Page 96 of S.O.S. Mizzay

Fourteen years ago, Cobble had seen, with his own eyes, El-Umar trashing the peacekeeping building, looking for a certain document or documents before unleashing bullet-hell on all those present, but Cobble had had no idea what that paperwork contained other than El-Umar’s part in gold smuggling.

What Chuck revealed, had wrapped things up with a nice, neat bow.

Turns out that one of the UN employees, the first man to have been shot, had been cutting deals with El-Umar and his smuggling associates. But the guy had also been keeping track of everything going down and all the players involved, in case El-Umar tried to double-cross him.

The man’s plan had clearly backfired. The very intel he thought would keep him safe, had fomented his demise.

El-Umar had obviously located the damning material, shot his inside man, then taken care of everyone else in the office, therefore keeping the entire underground network safe. Or so he thought. Unfortunately for him, Cobble had turned out to be alive, and had been spirited out of the country.

Thereafter, Andy’s perseverance and tenaciousness had begun to chip away at El-Umar’s network, dismantling things slowly from the bottom up.

El-Umar’s mistake of not making sure that Cobble was dead, meant that for the duration of Cobble’s witness-protection years there had always been a cadre of bad-guys-for-hire waiting in the wings to locate and do away with him.

Unsuccessfully, thank God.

Now, with the help ofOliphant’srecords, those random assholes had all been rounded up and taken into custody.

The threats to Cobble were finally gone.

Cobble sighed. Once his testimony against El-Umar and Fleischerman were over, he’d be acompletelyfree man. It was mind-boggling. He could use his own name. He could travel. And best of all, he could marry Andy, the love of his life.

With everyone’s blessing because…

His parents had adored her.

Naturally.

“You ready to do this?” Nik asked him, breaking him out of his reveries. His almost brother-in-law gave Cobble a supporting grip to his shoulder.

“More than ready,” Cobble grinned, in turn picking up and squeezing Andy’s hand. “Let’s do this.”

****

Less than an hour later, it was over.

It almost seemed…anticlimactic.

The evidence uncovered by Chuck had been conclusive on its own, so Cobble’s eye-witness testimony had simply been icing on the cake. There’d been no defense witnesses, no prolonged arguments from El-Umar’s court appointed lawyer, and the evil man who’d killed Cobble and Andy’s squad of friends had been taken away; sentenced to life imprisonment.

Justice served.

****

Coming out of the courthouse, Cobble felt like a new man.

Reborn. Free.

He was just about to move to Andy’s side, pick her up, spin her around, and kiss the stuffing out of her, when she was approached by a tall man in a dark suit.

The guy got a little too far into Andy’s personal space for Cobble’s liking, but she didn’t look cowed. She simply crossedher arms over her chest and stared at the arrogant prick, so Cobble stood back and watched.

“It’s about fucking time, Andriopolos,” the man sneered, making Cobble’s fists twitch. “If this had been my case alone, it would have been over a long time ago. But fourteen years isn’t so bad,” he laughed sarcastically. “I guess even someone like you; a subpar agent at best, can have a win every now and then.”

Cobble saw red. Who was this asshole, and why was he talking to Andy that way?

Wait…

Cobble knewexactlywho it was, and he wasn’t having any of the man’s bullshit.

---