Chapter Forty Three

Chapter Forty Three
Bexley

I heard footsteps echoing down a long corridor, the soft rattle of doors, and caught the fragmented pieces of a conversation as I opened my eyes.

“She’ll make a full recovery,” I heard a woman say.

Blinking my eyes brought the room into focus, and I saw all my loved ones standing around the bed.

Where the hell am I?

“Bexley!” Asher spoke, darting forth to take my hand. “You’re going to be okay. You’re in the hospital.”

My throat was sore and my muscles ached. Images from that night came back to me in flashbacks. The last thing I remembered was my dad telling me that Susan was among the dead. The relief flooded through me and I felt so overwhelmed, I grimaced with the urge to cry. My heart monitor started beeping like crazy, and the nurse elbowed her way through to my bedside.

“It’s all right, Bexley. Everything is going to be fine. You’re safe now,” she spoke soothingly, placing her palm against my forehead. “I did say she could only have two visitors at a time,” she admonished them all.

As far as I could make out, everyone was here. Dad, my uncles, Emilio, and the Wolfe Brothers.

“Where’s Caz?” My voice sounded squeaky and strained.

“Right here,” Caroline answered.

My husbands moved aside to allow her through. Her face was badly bruised and she had butterfly stitches across her right eyebrow.

“Are you all right?” I asked, my eyes swelling with pity.

Caz managed a painful smile. “Never mind me. What about you?” She diverted the question at me.

“Apart from feeling as if I’ve been run over by a steamroller, I’ll live,” I replied jokingly.

“You’re all over the news!” Caroline rushed her words excitedly. “Everyone is calling you a hero.”

My family beamed down at me, confirming what she said was true.

“You did it, Bexley. You brought down the Chameleon and put a stop to her schemes,” Cruz mentioned.

“The agency arrested Malcolm last night,” Asher told me. “And thanks to him, we have a list of names that they are working through as we speak.”

“It’s over,” Braxton uttered. “We can all go home.”

Dominic shrugged. “Bexley can’t,” he announced, confusing me. “There’s something she has to do first.”

They all grinned, and that only raised my paranoia.

“Oh yeah,” Caz murmured knowingly. “You lucky cow; you’re going to Buckingham Palace to meet with the Queen.” She sounded envious of that.

The doctor kept me in for another night under close observation. I heard the nurses muttering about news crews camping outside, waiting to snap pictures of me leaving. The agency moved them along, then escorted me out through another exit. My husbands arrived to take me to London with an SAS escort. I wore a brand-new navy suit that Caz had picked out for me, my mother’s necklace, and a pair of new shoes. Dad refused to let them take the pendant from me, telling them to wait until I was well enough to hand it over. And now that the time had come, I was ready. It was time to lay my mother’s ghost to rest.

We arrived at the palace, and were escorted to the ballroom. The Queen’s bodyguard, the Yeomen of the guard was there. Two Gurkha officers escorted Her Majesty soon after. It was all so exciting. I wasn’t sure what to expect. My husbands failed to mention the real reason why we were there, keeping it a secret. The military band began to play our national anthem as the ceremonial investiture took place. Queen Elizabeth thanked us for our service, then presented us with the St. George’s Cross. I didn't know what to say. I was speechless. My father wept proud tears of joy as she presented one to me. I bobbed in a curtsy, then reached out to accept our monarch’s handshake. She looked me in the eyes as she thanked me, and it was the proudest moment of my life. I could feel my mother’s presence alongside me, sharing my emotions. After all, she helped us every step of the way. This was just as much her victory as it was ours.

A little while later, after we enjoyed lunch at the palace, we stopped at the MI6 headquarters where we received a hero’s applause. Dad showed me where Mum used to work, and it brought me to tears as I saw they had dedicated the cryptography department to her. Her name was etched into a golden plaque, right alongside the one dedicated to Alan Turing, the mathematician who cracked the Enigma code.

“There’s a job here if you want it,” Dad announced, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s only right that you follow in your mother’s footsteps.”

“I think I already did, didn’t I?” I muttered with amusement, hinting at forming a harem.

Dad rolled his eyes and his lips quirked into a smile. “If you want to settle down, that’s okay too. I just want you to know, you have options.”

“I know,” I replied gratefully. “Thanks Dad. I'll give it some thought.”

Dad hugged me, and from the corner of my eye, I saw my husbands talking to the agents they knew. They were telling them about Caz, and how thrilled they were to have a sister. I realised things would be different from now on. The world had changed; the rumours of government corruption proven to be true. Politicians were up in arms over what had happened. The political point-scoring had begun. Character assassinations were taking place across every news channel worldwide. It would take a lot to restore the people's faith in democracy. People wanted to make sure their voices were being heard, and we had given that back to them. It was up to the world to decide what happened next.

“You’ll be needing this,” I mentioned, unclasping the necklace from around my neck. “I want it back when you’ve removed the files.” I placed it into the palm of his hand.

“Of course,” my father replied, curling his fingers around it.

“What happens next?” I asked. “When are you going to take the paternity test to find out which one of you is Caz’s father?”

Dad sucked in a long breath, then released it slowly. “We’ve all provided a blood sample,” he mentioned. “The results are in, but we thought it was best to wait until we’re all together.”

I nodded. “How has Caroline been handling things?”

“The boys have been great,” he answered fondly. “Especially Emilio. Although, I think he will take it the hardest if they turn out to be siblings.”

My stomach dropped a little. “Oh goodness me,” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. “I hope for his sake, they’re not.”

“And hers,” Dad mentioned. “She seems quite taken with him.”

“We ought to get it over with . . . before they end up getting hurt,” I suggested, much to Dad’s agreement.

Dad thought it would be best if we all met up that night at the beach house. Agents had already begun the clean-up process, putting everything back to how it should be. Emilio and Caz were already there, lapping up the sun. My new shoes were pinching at my heels, so I took them off and padded across the tiled floor in my stockinged feet. Asher flashed his eyes to me as he was talking. Dominic, Braxton, and Cruz wore the hint of a smile as they listened to what he was saying.

“As I was telling you . . . it’s great to be back, but we have an announcement to make.” He paused, sharing a knowing look with his brothers. The agents who weren’t part of their conversation all stopped to listen to the announcement. “We’re forming a sub-branch of our own; it's called the Wolfe division,” he revealed.

“Are you taking applicants?” one guy inquired.

“There won’t be an application process,” Cruz answered. “Only the best will be handpicked to join our team.”

I hung back without saying a word. This was their dream. It was something they always talked about during our mission. I had spent my childhood wanting to be a part of their group, despising them for excluding me. Now I wasn’t so sure if being part of their team was something that I wanted. Dad had given me options. I could stay here and work for MI6 like my mother always wanted, or I could choose to do neither. This was my decision. If I choose to stay at home and raise a family, it would be my call to make. So, what did I want? I couldn’t answer that. This wasn’t a choice I could make on a whim, I had to give it some thought.

“Bexley . . . where are you going?” Asher asked, noticing that I had turned to leave.

I paused before I reached the lift doors and glanced over my shoulder.

“Home,” I replied. “I’ll see you at dinner.”

And I left it at that.

I found Ulrich outside eating fish and chips on a park bench. He had more pigeons flocking around him than the crazy bird lady in Trafalgar square.

“Can I catch a ride with you?” I asked, still carrying my shoes.

He crumpled the vinegar-stained chip wrapper into a ball and tossed it into a nearby rubbish bin.

“Don’t you want to wait for the guys?” he asked, sounding wary as to why I wanted to leave so suddenly.

There was no particular reason other than to clear my head. I wasn’t having second thoughts or anything. I just needed to take a step back and figure out what was best for me. Not for selfish reasons. We just didn’t have to live in each other’s pockets. No matter what I chose to do, I would still be part of the Wolfe pack, and that was enough for me.

“Nah,” I replied, scrunching my nose. “They’ll catch up with us later.”

“How does it feel to be a heroine?” Ulrich asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied, thinking about it.

The sun-baked pavement was warm and hard against my feet, making me feel grounded. The air quality in London was bad, but the scent of fish and chips masked the engine fumes. The world had changed, but the scenery remained the same. The sweltering heat forced me to remove my jacket and drape it over my arm. The only time a breeze occurred was when a car or a bus drove by.

“I don’t really feel any different,” I decided.

Ulrich broadened his smile and jerked his head for me to follow.

“I don’t know about you but I could sure use a drink,” he mentioned as we walked. "Jaxx wants to open the DNA results tonight. I'm so nervous," he admitted, and it must have been hard for a man like him to say that out loud. "I could have a daughter. There's every chance she could be mine. This might be the last chance I get to be a father."

He was rooting for it to be him. My heart squeezed that little bit tighter, wishing for a good result. Not for jealous reasons. Those feelings had changed. I hoped for both Caz's and Emilio's sake, that it wasn't Uncle Teddy. I guess we would all find out the truth by tonight.

“There’s a bottle of red with our name on it,” I remembered the wine that Father Fournier gave to me in France.

Ulrich huffed a smirk. "Let's go home."