Black Rose

CHAPTER 64

Nick sat in the comfort of a wide leather armchair in the forward cabin of the Gulfstream, sipping an Irish whiskey. They were two hours out of Switzerland, headed back to Washington. He could feel the tension leave his shoulders as Ireland's magic began working.

Selena sat next to him, head back and eyes closed, asleep. Ronnie was in a chair across the aisle, reading a magazine.

He thought about everything that had happened in the last few weeks. It was a blur. He thought about Adam and wished he could tell him that AEON was finally finished. Even though he'd never known his real identity, in some way Adam had become a friend.

Nick thought about the people he'd seen dying in agony in Brazil. He hadn't been able to stop that from happening, but they'd kept Gutenberg from carrying out his plan to kill millions more. An evil man. If there was a hell, Nick hoped Gutenberg was in it. It was what he deserved.

He raised his glass. "Pretty good work," he said.

"What is?" Selena was awake. She yawned.

"Stopping Gutenberg. I was just thinking about what an evil bastard he was. We stopped him. Like I said, pretty good work."

"Pour me a drink."

Nick took ice from a bucket by his chair, added it to a fresh glass and filled it with whiskey.

"Here you go," he said.

"To good work," she said.

They drank.

"This one was hard," she said.

"They're all hard."

Selena looked out the window. "How are we going to replace Lamont?"

"It won't be easy but Harker will find someone. It's going to be a tough adjustment."

"How much longer do you think we can do this?" she asked.

"You miss your old life?"

"Some of it. I miss seeing students get excited about learning but I don't miss stuffy faculty parties and self-important professors who want to argue with me. After the last couple of years I could never go back to that. It would seem terribly boring."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, you can't say that what we do is boring."

"Do you think AEON is finally out of our lives?"

"I think so. But there's always someone out there who believes the world exists for their personal exploitation. It won't be long until something else like AEON comes along."

"That's a depressing thought."

"It's always been that way, all through history. The people who run things never learn."

Selena looked out the window. Dawn revealed the gray waters of the Atlantic far below.

"What am I going to do about my sister?" she said.

Her question took him by surprise.

"There's not much you can do. She's not really your sister, even though she has your father's blood."

"Yes she is, as much as I don't want to admit it. I wonder if she knows about me?"

"If Vysotsky has anything to say about it, I don't think she does," Nick said. "You'd be just as much of a surprise to her as she was to you."

"I wonder if we'll ever meet?"

"That might not be a great idea. Don't forget who she works for and what she does."

"I don't think there's much of a chance I'll forget that."

Nick changed the subject.

"I'm looking forward to getting back."

"So am I. I want to start putting our new place together."

"You just want to go shopping."

"Jerk." She punched him in the shoulder. "Seriously, aren't you excited about it?"

"About shopping? No. But I'm looking forward to living there with you."

"You are?"

Nick took her hand. "Yes. It took a while but I finally figured it out."

She looked at him. "Figured what out?"

"That we're a team," he said.