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I’d dropped my gaze, but my head snapped up at the abrupt change of subject.
“At the conclusion of the op.I’d requested leave.”
This was news to me, not that Puck reported directly to me.Axel “Pinch” Fulton was his boss at MI5, and as a member of the UK task force, he reported to Cayman.
“What were your plans?”I asked, knowing the more I could get Puck to talk to me, the better I could determine his mental state.
He looked down at the ground, then up at me.“I was going to do it on Christmas.”He stood and walked toward the door, rapping once.It opened, and right before he walked out, he turned back around.“I’d hoped we’d marry on New Year’s Eve.”The door closed, and I heard it lock from the opposite side.
Puck’s words hit me hard.It was exactly as Katherine and I had done.Was he aware?Was he intentionally toying with me by drawing correlations between my relationship with my late wife and his with Seshat?
I shifted my body, lay on my back, and looked up at the ceiling.After a while, I closed my eyes, recalling one of the happiest times of my life.
* * *
The entiretyof the flight from London to Dallas, then from there to the closest airport to the King family’s ranch, I worried I’d made a dreadful mistake.Once I landed in Austin, I rang Katherine.If my fear proved correct, I’d catch the next return flight.
“Merry Christmas Eve, Archer!”she answered, making no attempt to hide her delight in hearing from me.
“Katherine.”Her name was like a prayer on my lips.“I’ve a surprise for you.”
“You do?”
I took a deep breath, but before I could say anything else, Katherine spoke.“Last night, I made a Christmas wish.”
“Will you tell me what you wished for?”
“Tell me your surprise first.”
“According to the gentleman at the car rental agency, I’m approximately one hour from your family’s?—”
“Are you serious?”She squealed.“You’re here?”
“Good surprise or no?”
“The best—it’s what I wished for.”
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.“Did you, really?”
“I swear it, Archer.”
“Shall I wait until the day after tomorrow to pay a visit?”
She laughed.“And spend Christmas alone?Don’t be silly.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your plans.”
“Archer, Iliterallyprayed for this.”
While Katherine was thrilledby my surprise visit, her father, or Daddy as she called him, wasn’t.
Two things worked in my favor, though.First, Katherine was an only child, and just in the short amount of time I’d spent with her parents, it was clear their daughter’s happiness was paramount.Second, her mother appeared to like me from the moment we met.
“Q will come around,” Mrs.King said when the man left the house, using tending to his ranch business as an excuse.
“Q?”I asked.
She smiled.“It’s short for Quad, my husband’s nickname.”
