I heard back from John Ringo.  The answer actually surprised me - I was wrong on both suppositions.

John Ringo wrote:

Stewart joined the Tongs and set it up on his own. So Cally etc didn't know.

And it was Stewart at the end. In the future books they're married and have several kids but the relationship is a secret to both the Tongs and the Bane ( Read more... )

I'd actually delayed a bit doing this one, as I had to write to John Ringo, the "big name" co-author of the book, for a bit of clarification on the ending.  I've read the book twice, and I'm still not exactly what happened with one of the main characters.  Of course, the first time I read the book I had completely forgotten who he was until near ( Read more... )