for far too long. They were his friends, but now everything was going to change. He hoped it would be for the best, and yet his gut wasn't convinced. It was sure something had to be wrong. Probably because for so long, something always had been.
For the first few miles, they all rode in silence. Bradley sipped from a paper coffee cup, making a face each time. The radio was off. The hum of the tires on the road was calm and comfortable. This was the start of the next chapter in his life, yet that offer from Chance hung in the back of Jason's mind. He was no longer trapped. He could start all over, and he knew Zara wouldn't have a problem with it. He finally had options.
And a man to put behind bars.
"So?" Bradley finally asked. "Now that this case is closed, what comes next?" He didn't bother looking over.
"Marriage," Jason said. "Kids. Maybe a little time in the same place, I think."
"Chance offered him a job," Zara said.
A smile spread across Bradley's lips. "I think you fit better in that world than ours." And he finally looked at Jason. "I'll do everything I can to help get you out."
"We both know it won't happen," Jason reminded him. "And when this case goes to trial, I'll have to admit all the background stuff I did."
"And take credit for some others," Bradley reminded him. "We'll go over it all to make sure it's clean."
"You're not listening to me," Jason told him. "The FBI picked me up because I'm an asset. If I'm not working as an agent, they'll call me a liability. It wouldn't even take a lot of work for them to bring up that juvenile charge as proof that I'm a threat to national security. I will never be allowed to work in the tech industry, unless it's for the government."
"What about Chance's offer about the attorneys?" Zara asked.
"Or using your political capital from this case," Bradley added. "Jason, when that man is convicted, you know the press will pick it up. I talked to Chance while you were chasing leads, and he told me how he got Rhaven's interview to go mainstream. He has connections. In all the time he's been doing this, that man has been networking, and there are a lot of people who were hurt by KoG. The news will run with it, the Director will have to face that, and when they ask you what you want, get out. I'll stand as a character witness."
"Yeah?" Jason asked.
"What else would you want to do?" Bradley asked him.
Zara's hand reached between the seats to touch his arm. "Hey, I'm honestly curious too. I mean, sometimes getting to the end of something makes us realize that what we thought back then might not be the same."
Jason placed his hand over hers and looked out the window. They were in the middle of nowhere, on some highway with nothing but pastures and trees all around. The problem was that he honestly didn't know. The idea of helping to make games sounded so good, and it had been his dream for his entire life, and yet there was that feeling. That something in his gut that refused to go away.
"I can protect people," he said softly. "Maybe not the way others think about it, but that's the one thing I'm good at. I know the internet. I know gaming and gamers. Right now, guys, that's enough. Ask me again when this man has no chance of hurting anyone else ever again."
"And you can always change your mind," Zara promised. "I don't love you because of your job, Jason Raige - or in spite of it. I love you because you are one of the bravest and most dedicated men I've ever known."
"And a damned good agent," Bradley told him. "So you know, I refused when they asked if I wanted a new partner. I made it very clear that I like the one I have."
Jason felt his throat clench and his eyes stung, so he blinked. The trees still blurred. "We did it. It wasn't easy, but together, we all made this happen, and I'm still waiting for something to go wrong, because I just can't imagine anything else."
"Then it's time to learn new things," Bradley said.
Chapter 25
Bradley's wife had insisted that Jason and Zara stay with them for as long as was necessary, and it was Zara who'd accepted. She didn't want Jason to make