AGENT 23 BLACKOUT (Agent 23 Book 1)

EPILOGUE

The moment after I kissed Kayla like there would be no tomorrow, I remembered the next day was our natural history exam! There was definitely a tomorrow, but I helped her get in a crash study session on the flight back to Coastal City. We both aced our exams on that fateful Monday, even though we were rubbing our eyes and yawning from sleep deprivation. I had to explain away my broken nose and battered face, but when I told my teacher I had visited Colorado over the weekend, he replied by saying, "Skiing can be quite the adventure. Watch out for those trees next time." I bobbed my head and followed Kayla out of the classroom.

Of course, my grandparents think I just had a long weekend with my dad, spending quality time together. Yeah, right? They weren't happy I went skiing in Colorado, but anyway.

Kayla got to explain everything to her mom, and with her father safe again, she had his story to back her up.

Life is back to normal. Sort of.

The next Saturday morning after my grandpa dropped me off at the curb, I stop by Lattes for three coffees, the place where my weird weekend began. I make my way over a few blocks to the Blumenbach Natural History Museum where I promised Kayla we'd visit the mammoth exhibit. I know it's a bit late to help with the exam, but a promise is a promise.

She waits for me at the bottom of the steps leading up to the front entrance. I hold her coffee with the Lattes swirling logo on the side of the cup and hand it to her. She tucks a few strands of flaxen hair behind her ear and smiles. My dad will meet us here any minute. He said he had something he needed to tell me, and since Kayla and I planned on visiting the museum, he thought it was as good a place as any.

But he's not here yet...

"I really like the way you look with your glasses on," I say for starters.

Kayla's smile deepens.

"But I just want to try something without you wearing them." Slowly, I reach up and remove her black-rimmed frames. Then I place my fingers under her jawline. With my thumb touching the bottom of her cheek, I lean in and kiss her. After a nice, long moment, I pull away. "That's what I thought."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. Glasses or no glasses, your kiss is just as good." I swallow a lump of warm tension. "Lately, it's the only thing that makes me fall back into my old nervous habit." I swallow again. "There, see."

"I do."

I give Kayla her glasses and she puts them back on. "So," she says, "where's your dad?"

"Right here," a voice says.

My dad waves, walking up behind Kayla on the sidewalk. Before he says another word, I hand him his coffee, and he thanks me.

Judging by the way his eyes dart about, I ask, "Something wrong?"

"Well, as you know, yesterday, I had a CT Scan of my brain to check for abnormalities."

"I was there," I say. "The results came back fine."

"Yes, but there was something else. I thought it was disturbing enough that I hesitated telling you about it."

"You mean you didn't tell me about it?"

My dad sips from his coffee. Swallows. "They found a foreign object under the skin at the base of my skull, under the hairline."

I blink. "What was it?"

"I don't know. They won't tell me. Maybe the doctors don't know either? Maybe they were under orders, if they found anything suspicious, not to reveal it? All I know is they found a foreign object, and they removed it. I asked the FBI agent in charge of The Collective investigation, and all he said was something about it being related to a potential national security threat, since the incident that started in Coastal City and ended up in Colorado, involved me. Against my will, I might add."