Page 76 of Clean Hack
Epilogue
Lucy
Eventually, the rest of the world penetrated our bubble. Work came calling for Derrick and it seemed like Mr. Clean was very much needed. I dove back into some of the things I’d done before. I helped seek out missing persons cases that I knew needed extra help.
I continued to work with Ashburn Security and it seemed like they were happy to hear from me again. I mean, not the fact that I was bringing them a case because that meant that a kid had been picked up and was missing. But they were glad that I was, in a way, a part of there team. Which, they did officially make me, offering to pay me for the cases I brought them and the information I was able to hand over.
I didn’t spy on the groups I had before. In fact, I’d come clean with the Steel Paragons about the invasion and that it had been me. I actually ended up becoming close to their hacker, Bocca, and we never talked about what I knew and that I’d had the displeasure of seeing him wearing those things he called underwear. I found out that he spent his free time much like I did and sometimes we would work together. If I had something that I thought his club might be able help out with, I’d take it to him. And if he found something that they couldn’t handle, he’d send it over to me. We talked often enough and not always about work things. I would have called us good friends at this point. Considering I knew how big of a flirt he could be, it surprised me that he never was that way with me. It was respectful, which for some reason really shocked me. I guess all those years watching him, I hadn’t truly seen the real man. Then again, Derrick’s presence probably had something to do with that. And Bocca had seen how well my man could disappear a body.
We kept all of Derrick’s places. I ended up giving up my apartment at the end of my lease. Which wasn’t that long really, only a couple of months. I wasn’t sure why I’d held onto it for that long but that didn’t matter now. We had started to make all of themhome, picking out different decorating themes for each one. It fit us and I loved them all.
Sometimes, I’d stay at whatever home we were at when he got called away. If the job was close enough to where he’d come straight back, then I’d stay put and throw myself into my own work. If he had a job that was far away, most of the time I would go with him. I’d find something to do in a nearby town if the place was isolated while he did his thing. Then we would head on to the closest home and stay there for however long.
Allison and I talked all the time. It seriously was like all those years we were separate hadn’t even happened. She did open up and talk more about it and I was always there to listen. Derrick and I dropped in often to see her. Axe and Derrick bonded a little more each time we came in.
And then there was Diesel. I learned the story behind that and it honestly made my heart swell even more formy cleaner. Derrick had taken Diesel in at a low point in his life. I understood Diesel a little more now that I knew his backstory. My heart ached for the man but it was clear that he’d found happiness again. His woman and child were absolutely adorable. And while Ellie was the last person I would have expected to see him with, I saw how well it worked when I was there.
Speaking of backstory, I eventually kind of figured out how Derrick got into this whole cleaning business thing. It sounded like it started with a couple of kittens in a barn. He wanted their poor souls to be at rest and so he dug a hole and buried them. My heart ached for that little boy. Then, barely on the edge of being a man, he witnessed the girl across the street finally snap. He told me how his bedroom window looked directly into hers. He had no idea what was going on over there at night even though he could see in. Probably because it happened when he was asleep. But still, I could see the guilt in his eyes as he told me what Cindy Taylor’s father did to her at night. Derrick may have not seen what her father did, but he did happen to be looking the night that Cindy got her revenge. He said it was all the screaming that alerted him and caused him to peek out of his window that night. I think it was some higher power tossing him a sign. A dark one. That was the night he figured out the best way to break down a body and bury it so no one would know. He also learned how to clean things so well that the cops didn’t have a clue that night. To this day, Cindy’s father was still thought of as a man that abandoned his family in the middle of the night.
Despite how horrible it was, I was glad to know that this his work was born from a good heart.
It just seemed to go from there. He wasn’t really sure how it all came about after that, but it sounded like he had ended up in the right place at the right times. And as his skills improved, the right kind of people began to take notice.
Things were amazing, to say the least. I wouldn’t change a single thing. Not even having to use that outdoor shower when we stayed in Florida. And no, I still was hugely paranoid about the things lurking in the swampland.
“I think we’re going to get snow. I feel it in the air,” Derrick said as he walked into the back door shaking like he was trying to brush off the cold.
We were at the house in Connecticut. I loved this house. It had way more room than we needed but there was that thought that one day we might fill it. Whether it be with stuff or kids, I wasn’t sure just yet. Neither of us were ready to quit our jobs and we both agreed that it was something we should do before we started a family. Well, him more so than me. But the thought of having a child, or more than one, didn’t scare me as much as I thought it would have. And I saw that twinkle in his eye when he thought about it, too. I didn’t think I’d ever completely give up the searching and the need to rescue people, but when I became a mother, I wanted to put most of my focus on my kid. I sometimes tended to get lost for hours, and let me be honest, even days, when I picked up something. I knew I couldn’t do that as well as raise a kid.
So, for now, we decided that we were good with just the two of us. Besides, we hadn’t even been together that long. We were still learning things about one another. Which, I loved. But I knew I’d also love the day when I had him all figured out. There would always be new adventures to keep us fresh. New memories to be made just around the corner.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. That’s why I sentyouto the store,” I said with a playful giggle.
I wasn’t an idiot, I knew it was fucking cold out there. And I sure as hell didn’t want to go outside.
“You know I don’t mind,” he replied in his smooth sweet tone just before he set the bag on the counter and kissed me. “You cook, I’ll get a fire going.”
Since it was so cold, I had wanted to make soup. I got to work and so did he.
A couple of hours later, we were full and cuddled up in front of the fire. The only sound around us was the crackling and poping coming from the fireplace.
“Oh, I made you something,” he said out of the blue as he reached into his pocket.
I sat up because I loved that he still loved to carve things out of wood and I was excited to see what it was. He’d gotten a lot better but it was still a work in progress. Not that I didn’t love my platypus. I took that thing with me everywhere.
“I love you, Luce,” he said as he lightly placed the carved masterpiece into the palm of my raised and waiting hand.
I held it up to my face and tears stung my eyes. It was a lopsided platypus, slightly bigger than the one I already had. Mine now had a mate, just like I did.
“Derrick,” I whispered because I didn’t have the words.
I went to pick it up with my free hand to inspect every part of it closely. Only, when I pinched the top and lifted, the thing broke in half. I gasped and started to freak out until I noticed that it was purposely made that way. It was like a little box. And inside that box…
“Make this life with me, forever,” he said.
As I looked up from the sparkling ring, I found him down on one knee. He looked up at me and there was a nervousness that danced behind his eyes.
“Yes,” I said and it came out strained and weak because I currently had a boulder in my throat. I cleared it away and shouted at the top of my lungs as I tackled him. “Yes!”
