I’m having a little…postpartum depression, maybe you could call it, now that No Surrender is behind me. I miss Gallagher already. I love all my heroes, but he’s a little extra special to me and now, after three books, he has to take a step back. DG4 is Jack’s story, and he’ll have Connor O’Brien and the new guy around to help. I don’t know if there will be a role for Gallagher or not but, if there is, it’ll be a small one. I can’t let him take over Jack’s book just because I miss him.

One of the things I’ll miss most about him is the fact he made me laugh. And I’m not sure what y’all thought, but in my imagination, he was the best looking of the bunch. :groucho: Anyway, here’s a sampling of my favorite Gallagher moments from the series, just because I miss him.

From 72 Hours:

“She’s still taking fire,” Gallagher shouted into Alex’s earpiece.

He jerked up on Danny’s harness one last time, trying to ignore the terrified eyes and the trembling lower lip. Danny was safe and that’s all that mattered. There would be times for hugs and kisses and reassurances later. What was important now was making sure those reassurances came from the boy’s mother.

“Make a circle and drop me off-shore,” Alex ordered. “I’ll get her and we’ll take one of the boats out.”

“Negative.”

His head came up from the repelling harness he was inspecting. “Negative? What…did you just tell me no?”

“Negative is no, affirmative is yes. Geez, Rossi, and all this time I thought you were a pro.”

From On the Edge:

“What the hell’s going on over there?” Gallagher yelled. “And why do you two keep going off comm, dammit?”

“You suck at my job, just so you know. You’re supposed to be the calm voice of reason.”

“Fuck that. Where’s Tony?”

“He jumped out of a moving vehicle and took off into the airport after Ludka, but he probably won’t catch him since he can barely even stand up straight.”

“Crazy bastard. And what are you doing?”

“Looking for a parking spot.”

“Of course you are,” he shouted. “Because the only thing worse than Tony getting whacked in an airport would be getting a fucking parking ticket!”

The sounds of a scuffle came over the line, and then Marge was there, thank God. “Sorry, Charlotte. I’m old and slow and he keeps beating me to the headset. What do you need?”

My very favorite Gallagher moment is in his own book, No Surrender, but I don’t want to post it because it’s the climax of the romance arc and I don’t want to spoil it. Instead, here’s another favorite:

And damn if it wasn’t Rossi who found him two hours later, army crawling his way down the hallway with his hospital johnny flapping and his ass hanging out in the breeze.

“For Christ’s sake, I don’t need to see that on an empty stomach,” his boss’s voice said.

“Then go get a fucking sandwich.” The pain meds were wearing off and his body was slick with sweat. “Anybody who gets in my way is dead, plain and simple.”

It was a slow and painful process. He put his hands out, then dragged his lower body forward. The sweat kept him from getting floor burn on his hip, but his hands were starting to slide a bit.

“How are you planning to get through the ICU doors?”

Gallagher gritted his teeth and hauled himself forward another two feet. “I’ll wait ’til somebody comes out and sneak in unnoticed on my stomach.”

“One thing you are not right now, man, is unnoticeable.”

Then Rossi’s hands were under his armpits. Gallagher must have been weaker than he’d thought because the other man had no problem propping him up against the wall like a rag doll. “I don’t even want to know how you unhooked yourself from everything you were hooked to, do I?”

“Lucky for me I’d already charmed the nurse into removing that fucking catheter or I’d still be crying.”