“I’ll tell her. Anything else?”
“Tell her . . . I love her . . . and I will see her again.”
Chapter 25
Five days later
Julie Love reached across the table of the Black Iron Grill. She held Andrews’s hand. She was beaming.
“Last night was hot,” she said. “You’re quite the stallion, Agent Andrews.”
“It was damn hot,” Andrews agreed. “You are one sexy lady yourself, Agent Love.”
“Thanks, but the best is yet to come. I haven’t broken out my cheerleading outfit yet.”
Andrews chuckled.
Love released his hand and took a sip of her water. She pulled a menu, “What’s good here?” she asked.
“You’ve been here before,” Andrews said, “Remember? You pissed off poor Madge and ended up with a bowl of lettuce.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.”
“Well look what the wind blew in,” Madge said, approaching the table with a scowl on her face. “My favorite hot FBI agent and his pet Pitbull.”
Love looked up and flashed a faux smile, “I missed you too, Madge.”
She squinted at Love and turned to Andrews, her face forming a broad smile, “Good to see you, Jim.”
“It’s good to be seen,” he replied, returning the smile.
“I saw you on television,” she said. “You are becoming quite the hero.”
“Hey! I’m a hero, too,” Love interjected, pretending to be hurt.
“Settle down, Tonto, I’m talking to my man here,” Madge hissed. She turned back to Andrews. “What are you having today? Whatever it is, it’s on the house.”
He handed Madge the menu, “I’ll take my usual,” he told her.
“No problem,” Madge said. She turned to Love. The smile faded. “How about you, sugar britches? Just so you know, we haven’t added kale and hummus to the menu.”
Love smiled through gritted teeth, ignoring the comment, “What’s on special, Madge?”
“Nothing you’d be interested in,” she assured.
“Try me,” she insisted.
“The special is biscuits and country gravy,” she said.
“I’ll take it,” Love replied.
“Really? I can’t alter the gravy with almond milk, you know.”
“Just like it is will be fine,” Love said.
Madge flashed her a suspicious look and took her menu. Love smiled again.
“I’ll be back with your coffee,” she said, still eyeing Love.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Andrews added. “We have a guest joining us in five minutes. He asked if I could order for him.”
“Sure, what’s he want?”
“Do you have chocolate chip pancakes?”
“No. We do have a really good order of banana pancakes, though,” Madge offered.
“That’ll do,” Andrews said. “He’ll be a little disappointed but . . .”
“You know,” Madge interrupted. “I do have some chocolate chips in the back. I could sprinkle some of those in the batter.”
“I’m sure he’d love that,” Andrews said, smiling.
Madge smiled and left.
“Jesus, I can’t win with that battle axe,” Love complained.
“What are you talking about?”
“You saw how snarky she was to me, even after I ordered her ‘death by biscuit,’ dish, no questions asked. You order something she doesn’t have and she’s walking over thumbtacks to make it special for you.”
Andrews shrugged, “She was being nice. Now, where were we?”
“What?”
“I mean, before Madge showed up,” he said. “You were telling me about how last night was the best sex you’ve ever had.”
Love smiled and the thoughts of Madge flittered away, “It was really good, but I do think I have a few things to teach you yet.”
“What are you teaching?” a deep voice said.
“Rain,” Andrews greeted. “Good to see you. Have a seat. I ordered breakfast for you.”
Rainhorse slipped into the booth next to Love.
“Jesus, you’re big,” Love remarked.
“I ate a lot of Wheaties as a child,” he said. “How are you two holding up?”
“Good,” Andrews replied. “We were held for questioning and then released on our own recognizance. Summer Rose just met with the District Attorney. Once Greg Alt appeared at the courthouse, unharmed, the last of the major concerns was addressed. It doesn’t look like any charges will be filed against us. We are still on paid suspension until they clear us officially, but that’s okay. We are using the time to . . . decompress.”
Andrews winked at Love. She blushed.
“Good. It is going according to plan, then,” Rainhorse said.
“Not really,” Love protested. “That story I fed the DA is bullshit. Alt changing his mind about killing me at the last minute? Really?”
“It was necessary to take pressure off you for beating him and then holding him captive,” Rainhorse said.
“But you did that shit, not me,” she complained.
“A minor detail.”
“I don’t like it,” Love said.
“You would have preferred it if I let him kill you?”
“No, you big lunk.”
“Love, it’s working out,” Andrews said. “Leave it be.”
“I just can’t stomach Alt getting a light sentence and then going free,” Love said. “And what about the family of Jamal Davis? They will lose their lawsuit and never get the closure they deserve because we never proved Alt murdered him.”
“Oh . . . about that,” Rainhorse said. “I have a present for you, Andrews.”
He slid a thumb drive across the table to him.
“What is this?”
“It’s a recording of Greg Alt confessing to the murder of Jamal Davis,” he said. “I thought, once you’ve been restored to active duty, you might make some good use of it.”
“How did you get this?”
“He spoke to me about it, freely and openly,” Rainhorse insisted.
“Bullshit,” Andrews said. “You forced him to confess.”
“I did not,” the Cheyenne replied. “Listen for yourself. You will like the audio. He even tells me he did the country a favor by killing him.”
“He’ll claim you coerced the confession,” Andrews said.
“He might,” Rainhorse acknowledged. “If that is the case, you can always strike a deal with Rice to cut a few years off his sentence. I am sure Rice would be happy to take any deal on the table.”
“Rice is seventy-two years old,” Love said.
“And he has prostate cancer, I hear,” Rainhorse acknowledged.
“I just learned that myself this morning,” Andrews said. “He has stage four cancer. He has maybe six months to live. The news hasn’t been released yet. How the hell did you know that?”
Rainhorse shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter. The point is, who cares if he gets twenty-years rather than fifty?”
“I thought you promised Alt you wouldn’t bust him for Falcon’s murder?” Love asked.
“I did not,” Rainhorse corrected. “I promised him I would not testify against him, and I do not intend to.”
“When the DA gets hold of this, all deals will be off the table,” Andrews noted. “He’ll get life without parole, but only if he escapes the electric chair.”
“And the Davis family will get their closure,” Love said.
“And win their lawsuit, undoubtedly,” Andrews added.
Madge brought their food. Rainhorse began to devour his banana pancakes with added chocolate chips. Andrews cut into his omelet.
“These are even better than the pancakes in Houston,” Rainhorse said. “Love, you are not going to eat your biscuits and gravy?”
“No. I have a banana and an apple in the car,” she said. “No way I’m eating that. I just order it because . . . well, just because.”
“Hmmm,” Rai
nhorse replied. “Give them to me. They smell good.”
Love lifted the plate and handed it to Rainhorse, “Knock yourself out. I’m going to hit the restroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Rainhorse slipped out of the booth and let her out. He watched her as she walked away.
“That is a fine woman,” he said. “A man might call himself lucky to have a woman like that.”
“Indeed,” Andrews said.
“What about you two?” Rainhorse asked. “You seem to be getting along well.”
Andrews smiled, “Yeah, we’ve been talking. Love and I are going to approach the HR team tomorrow and tell them we are in a relationship.”
“I am happy for you both,” the reformed assassin replied. “You are both good people.”
“I think I may have fallen in love with her the first time I met her,” Andrews said.
“I thought she was the enemy?” Rainhorse said.
“She was, and she was driving me crazy.”
“Always a sign of true love,” Rainhorse replied.
Andrews chuckled as Agent Love made her way back to the booth.
Rainhorse finished his pancakes and then ate the biscuits and gravy.
“Quick,” Love said. “Give me the plate with the biscuits and gravy.”
“But they are all gone,” Rainhorse said.
“Just do it.”
A moment later, Madge approached the table. She immediately looked at Love’s cleaned plate and scowled.
“Damn!” she said.
“What’s the problem, Madge?” Andrews asked.
“I just lost twenty bucks,” she said.
“Why?”
“I bet my husband that sugar britches would not actually eat the biscuits and gravy,” she said. “Looks like I was wrong.”
“Looks like,” Love said. She forced a small, fake burp. “Delicious, too. Best biscuits and gravy I’ve ever had.”
Madge sighed, “You all need anything else?”
Rainhorse and Love shook their heads, “No,” Andrews replied.
“I’ll be right back with the check.”
“Hey, I thought you said it was on the house?” Love snarked.
“I did . . . for Agent Andrews. I’ll be back.”
“That was mean,” Andrews said to Love, once Madge disappeared into the back. “Why would you do that?”
“I walked by the kitchen on the way to the restroom,” Love said. “I overheard Madge making the bet with her husband. She said I wouldn’t eat the biscuits and gravy.”
Rainhorse chuckled, “Remind me to never piss you off.”
“Funny, that’s what Andrews told me about you,” she said.
Rainhorse raised his eyebrows, “And he was right.”
Epilogue
Seven months later
Julie Love slipped out of the bed. Naked and hot, she began fanning herself.
“Whew, we got a little . . . aggressive that time,” she said.
Andrews was breathing heavily, lying on his back, “You didn’t like it?”
Love chuckled and gazed at him, in all his naked glory, “I loved it. Just an observation.”
“Our lovemaking just seems to get better and better each time,” he said.
“If by better, you mean hotter and kinkier, then yes, I agree,” she said. “I’m going to hit the shower. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“You want me to join you?”
“Later, Tiger,” she said. “I need a breather.”
“Come on, Love. I’ll use the handcuffs this time.”
“In your dreams, cowboy.”
“Later it is, then,” he said with a mischievous smile.
She leaned over the bed and kissed him, allowing her finger to brush up and down his chest. He slipped his hand around her neck and pulled her toward him.
She broke it off, “Down, boy. I’m sweaty. We’ll pick this up again later, I promise.”
“Suit yourself,” he said as she watched her walk to the bathroom. His cell phone buzzed. He looked at the display—‘CALLER ID-UNKNOWN.’
He answered, “This is Andrews.”
“Am I interrupting anything?” a familiar voice said.
“Rain! Good to hear from you. No, you’re not interrupting. I was just . . . taking care of a few odds and ends. What’s up?”
“I have been out of pocket for a while,” he said. “I’m just checking in.”
“Where are you?”
“Another part of the world my friend, where things like warm showers, drinking water, and fresh meat and vegetables, are not things that can be taken for granted.”
“I see,” Andrews said, deciding not to push him for an exact location.
“I heard from Summer Rose that both you and Agent Love were exonerated from any wrong doing and that you have both been reinstated back onto active duty.”
“Thanks to you,” Andrews said.
“You and Love did all the work,” he said. “I just gave it all a push in the right direction.”
“Did my name or Swede’s name ever come up in the investigation?” Rainhorse asked.
“Swede’s did not come up at all. Alt was raising hell about you, but all his credibility has been shattered. No one is looking for you. One day you’re going to tell me how you always manage to fly under the radar.”
“One day,” Rainhorse repeated.
Love appeared in the doorway, still naked, “Is that Rainhorse?”
“Yeah,” Andrews replied. “Come say hello.”
He put the phone on speaker, “Hey Rain.”
“Hello, Love. I trust things are going well for you.”
“Very well,” she said. “I have to admit I was very skeptical about Alt’s taped confession. I thought you were bat-shit crazy.”
“You are not the first woman to say that,” he said, “but it did work out, right?”
“It sure did,” she said. “Alt was tried and convicted for conspiracy and murder. He is now serving life in prison with no chance for parole.”
“Good. Then my work is done,” he said.
“Not quite,” Andrews said. “I have a very serious matter to discuss with you.”
“What is it?” he replied, a worried tone in his voice.
“I need a favor,” Andrews continued. “It seems I’m going to need a best man at my wedding.”
“Your wedding?” Rainhorse scoffed. “Who, in their right mind would marry you?”
“I guess I would,” Love said.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“In that case, I would be honored,” Rainhorse replied. “I have never been a best man before. When is the wedding?”
“We haven’t set an exact date yet, but it’ll be more than a year away,” Andrews said. “We have some things to work out, first.”
“Things? What things?”
“Well, Love lives in Washington, DC, for one thing. I live in Montana. She has a condo with a decreasing value she needs to get rid of . . .”
“The market is beginning to bounce back,” she interjected.
“I own an eleven hundred square foot rambler on three acres,” he continued. “Love hates rural areas.”
“Say no more,” Rainhorse said. “I get the picture.”
“How will I reach you when I have a date set?”
“You can reach me through Summer Rose,” he said. “I have to go.”
“What’s the rush?”
“There is a low life pimp in town getting on my nerves,” the former assassin replied. “He has been recruiting underage girls into his service, pimping them out and beating them up. I warned him before I left for Texas that I would be back. I guess he did not take me seriously.”
“So, I guess you’ll just have to explain it to him in terms a man like him will understand,” Andrews said.
“That is what I’m thinking.”
“Go get em’ Rain.”
“Roger that.”
Rainhorse end
ed the call. Love looked at Andrews, “Whoever those poor bastards are, they have no idea what’s coming for them.”
“I thought you were going to take a shower?” Andrews said.
“I was but I just found out something you ought to know.”
“What is it?”
She held up a small plastic stick, “I’m pregnant.”
~the end~
Devil’s Fork
Brotherhood Protectors World
Jesse Jacobson
About Devil’s Fork
Enjoy this sample chapter from the book, Devil’s Fork. Former Navy SEAL Roger Jolly is thrust into a life or death situation during a six-day camping and rafting excursion. Jolly, now an outdoor adventure guide, sets out with eleven passengers and his former SEAL brother. Jolly meets a beautiful woman, Jeannie Jenkins, and a budding romance begins. On day two of the trip, an unknown assailant wounds two of the passengers, sinks their boats and cuts off their communication to the outside world, trapping them on a river bank miles from civilization. With his back against the wall, Jolly and Jeannie make a break for it, drawing the shooter's attention away from the group. They raft down Devil's Fork, a forbidden section of the river with ominous, unpassable rapids. Jolly must solve the mystery of the shooter, protect Jeannie and navigate the dangerous rapids, all with a skilled sniper in hot pursuit. Devil's Fork combines tender romance with nail-biting action.
Devil’s Fork
SAMPLE CHAPTER
The bus ride to the point of departure was always one of my least favorite parts of the excursion. Everyone was antsy and excited to get started. The bus ride back after the trip was the worst, by far. Everyone, including me, was tired and wanted to get home.
Jeannie took up an entire seat behind her parents. She sat with her back leaning against the window, her feet propped up on the seat. I sat in the back with my arms folded. I pulled my St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap down on my forehead, hoping to catch a short nap. ToeJam was sitting across the aisle, fast asleep.
About thirty minutes into the trip I felt a presence. I looked up and pushed my hat back. Jeannie was now sitting in the seat in front of me, twisted to her side with her right elbow draped over the seat back. When I looked up, she smiled.
Wounded Falcon: Brotherhood Protectors World Page 16
