Page 22 of The Echelon (Spy Girl 7)
None of which I set out to be.
I just wanted to avenge my mother’s death. Be a covert agent. Fly under the radar.
Later, I pull Belinda Smith aside. “What are you going to do after all this?” I ask her.
“I guess go back home, try to go on. I’ve been talking to my old high school sweetheart, and he wants to take me on a date soon. I was also planning on looking for a job, but there was a really large donation to Bella’s fund.”
“That’s not surprising,” I say. “Your daughter touched a lot of people with her strength.”
“Was it you? After the church?”
“No, it was me after your daughter told me at the Olympics how you had to quit your job, how money was tight, and how amazing you were to sacrifice for her. I made the donation because I didn’t want you to ever have to worry about money again. I also have an idea for a job for you, if you’re interested.”
“What?”
“Let’s start a superhero foundation. I’d like to see her way of fighting cancer spread around the world. We could give out superhero costumes or T-shirts. Maybe we can get a comic brand to donate them. Team up with a theme park. I see it being huge.”
“Huntley, you’re amaz—”
“No, I’m not. I just inherited a bunch of money. Your love for your daughter and the memory of her strength and grace through her battle is what will make it amazing. You can set up shop wherever you want, grow it big or small. I suspect Daniel and Lizzie would be willing to participate as well.”
Belinda smiles. “Now, I can’t wait to get home.”
“Why don’t you come meet President Ryan Spear? I might be able to get you a ride back to the States.”
“On Air Force One? That would be unbelievable, but I have to take Bella with me. She was cremated. She told me she’d die if I buried her underground for all of eternity. She was a little claustrophobic. Hated having CT scans.”
I think about the fact that Amanda Spear will be taken home in an urn.
“She can ride home in honor then. I never would have figured it out had it not been for our conversation. Your daughter, Bella, is the superhero who saved the world.”
The party is in full swing when everyone’s phones start dinging and vibrating with notifications.
“Communications have been restored to Montrovia!” Terrance shouts.
“I just got an update that says the king of Montrovia is about to do a press conference,” Olivia states.
“Let’s watch,” Ari says, grabbing the remote and turning the television on while everyone gathers around.
Watching Lorenzo is the last thing I want to do, so I discreetly move into the study where I find my father sitting behind what I now know to be his desk.
He flicks on the television.
“I don’t really want to watch,” I tell him.
“Why not? You love Lorenzo.”
“I think that maybe our love was not meant to be. You’ve heard of Stockholm syndrome, I’m sure.”
“Are you telling me that you only fell in love and were married because of the circumstances you were in together?”
“Possibly. I mean, he—was he invited tonight?”
“Yes, of course, but it’s understandable that he’s busy, running his country right now.”
“I suppose so.”
He turns up the volume when Lorenzo and the Prime Minister appear on the screen. I expect Lorenzo to look happy, be smiling, but he still looks very grave.
They announce that an antidote was discovered for those who were at the opening ceremonies and that the vaccine would have killed millions. They mention that the PureGen headquarters in London have been raided by British officials, as has any company that had ties to Dupree. They tell the truth about the coup being planned by General Agueda and give special thanks to Sophie Andersen and Prince Kresten for their part in all of this. They lift the quarantine on the country, reopen the borders, and warn countries with military assets in Montrovian airspace and waterways to leave.
The Prime Minister moves offscreen, and we’re left with just Lorenzo’s beautiful face.
“I want to personally thank everyone in our country for remaining calm in the midst of crisis—from the medical personnel who worked tirelessly to the citizens who opened their hearts and homes to our Olympic guests. There is a reason our country is loved by those who visit. It is because of you. May favor continue to fall on Montrovia.”
“On that note,” I say to my father, “I’m finally going to bed.”
A group of four men are gathered around a round table via virtual reality.
The leader has yet to start the emergency meeting when Zayn Kipling speaks out of turn, “What happened? I thought our plan was foolproof. That there was no cure.”
“There wasn’t a cure,” Maximillian Olivier states emphatically. “At least, that’s what Dr. Andersen told Marquis Dupree. What he neglected to mention is it was more poison than virus and that he could made an antidote.”
“We failed then,” Sergey Olander says. “All this work and planning for nothing.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Rutherford Elingston adds. “We still have the treasure and the power and control that comes with it.”
“That is true,” Maximillian agrees. “And, fortunately for all of us, Dupree is dead, and the blame for this attack will be placed squarely on him.”
“Unless they are able to trace who knocked out all communications to the country,” Sergey Olander says. “Because, if they can, I’m screwed.”
“They won’t even think of that,” Rutherford Elingston says. “And, if they do, just say you were framed by the North Koreans or the Chinese or something. That you were hacked.”
Sergey lets out a deep sigh, knowing he never should have agreed to do this. Hillford was dead. He should have gotten out then, but he figured the son of a gun would have risen from the dead and taken out his family. Actually, he should do it now.
“I’d like to resign my position in the group,” he says boldly.
“All right,” Rutherford says nonchalantly. “If that’s what you’d like. But you must join us in Florence, as planned, to return your ring in person.”
“We will discuss new members and revise our mission,” Maximillian states. “Reducing the population and creating a new world order is still our top priority. It’s imperative we accomplish this for our children before the world self-destructs.”
“I agree,” Zayn Kipling says. “And we must choose our new members wisely. I suggest we all come prepared with nomination ideas.”
“We also need to determine if we are going to seek retribution against Sophie Andersen and if Huntley Von Allister was involved,” Rutherford says. “What do we know about our man in Ronda?”
“We believe he was taken out by the military team who picked up Sophie and took her to the aircraft carrier in the Strait,” Maximillian says. “We still don’t know if Huntley played a role in this.”
“And if she did?”
“She will have to die, too. Of course, we’ll make it look like an accident. Or maybe suicide.” Rutherford’s face takes on a look of concern as he shakes his head. “The poor girl. She has no family to speak of. Probably suffers from depression.”
Zayn rolls his eyes but nods. “Let’s decide their fate at the next meeting. The story will come out in the press by then.”
Maximillian nods and then signals the end of the meeting by raising his cut-crystal glass filled with the rarest of all scotches into the air. “To Arcadia.”
MISSION COMPLETE:DAY ONE
On the next day, martial law in America and other countries is lifted. People are free to move about again and go on with their daily lives.
The international stock markets and banks reopen, starting quite low but rebounding nicely—especially for Peter Prescott and Viktor Nikolaevich, who pooled their trust funds to buy as many shares as possible when the market opened and then sold them off for ridiculously large
profits before the closing bell.
MISSION COMPLETE:DAY TWO
On the second day, the massive task of discreetly moving The Echelon treasure back to Montrovia is started, being overseen jointly by Admiral Philipe Lamonte and Ares Von Allister. Their task is made much easier after Ares is able to override the security system at the TerraSphere so that no vault breach warning is sent to The Echelon, leaving them blissfully unaware of what is occurring.
MISSION COMPLETE:DAY THREE
On the third day, I receive a bouquet of flowers from the queen, thanking me for my service to her country. Sweet, but I was sort of hoping they would be from her son.
Josh flies to Britain for further training, having been offered a job in British intelligence.
MISSION COMPLETE:DAY FOUR
On the fourth day, Daniel and Lizzie wed in a ceremony in our villa’s courtyard. They were planning to elope, but I put the kibosh on that, quickly recruiting the Kates to help us throw them a small but lavish event.
I made sure Daniel’s and Lizzie’s families and close friends could attend. Even if it did mean Peter and Viktor renting a fleet of private jets to make it happen.
With the weight of the world off our shoulders, everyone is able to relax and celebrate.
It’s wonderful, spending more time with Daniel’s family, his father and grandparents, who I have grown to love.
And it warms my heart to see Ares reconnect with his best friends, Malcolm and Aleksandr, for the first time in six years, and they quickly pull President Ryan Spear into their fold.
Peter and Blair are here together, the latter having called off her wedding in the middle of the worldwide chaos, meaning it never hit the tabloids’ radars. Blair’s grandfather, Royston Bessemer, has become fast friends with the spy team who helped make this all possible.
