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“You more than earned the right to have new ones. I think that’s perfect. Time for a fresh start, right?”
“Right. Remember when you asked me if I remembered anything? Well, I do.”
Harper sat up, placing his feet on the floor.
“Tell me. That’s great. What did you remember?”
“A dog. A big black dog. His name was Venom.”
Three Months Later
After all themeetings, the plannings with the task force President Collins had set up, which included several senators, Admiral Patterson, and other representatives from the CIA, FBI, and State Department, they were ready to launch Operation Silver Team.
Though Harper was part of the task force, along with his buddy Hamish McDougall, they were not going to be the public face of the Team, not while they were active. In fact, all the members of Silver Team, now increased to twenty-two, were to be kept secret from the general public for the safety of the team as well as the project.
Several priority hotspots and missions had been scheduled on a tentative basis. The Team still had to get the Defense Department’s approval, plus final Senate Confirmation. Admiral Patterson would be the force’s first director, which was a minimum four-year term, renewable at the discretion of the Senate or the President of the United States. It was thought that, in this way, any attempts to make the appointment and running of this team a political “jewel in the crown” would fail if either body wished to approve, but it took both to agree to shut the department down.
However, Patterson had told Harper that nothing in Washington, D.C. was forever, and try as they might, everything was always politics, dealmaking. They were able to give security clearances to the Team members, as well as allow the operators to add to their military or other pensions, should they come from those departments.
They were greenlit, and members of the Team were given a well-deserved victory lap, being able to take turns staying in the White House one night of their choosing. Harper was pleased with all the accomplishments, save one.
Jakob Lipori was found guilty of terrorism, and a jurisdictional dispute arose shortly after his capture. President Collins refused to bow to U.N. pressure. The roundup and conviction of the group in Florence left behind was left to the Italians, and they made great headway with it. It was a story that ran for weeks in all the papers and on television.
But Lipori had been useful in giving names, even implicating his parents who had formed an insurrectionist club called “Democracy Live,” a misnomer, which had spread throughout Europe. More than one European official was taking up the cause of rooting out terrorist roots. If it wasn’t taken to extreme, Harper and Patterson both thought perhaps some permanent good could come of it.
But the U.S. claims to Lipori remained steadfast, and the creation of Silver Team was the envy of other nations who also wanted to tackle this issue and would be cooperating with the Team, even inviting them to help with issues in their own countries.
But the one part of this whole operation that hadn’t been completed was his relationship with Lydia. Her memories were not coming back. He met with her nearly once a week, at least, but never without the security detail around her constantly. Dinners were not private. Conversations were recorded and also not private. She hadn’t said so, but Harper thought they needed to change all that.
“To your place? You mean in California?” Patterson asked him.
“Yes, without the detail. I can get one of my guys to hang around, but don’t you think you’ve put her through enough? She’s been cleared. The investigation is complete, or that’s what I was told. She’s getting frustrated with the whole process and feels like a prisoner in her own country.”
Patterson got permission. Harper asked her one evening, in front of the agent, and Lydia was delighted.
“My therapist thought that if I went back to the place where I lived, it might help with the healing. No promises, Harper. He said there were no certain fixes, but it was worth a try, if I wanted to.”
“And do you want to?” he’d asked her.
Her answer charmed him, just like everything else she did. She might not have realized it, but he would do anything she asked. Absolutely anything. He was glad she didn’t demand he whisk her away and they live off the grid. He’d have done that.
“I do. I want to know about the Lydia I used to be.”
“Then it’s settled. Let’s plan it, and let things go where they may,” he’d whispered, because his voice was cracking like a schoolboy’s.
They had taken walks together and held hands, and he’d hugged her, placed his arm around her shoulder to whisper things, and he felt her responding to him, but that was as far as it went. Nothing was promised about the home visit, but that would depend on Lydia. Harper would never push, although everything inside was screaming for a deeper, more intimate relationship. He felt he’d done everything he could to show his loyalty and his love for her without telling her so. He wanted to be able to hurdle the walls and get to show more how he felt for her. He wanted to share the experience with her, and if that miracle came where she shared back, well, life would turn out to be close to perfect.
Today was theday of her arrival. Patterson had hired a driver to pick her up at the airport and bring her and her things to his place in Santa Rosa. When the driver left, they would be alone. Alone for the first time since she’d been rescued.
Venom was especially needy this day. Everywhere Harper went, the dog was right there next to him, looking closely at what he was working on, such that he kept getting in the way. Even using the bathroom, Harper had a loyal friend, as if he might need protection. Venom watched in front of the refrigerator as he put away the gourmet foods he’d bought for this special visit.
Harper talked to him about unloading the dishwasher, and Venom followed him from the machine to the cabinets or drawers as he was putting things away. He walked along Harper when he went outside to water the garden and pick big bold Gloriosa Daisies for the table, just like she’d always done for him when she lived there.
Sally offered to take Venom, but Harper refused. He wouldn’t want to rob the dog’s reunion with her. He couldn’t wait to see his reaction.
He got a notice and picture on his phone of the black town car coming up the driveway. He scanned his living room and then outside to the garden, through freshly cleaned windows. Everything looked perfect and ready.
The gravel driveway noisily announced them. He stood at his front door, Venom sitting at his side.
