By the time they climbed into Cole’s ute, Rylee had managed to get part of her brain working again. She sat beside him, still shocked that he was possibly there, but now able to get more than a few words out of her mouth.
“So, the Conclave released you after several years of service, and you decided to become a buyer’s agent?”
Cole nodded. “I remembered you saying that if you had to take a boring job, it would be in real estate. So I became a buyer’s agent in the hopes of finding you through industry connections. Never worked out that way, though.”
He started up the ute, heading onto the highway. “I did think about selling utes or doing something to do with utes at least. Plenty of people want aluminium ute canopies. I’d be pretty good at installing those I think.”
“You did always love your utes,” said Rylee. She gazed out the window, watching as the houses and businesses passed by. “But you decided not to start a business for ute trays near Melbourne because of me?”
“That’s right. Having even the slightest chance of finding you was far more important. So, what have you been up to since we parted ways, love?”
Rylee thought about it for a moment. “Well, I left the force and became a freelance crime-stopper, much to Maphira’s disapproval. That was fun for a while. I got a motorbike and everything. Much cooler than a ute, in my humble opinion. Then I started looking into the Conclave and teamed up with big sis to take them down. Obviously, that went great.”
With a short laugh, Cole spared a quick glance at her. “I remember seeing the footage. You played right into the Conclave’s plans, but I’d never been so proud, knowing how hard you fought for a chance to bring their schemes down. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Oh, it’s not so bad, you know.” Rylee looked out the window again, watching as two robot officers started attacking a jaywalker. “Robotopia’s a lovely place, you know.”