Page 93 of S.O.S. Mizzay

Afterward…

“Well, we’ll have Fleischerman’s trial, too, eventually.”

“True,” Andy responded, taking a bite of her meal. “But it only means no travel out of the immediate area. You’ve been given the green light to start your life again, as soon as you feel comfortable about it. Then, of course, we’ll have to see if Baskins can fast-track things with Fleischerman so you can get on a plane again and all that kind of stuff. I can’t say I’m unhappy we don’t have Georgio to worry about, though.”

That turn of events had been…interesting.

Agent Georgio had sustained three flesh wounds when the SOS team had fired on him. They’d been aiming to disable the man, not kill him. But the agent, after being shot, had quickly succumbed to a heart attack, and had died on the way to the hospital.

Cobble didn’t feel bad about that, at all.

Agent Fleischerman, however, was still very much alive. His shoulder was a mangled mess, and his right hand had been broken from Cobble’s rock-throw, but other than that he’d be okay to stand trial. He was currently in the hospital after getting his hand set and having emergency reconstruction on his shoulder.

The traitor would remain there, under guard until he was well enough to be taken into custody.

The day had gone—if not exactly according to plan—at least as well as any of them could have hoped.

“Mmm. This is so freakin’ good,” Andy praised over the meal, licking her lips and rolling her eyes behind her enormous glasses before pinning him with a stare. “But speaking of Fleischerman, are you going to tell me how the hell you could pick up a rock and throw it at him; not only hitting his wrist, but breaking it?”

Cobble chuckled. “Well, amongst all the other things I did, a few years ago I signed up for an adult baseball camp that ran for an entire summer of weekends. I, uh, learned how to pitch.”

Andy threw back her head and laughed. “Of course you did. Why am I not surprised? I’ll just add that to the never-ending list of classes, seminars, and retreats you’ve told me you aced while you were a non-person.”

“Yup,” Cobble agreed. “They were a lot of fun, but I’m not going to lie. The no-name stuff sucked because for all the things I learned, I don’t have a single degree in myrealname. Which means none of it can translate into a decent job.”

Andy’s brows drew together. “Yeah. I know. But at least you have all that knowledge. And remember? My boss, Del, did say he’ll hire you to be part of SOS.”

“Of course I remember.” Cobble had thought about it alot. “It’s really nice of him, but…”

How would Andy take this?

“I’ve decided I’d like to get out of the ‘risky business’ game. No offense, but I’ve had enough subterfuge to last me a lifetime. I’d like a nice, normal job, a suburban home, a couple of dogs like I’ve talked about, a wife and…the two point five kids everyone brags about.”

That stopped the fork on its way to Andy’s mouth. “Are you talking about having all that with…me?” she queried, looking both sure of herself and doubtful at the same time.

“Hell, yes,” Cobble told her.

There was no reason to beat around the bush. Neither of them had been hiding their feelings. But this wasn’texactlyhow he wanted to do it.

“I’m not asking officially yet,” he warned her. “I have to be let off my federal-leash so I can shop for a ring, but Andy, once that’s done, I’m not wasting time. As soon as this whole trial business is over, wewillbe getting married, ASAP.”

“You make a girl’s heart flutter,” she giggled. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Andy grinned and went back to attacking her food again. “So,” she asked after she’d taken a few more bites and practically orgasmed over the flavor, “except for us getting hitched, you haven’t totally answered my previous question. What’s on your bucket list when the trial wraps up?”

“First, I’m going to visit my parents.” He smiled. “I only got to see them twice in the entire fourteen years I was in hiding, so I plan to spend a lot of time with them.”

“I love that, for youandfor them,” Andy commiserated.

“Then, I want to visityourparents’ compound. Everyone there took such good care of me for the years I was in residence, I feel like they’re family already.”

“They’ll all be thrilled,” Andy told him with certainty. “What else?”

“I want to contact all those people who knew me by my aliases along the way; my old bosses, workmates, schoolbuddies, neighbors. I want them to know who I really am and why I had to leave them so abruptly.”

“That’s going to take a lot of time,” Andy nodded.

“I know, but it will be worth it. Wait until you meet some of those awesome folks. You’re going to love them, and they’re going to love you.”

“Sweet,” Andy replied. “So, catching up with family and old friends, finding a job, a house, and some dogs, then…marrying me?”

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