“Not today. We’re not at work, remember?”
“Okay, enough of that for now. Was that the doorbell?”
Ahmed jumped up and went into the house, coming back a moment later followed by four young Arab men.
“I don’t think I ever took the time to properly introduce my friends.”
“Yes, introductions are in order. The help they provided was invaluable.”
“Okay everyone. This is Abdullah, Kalil, Mohammed, and Omar. I know them from college. They will be graduating soon…and might be looking for work.”
“We can talk about that next week. For now, let’s eat.”
The next couple hours were filled with conversation, laughter, and too much food, and when nobody could eat another bite and some were in danger of nodding off, Jenny stood up.
“I know we said we weren’t going to talk shop today, but there are a couple things. Yes, I did speak with the president. While he would have liked a trial, he saw no problem with how we handled matters. He extended his heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved and said that there would always be a place at the agency for any of our field people.”
“With all due respect,” Rachel said, “I think I’ll stay right here.”
“Same with me,” Casey said.
“That’s what I told him you would say. I won’t bore you with all of the details of our conversation, but there will be channels of communication between us and certain people in government. We will remain a private organization, but there might be times when our services are requested, and we will have the ability to accept or turn down any job offer that comes our way. I told him that we will still reserve the right to act immediately on any intel we receive if we believe immediate action is required, and he agreed with that.
I just want to say that I am extremely proud of everyone here. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. We’ll all report in Monday morning to discuss where we go from here.”
Earl wandered over to where Casey was sitting.
“That all you’re drinkin’?” he asked, pointing at Casey’s Coke.
“Yeah, you know that’s as strong as I go.”
“Good, someone’s gotta drive tonight.”
“Who all’s going?”
“Just you, me, Clyde, and Marlene. When’s the last concert you been to?”
“Darius Rucker last year.”
“You’ll like Aldean. Got good seats too. Just ten rows back.”
“I thought you said we were seeing Brad Paisley.”
“He’s next month. Got tickets for that one too, and you’re goin’. Now that I know you don’t drink, I’m takin’ you every show I go to.”
“Excuse me for a minute, will you?”
Casey got up and walked over to Rachel, who was sitting by herself sipping a drink and staring into space.
“How you doing? Everything okay?”
“Just thinking. First chance I’ve had to sit still for a while.”
“Yeah, been a crazy couple months.”
“Crazy isn’t half of it. Haven’t had time to even think. Now…man, I miss my parents.”
“I hear ya. I’ve been thinking about my sister. I thought getting payback for her death would help, but it didn’t really.”
“Those people had to pay.”
“I know…and I guess it was our job…glad we did it. You ever think about all the people we saved?”
“I think about that every day. You know, I cried like a baby the other day thinking about it. My parents and your sister. We can’t bring them back…but how many parents…how many sisters…how many brothers…how many children…how many did we save, did you save? Way you stopped that plane…dude…”
“It was all of us.”
“Yeah…all of us. A few thousand won’t have to go through what we’re going through. Would I trade Mom and Dad for all those people? Maybe not. Maybe it’s all worth it.”
“Haven’t thought about it that way. I miss my sister, but…maybe I wouldn’t nuke a city to have her back. Still miss her though. Just a lot of evil people in the world. Long as they’re around, people like us got work to do.”
“Is it really that simple? They’re bad, we’re good, and we stop them?”
“Nothing is ever that simple, but in this case it was.”
“That’s why I’m sticking around. You know, I never did thank you.”
“For what?”
“Showing up when you did. Any later I might have been a goner.”
“And a bit earlier…”
“Don’t you go there. I’m not going to let you blame yourself. You got there when you did, and if you didn’t…”
“Well, you saved my bacon as well. You know…I think your dad would be proud. So, you definitely sticking around?”
“Yeah, think I found me a place. Is Hyde Park a good area? I heard it is.”
“Pretty nice over there. Bit of a drive from the office, but it’s nice.”
“It’s a nice place, and close to a lot, but I think I need some time off. You think Jenny would mind me taking some time off? Gotta get away for a bit.”
“I don’t think she’d mind at all. What were you thinking?”
“Oh, not sure really. Ken and Elijah are going back to Kenya soon, aren’t they?”
“Next week, I think.”
“Good, you think I could persuade them to drop me off on the way, maybe somewhere in Europe?”
Afterword
I hope you enjoyed reading Wolf Trap. If so, would you be so kind as to leave an honest review on Amazon?
You may also enjoy my other novels, available now on Amazon.
Going Home
Myrtle embarks on a 3000 mile road trip with her grandson. It’s a heartwarming story of bonding, laughter, tears, and a few adventures along the way.
Out of Time
A plot to go back in time and drastically alter American history. Two good old boys who love their country aren’t about to let that happen.
For information on future releases and promotions, please sign up for my newsletter at https://www.facebook.com/CharlesDeMarisOfficial/
Copyright © 2019 by Charles DeMaris
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
About the Author
Charles was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and has lived there for the majority of his life, except for a six month stint in Colorado. He currently resides in Cincinnati with his wife and a couple extremely spoiled cats.
Wolf Trap (Casey Reddick Book 1) Page 29
