In what felt like the very next second, the entire building grew silent once again. Samer’s gun fell from his bloody hand as his bullet-riddled body fell to the hangar floor below. And that was the moment Raegan finally knew…
It’s over.
The bomb wasn’t going to detonate, and Samer was dead. The man never even had a chance to fire his gun.
Everything after that happened in a blur, but the one thing Raegan remembered more than the rest…
The way Rocky ran straight to her and pulled her into his arms.
EPILOGUE
Six months later…
“Nice shot.”
Raegan turned to see Rocky admiring her latest kill. Following his line of sight, she checked out the target at the end of her row and smiled.
“That’s twelve centers in a row. Time to pay up.”
“Fine.” The big teddy bear of a man grumbled. “If I must.”
Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her into his arms, kissing her thoroughly. “Better?” he whispered against her lips.
Staring back at him from behind her safety glasses, Raegan playfully brushed the tip of her nose across his. “That always makes everything better.”
She couldn’t believe the whirlwind her life had become these past six months. The city was in a frenzy for a while after Samer’s death, and the whole bomb scare situation had put everyone on high alert.
Though there were still some questions the FBI was working to find answers to, for the most part, it had all been stored away as an unfortunate—and terrifying—moment in Chicago’s history.
From what Homeland and Lisa, Agent Atwell, had both shared, almost all of Samer’s homegrown crew had been captured and were behind bars. As for the others still out there, the authorities were working diligently to find them all.
It was an ongoing fight that never seemed to cease. But Raegan was damn thankful for those who were out there, putting boots on the ground every single day, doing their very best to come out on top.
For Chicago.
For the United States.
And for the sake of humanity.
“You want to go another few rounds before we head out?”
“Sure.” Raegan nodded excitedly.
She was still in awe that Christian and his sweet wife, Megan, had built such an amazing outdoor range at their home. Not only that, but there were other training areas placed strategically around a large portion of the Delta leader’s land, which included both indoor and outdoor obstacles much like those she and her former team had trained with in the military.
Her pain from what happened that day in Iraq didn’t die with Samer as she’d hoped. But there was a sliver of peace that hadn’t been there before. One created from the knowledge that the man responsible for their deaths could no longer hurt anyone else, ever again.
As for the other aspects of Raegan’s life, things were definitely looking up there, too. Her actions that day at the airport had been deemed “heroic” by the media outlets and social media, as well as local law enforcement agencies.
Raegan didn’t see herself as a hero. Not even one in cartoon form. And while she hated it when people referred to her as one, the exposure did open up several new doors for her, professionally.
Between being nationally known now—something else that drove her batshit crazy—both Special Agent Foster and Agent Atwell had written her letters of recommendation to accompany Raegan’s application to the FBI.
She got word yesterday that she’d been accepted into Quantico’s upcoming class, which was why she and Rocky were here, brushing up on her firearms skills.
As for them…
Raegan turned to the love of her life who was reloading the mag to his pistol in the stall beside her. “Hey, can you hand me another box of ammo? This one’s empty.”