Grace smiled. “It’s a good thing you’re already lying down.”

He gave her a sideways look. “Why?”

“Steele has been grooming you-and now wants to groom us-to take over St. Kilda Consulting when he retires.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nope.”

Faroe didn’t know what to say.

“Before you say yes or no, think about this,” she said. “If we sign with St. Kilda, the contract will be retroactive to a week ago. In other words, neither of us will have to pay St. Kilda for any costs incurred in saving Lane.”

Faroe whistled softly. “Steele must be feeling generous.”

“Not quite.” Grace smiled like a lawyer. “There’s the five-million-dollar reward for Hector Rivas Osuna, plus anything in excess of fifty million dollars that might be recovered from Ted’s files. If we were free agents, the money would go to us.”

Faroe was quiet for a long time before he said, “You dropped the hammer on Hector. It’s your call on the reward.”

“And the rest?”

“They say that blood washes off gold, but I don’t know if there’s enough water on earth to clean Ted’s money.” Faroe sighed and shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable. “Again, it’s your call. You and Lane had to live with the mutt. But damn, I wish that Hector had been a better shot.”

She smiled grimly. “I’ve already started the process to remove Ted from any legal guardianship of Lane. Talon Cook said he would personally guarantee that Ted doesn’t cause any problems over it.”

“Is Ted going to do hard time?”

“Stu has the morals of a reptile, and he’s as clever as they come in manipulating the law for his clients-until their money runs out. So I guess we’ll just have to hope that Ted’s money runs out before he walks.”

“Lane’s alive,” Faroe said. “That’s what matters.”

“You really don’t care about the money, do you?”

“You’ll negotiate a good salary-”

“And bonuses.”

“-for us with Steele. We won’t starve. And if we don’t sign the contract, the task force will be squeezing us to give information on St. Kilda Consulting. Steele might grate on me from time to time, but bureaucracy grates on me all the time.”

Grace grinned. “Steele loves you too. He wants to be your best man.”

“What!”

“Harley says you’ll look fabulous in a white tux.”

Faroe closed his eyes. “That’s it. We’re eloping.”

“You sure? Lane hinted he’d love to give me away.”

Faroe opened his eyes. “You wearing a tux, too?”

“I was thinking about that red outfit I picked up in Mexico.”

“Only if we elope.”

Smiling, she leaned down and kissed him. “Two white tuxes it is.”