When Opportunity Knocks - 21. Chapter 21-Epilogue

Jett hummed as he loaded the last box into the back of his truck. He couldn’t shake the broad smile stuck on his face. Kyle was moving in with him and he was happy.

Bruce stuck by his side, tail wagging. He seemed to know that his best friend Rosie was about to be a permanent fixture in their house. The big dog now had a permanent, rather goofy look about him. The ear that had been shot was fixed, but nerve damage meant that the ear would never stand up straight again, so he was left with one ear up and one ear down, the fur split by a thin scar where it had been stitched together. Whenever he tilted his head to the side he looked rather comical, in a sort of cute, puppy-ish way. Bruce had been cleared for full duty two weeks after the incident and seemed to have no negative repercussions when it came to doing his job.

The first few days after the rescue had been rather chaotic. The whole incident had been one of the top trending searches for several days. Because of his close ties with the victims, Jett’s captain had placed him on paid, mandatory leave for four weeks and required him to see the department shrink twice a week before he was cleared to come back on duty full time. He appreciated the concern for his well being and used the time to convince Kyle to move in with him.

Kyle had a few reservations, but after sitting down and discussing everything, he had finally agreed. It took a few more weeks for everything to fall into place and now, the last of Kyle’s stuff was loaded and ready to go.

“Hey, you ready?” Jett asked as Kyle came out of the house and locked the door behind him.

Kyle’s smile was bright. “Yep. I’ve got the contractors lined up for next week. They’re going to start with the renovations in the kitchen first and then the other stuff I need done. It should be ready by the time Noah gets back this summer.”

Jett and Kyle weren’t the only ones who were making some big changes in their lives. Noah decided to move back home and rent Kyle’s house. He was going to finish up the training program in Japan and he had been offered a position with the company’s office in Baltimore.

Almost losing Kyle had made Noah realize how much he had taken for granted that the people he loved would always be there. He also realized just how much he had missed his own family. Jett suspected that his brother Bo may have played a not-so-small part in the decision as well.

Kyle was taking the opportunity to do some much needed renovations and repairs to his house. He and Noah had picked out new flooring and countertops. The cabinets didn’t need to be replaced, but he was going to change the look of them by refacing the existing doors and installing new hardware. The guest bathroom was getting a facelift too. The old tub would be replaced with a walk-in shower along with a new vanity and toilet. The rest of the house would get a fresh coat of paint before Noah moved in.

Noah had told Kyle that if everything worked out with the new position he may consider buying the house from him.

Jett left the windows down in his truck for the short ride back to their house. He liked the sound of that, their house. The air was warm for early-April, upper 70s with a nice breeze. Rosie had the tip of her nose out of one window and Bruce had the tip of his nose out the other. As soon as the truck stopped in Jett’s driveway both dogs sneezed in tandem.

Kim came out and helped them unload the last few boxes from the truck into the house. Tater waited impatiently in the backyard for his friends to join him. The dark circles and hollow look that Kim sported the weeks following the event were finally gone. She was seeing her therapist twice a week since the incident and was finally getting herself back on an even keel. There had been a few weeks early on that had been pretty rough. Jett’s admiration of her had increased tenfold. For someone who had old wounds ripped wide open for the entire world to see, Kim had weathered the situation with an iron strength that not many people possessed.

“Where do you want these?” Kim asked her new neighbor, Kyle.

He peeked at the contents and answered, “In the bedroom closet. More clothes to put away. Woo-hoo whoopity-do!” Kyle spun his finger in circles around his ear, sarcastically emphasizing what he thought about trying to find more space for clothes.

Kim laughed and dropped the box inside the walk-in closet with a ‘thump’.

Jett lugged the tote full of liquor bottles to the kitchen and added them to his bar collection. Between him and Kyle neither of them would need to hit the liquor store for the foreseeable future. The three of them soon had all of the odds and ends either put away or put to the side for Kyle to decide their fate.

Jett threw some burgers on the grill and Kyle put together a salad while Kim gathered the condiments and grabbed some chips. It was the first time barbequing this year and the mild weather meant they could stay on the deck and enjoy eating outside, without the pesky bugs that usually came with the hotter summer weather.

Once they all had more than enough food on their plates Jett turned to Kim and asked, “Did the lawyer for Greene’s estate call you?”

Kim merely nodded. Jett could understand her reticence in wanting to talk about it. There was so much fallout to deal with. The first couple of weeks after the shootout had been busy, hectic and overwhelming. Nearly every day since the rescue had brought new discoveries regarding the double lives of Marc Greene and Paul Romano.

Diaries written by Greene were found. They had revealed a deeply disturbed person. The FBI investigators were still combing through boxes of books and papers that had been stored in the attic of the house on the bay. It seemed as though Greene had been somewhat of a hoarder. Receipts, old newspaper clippings related to the case, cut out articles on various mental disorders were kept in box after box. The investigators were hoping to come across something that would give them a clue as to where Greene had buried Heather and her baby. The thing that Heather’s family had stressed the most, was the fact that they wanted closure. They wanted to bury their little girl and grandchild. The investigation had turned up a notebook that had a map of the area where Greene’s house of horrors had been and what they had initially thought to be some sort of coordinates on it, but when they tried to decipher where it was, they came up with nothing. The map and numbers didn’t make any sense. In all likelihood it was a red herring to throw them off.

Jett knew that Kim wanted the same thing. To find Heather. She had often said that the hardest thing was knowing that Heather was dead, but not being able to say goodbye. It was the one thing that her therapist couldn’t help her get past.

The other major obstacle was trying to figure out how much and where Greene and his brother hid their money. The trail was complicated and the FBI had enlisted several other organizations to help track down the many accounts that Greene and/or Romano had set up. So far they had recovered nearly eight-million in US dollars and another six-million in other currencies in various offshore accounts. The electronic trail was a tangled web of shell corporations and nonprofit organizations that existed on paper only. Jett was glad that he didn’t have to try to untangle it.

The government froze all of the assets that they had uncovered thus far. The appointed lawyer for the estate told them that it was going to be a long process to sort everything out and figure out how much would eventually be distributed to Kim, Nikki and the children that they had. Some of them had considered having a paternity test done to determine if it was Greene or Romano who fathered them. However, in the case of identical twins, normal testing couldn’t decipher the difference between their DNA. Advanced testing, which looked at many more markers, was much more expensive, often running in the thousands of dollars. Kyle and Megan never even considered it as neither really cared. Jim and Lynn Benton were their parents and no DNA test would ever change that for either of them.

“Mr. Gates called me a few days ago. They found another account in South America. It seems that these two had investments that spanned the international market. Everything from textiles in Asia to coffee in Colombia. They even financed an up and coming online concert promoter in Germany that’s been quite successful. Hopefully they can secure other funding as their cash cow is all dried up. I just can’t believe how many people have their livelihoods linked to these monsters. It’s mind boggling,” Kim told them.

“I’m surprised, although I shouldn’t be, how surreal this all seems. Less than a year ago I was pissed off at my parents and now…..? It feels like the world has turned upside down,” Kyle remarked.

Jett could sense the cogs in his brain churning. His mind was trying to fit a piece of the puzzle together and his synapses were firing rapidly. Upside down. Upside. Down. That was it! Jett sprang up from his seat and rushed into the house to get his phone. Kyle and Kim were startled by his abrupt actions.

Jett snatched his cell from the counter and hit the contact for Jim Jackson. “C'mon, c’mon, pick up!”

The phone was about to go into voicemail when Jett heard, “Jackson here.”

“Jackson, it’s Jett Anderson. That map your guys found, the one you thought was a dead end? It’s backwards, or upside down. Greene and Romano were brought up thinking they were one and the same. Mirror images sort of? I think if your team transposes the coordinates, they might make sense.”

There was a moment of silence as Jackson processed Jett’s words. “I’ll get the team right on it. I hope you’re right Anderson.”

“If I am then I’d like to lead the search team with Bruce.”

“You’ll be my first call.”

Jett thanked him and ended the call. He was right. He knew it deep down. Back out on the deck he apologized to Kyle and Kim for startling them. They understood, however, when he explained his reason. “When you said that it felt like the world turned upside down. I got a flash of an idea and my gut told me I had to run with it.”

“I really hope you’re right. Finding Heather and saying goodbye properly will give us all peace of mind,” Kim replied.

Their evening wound down and not long after it got dark, the air turned chilly enough to light the fire pit. A couple of bottles of wine later, Jett and Kyle said goodnight to Kim. She told them she would shut everything off and reminded Jett to call her if he heard back from Jackson.

The wine had relaxed both of them and when Jett came out of the bathroom it was to the sight of Kyle lying naked on their bed, slowly stroking himself. It was well past midnight by the time they fell asleep, tired and sated.

The following morning they were up early and Kyle finished putting away all of his clothes, storing his heavier, winter items in the closet of Jett’s guest room. Jett had a large walk-in closet in the master bedroom, but not quite big enough for the sweaters and jackets they both had. Most of Kyle’s furniture and small appliances had been put into storage and would go back into his house when the renovations were finished.

Jett was breaking down the cardboard boxes for recycling when his phone rang. Seeing that it was Jackson he answered immediately.

“Jett, looks like you were right. The map was upside down and backwards with sets of numbers transposed as well. It took our best cryptologist most of the night to sort it out. We’ve narrowed it down to a two acre radius. If you want in on the action then you and your dog need to meet us at the private jet terminal at BWI. Take off is in an hour.”

Jett grinned and whistled for Bruce before turning to Kyle. “We’re gonna go find her. Wanna give us a ride to the airport?”

“Go get your shit together and let’s go! What’re you waiting for?” Kyle gave his ass a smack and Jett laughed.

Bruce instantly went into work mode when Jett strapped his new Kevlar vest to him. He was thankful that the material existed and had been instrumental in saving the dog’s life.

They made it to the airport in less than fifteen minutes and Jett could see the Gulfstream 600 waiting on the tarmac. After kissing Kyle and promising to call him with updates, Jett met Jackson and Ben in the lobby of the small, private terminal. They were waiting for one other agent to show up, and it was only a few minutes later when they were joined by a forensic specialist. Ben introduced her as Beth Corday.

They were immediately ushered onto the plane and Jett nodded to the pilot as they boarded. As soon as everyone was settled they strapped in and the plane taxied out to take its place in line for takeoff. Ten minutes later the sleek jet flew down the runway and they were airborne.

When the plane levelled off, Jackson stood up and grabbed his briefcase. He pulled down the table between the seats and spread the revised maps out on the table. A large circle indicated their search zone.

“Once we land, there’ll be an SUV waiting for us. We’ll meet up with the local team at the site. Jett, once we’re there, you and Bruce will take the lead. Where that dog’s nose goes, we’ll follow. If he indicates a hit, the local grunts can do the digging. If they find anything then Beth takes over. Everyone clear?”

Jett nodded, along with the other two. Two acres didn’t sound like a lot, but for a dog’s nose that was trying to sort out millions of scents and pinpoint mere molecules of nearly thirty years of decay, it was a daunting task. A true needle in a haystack.

They hit the ground running once they landed. Jett was surprised to realize that it wasn’t even noon yet. Jackson followed the GPS to the park where Greene’s house once stood. Getting out of the vehicle Jett looked around, trying to picture a young Kim running down the lane, literally running for her life and the life of her unborn baby. He couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran through him.

Jackson immediately took charge and barked out instructions in that no nonsense sort of way that he had. The coordinates that had been circled were nearly a mile trek into the heavily forested hills behind the park. The area was too rocky for development. They had to cross several ravines and creeks before getting to the search area. Jett took a moment to survey the terrain ahead of them. It was rugged, but Bruce had searched worse.

He looked at Jackson for the all clear and when the man nodded, Jett pulled a vial from his vest and uncapped it. He let Bruce get a whiff of the scent of human decay and said “Bruce, find!”

Immediately Bruce’s nose went up in the air for a sniff and then dropped to the ground. The canine took the lead, zig zagging over dead leaves, around rocky outcroppings and through the trees. The other agents and officers spread out to the perimeter of the two acres to serve as markers so that the dog wouldn’t search an area unnecessarily.

It was painstakingly tedious work. Bruce often went back and forth over an area before moving on. The canine’s nose was undoubtedly the best tool that the humans had available to them. Bruce had already proven himself time and again during his tenure on the State Police force. Jett had faith that he would pull through for them again.

An hour and a half later Bruce focused intently on a narrow patch of dirt and leaves beneath a fallen tree. He sat and then looked up at Jett. It was a hit. Now, was it the right hit? Jett stepped aside as the officers who had been assigned digging duty came over. The fallen tree wasn’t too big and with everyone helping, they were able to shift it out of the way. Jett brought Bruce back over to give the newly exposed area a sniff and immediately the dog indicated a hit again. Something was definitely buried there.

That something was discovered a half hour later. Human remains were wrapped up in a disintegrating blanket that had served as a shroud. Beth took over, carefully documenting and taking pictures every step of the way. They carefully uncovered the remains and when Beth discovered infant bones hidden within the folds of the blanket, Jett knew that Bruce had found Heather and her baby.

The remainder of the day was spent making sure every piece was documented and properly handled for transportation to the medical examiner’s office in Hartford. It would take a while for tests to be completed to confirm that this was Heather and her baby. Beth told Jett that it would be nearly impossible to determine the exact cause of death, but in the end, what mattered the most was finally finding her so that those that loved her would have some closure.

Jett trekked out with Bruce, back to the park which had been closed all day due to the investigation. He called Kyle first to give him the news. Kyle was quiet on the other end.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jett asked. Even though Kyle never knew Heather, it must have been heartbreaking to get confirmation that the woman who gave birth to you was gone forever.

“Yeah, I just got a little wave of melancholy. I think I would’ve liked to have gotten to know her, y’know? It just feels like I was cheated out of that chance.”

“You weren’t cheated, Kyle. You’re a victim of all of this just as much as Heather, Kim and Nikki were. All of the kids that were born to Heather, they’re victims too. You didn’t get cheated out of the chance to know her, you had the choice stolen from you.”

“Thank you. You’re right. I love you, a lot.”

Jett smiled. He would never get tired of hearing that. “Love you too. I’m going to call Kim to let her know. Will you check on her in a little while? She’ll probably need some company.”

“Of course, call me when you know when you’ll be back.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know when we’re ready to take off. Jackson said he needed another couple of hours before he’s done. It’s only an hour flight so I should be back late in the evening.”

Jett grabbed Bruce’s tug toy and played with him, his reward for a job well done. An hour later, Jackson and Ben emerged from the woods.

“We’ve got a press conference at the airport in forty-five minutes and then we can go. How’s Bruce at smiling for the cameras?” Jackson asked with a knowing grin.

Jett chuckled and rubbed the dog’s head. “He’s a ham.”

It was shocking to see all the media people lined up at the entrance to the park. He was grateful for the heavily tinted windows as they passed by reporters and photographers, all hoping to get a glimpse of who was in the SUV. Back at the airport, they were ushered into a private lounge at the Sheraton Hotel while the local PR people with the FBI set up the conference area. Jackson told Jett that all he had to do was look pretty. Jackson would field all of the questions and if he needed information regarding Bruce, he would ask Jett directly and Jett would answer him rather than addressing the media.

The press conference would be going live and they were allotted fifteen minutes from start to finish. Jett was slightly uncomfortable at the attention, he had never been one for the limelight. The lights made the room warm and, before the cameras started rolling Jett was moved so that he was standing next to the raised platform where Jackson took his place at the podium in front of the microphone. They had a hard time fitting Jett into the frame when he stood next to Jackson, his height making him tower over everyone. Bruce sat on the raised platform between the podium and Jett. As soon as the cameras started rolling the dog’s tongue lolled out of the side of his muzzle and he looked like he was grinning. Combined with his lopsided, floppy eared head tilt, the adorable dog was stealing the show, which was fine by Jett.

It was definitely not Jackson’s first rodeo when it came to dealing with the press. He gave his statement that had been prepared and then fielded questions. It was all too reminiscent of the frequent press conferences that had been held in the days that had immediately followed the rescue of Kyle and Kim. Jett was glad that neither of them had to be involved with this one.

It was a tired crew that touched down at BWI a couple of hours later. Jett was starving. He’d eaten a sandwich earlier that was provided by the hotel, but it had been rather bland and not very filling. He saw Kyle and Rosie waiting for them in the terminal and threw a wave at Jackson and Ben, making a beeline for his boyfriend, quickly stealing a kiss before heading out to the truck. He put Bruce’s vest on the floor in the back and gave his partner a scratch before buckling him into the harness.

Once he and Kyle were inside Jett groaned, “Feed me. I’m starving. It was such a busy day, food was at the bottom of the to-do list. It’s now at the top.”

Kyle snickered as he put the truck in drive. “Well, let’s get it to-done then!”

“You’re a dork. Lovable, but dorky.”

They ended up at the Mexican restaurant that they had gone to at the beginning of their relationship. The food was still just as good and Jett couldn’t help the nearly orgasmic moan that slipped out of him as the first bite of his smothered burrito hit his taste buds.

Kyle’s eyes heated up at the sound.

“So what’s next on the agenda?” he asked.

Jett finished his bite and wiped his mouth on a napkin before answering. “They have to confirm through DNA that the remains are actually Heather and her baby. It’ll take a couple of months at least. They send them out to a lab somewhere in the Midwest I think. Jackson spoke with Heather’s parents and they’ll have the final say as to what happens to her once the tests are done and her remains are released to the family.”

Kyle’s face reflected his inner turmoil. Jett reached over and grabbed his hand, silently letting him know that he would be there for him.

“I hope her parents can finally be at peace. I also hope they include Kim and Nikki in whatever they decide to do. They deserve closure,” Kyle said softly.

“What about you? Would you want to go to any kind of service if they have one?” Jett was truly curious to know.

Kyle thought for a moment. “I don’t think so. I never knew her or any of her family. No one has reached out to me, which in a way feels like a snub. I mean, Heather’s parents were so gung-ho to get custody of her other children. Did they deliberately blow me off when they found out where I was and where I grew up?”

Jett mulled that over for a minute. In the first few weeks after the “Incident on the Bay,” as they were calling it, things had been crazy. It seemed like anyone that had ever been even remotely involved were being interviewed by the authorities and holding their own press conferences. Several of the children that Greene and his brother had sired had come forward, others remained silent, protecting their privacy. Jett had watched closely while Kyle processed seeing his siblings on TV, one brother and one sister. The two other babies that Heather had given birth to had been raised by Heather’s parents. As adults now, Jett saw a strong resemblance, but neither of them had inherited Heather’s genes like Kyle had.

“I can’t answer that for you, only they can. Have you thought about reaching out to them? Maybe they just don’t know how to approach you.”

“Hmmm, maybe. I’ll think about it. But right now all I want to think about is where to go for vacation.” Kyle said.

“Vacation? Yeah, I can get onboard with that. Tell me when and where.” Jett blew a kiss across the table.

“I’ll tell you when we get home.” Kyle said with a heated look. Suddenly food didn't seem quite as important.

They finished up their meals and Kyle paid the bill. The whole ride home, Jett kept his hand planted on Kyle’s upper thigh. Ignoring the dogs was impossible so Jett tempered his libido while he let them out.

Kyle leaned his ass back against the counter and damn near devoured Jett with his eyes. As soon as the dogs were back in, Kyle turned and headed for the bedroom with Jett hot on his heels.

Sex with Kyle was always fantastic. Sex tonight was epic. Every last nerve ending was brought into play. They couldn’t get enough of each other. Kisses, licks, caresses, sharp smacks on bare ass cheeks, they didn’t miss a trick. When Kyle roared out Jett’s name as he came hard inside him, Jett felt a sense of completeness and rightness that he wanted to hold onto forever.

Afterward, Jett held Kyle close, the stress and worry of the past eight or nine months melting away with every breath they shared. He stroked Kyle’s back in soothing circles and could feel the day catching up with him as his eyelids became heavy.

“Hey, you said you’d tell me where you wanted to go on vacation when we got home. We’re home.” Jett reminded Kyle.

Kyle shifted so that he could look directly at Jett. “How do you feel about Vegas? In July?”

Jett wondered for a moment if Kyle had lost his mind. “Who the fuck wants to go to Vegas in the middle of summer? It’s like, 120 degrees----at night. And don’t tell me it’s a ‘dry heat’. A hundred and twenty degrees is just plain fucking hot.”

“Exactly. No one will try to go with us. And I was thinking that while we’re there, maybe we could get married?”

Jett was now wide awake. “Are you proposing to me Dr. Benton?”

“I guess I am Officer Anderson. What do you say?”

“Yes. I say yes. But answer me this, I’m just curious. Why now?”

“It was something that Greene said to Kim when she asked him why he did what he did. He told her it was that old saying ‘when opportunity knocks, you answer the door’. " Kyle shrugged, and gave Jett a lopsided grin. "So I decided to knock.”

“I’ll answer the door every single time for you Kyle. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Jett sealed his mouth over Kyle’s and it sealed his promise too. He was so happy that Kyle had taken that first opportunity and asked him out.