Epilogue

K at frowned at Badger. "Are you telling me that Baron was working undercover the whole time?"

He nodded.

"That sneaky little bastard."

"I assumed you knew that. When you mentioned his name, I knew it was in some document in that file of yours," he noted, "and I had to make a few phone calls to figure out what was going on. It's one of the reasons I kept tabs on Baron a little more closely."

"And he solved his undercover case too, as well as finding Kingston," she said. "That's amazing."

"Isn't it? I know I'm really happy with it."

"So you should be," she stated. "This is huge."

"And now what?" he asked.

"I have only one more file on the table. Well, one more right now, but I'm not sure it'll be the end though."

"Maybe not," Badger agreed, "but we'll take it one at a time. Tell me about this one."

"Believe it or not, it's back to Alaska again."

He stared at her and shook his head. "How much will the flight cost?"

"I had to get a little cagey to cut that down, so I have a client already in Alaska, who would be a good fit."

He stared at her, his eyebrow shooting up. "My God, are you so well-known now that we have people everywhere?"

"Maybe," she quipped, with a smile. "I haven't talked to him about it and don't know if it's something he's interested in, but he was a K9 trainer in the military for quite a few years. He did lose several of his best friends in the process and ended up injured in an accident not long afterward. So maybe, just maybe…"

"And what's his name?"

"Walton."

Badger's eyebrow shot up again. "You do understand that I know him, right?"

"Of course," she replied. "You know everybody. Maybe not everybody, but you do know a lot of people. And it makes sense that you would know this one.… Plus we still have Timber to deal with."

Badger's frown was immediate.

She nodded. "I know," she said, "but he's heading into his own place. We need to give him as much help as we can."

"I don't have a problem with that, but…" His voice trailed off, as he stared into the distance, but he finally nodded. "I know that Timber's time is coming, but I also know that a big mystery is in the back of his world too. Maybe we need to help him with that."

"As soon as he gets set up and settled."

"I'm not sure he's quite ready for that, so let's figure it out as we go."

She added, "I want to help him too."

"You do know that you can't help everyone, right?"

"I know that," she said, rolling her eyes as she got up. Then she neared Badger and looped her arms around him, giving him a big hug. "But I still want to try to help everyone who crosses my path." She kissed him on the cheek and turned to walk away.

He watched the woman of his life, the woman of his heart, and realized again just how damn special she was. She stopped at the doorway, smiled back at him, and added, "Besides, I have a really big heart and room for a lot more,… lots and lots more."