Epilogue

EPILOGUE

TALLOWWOOD

It had been a normal day at work. Quiet, mostly, apart from paperwork and fielding questions from the public. Mundane and boring were two things August would never take for granted.

It'd been four weeks since ASIO had swept in and confiscated any and all information pertaining to the three missing men in the national park, and Michael and Joshua Hill.

Or Timothy "Harry" Harrigan, as Michael's real name turned out to be.

August and Jake hadn't tried to follow up or even google anything else. They'd been warned, and even though curiosity gnawed at Jake, August urged him to let it go.

"It's clearly related to the Parrish case," August had said. That high-profile military case involving espionage and treason, and they knew Harry had been special forces. " We can't do anything that might jeopardise his safety," August had said.

And that was enough for Jake to drop it.

But then, not long after that, there were reports on the evening news of gang wars in Bosnia and Serbia, where twenty-odd gang members had been found dead, headquarters destroyed. It was a turf-war thing, the news had said.

Jake had quirked a silent eyebrow at August, and August did have to wonder... But August had shaken his head. "Nah. It can't be. Just a coincidence."

But then, Deans had come into the station with her phone screen turned to show them a photo of two very familiar faces at a press conference in Serbia.

Michael and Joshua Hill.

It was causing a huge stir, according to the article. One of the men was a ghost, it claimed. The infamous sniper, Asher Garin: unconfirmed kill count in the hundreds, longest distance strike range three kilometres.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

And then silence.

No media coverage, no bulletins, no trace online, no anything.

August had wondered what the Australian government had done to shut that down so completely.

And in the three weeks that followed? Silence and normalcy. And boring and mundane.

"Ah, boss?" Deans yelled from her desk, her voice rising in pitch. "Detective?"

August looked around the corner, through the glass panel in the door, to see two men had pulled up out front of the station and were walking in.

Smiling .

Familiar.

"Shit," August hissed, hurrying to get up. He was at the front counter by the time the door opened.

Michael and Joshua Hill walked in, smiling when they saw August. "Hello," August said, feeling stupid the second the word left his lips. Joshua had faded bruising around his left eye, and Michael had his arm in a padded sling, faded bruising and healing cuts all over his face and hands.

What the hell had happened to them?

"You're back," August added.

"We are," Joshua said, grinning. "And we'd love to chat, but I was hoping... My Mala; is she okay?"

August almost laughed. "She's fine. Queen of the house, actually." He glanced at Deans, realising she had no clue what they were talking about. He and Jake had never told anyone they were minding Joshua's cat or that Michael and Joshua had dropped her off in the middle of the night after they'd not-so-allegedly disposed of those three men. "Jake's at home. We can go there right now."

Joshua was excited. "Yes, please."

August grabbed his coat and mumbled to Deans to call Jake as he followed Michael and Joshua out.

Jake met them at the door, smiling warily. His eyes asking August what the fuck as the three of them stepped inside. "They're here for Mala," August said.

A little bell tinkled as Mala trotted in and Joshua scooped her up, pressing his face into her fur, cooing, a little teary-eyed. "Thank you for keeping her safe," he said.

Michael rubbed Joshua's back, watching him fondly.

"She's been a joy," Jake said. "Scarlet wasn't sure at first but even she warmed to her." Then he looked at Michael, obviously taking in the cuts and the brace. "Oh, Michael, is your arm okay?"

The big man smiled. "Shoulder, actually. And yeah, it's fine. But, uh, about the name. It's not Michael." He held out his hand for August to shake. "The name's Tim Harrigan, but people call me Harry."

Holy shit.

"And I'm Asher Garin," Joshua said... Asher said. He shook Jake's hand, then August's. "I want to show you something." He handed Mala over to Harry, pulled out his wallet, produced a NSW driver's licence, and almost bouncing, he handed it to Jake. "Look," he said excitedly. "It has my real name."

Jake took it, reading it over, then handed it to August. It was just a driver's licence. August didn't quite understand his excitement. "Did you not have one before? Because you used to drive..."

Asher pulled a face. "Well . . ."

Harry laughed. "You don't get it," he said. "That's his actual name. Asher Garin."

Asher looked up at him, his eyes warm. "My real name. The only name I've ever known."

Harry kissed the side of his head. "It's kind of a big deal," Harry said, giving August a pointed look.

"Oh," August said quickly. "Then that's wonderful." He handed the plastic card back to Asher.

Asher took it, putting it pride of place in his wallet. Then he took out his Medicare card and beamed at them. "I'm an Australian citizen. I have a birth certificate and papers. And this!" He looked at the green-coloured card with huge, happy eyes. He showed it to them proudly. "It has my name on it. And my birthday is April ninth. My real birthday. "

Okay, so August very quickly deduced that having his name, his real name, on legal documents was a very big deal. And his birthday. Did he not have one before now? "I'm happy for you, Asher."

Asher's smile was worth it. And the way Harry looked at Asher so proudly made August's heart squeeze.

Yes, he knew who they were, what they were capable of. Yet he still liked them. "I'm glad you're both back, safe and well. And you're staying?"

Asher nodded quickly. "Yes. We just want to go home and live in peace and quiet."

Jake grinned. "August's two favourite words."

"We, uh," Harry cleared his throat. "We might get some media attention, now that our names are out there. The media might come to town, just so you know. There's a legal case ongoing that we can't really talk about. But I promise we won't cause any trouble. We just want..." He made a face.

"Peace and quiet?" August guessed for him. "Actually, my two favourite words are boring and mundane, but peace and quiet works."

"I'll take boring and mundane too," Harry said. "For the rest of my life."

Jake collected Mala's things in a bag and handed it to Asher. "There's some food in there too until you get settled."

"Thank you," Asher said quietly. "I cannot thank you enough for looking after her."

"Oh," August said, remembering. Shit, shit. He pulled out his keys and unthreaded one in particular. "You'll need this. I padlocked the gate after ASIO came and cleared out your gun collection. "

Both Harry and Asher went stock still and stared at him.

August regretted saying anything but figured honesty was always best. They were about to find out anyway. Best they had some warning. "Sorry," he added. "They didn't touch anything in your house, from what we could tell. Just the guns. And for full disclosure, I may have been the one to put the call in because automatic weapons are illegal and?—"

Harry cleared his throat. "You found the door to the tank?"

"Uhhhh." August stared at him, wondering if there was any point in trying to backpedal out of this.

Until Asher snorted and Jake laughed. "Sorry, babe. Your face."

August tried not to blush.

"We know." Harry smirked. "We know what ASIO took. We spent a few days in Canberra when we got back. Getting everything squared away with our names and all the paperwork and bullshit. We know everything. I appreciate your honesty though." He clapped August on the shoulder. "Maybe one day you could come out for lunch. BBQ and a few beers. We can watch the footy and trade stories."

"Uh, sure," August said. Was it odd that he would actually like that?

Jake brightened. "Ooh, I mean it's too late for the football season but we're looking for some players for this year's cricket team. If you're staying in town," he said. "Harry, I bet you'd absolutely kill it with a cricket bat."

August tried not to look horrified. Not as much as Harry tried though .

Jake seemed to realise how his choice of words sounded.

Asher laughed. "He'd love to play!"

Harry narrowed his eyes at Asher, then smiled at Jake. "My shoulder's no good. But I'm sure Asher would love to sign up."

Asher's smile died, and Harry's got wider.

August didn't want to put a cricket bat in either of their hands, especially Harry's. Jesus Christ.

"Well, we better get this little baby home," Asher said, patting Mala who was now tucked into the crook of Harry's padded sling and chest, purring loudly. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome," Jake said.

"And I'm glad you're both back," August said, walking them to the door. "When you get settled in, pick a weekend for that BBQ. I'll bring the beer."

Harry gave him a smile. "Sounds good."

August and Jake watched as Harry and Asher drove away, and August sighed as he closed the door. "Cricket, babe? Seriously? You want to give that man a weapon and send him out to a cricket pitch where some poor guy has to bowl at him?"

Jake sighed. "It's not a weapon. It's a..." He frowned, because it absolutely was a weapon in Harry's hands. "Look, ex-mercenaries and snipers need love too. Maybe some recreational community sport will be good for them."

August sighed.

For the love of god.

"Could you imagine how good our rugby team would be if we had Harry?" Jake asked. "Next year, his shoulder'll be better. We'd be unstoppable. "

August sighed, kissing Jake's lips softly. "No." He was probably going to regret mentioning this... "Harry would be better suited with your outreach program in the summer." Jake still ran the program for Indigenous kids, getting them involved in hiking, climbing, rafting. "Harry would be great with those kids."

Jake's whole face lit up. "Holy shit, yes. I'll ask him. I won't tell him it was your idea."

August snorted. "Thanks."

Then Jake smiled. "I'm gonna miss little Mala. Maybe we should get a kitten."

"Also a no."

"I do outrank you, technically," Jake said, sniffing. August shot him a look, making Jake laugh. "Deans called, gave me the heads up that you were on your way with them."

"Thought you might appreciate it."

Jake tilted his head, thinking. "You know, now that I think about it, my kookaburras didn't warn me before they got here."

They had every time before, that was true.

August went to the back door, not sure what he was expecting to see, but there were no kookaburras. "Do you think they're okay?"

Jake chuckled. "Yeah. I also think that maybe Harry and Asher aren't a danger to us anymore. Somehow."

August's eyes met his. "They seemed kinda different, didn't they?"

"Relaxed, like whatever they were fighting is over. Did you see how happy Asher was about his name and birthday?"

August smiled sadly. "Yeah. Makes you wonder, huh? What kind of life he's had. "

Jake nodded. "More reason for him to join the cricket team."

August withheld a sigh and walked to the door. "I'm going back to work. Love you."

"I'm getting another kitten. Love you too!" he called back.

August didn't even pause. He didn't mind. If Jake wanted another ten cats, he wouldn't object. He might gripe about it and pretend to be annoyed, but he had to admit, snuggling on the couch on a cold winter night with Jake, blankets, the wood fire raging, and two cats? It sounded kinda nice.

Jake was probably googling animal shelters before August got back to his desk.

"Everything all right?" Deans asked when August walked back into the station.

He fell into his seat with a sigh and a smile. "Yep. Everything's just fine."