Marti took the punishment for her taunt.
Her sergeant squirmed.
Come closer. Come closer, Abigail silently begged Sal.
Finally, he ceased beating her sergeant. “What will it be, Abigail? Shall I beat Marti some more?”
“Maybe.”
He laughed. “You’re a hard case, Abigail Ward.”
Yes! He took a few steps in her direction and stopped right in front of her. “Who has the data—Ooomph!”
Abigail leapt out of her seat and grabbed him. Her legs caught on the short leg iron chain. How could she have been so foolish? They crashed to the ground. She landed a weak punch before he closed a hand around her throat. She bit him.
He yelped.
She reached around his back. Her fingers brushed pearl. She stretched as he landed a punch on her face.
More stars sparked in her vision, then pain blossomed in her side as he drove a hard left.
She grabbed the pistol’s handle and pushed him. He stumbled into the shadows.
She landed on her stomach and tightened her grip.
The Boulder snagged her hair.
Pain burned across her scalp.
“Get up!” The Boulder twisted.
He had to be standing between her legs.
With superhuman effort, Abigail flipped onto her back and yanked her legs toward her chest. Her core screamed, but the leg iron chain caught him.
The Boulder fell. The back of his head slammed onto the hard edge of the chair where she’d sat. A crack, like a melon shattering, echoed through the room. He landed on the concrete floor and lay still.
Sal loomed over her.
She focused his gun on him. “Looking for this?”
He froze.
“Say a word, I kill your pal if he’s not already dead.” She pushed to a sitting position. “Lie down. Now. Hands on the back of your neck.”
Sal eased onto his knees. “You’re making a mistake, Abigail.”
“Toss me the keys to the leg irons. Then all the way down.” She lowered her voice to a growl. “Now!”
Keys slapped onto the plastic in front of her. Not breaking eye contact, she reached for them and slid them into the shackle around one ankle. The cuff fell off. “All the way down. I’m not kidding.”
He eased onto his front and put his hands on the back of his head. “I have plenty of guards waiting just outside the door. One shot will bring them in.”
“That one shot may finish you off, and then what do I care?” She pushed to one knee, then all the way upright. The world swung before her eyes, but she forced herself to steady. She approached Marti. She glanced at the set of keys and saw double. She blinked and swayed.
“Feeling the impacts of a concussion are we?” Sal taunted her.
“Shut your trap.” It took some effort, but she slid the key into the manacles holding Marti. Her right wrist came free. “Marti?”
“I-I’m fine.” Marti offered a smile that revealed teeth red from a mouthful of blood. “Give me the key and cover his butt.”
Abigail did and wrapped an arm around her waist as Marti freed herself. Her sergeant groaned, but she steadied.
Sal glared at her. “I doubt you will shoot me. You’re too humane, Abigail. And you want to see this case done.”
“Don’t test me.” Her legs gave way, and she sank to her knees. Oh, no. The world began tipping all sorts of ways like she was in an insane fun house.
Marti took the gun from her. “Stay there, Sal.”
He laughed. “Why should I? Guards!”
At that moment, the power failed. One of the auto doors crashed inward, and guns began blazing. Marti came down beside her as Sal’s guards answered the incoming threat.
All the while, Abigail found herself paralyzed with dizziness. “I... can’t—”
“We’ve got to get out of here.” Staying low, Marti dragged her away.
Bullets whizzed over them.
Men shouted.
Someone screamed in agony.
They wound up behind some pallets leaning against a post.
Marti stayed alert. Abigail’s world really began spinning as she noticed more forms crumpling to the ground. Could one of them have been Sal?
Glass shattered.
Abigail cringed
“Look everywhere!” David shouted.
David? Somehow, she pushed to her feet.
“Abigail, no!” Marti cried.
She didn’t care. “David!”
His name crossed her lips as a whisper.
She began running toward him, but she staggered like a drunk. Dang it! She’d forgotten about the leg iron still around one ankle. It scraped across the concrete in a metallic screech.
“Abigail, watch out!” he cried.
She slammed into something hard. Then blackness swallowed her whole.
33
Saturday, April 30, 2017, 2000 hours MDT, Burning Tree, UT
Warmth. Weight. Awareness gradually spread through Abigail. Six days after her rescue, she lay beneath a duvet in her third-floor suite at the hotel in Burning Tree. It warmed her body, eased the aches still there almost a week after her capture and beating at Sal’s hands. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
Dusk filled the room, and a breeze blew through the open floor-to-ceiling windows. With it came the earthy smells of the desert. Ah. Comfort smells, those of water on dry soil, cottonwoods. And her healing brain didn’t protest the presence of the evening light. What a change from just a few days earlier when the dimmest lamp caused pain. She couldn’t sit up, couldn’t read, which was her favorite pastime when sick.
“It’s a gradual process,” Rothstein had told her. “Some things may heal suddenly. It may take months for some others to heal. That’s how tricky the brain can be after sustaining a moderate-to-severe concussion.”
All thanks to Sal, who now lay six feet under along with Stone. The two had duked it out in one last firefight between the drug rivals. Jonathan had detailed the bloody gun battle they’d witnessed from their perch on the roof. Gunfire had cut down both men just before her rescuers broke through the skylight and descended via rappel.
Where had her concussion left her? Dwelling in darkness and up at all hours of the night.
“I feel like a vampire,” she’d complained to David as he sat with her in the wee hours of Wednesday. “I’m scared I’ll never be normal again.”
He’d taken her in his arms and held her close.
David. Even now, a smile crossed her face. She’d run into a metal support beam at full tilt, which completed the head injury leading to her concussion. David had seen them. Immediately, he’d pulled them to safety with a couple of mighty tugs.
He hadn’t left her side from that moment on. He’d been her rock, the one to hold her when she thought she’d throw up from pain-induced nausea. He’d stayed with her when the most sleep she could manage was four-hour grabs. He’d reassured her she would recover, even as her internal injuries had made movement difficult.
Love in action. She craved it. He lived it.
She knew where her heart lay.
With David.
Now, she pushed upright. Her innards protested but settled. Progress, it seemed. Could she stand without help? With a wince, she rose. Success! She wobbled but steadied as she stepped into the sitting room of the suite.
David wasn’t there. Where was he? “David?”
No answer. Holding onto the door frame for support, she peered into the darkened room. No one there. She hobbled to the door opening onto the room where David now stayed. Empty. She had to trust he’d be back. Maybe she should call Jonathan, who now bunked across the hall.
No. She needed this time to herself. With a fleece from the sitting area, she made her way to the couch on the balcony. She lay down on the cushions and rested her head on a pillow. Ah. This was nice, especially with the fleece warming her.
Water rushing over some rocks in the river soothed her. She closed her eyes as she remembered
another conversation from earlier that week, not even a day after Rothstein told her she’d do better recovering in the comfort of the hotel suite in Burning Tree.
That Thursday, Gabe had visited her, told her the news of Nate’s suicide. Sitting on a chair in her bedroom, he rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the floor. His hands shook. “I tried to stop him, Abigail. Truly, I did. He was too fast.”
She cried. Nate had been a friend over the years as well as a coworker. He’d fallen prey to Sal. Another family destroyed by the man she’d once so admired.
Gabe gazed at her, his eyes dark pools of sorrow. “I also realized a couple of things. You love David, and I’m good with that.”
From where she lay in the darkness with her cheek pressed against the pillow, she couldn’t argue with him. That evil lump in her throat choked off her words.
“Just promise me we’ll still be friends.”
“We will be,” she finally whispered.
With that, he rose, kissed her temple, and left.
More kisses. This time real ones on her forehead. Huh? Was her brain that addled? She opened her eyes and found herself lying on the balcony’s couch, not in a darkened bedroom as Gabe recounted Nate’s demise.
David sat on the coffee table and leaned over her. Darkness had fallen completely over the area, and low light glowed from the kitchen where he’d turned on a lamp.
What was that on her chin? Oh, great. She’d drooled again in her sleep. She used a corner of the fleece to wipe it.
“It’s good to see you’re awake.” He leaned forward and feathered her cheek with his fingers as he touched his lips to hers.
Ahhh. She could get used to this. Big time. A lazy smile crossed her face. “You actually caught me sleeping. Maybe that’s a good thing?”
“It is. Can you sit up?”
“I think so.”
He helped her upright.
Wow. No dizziness whatsoever. Or headache. Maybe she was starting to make some real progress.
He settled beside her, and she leaned against his firm frame. He took her hand. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around all day. The brass wanted to talk to me at two. Two hours, they said. Six hours later, they finally took their toys and went home.”
“Sounds like when they visited me yesterday. They left only after I threatened to upchuck on them because I was so nauseous. Jonathan played the protective big brother to the hilt.” She shook her head and winced. Better not to do that if she wanted to remain headache free. “He wouldn’t leave even when they asked him to. I guess they decided to do two for the price of one with him, and they interrogated him as well.”
She closed her eyes as she remembered all that she’d learned. “Sal knew how to leave people with no options. Jessie. Tina. Nate. Mitch. What happened with Mitch?”
“A plea deal. He sang like a choir boy. Not that it matters since Sal’s now gone.” David sighed and picked at something on his jeans. “Much as I want to disagree, I can understand why he did it. He thought Sal held the keys to his daughter’s life. In his mind, relying on a sure shot from him was easier than facing the uncertainty of a fundraiser. And he honestly thought that Sal was altruistic.”
“As did Nate, probably.” Her heart again ached as she thought about the collateral damage from his rash actions—his family.
Oh so gently, David ran his hand down her hair. “I know. How’s Marti?”
She smiled. “She’s doing better and is quite happy to recover here in Burning Tree. Her fiancé joined her, so she said she’s treating it like a mini-vacation.” Her mood swung downward. “Well, it’s kind of a forced vacation. We’re on medical and admin leave until this is all sorted out.” She cut her gaze toward him. “It’s really not looking all that good.”
He toyed with the ends of her hair. “How so?”
“Sure, Marti, Gabe, and I busted a traitor, but they think I caused his death. His and Jedidiah’s.”
David stared. “What?”
“I know. I know. Dumb, right?”
“Uh, yeah, seeing that Sal and Jedidiah Stone had it out for each other. They’re the ones who killed each other. You didn’t even fire a shot.”
“And then there’s that little thing about running the Athena file investigation without Sal’s permission.”
“Sal was a traitor.”
“That didn’t seem to bother the lead investigator. He wanted to have me arrested and court-martialed. Thank goodness General Gardner came to my rescue. Regardless, he said my career is pretty much toast. I’m getting out at the end of the federal fiscal year. And Marti’s retiring at the same time. Gabe seems to be the only one who escaped unscathed.”
“He did and you two didn’t?”
“Marti had planned to retire anyway. And I guess the lead investigator thinks I led Gabe and Marti astray.” A wry smile crossed her face. “Gabe got promoted and is headed to Bragg.” She snuggled closer to David. “God works in mysterious ways sometimes. Nick called to check on me. He told me Raleigh PD’s looking for detectives and if Marti and I were up for it—what?”
“Continue,” he said as a smirk tipped his lips.
She glowered at him. “Not until you tell me why you’re gloating.”
“Ladies first.”
“Okay, fine. Have it your way. When I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling, about the only thing I could do was pray. And as I did, I realized one thing.” She remembered some of the tears she’d shed when David wasn’t in the room. “I was like a toddler and her toy when it came to my career. I kept clinging to it even though God was showing me something so much better. Finally, it was like he had to pry my hands off that toy, and it took this experience to do that.”
Her thoughts began scattering. Curse the concussion. She had to get it together to finish her story—and fast. “Years ago when I was passed over, I’d put in an application to the Raleigh PD. When Sal promoted me, I withdrew it before they could make an offer. So when Nick called, I jumped at the opportunity. He’s scheduled an interview for me with them late next week.”
David’s eyes widened. “As in you’ll be moving to Raleigh?”
“Uh-huh.” Her heart sped up at the thought of returning home. “Jonathan’s already said I could live with him. I start at the beginning of October—provided my concussion issues are resolved. I’ll be on medical or admin leave until then.”
He faced forward and stared at the coffee table. “Wow.”
“Now it’s your turn, David Shepherd.”
“For?”
She mock-punched him on the arm. “That little smirk of yours. Don’t think I didn’t notice it.”
“Jonathan’s recruiting Marti to work for us at SecureLink.”
“She’ll be wonderful at her...” She frowned as something connected in her healing brain. “You said us.”
“I did.” He took her hand and ran his fingers lightly down the top.
She shivered at his touch.
He draped the fleece around her shoulders and continued, “This morning before the investigators showed up, Mom and Dad joined Kyra and me for brunch at Kyra’s. We had a heart-to-heart with them about a lot of things, including our futures.”
Her heart caught in her throat. “What... did you talk about?”
“Dad’s heart attack. Mom’s concern that it could happen again. Kyra’s worry about the kids.”
“Huh?” She frowned. “I don’t follow, and it has nothing to do with my brain.”
“Oh.” He chuckled. “And you can’t read my mind yet. She’s worried Mike and Stan are at the age where they’re going to start getting bored being out in Burning Tree.” His broad shoulders rose and fell with a shrug. “I can understand that. So can Dad. Kyra wants them to have a bigger town for their teen years. Little Bit’s too. And I think Dad’s finally coming to grips with the fact that Burning Tree’s pretty isolated. What if he had another heart attack? Mom’s talked him into selling the ranch and putting the resort on the market—to the right buy
er.”
“Whoa.” Her world spun, but it had nothing to do with her concussion. “Does that mean... does that mean you’re... leaving Burning Tree?”
“It means more than that. I’m returning to SecureLink.”
“Wow.” Stunned, she sat back. “I thought you’d never leave Burning Tree.”
“God’s been working on me.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Big time. Once more, I wasn’t trusting God, and I was using Kyra and her family as well as Mom and Dad as a crutch. When you and I broke up, I denied it. Oh, Kyra saw right through me, but she also knew I was so bull-headed that I needed to figure it out on my own.” His Adam’s apple worked. “I’m called to trust Him and move on faith. He’s got work for me to do both at SecureLink and with the homeless community in Raleigh, just like I’d planned to do last year when I initially moved there.”
“Oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, wow. Sorry.” Her words temporarily failed her. “My brain’s kind of stuck.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “God’s also been working on me in other departments.”
“How so?”
“You, uh, might want to reconsider living with Jonathan.”
“Why?” Kachink. Something else slid into place in her brain. Her heart began racing as he eased off the couch and onto his knees. “David?”
He reached into the back pocket of his jeans. “Because I’d like you to come and live with me as my wife. Abigail, will you marry me?”
She stared at the platinum ring with its marquis diamond. Joy filled her. “Yes! Yes!”
He slid it on her finger, then kissed her slowly, lingeringly. She easily conjured their honeymoon. Oh, she’d better stop that. Now. When they finally came up for air, she murmured, “I still need to live with Jonathan for three weeks.”
His eyes widened. “Three weeks? That’s all?”
“Just long enough to plan to get married on Memorial Day weekend. And I want to get married here in Burning Tree on your parents’ ranch.”
He smiled. “Sounds like we’ve got some planning to do. So if you’re up for some supper, the family plus the crew who worked the case are waiting on us. Kyra promised low lights for you.”
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