The following day, just before lunch, we were surprised with a pair of guests. Joe and Petra showed up, and they were driving my Audi RS and brought 4 pizzas! I know, I'm not a huge hugger, but they both got a hug, a gentle one for Joe. Hell, they got hugs from Willow, Lexie, and Bella too. It wasn't hard to notice that they'd been through a lot, as Joe was limping, and Petra had a small cut bisecting her left eyebrow.

"Damn," I said as I studied them. "I'm beginning to see why you dropped out of sight!"

They both nodded. "Yeah, they planted a little surprise on their computer network, which explains why it was never connected to the internet. Once it got into my laptop, it immediately sent out a signal that identified the location of the PC that had the information," Petra explained.

Joe just snorted. "Luckily, we were expecting that they would somehow find us, we just didn't expect it to be so fast."

"Why didn't you just shut off the laptop?" Bella asked.

Petra shrugged. "I couldn't. Jesse was in the middle of her operation, and I couldn't leave her out to dry. After that we had to make sure that the hospital was defended. They sent half their people here, and half to us."

"Do you know who they were?" I wondered.

"It doesn't matter now," Joe muttered. "We were able to get to our plane, and then to our emergency exit."

"What kind of emergency exit?" I wondered. I didn't think we'd get an answer, but Petra surprised me.

"We took the plane to California, and then got on a yacht. It's been a long ride. They had a pair of boats that chased us, but we had something they didn't expect."

"If you tell me that you have missiles that can take out a ship, then I'll be pretty damned impressed," I told her.

"Nope. We have a submarine." She shot me a grin that had me wondering if she was serious or not, but then I had no reason to doubt her. "Torpedoes work wonders against unsuspecting boats."

"Seriously?"

"Very much so," confirmed Joe.

"Damn, that is so cool!" Bella crowed. "But now you're safe?"

"We're as safe as we can be. We still have to clean a few things up, but there are a lot of people that are running and hiding right now. The complete list of members has been published, and there were a lot of videos that kept members in line that is now in the hands of authorities. You're going to see a lot of political resignations, and a lot of jail time."

"And the girls?" Willow asked. "They're going to be, okay?"

"They are," confirmed Petra. "We may have taken the money from the club and made a fund for them. They're going to get all their medical bills paid, and a good amount of money to start over. I'll make sure that any information on who got them into the club becomes public too. If there was anyone involved like Lexie's brother or Bella's stepmother, then we'll make sure they're prosecuted."

"What should happen to my stepmom?" Bella asked quietly. Personally, I was wondering the same thing. If I was going to hang up my guns, that would be one final job I wouldn't mind taking care of.

"That's up to you. What do you think should happen? We already took all her money, a horrible case of computer fraud that will no doubt make her scream, and then the house was foreclosed upon too. She's also listed in the club database as having provided you to them, so she should be arrested at some point for that, but there is a lot of evidence to get through, so it might take time. Is that enough for you?"

Bella sat quietly as she thought about that. "Yeah, that's enough. No money and some jail seem perfect. The only thing that worries me is that she might trap someone else like she did my father."

I nodded along with that, as it did seem like the kind of thing her mom would do. "Can you keep an eye on her, to make sure she doesn't do that?"

"Absolutely. We can keep her away from people or warn them off if she tries to get close," Petra promised. "I'll also see if I can get evidence that she did arrange for your father's death, and if so I'll make sure she goes to prison for that too."

"Then I'm okay with that."

"Good!" Joe said with a deep breath. "Then let's eat some pizza!"

"Can I talk to you for a bit?" Petra asked me when we had some pizza on paper plates. "I want to make sure you understand what I'd like to do going forward."

I nodded quickly, glad to have this chance to talk. We headed out onto the back patio, leaving the chatter behind us for the quiet. We were close enough to the shore that we could still hear the waves, even though there were some houses between us and the shore. One of those houses was the one we'd hopefully be buying soon. "Will this work?"

"Perfect, yeah." She sat down, and I had to remind myself that this girl was almost 10 years younger than me. Every time I talked to her, she seemed so much older and in control, but not today. "You've worked for me for 5 years, and in that time, you've had more successful missions than I can count. But going forward, I don't want you to do that anymore."

Part of me was relieved, as I was hoping for that very thing, though at the same time I was a little offended. Had I not done things right? "I guess I'm being fired, huh?" I made sure to smile, I didn't want to make her feel bad about this. "I'm kidding, seriously, I was looking to step back from the job anyway."

She snickered a little, before taking a quick bite of the pizza. "Let me tell you a little story. I told you that I've been doing this for a long time, but a big part of me wishes I never started. I didn't have a normal childhood, my parents were always all over the world, and so I was raised by a series of nannies other than the occasional visit from my parents when they had time. With all my alone time, I got bored and started to play around. I'd always been good with computers, and I learned fast. Before I knew it, I was learning how to hack, and breaking into websites or financial accounts. I think I stole my first billion dollars from a drug cartel before I was 10."

My jaw was slack as she told me all this, but with all her resources, it made a certain amount of sense. "That's incredible!"

"It seemed that way, yeah. Until things got out of hand with my parents. They always told me they were helping out with humanitarian efforts, and I never thought to question that. But when I was 12, I was trying to keep the government from interfering with me, and I set up one of their special forces groups. Well, it turns out that my parents were a part of that group, and not really going out and about the world building hospitals and such. Anyway, Joe and I rescued them, and then they came to work for me, though I didn't tell them that for a little bit of time. I guess my point is that for the first 12 years of my life, my parents were like you. An agent out there doing good, but at the cost of their relationship with me. We've repaired that a lot since then, but we missed so much too. I want to save you from that. I want you to raise your kid, and not put your life on the line. This isn't me firing you. I don't like ordering you to do what you have been doing anyway. But sometimes that is the only solution. You should be with your family. I might still call on you for consulting, or maybe for training, but never for going back to your old job. Is that okay?"

"That's very good actually. I was hoping to retire from that job. I really want to work things out with Willow and Lexie, and I want to adopt Bella. We're also looking to buy that blue house there on the water." I pointed to the house that was between us and the beach.

She smiled wide. "I like that. And little ones?"

I nodded. "Yeah. We'll make a whole bunch of little ones." I don't think we discussed how many, but if they each wanted a pair, then that would be 4, plus Bella! "Oh, but I might need help adopting Bella, if you can help with that."

"I'll take care of it. I'll take care of the house too, not that you can't afford it, but it will be part of your severance package."

Wait, what? "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely! You have sacrificed so much doing what was necessary. I want you to enjoy your life." She handed over a card with a website and logon instructions to an offshore bank. "That is yours too."

"What is this?"

She just shrugged. "You never got a paycheck from me, right? So that account is where it's all been deposited over the years. That contains 5 years of pay, and more than enough for you to get your family everything you need. The 2 Audi's are yours too, though the registration is still with the company."

I just sat there stunned. A house and two nice cars? It didn't even matter how much was in the account, that was more than enough to start a life. Willow and Lexie already had several interviews scheduled, so if they had an income, and I found something to do, we would be in great shape. "I don't think I can thank you enough. Seriously Petra, this is amazing."

"It isn't amazing. Honestly, I probably should pay you even more. The therapist offer is still on the table, for you or any of the girls. Oh!" She handed over a second card. "That is Bella's. The money was from her stepmother's accounts, so it was the money that came from her father's insurance plus the money that was already in their account. I told you we emptied the stepmom's account, so now Bella can use it for college or something. I have one for Willow and Lexie too. Zac got money for them, and I made sure to grab that too, and I took the liberty of putting in the money from the accounts they had in Georgia. Do you want to have that, or give it to them?"

"No, give that to them. They more than deserve it." It seemed like every time I took a breath there was another surprise.

"I will then. I have a moving company move all their stuff from their apartment in Atlanta too. It might be a bit, but it will all get there. Zac's body seems to have just disappeared. I didn't want anyone bugging Lexie and Willow about that."

I just looked at her in shock. "Damn, thank you so much, that will make things easier. I have a question though. Obviously, the events at the club were in the news right away, but we still haven't seen anything about the Albany trip. Is that your doing?"

"Not at all. The parents of those girls are keeping it hushed up until an investigation can be done, they were thrilled to get their daughters back, and now they want to find the people responsible. I might have forwarded them some information from the club database to help with that."

"Nothing I should worry about then?"

"Not at all. I'll keep you protected," she assured me. "So, what are you going to do now?"

I smiled happily. "I'm not sure. I have some options, and they're all entirely normal. I'll try them all I guess."

"You're going to be okay. I'll be keeping an eye on you too. I will never forget my friends, and you still have Joe's number." Petra reached out as though to pat my shoulder but left it hanging for a handshake instead. "My real name is Susan, and I'd like to be friends with all of you, though we may not see you as much as we'd like."

"It's nice to meet you, Susan."