“Your iced tea.” I handed her a glass.
“Thank you, mijo.” She smiled. “I was just telling Eddy how much I like how you’ve redecorated the house.”
“Val wanted to take the chance to change things up a bit, since someone emptied the entire house while we were away.” I paused to give Eddy a look.
“We were going underground,” he protested. “I wasn’t going to leave all our stuff here for thieves and the cops to pick through.”
“A smart idea,” my mother said approvingly. “Burglars watch houses for when the owners are away, you know.”
“Maybe,” I grumbled. “But it freaked me out when I came home and nothing was here.”
“You should be thanking me.” Eddy took a swig of beer. “I packed up everything—and I mean everything. Even that collection in your and Val’s room. I’ve seen things, Dave.” He gave me a hard stare. “Things I can’t unsee.”
I cleared my throat. “Right, well, I should go mingle.”
I hurried away, pausing to watch Elisa and Jocelyn’s one-on-one volleyball game by the pool. Watching my daughter, I couldn’t help but smile. She hadn’t ended up getting back together with Rosa, but she was going to be just fine. She was back at school, nearly caught up on the work she’d missed, and full of confidence. She’d been through a lot, but she was young, and therapy helped. She was already bouncing back.
Jocelyn soared into the air to spike a particularly high ball, which Elisa dove for and missed.
“No fair!” she shouted. “No powers!”
Jocelyn smirked as she landed. “When did we say that was a rule?”
“I didn’t think we needed to say it! It’s why I’m not hitting balls at you so hard they break the sound barrier!”
Jocelyn was doing better, too, her arm all healed. She and Julio had avoided the worst of the charges for their time as vigilantes due to the extraordinary circumstances. They’d never be allowed to work for the DSA again, but since they’d both expected to end up in jail, they weren’t too torn up over the results.
I waved to Val’s sisters, who were laughing about something with Moreen’s friend, Dr. Hargrave, and looking more relaxed than I’d seen them in a while. Moreen was talking with Julio. She’d been keeping me in the loop about the DSA’s cleanup of Dr. Sweet’s drug. The good news was that without regular doses, it wore off, so the DSA was now mind-control-free. And thanks to Dr. Hargrave’s research, they had an antidote in the works in case someone tried to use it again.
“You don’t have to decide now,” she was saying. “Just keep the offer in mind. You’d be a good PI, and I have enough cases now that I could use some extra hands.”
Huh. That was interesting. Julio would make a good private detective, but then, he’d be good at whatever he decided to do. He had a good head and an even better heart, was a natural leader, and—well, I could spend all day listing how he was great. I’d write him one hell of a letter of recommendation if he ever needed it. He made me burst with pride.
I made my way over to the lounge chairs by the pool, where Val and Agent Lagarde were sipping fruity cocktails. Their friendship was the weirdest thing to come out of all this, since Val used to love getting under the other woman’s skin, and Agent Lagarde had always seemed like she could barely stand her. But the way Val had described it, when she’d been keeping Agent Lagarde’s mind together as Dr. Sweet’s device tried to rip it apart, she hadn’t been able to spare the strength to keep her own mental walls up. She’d seen all of Agent Lagarde’s mind, and Lagarde had seen all of hers. It had formed an odd bond between them.
“Paris is lovely,” Val was saying, “but if you really want to get away from it all, you should think about Southern France. The scenery gorgeous, and don’t get me started on the wine.”
“Planning a vacation?” I asked, sitting on the end of Val’s chair as she moved her legs to make room for me.
“It’s overdue,” Agent Lagarde said. “The past two months have been full of debriefings, reports, and meetings. I haven’t had a break since I went undercover, and Jocelyn and I could use some quality time.” She glanced over at the volleyball net. “Speaking of whom, I think I’ll go tell her it’s bad form to cheat when you’re playing against a sixteen-year-old.”
Shen went to referee Jocelyn and Elisa’s match, and I put my hand on Val’s leg.
“We should take a vacation,” I said.
“I still haven’t completely recovered from our last vacation,” she replied with grimace.
“Me neither, I guess. I just want us to relax.”
“This is relaxing.” She gestured around.
Looking at our family and friends all gathered in one place—just to enjoy each other’s company and not to combine our powers to fight some terrible threat—I couldn’t help but agree with her.
“I wish all our retirement had been like this.” I sighed. “You think we’ll be able to enjoy some peace and quiet now, or are we cursed to keep fighting forever?”
“I think,” Val said, running her fingers lightly up my back, “that if anyone tries to disturb our peace and quiet, I’ll rip out their entrails and strangle them with it.”
I leaned back as she started massaging my shoulders. “Mm. That sounds fair.”
I relaxed, feeling the sun on my face, the wind in my hair, and her touch on my skin. Maybe our troubles were over, but if they weren’t, we’d deal with whatever came our way. With her by my side and those I cared about around me, I couldn’t help but feel that our future was bright.
Note from the Author
And that’s it! I can’t believe this series is finished. I owe a huge thank you to all you wonderful (and patient) readers who followed these books from start to finish. Your comments and support made everything worth it. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
So, what’s next?
First off, make sure you didn’t miss the prequel web serial Fight Crime! (A Love Story) over at my website. It follows Dave and Val back before they retired. There’s also a short story, The Best Man, about Dave and Val’s wedding that’s available as an ebook.
Will I write more books with these characters? The answer is probably yes, but not for a while. I’ve always planned on giving Elisa at least one of her own books, and I have spinoff ideas for a few other secondary characters. But I need a break from this world and want to stretch my creative muscles by trying other things, so I doubt I’ll start on those anytime soon.
I’m always writing something, though, so head over to kristenbrand.com and click the button to follow my blog by email to make sure you don’t miss any of my new releases. I hope you’ll keep in touch!
About the Author
If Kristen Brand could have any superpower, she’d want telekinesis so she wouldn’t have to move from her computer to pour a new cup of tea. She spends far too much time on the Internet, and when she’s not writing, she’s usually reading novels or comic books.
You can find her at kristenbrand.com or talk nerdy to her on Twitter, where she’s probably obsessing over something superhero-related.
The White Knight & Black Valentine Series (Book 5): Superhuman Disaster ( Page 16
