by Lisa Harris
Will said, “I need to be checked out, but I’m going to stick with Hollis. Just in case Frankie shows up there with hostile intent.” That wasn’t the reason he would stay with her. But it would feel good to be close to her. “I’m not leaving her.”
“Huh.”
“Text me when you locate him. I’d like to be part of the takedown, if I can be, but I’m not going on another wild goose chase. Not if it leaves Hollis in danger.”
“This is your investigation.”
Will nodded. “True. Doesn’t mean I have to be the arresting officer, though. Conroy probably wouldn’t mind that honor. I’d like to see it happen. But I’ve done what I came here to do.”
And wasn’t that the truth? His job had been to find the source. West had been identified, and Conroy would be motivated to bring Frankie in now. Along with all of his officers. That meant it wasn’t Will’s job alone.
After working solo for as long as he had, it was strange to leave it to others. But Will knew down to his soul that it was the right thing to do.
And it felt like being set free.
He didn’t have to take it all on by himself. These people were his team, law enforcement colleagues who were more than capable of finding and arresting Frankie.
“That’s it?” Eric said, “I just call you when it’s done, and you walk off into the sunset.”
“I’ll be at the hospital.”
“I should go then. Seems like I have work to do.” Eric turned and strode back to Tate, his brother-in-law.
Will figured the FBI agent had plenty of motivation to bring down Frankie. Especially considering this was a town where his extended family lived. Will was the new guy, having been here not that long. Still, it was beginning to feel like home. Last Chance was a place he’d finally found something worth sticking around for.
As he climbed into the ambulance and smiled at the shocked look on Hollis’s face, he wondered what she would think about staying here. She’d been about to leave. That was about Sharleen and Frankie. Her mom had been killed, right in front of her. Frankie would be arrested.
Did Hollis want to talk about staying here? Will would consider anywhere, if that was where she would be.
It suddenly occurred to him that the case, for him, was basically over. He only awaited word that Frankie was in cuffs.
He needed to call his dad. Let the old man know he was all right this time, like all the other times. Hollis might have lost her whole family, but could Will give her a new—a better—one? People who genuinely cared about her.
The idea lit a fire of hope in him.
“I need help!” A firefighter lumbered over, carrying a young woman in his arms. “She’s still alive.”
Hollis gasped. Will said, “What about the other one?”
The firefighter shook his head and handed the woman to the EMT. She was loaded on the other stretcher. Blood coated her front. A lot of blood.
The EMT glanced at Will. “Get the doors shut.” Then he called to his partner in the front seat, “Let’s go!”
The ambulance pulled out a second after Will had the doors shut. He sat beside Hollis, and they watched the medic work on the young woman while they raced to the hospital.
They took the girl in first.
Then Hollis was checked in.
A nurse tried to get him to get checked in as well, but Will shook his head. “In a minute. I need to make a call first.”
She didn’t look impressed. Will ignored her expression and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed. Two rings, and the call was answered.
“Hey…Pop. It’s Will.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hollis was immediately aware she wasn’t alone. “Will…” But—it wasn’t him. Though the line of the man’s shoulders was different, there was a comforting familiarity there.
“I’m Carlyle Briar. Will’s dad.” He sat forward in the chair beside her hospital bed.
Hollis tried to move. One leg didn’t feel right. Frantically she felt down over the blanket. It was huge, her knee wrapped in some kind of bandage.
“They said it’s a bad sprain, but they also said to tell you, ‘Dean was right again.’” He shook his head. “Whatever that means.” He paused. “You okay, Hollis?”
“Where’s Will?”
After that speech about staying with her while the rest of the cops brought in her stepdad, she’d figured he would be here when she woke up. Unless he’d changed his mind?
And what time was it, anyway? Right now she didn’t know what day it was, either.
“Uh…Carlyle. It’s nice to meet you.”
His lips curled into a smile. “Don’t ask what my mother was thinking when she named me, because I have no idea. Most people call me Briar, since most people I know are military.” He shifted, and she saw tattoos up both forearms and on his biceps, below the sleeves of his T-shirt. “We’ll have to figure out what you’re gonna call me.”
Probably she would call him by his name, right?
“Will calls me Pop, but you could use dad all the same. Wouldn’t matter to me.”
Hollis pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to ask again where Will was, but she really wanted to know. And not just because she suddenly had the urge to ask him what on earth his dad was talking about right now. There was so much unsaid.
But Will wasn’t here.
“Oh, and to answer your question.” Carlyle touched the side of his head. “Nearly forgot. You’ve been asleep about fourteen hours now. Long enough for me to get here from Texas. Long enough for Eric to find Frankie. Will went to see that he was brought in without incident. He said he’d be gone less than an hour.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“It’s not ideal, I know.” Will’s dad said, “He was hoping you’d wait to wake up until he got back.” He grinned. “Just my luck, I get to see the pretty green of your eyes before he’s able to come bumbling back in, saying the wrong thing, and scare you off. Unless, of course, I do it first.”
Hollis smiled.
“There we go.”
He was trying to put her at ease. She was grateful for that. Carlyle stood. “How’s the pain? The nurse said to get her if you woke up in too much discomfort.”
“It’s…manageable.”
“I’m thinking you’ve been through enough.” He nodded. “The woman my son is in love with can have better than ‘manageable.’ So, I’ll be talking to the nurse.” Carlyle leaned a hip against the side of her hospital bed. “Now I guess I know why I woke up in the middle of the night last couple of nights. Got that urge to pray, like my mom always told me she did in my wild younger days. Now I’m praying for my son. And you, though I didn’t know it at the time.”
Hollis just stared at him, unsure what to say.
“I’ve been praying nonstop, like I do whenever Will is undercover.” He smiled, almost looking embarrassed, and patted her hand. “I know you don’t know me, but I’m glad you’re all right. And I’m sorry about your family.”
“Thanks.”
“Will is going to be back soon. You just rest. Anything you need, let me know.”
He wandered to the door and stepped out, giving her another pleasant smile before shutting the door.
Frankie was actually being brought in. She let that sink in.
She thought of the girl who’d been carried down from upstairs, and she wondered if she made it. And what life would be like for her, having lived through that? Her mind took in the scream of the girl who got shot. The one who didn’t make it.
She heard the gunshot blast and it all played out in her mind again, but this time, it was her mom’s blood spray that she saw. The slump of her body. Hollis choked back a sob.
“Hey.”
She sucked in a breath. It wasn’t Carlyle this time. Will shut the door and came over. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned close to tuck hair behind her ear, while she struggled to control the tears that threatened to spill.
“Everything is okay now.”
She sniffed. Nodded.
“Frankie is in jail. Conroy got him, and they’re taking him to county lockup now. He’s not going anywhere. Athens has also been brought in, along with a half-dozen guys associated with one or both of them.”
Hollis pressed her lips together.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
That might be true, but Hollis still pulled him to her and buried her face in his neck, while he wrapped his arms around her. She held on with her good hand, and also with the fingers sticking out of the fresh bandage on her other one.
They sat in that embrace for a while. She heard the door open and then quickly close again.
This was what she wanted. But Hollis couldn’t help feeling those old insecurities flare up, threatening to steal the happiness she’d found. Trying to make her believe she didn’t deserve good things.
“My dad said you were in some pain.”
“I’m okay.” She gave him a squeeze with her good hand and then lay back. “Thank you.”
His expression softened. “For what?”
“How about…everything?”
“I love you.”
Hollis was so surprised by the abrupt change of direction in the conversation that she laughed aloud.
“Oh no. Why would that be funny? Is it too soon?”
She tried to smile, even though she was still kind of crying. “It’s not too soon.”
Will swiped tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
“It’s only funny because I feel the same way, but I didn’t know how I was going to tell you.”
“Just tell me,” he said. “Say it straight.”
After being lied to and manipulated her whole life, she figured that was a good idea. And a welcome change. “I love you, Will Briar. Or Phil Tilley.” She ran her thumb over the tattoo on his neck. “Whoever you are, or whoever you have to pretend to be for work.”
“This is going to fade in about six weeks.”
Hollis shrugged. “It kind of suits you.”
“You suit me. The tattoo, I don’t really care. So long as you’re in this with me.”
“In…what exactly?”
“Life. All of it. A relationship, and the chance to see where this is going. Work. Church. Eventually, family.”
“You want all that?” She figured she was up for it, if he was there too.
He nodded. “What do you say?”
This sounded oddly like a proposal to her. Though it was much too soon for that. Or was it? Hollis figured she knew enough to know that she didn’t want to end up with anyone else. Only Will knew the battle she’d faced, because he was right there beside her the whole time. Fighting for her. Saving her, the way she’d saved him from that fire.
Thank You, Lord.
“I do want to go to church.”
“Okay.” He was waiting for more.
Before she could say anything, the door opened. “Did she say yes yet?” That was Carlyle.
Will groaned. “Not yet, Pop. Can you be patient?”
“No, son. This old dog isn’t gonna learn that particular trick.”
Sounded like he didn’t even want to try. And from the look on his face, Hollis figured he thought that was more amusing than anything else.
The nurse came in as well, and Hollis was distracted answering questions and taking more medicine. She wanted to ask when she would be released, but walking didn’t sound particularly pleasant right now, so she figured she was okay to stay put just a little longer.
In the corner of the room, Will and his dad had a hushed conversation. She could see the closeness between them in the way they faced each other. The light in their eyes, and the crinkle of humor around his father’s.
The nurse left, and Carlyle gave Will a shove toward her. “Go get ‘er.”
“Nice, Pop. Real classy.”
The old man winked at her and then left.
Will dug in his pocket, then sat beside her in the same spot as before. “Continuing our theme of it not being too soon…” He held up what was in his hand. “If you don’t want it right now, I understand. But I’d like to give it to you eventually. Pop brought it with him.”
She frowned.
“It’s the ring he gave my mother.”
Hollis sucked in a breath. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. I hope, at least one day, you’ll wear it.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“To have and to hold.” The preacher waited while the groom recited the words. “For richer, for poorer.” He waited again.
Halfway back in the church pews, Hollis turned to Will who was sat beside her wearing a suit. She had a dress and heels on, her hair down and wavy around her shoulders. He’d said that was his favorite. And not the only reason she’d decided to never wear her hair in a bun the rest of her life.
He must have sensed her attention because he turned to her.
“I love you.”
Will smiled.
Up on the stage, the pastor had the bride recite the same vows to her soon-to-be husband.
“I know.” Will touched his lips to hers.
She didn’t turn back to the front. “I’d like that ring now.”
It had been an unspoken agreement. He’d wait, but as soon as she was ready she could ask him for his mother’s ring.
Over the past few weeks, Carlyle had stuck around. The two of them had arranged for her to buy the diner, and they’d been fixing it up for her. Which had turned into Will joining the crew completing construction on Dean’s therapy center.
He’d bought a house on the lake.
His dad had bought twelve acres on the edge of town and moved here as well.
They were three days away from the grand opening of the new diner, which she was now the proud owner of. Life didn’t look too different on the surface. But in all the ways that counted, she was new, and her entire existence was different. So different.
Thank You, Lord.
New relationships. A new job. Hope. A future.
The pastor said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Ignoring the ceremony, Will dipped his hand into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He’d been carrying the ring with him this whole time. Waiting for her.
“I love you.”
Will slid the ring onto her left hand and touched his lips to hers. Looking more relieved than she was comfortable with. He’d really been worried? Hollis determined then not to make him wait for the next step.
“Soon.”
He nodded. “Good.”
Up on the stage, the pastor said, “It’s with great honor I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Conroy Barnes.”
Hollis grinned at Will, and then clapped with everyone else to celebrate Mia and Conroy.
Hope.
A future.
Hollis watched the smile on Mia’s face, knowing exactly how she felt.
Acknowledgments
Huge thanks goes to the ladies in this boxed set for making this a fantastic experience!
A Note from Lisa Phillips
Thank you so much for reading! And for purchasing this boxed set collection of novels. I hope you enjoy each of the stories.
This story, Expired Plot, is book 6 in my Last Chance County series, which will continue into 2021 and end with Book 10. The series based in this small town will then spin off to a four book series of full length novels about Zander and his team.
Both Will and Hollis allowed the past—and others—to define who they were. As believers it’s God’s grace that gifts us with everything we need, and more, in spite of the fact we were born sinners. Thanks goes to Him that He doesn’t allow us to stay that way. The gift of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross allows us to break the chains of the past. He can live in us, imparting His righteousness where we only had filthy rags.
If you enjoyed this story, and would like to leave a review on your favorite ebook retailer or review site, we would greatly appreciate it. Reviews help other book buyers like yo
u know what other readers think of an author’s work. I know I rely on reviews when I’m choosing what to read next.
If you’d like to find out more about me, visit www.authorlisaphillips.com where you can sign up for my mailing list—and receive a free book—as well as find out what is Coming Next.
UP NEXT in this fantastic collection of brand new, full length novels is ICE by Lynnette Bonner.
Camryn Hunt witnessed a murder. Now she’s under the protection of handsome small-town sheriff Holden Parker. The gorgeous island location, and break from her dreary life, might be pleasant if the sheriff wasn’t so demanding. Determined that no harm come to Camryn, Holden secludes her at his home. He only wishes she didn’t intrigue him so thoroughly. Attraction only complicates things. Especially when the murderers arrive at his door. It’s going to take all his wits to save her.
* * *
Sounds exciting! I know what I’m reading next!
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God bless,
Lisa Phillips
Ice
San Juan Shadows Book Two
by Lynnette Bonner
Ice (San Juan Shadows, Book Two)
Copyright © 2020 by Lynnette Bonner. All rights reserved.
Published by Pacific Lights Publishing
Cover design by Lynnette Bonner of Indie Cover Design, images ©
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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Ice is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity and are used fictitiously. All other characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination.
