Epilogue:

November 2025:

Katherine Rodgers looked out across the road towards the surf as it came crashing against rocks along the shore below her vantage point. The sun had nearly disappeared on the horizon as the sky was filled with a reddish orange glow. Those last moments before darkness swallowed the sky. Kate always loved these quiet moments where she could be alone with her thoughts.

She took another sip from her cup of coffee and smiled as the night swallowed the last remnants of light in the sky. Kate was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of her daughter who had walked onto the deck behind her. "Mommy, daddy said that dinner is ready."

Kate turns and smiles at the beautiful eight year old. "Tell your father that I'll be there in a minute." The girl smiles and walks back to the kitchen as Kate takes one last look at the final traces of the sun as it disappears on the ocean. She turns and walks into the kitchen where Lilly was seated in her usual spot across from her twin brothers, Jackson and James. Kate takes her seat at the end of the table opposite Rick who was carrying the last of their meal to the table.

He sits the dish on the table and leans down to place a kiss on the top of Kate's head that earns him an exasperated growl of 'dad!' from his daughter and giggles from the twins. Rick takes his seat as they bow their heads and Kate gives a quick prayer. She had never been an overly religious person, but found that it had helped her as she faced her demons and learned there was more to life than the quest for justice at all costs. That she was more than an avenger.

The first year after she accepted that she could not personally right every wrong there was in the world was extremely difficult and she was so grateful that Rick remained by her side through it all. After their getaway to Fiji, which lasted six weeks longer than either planned, they returned to New York committed face her demons and to make their marriage work. The sessions with both the psychologist as a couple and the OCD support group by her alone, ever so slowly started to mend the gap between them.

That's not to say that it was easy. Just as she had to admit her obsessive behavior, Rick had to acknowledge his role as an enabler. Kate accepted the fact that just like an alcoholic, there was no cure, only a life long fight. Kate knew that as long as she remained in any form of law enforcement, the lure of the rabbit hole would be too tempting to resist.

Ending her career in law enforcement was one of the toughest decisions she ever made, but knew it was the right thing to do if she really wanted to break free from the temptation it provided. They sold the loft, turned over management of his PI business to Ryan, and moved to their Hamptons home after Kate learned that she was pregnant.

Deciding that there were other ways she could help people, Kate ran for, and won a seat on city council in the Hamptons. In spite of being pregnant with Lily at the time, she attacked the campaign with the same tenacity that she would have a murder case. Never one to shy away from a challenge, she took to her new role with the same passion and dedication that she did to law enforcement.

A few years later, Kate had been approached by the local party leaders to run for the state senate seat being vacated by retirement. She was reluctant at first, as it would require her to spend a considerable amount of time in Albany, but Rick assured her that he would support her any way she wanted. He could write from anywhere and they could afford to have two homes if needed, as he had sold the loft in Manhattan. She agreed and entered the campaign, winning by less than a thousand votes.

Rick ended the Nikki Heat series, giving her the happy ending she deserved and focused his on works of non fiction. He was pleasantly surprised at his critical and commercial success with his new works using his birth name of Richard Rodgers. He was touched beyond belief when Kate also decided to take his last name as her own as she retained hers when they were first married.

The birth of Lilly, their first child had the most positive impact and seemed to finally right the majority of the wrongs. Both seemed to blossom in their role as parents, with Kate truly understanding just how wonderfully scary, and rewarding the job was. Rick relished the role as father and she could see just how extraordinary he was doing it. His experience raising Alexis on his own gave him the type of confidence handling their daughter that awed her and made her realize just how lucky she was.

The birth of the twins came a few years later as a pleasant surprise. Jackson and James Rodgers, named for their grandfathers, were the perfect mixture of their parents while Lily Johanna was a mini Kate that had her father wrapped around her little finger from birth.

Kate still remembers the day a few years ago, when the twins were about two years old on a Sunday morning. They were having breakfast as a family and she and Rick sat there looking at each other and their family, holding hands and knew that this is what real happiness was.

It was almost exactly as she had dreamed it all those years ago.

She never knew that LocSat and his entire organization had been destroyed years earlier by Rita and Jackson Hunt.

In the end, it didn't matter.