One Last Thing

by Kim Baldwin

  Joanne paused to look down at Jack before she read the final paragraph. Cassady had her arm around her protectively. “Jaclyn, I’m sorry for keeping you in the shadows and the biggest secret of my life. I wish I could’ve started over and done better, acted wiser, but…I can’t. But please know, I have never loved, worried about, and respected anyone more than I have you. I realize the feelings are not mutual, and rightfully so, but I hope that with time, you can come to forgive me. I have and always will love you. Your father, Montgomery.”

  Epilogue

  EOO Campus, Colorado

  One month later

  Jack walked into the auditorium with Joanne to her right and David Arthur to her left. Everyone fell silent and turned to look at them. Young and old were all there, except for a handful of ops who couldn’t be pulled off missions.

  The three walked to the front of the auditorium and took their places, with Jack in the middle.

  Joanne stepped up to the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, Jaclyn Harding has accepted the position of Chief of the Governing Trio. From here on, you will consider her your superior and leader. This new management will decide any and all decisions regarding your life here and your work out there, with Ms. Harding acting as president and therefore having the ability to veto any decision. Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, please welcome your new EOO President, Jaclyn Harding.”

  Everyone got up to applaud, and Cass, who stood in the front row, even whistled.

  Jack moved forward to the mic. “Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome.” She smiled, overwhelmed by the warm reception. “Please, take a seat so we can get this over with. I hate public speeches.”

  The crowd laughed and sat back down.

  “Let me start by saying this was not an easy decision. I once ran from this place because I felt unappreciated. Felt I was putting my life on the line for three people who didn’t give a damn about me. It took years of hiding and faking my death, doing things I’m not proud of, to realize what I had run from. Sure, this organization gives no guarantees of longevity or happiness, but it does promise a family that will stick together, fight and die for one another, and for the betterment of the screwed-up world we live in. I promise to do everything in my power to be fair. For this reason, I have made certain changes in the EOO policies. First of all, anyone over forty-five can retire with full and generous benefits.”

  Some in the audience whistled and clapped with enthusiasm.

  “Secondly, should you choose to know about your past—where you came from, who your biological parents are, etcetera—you are welcome to that information. I personally know what it’s like to crave the truth and sense of past…roots.”

  “Yes!” some shouted.

  “And one last thing. Screw this rule about not being able to get involved or marry within the organization. Love should know no restrictions.” She looked at Cass. “I found the love of my life in this place, and so did my father.”

  *

  Somewhere in Russia

  One month later

  Jack talked at length to the staff of the orphanage, and nearly every one of them gave the same name when asked whether any of their charges stood out as having exceptional learning skills. Despite her tender age and meager schooling, the little girl could already read and write, and she was rapidly picking up English just from watching American sitcoms and movies. She was also very athletic and hyper, and was always getting into trouble. Jack picked out the six-year-old from across the park. The dark-haired girl was darting around like she’d caught fire, fearlessly chasing four boys.

  She approached the girl and waved at her. The girl ran over immediately.

  “Hello,” the girl said in Russian.

  “Hi, I’m Jack,” Jack replied in Russian.

  “I’m Ksenia.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “Are you here to decide if you want to adopt me?”

  Jack was surprised by her openness and perceptiveness. “I think I already know.”

  “So, are you or not?” She looked Jack straight in the face.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I want to adopt you.”

  “I think I’d like that,” the girl said shyly.

  “Why?”

  “First of all, because I want to get away from here. And I like your eyes.”

  “My eyes?”

  The little girl nodded. “They make you look like a good person.”

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  “So, what are we going to do when you take me away?”

  “I’m going to teach you a bunch of new stuff.”

  “Like what? I’m just asking because I already know a lot.”

  Jack smiled. “Like what?”

  “I can write and read and draw.”

  “That all?”

  The girl shook her head. “I’m good at sports.”

  “That’s great. What else you got?”

  “I’m stronger than all the boys here.”

  “Are you?”

  “I can beat them all up.”

  “Cool.”

  “So, you see? You don’t have to teach me anything.”

  “I think I do.” Jack laughed. “I’m sure I can offer you a few more things.”

  “Like what?”

  “Languages. Math. Manners.” Jack ruffled the girl’s hair. She had the most amazing blue eyes. “Teach you how to control your strength and temper, all sorts of sports and—”

  “How about how to use a sword?” She jumped up and down. “I love swords. The knights have swords.”

  Jack looked down at the little bundle of wiseass. If she’d been blond, instead of brunette, she could easily have been Cass a couple of decades earlier. “I know just the person who can teach you how to handle a sword like a ninja.”

  “Ninja!” the girl screamed gleefully. “I want that, but…” She looked at her feet. “I want to be a knight when I grow up.”

  “That’s great, because my friends and I are going to teach you how to protect yourself as well as other innocent people.”

  “When can we leave?”

  “You sure you want to?”

  The girl nodded enthusiastically. “If I can be with you and learn all the cool stuff.”

  “You can be with me as much as you like.”

  “Okay. Let me get my teddy bear, first.” She grabbed the sleeve of Jack’s shirt and tugged her toward the dormitory.

  “Okay.” Perplexed at the girl’s fearlessness, Jack followed.

  “Where will you take me?” Ksenia asked as she skipped along a few steps ahead.

  “To America.”

  “Okay!” She looked even more excited. “I can speak English, you know.”

  “Really?” Jack sounded surprised.

  “I learned from the TV.”

  “You’re a special little girl, you know.”

  Ksenia stopped and turned to look at her. “Can I hold your hand?” She extended her skinny arm.

  Jack extended hers as well, and the girl placed her tiny hand in Jack’s. “We studied America. On the map, it looks very, very big.”

  “It is.”

  “So, where are we going to live there?”

  “Colorado, with a bunch of other kids.”

  “That’s in the Southwest,” she said proudly. “How many kids do you have?”

  “Lots.” Jack kept being surprised every time the tyke opened her mouth.

  “Do you love them?”

  “Yeah, I guess I do.” Jack surprised herself again with the realization.

  “Are they as nice as me?”

  “No one is as nice as you,” Jack replied.

  Jack let the little girl lead her into the building to get her teddy bear. She didn’t know how it had been for her father to have to go through this process of choosing children, but now, as Jack walked with this tiny hand in hers, she knew she was making a difference. Not only in the girl’s life, but also in lives of the others whom this little girl would one day have to protect
and defend. “Welcome to the EOO,” she told Ksenia.

  “The what?” the girl asked.

  “Welcome to my family.”

  About the Authors

  Kim Baldwin (kimbaldwin.com), a former network news executive, has made her living as a writer for more than three decades. In addition to the Elite Operatives Series, co-authored with Xenia Alexiou, she has published eight solo romantic adventure novels: Hunter’s Pursuit, Force of Nature, Whitewater Rendezvous, Flight Risk, Focus of Desire, Breaking the Ice, High Impact, and Taken by Storm. She’s also had several short stories published in BSB anthologies. A 2012 Lambda Literary Award winner and 2011 Lambda finalist, she is also the recipient of a 2011 Rainbow Award For Excellence, a 2010 Independent Publisher Book Award, four Golden Crown Literary Society Awards, eight Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice Awards, and an Alice B. Readers Appreciation Award for her body of work. She has recorded audiobooks of her own novel Breaking the Ice, and the Rose Beecham mystery Grave Silence. Kim lives in Michigan but keeps her laptop, camera, and passport handy to travel whenever possible. She can be reached at baldwinkim@gmail.com.

  Xenia Alexiou (xeniaalexiou.com) lives in Greece. An avid reader and knowledge junkie, she likes to travel all over the globe and take pictures of the wonderful and interesting people that represent different cultures. Trying to see the world through their eyes has been her most challenging yet rewarding pursuit so far. These travels have inspired countless stories, and it’s these stories that she has decided to write about. One Last Thing is her seventh novel, following The Gemini Deception, Demons are Forever, Dying to Live, Missing Lynx, Thief of Always, and Lethal Affairs. She is a 2012 Lambda Literary winner, 2011 Lambda finalist, and the recipient of four Golden Crown Literary Society Awards and six Lesbian Fiction Readers’ Choice Awards. Contact her at xeniaalexiou007@gmail.com.

  Lethal Affairs, Thief of Always, and Missing Lynx have been translated into Dutch, and the first two books are also available in Russian. In 2010, Dubbel Doelwit (Lethal Affairs) won second place among Dutch readers in their vote for best all-time Lesbian International (translated) book.

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

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