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Prologue
Judy
Happy, happyholidays!
What a year it has been.The Commodore and I have had the pleasure of visiting nine countries and logging more than ten thousand miles in the RV, and spent wonderful hours with our children and granddaughter. We couldn't ask formore.
We hit the road last February with a four-month-long tour of Oceania and Asia. We visited the Australian Outback, which reminded Bill of his west Texas roots, save for the kangaroos and dingoes. The Aboriginal culture is fascinating, and we loved exploring Uluru, or AyersRock.
Since we couldn't agree on all things, we each indulged our own interests when we reached the coast: Bill got in plenty of surfing at Bondi Beach and I swam with platypuses. We traveled by catamaran out on the Great Barrier Reef and took in some snorkeling. I haven't yet mastered the art of underwater photography but I did get a few blurry snaps of the incredible oceanlife.
From there, we headed to Tasmania. Bill and I had plenty of good laughs during this leg of our journey as Wesley's childhood nickname was always the Tasmanian Devil. All jokes aside, this southern island state of Australia is tranquil and stunning. Nearly one-third of the island is designated as national park land, and Bill and I loved hiking the Cradle Mountain reserve. We even visited a real Tasmanian Devil. Surprisingly, he had a much tamer temperament than Wesley as atoddler.
Our journey then took us to New Zealand, Fiji, Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. We spent the late summer and fall on an expedition that originated back home in San Diego and ended in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. We followed the Pacific Coast Highway north to the Olympic National Forest, and then started our Canadian trek in Vancouver. We headed east from there, and loved every mile of it. While we're no strangers to Canada, we timed this tour to maximize the changing seasons. Bill says I took too many photos on this voyage, but I don't think such a thingexists.
But enough about us and ourtravels!
We're thrilled to report the continued success of Will's private security venture with his BUD/S friend Jordan. We always knew they'd make an unstoppable team, and we couldn't be more proud of the important work they're doing. Our brilliant daughter-in-law Shannon recently closed the year's largest residential property sale in Boston, and that's on top of all her other record sales. Will is lucky to be married to such a smartlady!
Wesley continues to serve as a cultural liaison to several Eastern European nations. His work with the State Department is very fast-paced and demanding, and crucial to preserving centuries of art, history, and tradition. The stakes are high and there's a lot on the line, though Wesley is uniquely suited for this role with his fluency in multiple languages and diplomatic skill. He doesn't get home nearly as much as we'd like, but he's finally putting that anthropology degree to gooduse!
Lauren's school kicked off its fourth year this past September, and she now has students in grades kindergarten through three. Bill and I have visited each year since the doors opened, and every time we're there, we're amazed that our little Lolo dreamed it all up and brought it to life. She's in her element and she's doing remarkable things with those children. Our son-in-law Matthew was nominated for a prestigious historical preservation prize for his renovation of a two-hundred-year-old home in Boston. It's quite the honor! If Bill and I had fifteen million dollars lying around, we'd jump at the chance to live in a Matthew Walsh signaturehome!
Now we're headed to New England for the holiday season. If you know Bill, you know he lovingly refers to it as pie season! We're looking forward to celebrating our precious granddaughter's first birthday and spoiling her rotten. She'll be a big sister soon, and we can't wait to welcome the newest Halsted baby into the family in January. We plan on spoiling that one,too!
Bill and I will reprise our roles as grandparent-nursemaids come Baby Halsted's arrival, and we'll remain in New England until March. At that point, we'll head out for another fabulous journey. Bill is angling for Central America and sunshine, though I love the Sierra Nevadas and springtime snow. Maybe we'll catch a bit ofboth!
Wishing you a holiday season filled with love andblessings,
Judy and theCommodore
Chapter One
Will
"You've got this under control?"Jordan asked. "You'resure?"
I rolled my eyes at the videoconference camera. My business partner had asked some version of this question five different ways in the past thirty minutes. He was tucked into his office at our Maryland training facility rather than his usual base of operations in Montauk. A team of new field agents was engaged in a final round of pre-dawn extraction and exfiltration exercises before breaking for the holidays, and he was on site to observe them inaction.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" I asked. "Aside from standard protection details, we don't have any active ops next week. Are you expecting the world to fall apart over Christmas? Is there terrorist sect chatter I don't know about? A coup in the works? You're always keeping that shit fromme."
"No," he said with a shrug. "But I don't want to take off for the holiday and leave you high and dry, especially with the baby coming ashore any daynow."
"You make childbirth sound like guerillawarfare."
"Isn't it?" he asked with alaugh.
I considered this, and the all-too-vivid memories of Shannon promising to castrate me the last time she was in labor. She was specific about it, too. She was going to cut off my balls and hang them from a tree in thebackyard.
Oh, but I loved that crazy woman. It was hard to believe that Froggie was thirteen months old and eagerly awaiting the arrival of her new brother or sister. I was convinced Shannon was carrying a girl. She was convinced I was wrong. Nothing newthere.
"Somewhat," I conceded. "But that's not thepoint."
"Maybe we should put Shaw in charge again. He'd didn't fuck anything up last month." Jordan ran his knuckles over his chin. "We'll both take the holidays off. You'll have a baby, I'll have a vacation, and Shaw will do thework."
Annoyed, I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms over my chest. We'd established this plan months ago. Jordan's deputy, Jeremy Shaw, had managed the office and our operatives over the Thanksgiving holiday. I was on call for Christmas and Jordan was taking New Year's. It was written down, scheduled up, done. I was a fan of calling an audible when the situation warranted it, but this wasn't one of thosesituations.
"Dude." I glared at him through the screen. "I have shit to do. I'm not going to dick around with you allday."
