Page 47 of King

With that, he closes the folder on the desk in front of him.“Now, if the two of you don’t mind, I have a huge takedown operation ongoing and would love to get out into the field and watch it take place.”He stands behind his desk, so Harrison and I do as well.

“I’ll escort you out.Please go home and stay quiet for the rest of the day.I’ll be in contact to let you know how it’s gone and will release the Agents watching you when it’s safe.Until then, there will be two squads outside your apartment to watch the front and rear of the building.Don’t want Andropov’s relatives to get any revenge ideas…”

He walks us to the door and nods at one of the Special Agents standing outside.“Take Mr.and Mrs.O’Connor to the van.”

“Yes, Sir,” the Agent says and points down the hallway.

“Oh, and Harrison?”Fogarty says.“Keep your anger in check.I don’t want any hint of you taking the law into your own hands, understand?Let the system do its work.”

Harrison nods and squeezes my hand.“Understood.”

“Follow me,” the Agent says and leads us back to the underground parking garage, where a van is waiting to take us home.We walk hand in hand and get into the van, fastening our seatbelts and waiting to be taken home.

Harrison exhales heavily and turns to me.“I’ll be glad when this is all over, and we can finally live our lives.”

“Me, too,” I say and smile.He leans over and kisses me briefly before turning back to face the front.We drive out, and I think about how my stepfather and mother left this very parking garage one fateful day and didn’t survive the night.

I still have to decide what to do with the information I have about that betrayal.Someone in the FBI knows and has decided to let it slide.I could have raised it with Fogarty in the meeting, but I’m just too damn tired, and if I could never see another FBI Special Agent again, it would be too soon.

The reckoning will happen, one way or the other.It’s just a matter of time.

We drivethrough the streets of Manhattan back to our apartment near Central Park, and I see that there is a squad car outside the building.I imagine there’s another one in the back, watching the alley and entrance to the parking garage.It makes me feel somewhat safer, but given what happened to my family, I can’t ever be too sure.

I squeeze Harrison’s hand.“Can you hire your own security team to monitor things?I don’t really trust theirs, all things considered…”

Harrison nods, and I know he understands what I mean.“I’ll get right on it.I’ll feel better as well, all things considered.”

He kisses my hand, and we leave the van and take the elevator to our apartment, the Special Agent in tow.As we’re exiting the elevator, I see another agent is sitting at our kitchen island, and I wonder how much searching they’ve done.Probably gone over every inch of the apartment.That’s how they knew I’m pregnant.Probably found the pregnancy test in the trash can in the bathroom.

“Welcome home,” the Special Agent says and comes over to us.“I’ve checked the place out, and it’s clean.There will be a Special Agent posted outside, front and back, to make sure nothing happens.We’ve been watching the building for twenty-four hours and feel pretty sure it’s safe.”

“Thanks,” Harrison says, always the gentleman.“Appreciate it.”

The Special Agent leaves the apartment, and finally, we’re alone.

Harrison puts down his jacket and removes his shoes as I do, and we go into the living room.He pulls me into his arms and kisses me, and I can’t help but melt into his arms.Tears fill my eyes, and I can’t help but indulge myself for a moment, letting myself cry.

Then, when Harrison wipes a tear off my cheek, I get hold of myself.

“I want to Skype with Gramps,” I say.“Just to make sure he’s okay.”

“We will.Right now, I want to order some food.What do you say to some Korean Barbecue?”

I laugh at that, my tears finally clearing.“Korean sounds perfect.”

It’s going to be a long night waiting for the operation to finish so we can finally go back to the way things should be.

ChapterTwenty-One

Harrison

We spend the night in each other’s arms after a comforting Skype session with Gramps, who shrugs the whole event off as if it were nothing.

“I did a stint with SWAT back in the day,” Gramps says with a chuckle.“I was prepared.Given what you told me, Natalia, I figured something might happen, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”

“I’m so sorry that you were involved at all,” Natalia says, and there’s real grief in her voice.“We never meant for you to be involved.But maybe now, it’s close to being over, and we can all go back to a new normal.A better normal, hopefully.”

“I hope and pray,” Gramps says.“At least part of the crime underworld might be taken down for a while, but only for a while.Don’t ever think that the gap the Andropov family takedown makes won’t be filled by some other hopeful group of thugs.”