Page 112 of Final Exit

“Let’s get out of here,” Kade said, taking pity on Bailey, who looked like she was waffling between asking him about the phone call and jumping out of her skin every time one of the agents looked at her. She definitely didn’t like being around Feds, not that he could blame her. Her sole experience with them hadn’t given her any reason to trust them as a whole. He was still amazed that she trusted him.

“Thought you’d never ask.” She led the way through the front door.

Kade followed her to the car that Kendall had waiting for them, which turned out to be a black Mustang GT. He grinned as the agent guarding the car handed him the keys.

“Thanks.”

“Yes, sir.” The agent hurried across the lawn toward the house, to be part of the action. Thankfully, the real action was over.

Or so Kade hoped.

Chapter Twenty-six

Friday, 10:45 p.m.

“You’re frowning,” Bailey said, as they got into the Mustang and buckled up. “Gannon’s been arrested. Kendall seems like an up-and-up guy and is going to ensure none of this comes back on you. You apparently got a call from the President, which has to be a good thing or we wouldn’t have been allowed to leave. So, why exactly are you upset? Thatwaswho the call was from, right? The President, you know, of our country?”

He gave her a lopsided grin as he revved the engine and pulled away from the curb. “One and the same. Hopefully he doesn’t know that I didn’t vote for him.”

She laughed, and the sound was like a balm to his soul.

“What did he say? How did you get Homeland Security to believe you and set up a wire so fast? What happened? Spill.” She lightly punched his shoulder. “And don’t ever lie to me again and take off the way you did. You scared me.”

He kissed her hand and began answering her questions. He drove through the neighborhood and down a two-lane road out of the city. On autopilot, not really thinking about where he was driving, he explained how he’d left Jace’s party after realizing Gannon had to be behind everything. And that he knew the only way to stop this once and for all was to call someone he’d admired in the past, who was high enough up in the food chain to help. Thankfully, Kendall was just as trustworthy, and quick to action, as Kade had remembered. He’d pulled agents off a nearby task force, already geared up and ready to go, and arranged to have them back Kade up at Gannon’s house. The wire had been put on Kade several blocks from the house. Kade had also arranged for Kendall to call Gannon to rile him up and make sure he was awake. The timing was perfect, with Gannon stepping out of his office right after Kade had gotten inside.

“How did the President get involved?” Bailey asked.

“I assume Kendall went up the chain after I called, all the way to the top. As soon as Gannon was in custody, the agent who helped us at the house reported in, and the President was notified. He didn’t say much, other than to tell me he’d been briefed on the Enforcer situation and he personally guaranteed that EXIT Inc.’s legacy was destroyed, once and for all. He said he’s launching an internal investigation to ensure that the Enforcers and their families are compensated for the losses that they’ve suffered. And he’s going to ensure that anyone else who helped Cyprian, Faegan, or Gannon is held accountable.”

“Held accountable. It’s not like they’ll want this in the courts or in the press.”

Kade shrugged. “I didn’t ask for details. I don’t want any. I just want to know that this is all over. I’m going to have to put my faith in the President that he’ll keep his word. He certainly could have silenced us if he had any intention of playing the bad guy.”

A bright orange light lit up the sky over the ridge ahead of them, and suddenly he realized where he’d driven. The EXIT Inc. Boulder headquarters was just over the top of the next hill.

Bailey had noticed the glow, too. And both of them heard the approaching sirens not far behind them. She peered intently through the windshield as he topped the rise.

“No way,” she said.

He pulled the car off the road to allow the emergency vehicles to pass, and drove through a gap in the trees a good fifty yards off the road before stopping the car behind some bushes. They both sat in stunned silence as they watched the hungry flames consuming every floor of the EXIT Inc. office building below them. There wasn’t a single window that wasn’t either blown out from the heat or that didn’t have thick black smoke roiling out of it. In the parking lot, three fire trucks raced toward the building, stopping a good distance away beside some enormous fire hydrants that Cyprian had no doubt insisted upon to protect his precious headquarters. But no amount of water was going to save his legacy now. The best the firemen could hope for was to contain the fire so it didn’t spread to the woods. And judging by their lack of urgency as they surveyed the situation, they knew the building was beyond hope as well.

“I guess someone decided to move forward with my original plan to raze the building,” Kade said.

“The timing sure seems suspect, doesn’t it?”

“Sure does. If I had to guess, I think the President is keeping his word. He’s destroying EXIT Inc., once and for all.”

She ran her hands up and down her arms as she watched the flames. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was... afraid.

“It’s over, Bailey. You’re free to do whatever you want to do now. You don’t have to look over your shoulder ever again.”

“I know that.”

“Then what are you afraid of?”

“Who says that I’m afraid of anything?”

The outrage in her voice had him smiling. “Maybe ‘afraid’ is too strong. But something is worrying you.”

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