrorist plot and that he’d developed a virus that could track the money if they stole it from you. He gave me a drive and told me to upload it and attach it to your account, in case it got accessed. I had my people look at it—and confirmed it was a tracker. It could follow the Cryptex NFT throughout the blockchain. So I had them upload it and attach it to your account.”

She just stared at him.

“I know. I hate to be the one to tell you this. People are not always what they seem.”

Oh, that was just it. Shep wasexactlywhat he seemed.

Her hero. For as long as she could remember.

“So, did they get it?” he asked.

She frowned.

“The money. Did they get into your Cryptex wallet?”

She sighed. “Yes. The money is gone. It was moved?—”

“Which means it can be tracked.”

And just like that . . . with his words, it was over.

Her orders changed. Or maybe she was simply released from duty. Sure, she heard her father’s words from just a few days ago, the ones that seemed pinned to her soul—“You are who you are, Laney. And you can’t change that”—and maybe he was right. She couldn’t change it. But she could bemorethan that.

The journey was the point. As was the changing and growing and becoming.

She sat, looking at Luka as he sipped his tea, and heard her mother’s words from days ago.“I want you to be happy. To find a man who sets your heart on fire. With whom every day is a new adventure. And who makes you feel adored. Like a princess.”

A man like Shep.

“Have you ever heard of a black swan, Luka?”

He set down his cup. “Yes. It’s an unexpected event. Something completely out of the ordinary that has great impact. But also something that should be obvious to everyone in hindsight. Like your 9/11 attacks.”

“Indeed.”

“Or I suppose your sudden desire to return to Alaska?” He smiled then and raised a regal eyebrow.

She smiled back. “Did you mean it when you said you’d do anything in your power for me?”

“As if you were a princess. However, I do think you’re about to break my heart.”

She bowed her head, then met his eyes. “How do you feel about lending me a plane?”

* * *

How Moose loved it when everyone came home safely.

Moose walked across the tarmac to the Tooth after moving the chopper into the Air One Rescue Quonset hut, the memory of the James family’s reunion at the Anchorage hospital still warm in his mind.

Yes, this was how it was supposed to turn out—happy endings. No more lawsuit. And Shep seemed better as he talked with Axel at the hospital. Something about Axel and Shep’s new dog and his condo?—

Maybe Shep would be okay. And Boo and Oaken seemed on their way to the altar, and . . . and maybe he should just stop worrying about everything.

Start savoring the fact that every day, God carried him through the valley to the next mountain.

Moose walked inside, and everything seemed brighter when he spotted Tillie. She wore her jacket, her beautiful black hair pulled back, boots, and a smile that went right to his soul.

Yes, he loved it when everyone came home safely.

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