A/N- And here we are, the final wrap-up for Book 1...
Epilogue
Two months later…
Why did she have to vanish with all the rest? The one other Primalist he really had thought he could like, what with the reports he'd gotten (as he hadn't been able to meet her in person yet); the only one he knew who could fight the "Sparrow" on his own turf too.
And she'd melted into thin air somewhere, not even a report of her death if that's what occured.
The moment Ravelis had gotten word that his Pawpuan hub had been leveled (by a jet of his own, no less), he knew things had gone wrong, and had set about sending out orders to scrub all public connections that he had. A day later, his calls stopped reaching their destinations, intercepted by a force he'd never encountered online before but that was proving viciously efficient. His public accounts were drained of every cent shortly afterward, and two days past that even his secret holdings were yanked from his grasp. After each loss, his anger (and secretly, concern) was spiked by the sarcastic greetings left behind in text, and he had no means to fight back or trace the source in order to retaliate. All he had was that signature alias.
The Komodo was soon enough left with only a handful of loyal associates he could contact in-person, pooling the resources they'd managed to pull out early in order to run, heading north toward Civetnam and China and splitting up at each stop along the way to avoid being targeted as a recognizable group. Heading south to his homeland wasn't an option; AOMISDOPS would almost certainly ring the island of Flores first.
Unfortunately, as they split up, some individuals began to be intercepted, recognized by captured images on satellites, nearby security cameras, or even passing phones and other devices turned on remotely, and Ravelis' associate ring dwindled. The noose was tightening, and new places devoid of civilians and therefore tracking abilities for the Sparrow were still a fair distance from their current position.
Now, the monitor lizard stood peering out the window of a derelict motel the likes of which he'd have never dreamed of staying in before everything went to hell; not with his wealth, never. One of his remaining colleagues (another Komodo) was attempting a short nap on the messy bed within before they got the signal that the coast was clear, and their next transport was ready to go. His claws clenched together as he wrung his paws behind his back; evening was approaching and he had expected the alert before the sun went down. A delay to be safe wasn't necessarily terrible, but did nothing for his nerves and time was running thin.
"No call yet?" a groggy, quiet voice said from behind him, and Ravelis turned to see the other monitor sitting up, blinking sleep out of his eyes.
"Not a word, Jhoni," Ravelis replied. "And night falls very shortly. The rickshaw arrangement was supposed to occur before evening even began." He turned to stare back out the window again, scanning across the motel courtyard and watching mammals and a few varanids of various species bustling down the street. "If nothing comes within the next few minutes however we may have to consider traveling up on our own. We can't afford to wait around much lo"-
The phone in his pocket buzzed, cutting him off.
"Well, maybe not having to wait any longer," Jhoni mused as Ravelis pulled the burner out and looked at the little screen. The number was right, so the Komodo flipped it open and held it up to his ear.
"Status."
"Compromised, Suharta."
The voice was not one of his associates, and a chill ran down Ravelis' spine at the casual tone. "Who is this?" he hissed, only to receive a snicker in return.
"Oh, just a messenger, a songbird if you will," the voice sing-songed, "and the guy who drained your accounts; I really hope my hellos didn't go to waste, did they?" Another chuckle. "Glad to finally say hi in person! Been a jolly chase, Ravelis, but we're all going to be much, much happier methinks now that it's over. Have fun in your cell!"
The call cut out with an abrupt finality, leaving the lizard to stare absently for a moment at the phone. The devices had been locally purchased with paper money, should have been untraceable, but through that call there'd been none of the background noise of the local area; the line had been broken into somehow. And that meant someone very technically sophisticated, someone who likely knew not only how to hack all of Ravelis' hidden accounts but pinpoint them all even with the fuzziest of nearby video images and could direct a team right down on top of them, especially with the signal they'd just pinged from the phone. Sparrow that voice wasn't, not as shrewd and accurate as he'd proven to be; he was a viper.
Jhoni shifted on the bed, standing up and drawing Ravelis' attention while sending him a questioning gaze.
"We've been found out," Ravelis said gravely, dropping the phone to the floor and stomping on it before flicking his hand in a "follow me" gesture. In the same moment he headed for the door opening to the rear of the motel. "No time left, we have to disappear n"-
As he pulled the door open, a black and white blur swung down from the eaves and a pair of long feet slammed hard into his gut.
Ravelis wheezed and doubled over as he stumbled backward, the blur following through in a backward somersault to land in front of him and sweeping around in the same motion to snap a vicious kick into the side of his head. Now the Komodo saw stars, and he slumped to the ground, hearing but not quite seeing the blur straighten up and pull a pair of cuffs out of his pocket.
"The first blow was for Bhoot," Jack snarled, an impressive feature on the lapin. "The second, for everyone else we pulled out of those mills of yours." His ears flicked toward the sound of Jhoni recovering from his own shock and lunging at him to defend his boss, but the rabbit barely even leaned backward, just enough to let Skye fly through the door and intercept. The second lizard quickly found himself being knocked off his feet and yanked around by his shoulders to be slammed face-first into the closest wall. If that hit hadn't been enough to stun him outright, the pressure point applied a second later certainly was.
"I hope that hurt more than it sounded like it did," Skye muttered, to echo Jack's earlier sentiments. Jhoni only groaned in response as his tail was stamped down and his hands were pulled back to be cuffed behind him.
As the two Komodos were secured and hefted back to their feet, another shadow appeared in the door, one hand on her hip and the other gripping a lowered gun. "Sure, take all the fun for yourselves," Vela drawled sarcastically, crossing her long legs and leaning against the frame. "Feeling better now, Jack?"
Jack looked up at the maned wolf, scowl still in place…and then he smirked as he shoved Ravelis at her, snickering as the reptile yelped when he stumbled over his own feet. "Maybe a little," he admitted in equal drawl, as Vela caught and took hold of the monitor. "Just to make sure he doesn't try anything, keep hold of him until we get back to the embassy. We all know he'll probably try something stupid with a rabbit for a guard that might make me have to kill him." The look he shot at Ravelis was one of amusement, but told the latter that Savage was more than willing to live up to his name if given the opportunity. "But, I still call the honor of tossing him into the cell itself. Skye can have his buddy."
Skye snorted as she escorted Jhoni out the back door behind Vela, and looked over her shoulder. "Sure, take the easy route now that the fun is over," she teased. Then her expression softened. "But do let them know everything's finally been settled. And remind Rocky he's got a promise to keep when we all get back to the city."
Jack couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, I'll make sure that the message is received loud and clear. I'll catch up with you shortly."
He watched them leave, heading down the alley to the waiting cars to join the rest of the strike team wrapping up the other remnants of Ravelis' loyal circle. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out the new phone he'd recently acquired to replace the last one he'd ruined who-knew-when. Flipping it open, he found the number he'd already saved into his contacts and dialed, waiting for the other end to pick up.
Nick almost didn't want to even use the energy necessary to scoot over the two feet of space to grab the cell phone sitting on the side table by the couch. He was comfortable, and perfectly relaxed for the first time in he didn't know how long.
But, he knew who he'd set that painfully cheerful ringtone for (and couldn't wait for that contact to find out), and he knew that a call from that number would only be coming through right now for one of two reasons, both of equal importance.
So, the fox groaned and heaved himself up just enough so that he could flop across the arm of the couch and picked up the phone, sliding it on and holding it to his ear as he sank upside down across the cushions.
"Greetings! Thank you for calling the Wilde Honeymoon Suite, what message are we passing on to the happy couple today?"
A half-growl answered. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood right now, Nick," Jack's mildly exasperated voice came through. "I'll keep it brief so that you can get back to lazing about as I'm sure you are."
"Guilty as charged. Alright, what's the news?"
"We've caught them. Mack's told us it was the last trail he could detect, and no other assets or contacts are out there worthy enough to follow up on. Ravelis is in custody, soon to be in prison."
A feeling of relief cut the small amount of tension Nick had been feeling build up. By far, the better of the two answers he was expecting. "Fantastic! I take it then just legal technicalities left and you and Wellinger will be back for our return?"
"Looks to be so; we're keeping lines open for Avery and Desireigh still, but they're not likely to show their heads anytime soon, or for anything so grand. And speaking of our return, Skye would like me to pass on a reminder to Rocky. Is he handy?"
Nick smirked and turned his topsy gaze out the nearest window (of which there were many). "Nah, you know he's not keen on staying too close on account of us. He's out patrolling at the moment. What's the message though? I'll alert him."
"He's got a promise to uphold when he returns, and Skye hasn't heard a word about it yet."
"Ooohhh, yeah, the Lindsey Steerling meet-n'-greet arrangement for her and my mom; Skye pulled no punches on that agreement did she? Hard payback." The tod's smirk widened, before he flipped himself around onto his stomach. "Honestly, I think that's already been a wrap, heard him mention it a day or two ago when he was talking with Judy, but I'll let him know you two expect a call."
"Good. And…well, take your time and relax now, you and Judy. God knows you've earned it at this point. See you in another couple of weeks."
The call ended, and Nick's smirk grew into a proper smile as he set down the phone and got up, glancing around. When he'd mentioned the "Honeymoon Suite," he hadn't been entirely joking, and the feeling of saying that in truth was amazing.
The ceremony had been quickly and quietly arranged, nothing flashy (the two hadn't needed the whole city crashing it after all) and a relatively small crowd (well, small in terms of rabbit families). Afterward, Scarlet had surprised them with a special wedding present in the form of an exclusive resort stay for three weeks in Costa Rica, right on the ocean, courtesy of the ocelot's acting contacts (and maybe just a touch of pulling strings higher up too).
The resort suite could have fit a couple families with room to spare, complete with full-view floor to ceiling windows facing both waterfront and rainforest (one that was a little more welcoming than the last that they'd been in had been), and a spacious grounds that, as Nick had mentioned, Rocky had tagged along to patrol just in case. The Arctic fox hadn't been too keen on any risks of losing his old friend, or Nick's new mate, again, even when all the threads were just about tied off. Nick would go find him in a couple of minutes to pass on Skye's reminder, but first, he needed to find the other actual suite occupant and tell her the good news.
It was one of the few times in the week and a half they'd been there already that Nick and Judy had been split from each other's sides for more than a couple of minutes. Judy had been acting off for a few days, seeming to have possibly come down with a bug in the mornings but then acting fine an hour later. Now, she'd been holed up in the bathroom for twenty minutes, and the door was still locked when Nick approached and knocked.
"Hey, Carrots, you okay in there?"
"Yeah!" the slightly too cheery reply came back. The tod frowned, but continued on anyway.
"Okay. "Anyways, Jack just called, he and his team finally nabbed Ravelis and company. Everything's finally settled. Wanna catch a 'special dinner' to celebrate?"
Inside the bathroom, Judy was admittedly not actually hearing most of what Nick was saying through the door, too distracted by another matter entirely. She'd had suspicions for a day or two, and had sent off one of the hotel staff the evening before on a discreet errand to find out for sure.
Now, her heart was racing in part from excitement, part disbelief, and part wonder (maybe a slight sprinkle of fear too), as she sat on the edge of the closed toilet lid and stared down at the little white device in her paws.
Two tiny pink lines were staring back.
A/N-Oops...did I leave another cliffhanger? Ah well, something to find out more about when the next book begins! And there's plenty of open space for ideas in that one I think, though don't forget: if you want to find out, gotta find me on DA or AO3! Won't be posting up further on here after this...
Couple of quick numbers: Closed Doors is, with this epilogue, officially 512 pages long, and 284,872 words (that's minus author's notes etc.). It's also managed on FF alone to gather over 19,000 views so far, 91 followers, and 57 favorites! No telling how long the next installment(s) will be, but fair to say in length they'll probably compare, maybe even be longer...who knows. After all, the story isn't set in stone yet, and the next couple of months will be time to start developing firm ideas...
Also, in the interim: I might be taking a break from the bigger tales, but there might be a couple of different short snippet or one-shot type collections that could show up. I've been wanting to expand upon some of the scenes for the art pieces I have on DA that don't fit with any particular scene in either of my series yet.
Until then though, and for the last time I think on FF...