Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.
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The man that stepped onto the veranda of Nikki Caetano's house was a man known as Josh Holiday to some and ET to others. He'd been Nav's fiancée, a Hammersley crewmember and an all round good guy before he'd been found 'dead' with his fellow Robsenn diving business crewmates by the Hammersley crew long ago.
The reality was it was all a scam: his name was Rafe Bertolli and he was an undercover agent for the Australian Federal Police. The death of Josh Holiday had been staged: he'd been injected with a drug to lower his heart rate to such a level as to make him appear dead, and when the bodies were removed from the beach and transported back to the mainland for autopsy, his body disappeared, taken by the federal government.
He took on identities as ordered and worked long-term deep-cover operations. Josh Holiday on board the Hammersley as ET had simply been another operation. He'd spent the two years after Josh's death undercover in Karratha as Brock Cummings, then the following two years after that in Melbourne as Chris Winter.
With a job like this, a lack of relationships was the norm. His orders onboard the Hammersley had been to establish a relationship with a female officer. This would be a means for him to easily move amongst the navy without causing suspicion. After all, what was more romantic than a man willing to change ships and careers for the love of his life? But the one thing he had not planned on was falling in love with Nikki Caetano. That was not part of the job description.
So here he was, four and a half years after his 'death' on her doorstep, and without the knowledge of his superiors, ready to take her back. He was due down in Newcastle to commence a three-year undercover operation in two days and he wanted Nikki to come with him.
She knew him as Josh Holiday – the loveable larrikin – but he was hoping that she'd take him as Rafe Bertolli. Josh was just one part of him, but he had all confidence that he could convince her that she still loved him all the same.
Standing in front of the door, he prepared to make his presence known. His sources had advised him that this was where he could find Nikki Caetano, and they'd assured him that she would be home at this hour.
Raising his hand, he knocks on the door...
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Next chapter: Nav's point of view.