by Laura Kaye
After Chen left, Becca turned to Nick, where they were all still gathered in the gym. “I want to be armed tonight.”
“Me too,” Kat said.
Nick and Beckett traded a look, but then Nick nodded. “Everyone who’s comfortable handling a weapon should be armed. I want redundancies on top of redundancies where safety is concerned. And for the record, I fucking hate this.”
Becca wrapped her arms around Nick and laid her head against his chest. “I do, too. But I hate being scared more.”
Nodding, Nick said, “I’ve got a few calls I want to make. But then I’ll be wrapped up here.”
“Okay,” Becca said. “Maybe I’ll go throw together some lunch for everyone.” Staying busy was the best way to keep from going crazy. At least, it had worked for her during the team’s investigation. No reason why it shouldn’t now.
“I’ll help,” Emilie said.
“Me too,” Sara said.
In the end, all four women made their way back to the apartment with Becca, and she appreciated the silent show of support. She really did. They decided on tacos, and everyone got to work chopping veggies and browning the meat. Emilie apparently made a mean spicy Spanish rice, so she took charge of that.
As Becca stood at the stove, the whole thing suddenly crashed over her like a tidal wave. The shooting at the hospital. Knowing everyone would be in danger tonight. The prospect of facing Woodson again—for real this time. “Can you watch this?” Becca asked Emilie, laying down the big spoon with which she’d been stirring the ground beef. “I’ll be right back.”
She rushed down the hallway and ducked into Kat’s sometimes-room rather than her own—the one she shared with Nick. First, because she wanted to be alone in case Nick returned from making his calls. Second, because her wedding gown was in this room, hanging on the outside of the closet door. Luckily, they’d picked up their dresses from the bridal boutique before the lockdown had started, and now it was here waiting for her.
For whenever Nick and Becca were finally able to get married. Because her gut told her it wasn’t going to be tomorrow.
Becca sagged down onto the edge of the mattress, her gaze drinking in the gleaming white satin and the sparkling beadwork at the waist. Her lip quivered and her eyes pricked, but she wasn’t giving in to tears. She was done crying. Now she was just fucking angry.
It doesn’t matter, Becca. The wedding is just one day in a forever that lasts the rest of your life. It’s just one day.
And it was. She knew it. But their love had overcome big obstacles—Nick’s initial belief that her father had betrayed him, sophisticated and numerous enemies, multiple attempts on their lives. What they had was hard-fought and well-earned. They deserved a day of celebration and happily ever afters.
Two soft knocks sounded against the door.
Becca straightened her back, took a deep breath, and said, “Come in.”
“Hey,” Kat said, leaning in the doorway. “Can I join you?”
“It’s your room,” Becca said with a small smile.
Kat shut the door and sat down on the bed next to Becca. “It really is an amazing gown. Nick is going to swallow his tongue when he sees you in it.”
It might’ve been the first time all day Becca smiled. “I am looking forward to seeing him see me in it for the first time.”
Grasping her hand, Kat nailed her with that Rixey stare. “You just have to hang in for a few more hours. This is almost over.”
“I know,” Becca said. “I know. But is it bad that I want to be the one to end this asshole’s life once and for all? I just want to see the consciousness bleed out of his eyes so I can know it’s over for good.”
“Not even a little bad,” Kat said. “You guys deserve a happily ever after.”
Becca chuffed out a humorless laugh. “We all do. But sometimes I’m afraid all we’re going to get is . . . a hard ever after. You know?”
Kat’s gaze was full of determination. “This guy’s going down one way or the other, Becca. And besides, a hard ever after sounds like it could be good to me. I mean, you know, hard can be good.”
That eked a smile out of Becca, and that smile turned into a chuckle. “Yeah, hard can be good.”
“No,” Kat said, grinning now. “Hard is good. Really fucking good.”
It was stupid and childish and ridiculous, but as the hard jokes started flowing out of them, they descended into outright crying giggles and really unattractive snorting that was a helluva better release than tears could ever be.
“Thank you,” Becca finally managed. “I really needed that.”
“Good. Now come on, let’s go eat.” Kat pulled her up from the bed.
“I’ll catch up,” Becca said. “Need to use the bathroom.” She headed back toward her room, passing Shane and Sara’s on the way. Their door was open, and something caught Becca’s eye. She stepped back to the opening and peered in at Shane’s big medic case just inside the doorway. Becca shut herself inside the room, knelt, and opened the lid to the case.
When her gaze finally landed on a bottle of injectable diazepam, an idea came to mind. Nick wanted redundancies upon redundancies; well, this certainly fit. And given that Woodson had gotten his hands on her twice before, she wanted a way to hurt him up close if it happened again. Without letting herself question what was probably a totally useless idea, she filled a syringe with a dose guaranteed to induce sleep in a man Woodson’s size. Quickly, she put everything away and tucked the syringe into the pocket of her dress, which hung in Nick’s closet. No one even had to know the syringe was there.
One thing was for sure, Becca Merritt was done feeling like a victim. She was ready to fight for this life she wanted, once and for freaking all.
THEY ARRIVED AT the inn early for the rehearsal. Before Becca even stepped foot out of the stretch Hummer, Nick wanted to take a look around and discuss a plan with the security he’d brought in extra for the rehearsal. This was the same team who’d be running things at the wedding, so they already understood the nature of the threat from when he’d met with them earlier. To add another layer of security, Chen had arranged to put agents from his detail at either end of the long block on which the inn sat, providing an effective roadblock and a defensive perimeter.
It was all likely overkill. Nick knew it was. The bait would lure Woodson to the restaurant, not here. Hell, they hadn’t even published a wedding announcement, so the details of their arrangements could only be known by people with whom they’d shared invitations.
When he was satisfied, he opened the door to the ladies’ limousine. “Let’s practice us a wedding,” he said with a smile. He might be tense as hell inside, but he didn’t want to do anything—well, anything more than what had to be done—to take away from the joy of the occasion. Becca deserved a happily ever after, and Nick was determined to give her one. No matter what it took.
Becca stepped out of the limo in a stunning long blue dress that made the color of her eyes almost glow. She adjusted the long decorative chain of her purse on her shoulder. He’d given her a small handgun that would fit the bag, and even though she knew how to use it—thanks to her father—Nick really fucking hoped she never had to. But he couldn’t have agreed more that she should have the protection on her. It was always wise to be prepared for a snafu, that was for damn sure.
Sonya greeted them at the gatehouse and guided the group of them inside. The first floor of the inn was where the cocktail party immediately after the ceremony would take place while they were taking wedding photographs. A tall round table filled with champagne flutes stood in the center of the floor. “Please help yourself while you wait for the minister to arrive.”
“Do you want to see the upstairs where we’ll hold the reception?” Becca asked the women.
Even though the security team had assured them that the house had been locked up tight all day, with no one coming or going until they and Sonya had arrived to open up for their rehearsal, Nick wasn’t comfortable letting Becc
a go alone. In the end, everyone went along for the tour. It really was a nice place. The kind of place where happy memories were made. Nick wanted that for Becca. For both of them.
They didn’t have to wait long for the chaplain to arrive. Nick didn’t know the man personally, but Thomas McAdams was a military chaplain who was a friend of a friend, which was how they’d managed to book him on such short notice. Nick guessed that McAdams was not much older than he was, and the chaplain seemed eager and interested and kind. Nick immediately liked him.
McAdams greeted the whole wedding party, then Sonya gave him a general tour of the outdoor space where the ceremony would take place. They’d process up the brick-lined courtyard between chairs that were already set up for them, and the ceremony itself would take place on a raised brick patio against the backdrop of the rear of the gorgeous Carroll Mansion. A plain wide wooden arch stood there now. Tomorrow it would be decorated with flowers.
As Sonya, McAdams, and Becca spoke, Nick couldn’t help but be on the alert. His eyes and ears were wide open, despite the fact that things were quiet. Exactly as they should be. And he wasn’t the only one. Every one of his teammates had their game faces on. Nick was fucking glad.
“Okay, now that I have the lay of the land,” McAdams said, “I’d like to go over what you all indicated you wanted for the ceremony. Then we’ll walk through it as a group, and I’ll show you where to walk and stand, all that sort of thing. And then we’ll do an actual dry run, music and all if you have it.”
“I have it on my phone,” Becca said.
“That’ll work,” McAdams said. For a few moments, they discussed vows, wording for various parts of the ceremony, who was holding the rings, and how they wanted him to introduce them to the audience when the ceremony was complete. “Okay, let’s walk through it all. Anyone should feel free to interrupt this time with questions or suggestions. In fact, now is the main time to ask questions,” he said. “Becca, where do you want to start the procession from?”
Sonya stepped forward. “If I might make a suggestion,” she said, guiding them back into the first floor of the inn. In the back corner, there were three doors. “There are two private party rooms here we’ve set up for the bridal party to use before the ceremony.” She let them into one and turned on the lights. The rectangular room had a long table that seated eight in the center, with old-fashioned leather armchairs clustered in groupings along one wall. A floor-to-ceiling mirror hung at the far end of the room. “Both rooms are identical. These usually work nicely to allow for last-minute preparations, privacy if the bride doesn’t want to be seen by the groom beforehand, and staging for the ceremony itself.”
“Yes, that’s what we’d discussed. I don’t want him to see me until I’m walking down the aisle,” Becca said, smiling at him. Nick couldn’t fucking wait. “So then we’d be processing from inside?”
“That’s right,” Sonya said, leading them back out to the main room. “The groomsmen will join Nick at the dais ahead of time. We’ll keep these doors shut until it’s time for the women to walk. When the music changes, we’ll open the doors and the bridesmaids will go one by one. And then the music will change again to whatever song Becca has chosen to walk to, and she’ll proceed as well. Is someone walking you down the aisle, Becca?”
“Oh.” Without hesitation, she turned to Charlie. “Will you? Please?”
Her brother’s face filled with emotion. “Yeah. Of course.”
Becca pressed a kiss to Charlie’s face. “Thank you. I’m sorry that in all the craziness I didn’t think of this sooner.” He shook his head, clearly moved by her request.
“Very good,” McAdams said. “Let’s head outside to see how we’ll arrange things at the dais.”
As they walked the length of the courtyard, Sonya said, “Remember not to walk too fast, bridesmaids. It’s longer than usual, so everyone always wants to run up the aisle.” The women all laughed. When they got to the raised brick porch, Sonya directed each of them to where they should stand for the ceremony itself.
After that, McAdams sped them through the words so they knew what would happen. And then Sonya was guiding them back down the aisle again to show them where to stand for the reception line they were going to form before returning to the porch for group pictures.
This all seemed pretty basic to Nick, and frankly he was a little impatient with it. But that was just the broader situation talking. He tried to block it out as much as he could, especially since Becca seemed to be enjoying herself. And given what they were yet to face at dinner, he didn’t want to do anything to ruin that.
“Okay, let’s do a full run-through,” McAdams said. “Gentlemen, except Charlie, come with me.”
Nick frowned and turned to Becca.
She smiled and winked. “Go ahead. I’ll be right there.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “You’re already the prettiest bride there ever was.”
“Aw, sweet man. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m going to run up this aisle to you,” she said as he headed for the door.
“I won’t object to that at all,” he called over his shoulder as he made his way toward the mansion.
And then Sonya guided the women back inside and closed the doors behind them.
CHAPTER 11
This is so exciting, Becca,” Sara said, looking around at the elegant room. “This place is so gorgeous.”
“I know. I fell in love immediately,” Becca said. The beautiful summer night, the sweet fragrance of the garden flowers, the ambiance provided by the historic architecture. Tomorrow was going to be amazing.
Assuming it happened.
No, it was happening. Becca just had to believe it.
“Becca,” Sonya said. “If you have your phone, I can hook it up to the sound system so it plays in the courtyard. Just show me what songs you want.”
Becca opened her wedding playlist. “This is the music that can play while people are being seated,” Becca said, pointing to a list of songs. “This one is for the bridesmaids’ procession, and this one is for mine.”
“Very good.” Sonya hooked up the phone. Classical music immediately filtered in from outside. Sonya had Becca line the women up in the order in which she wanted them to march, and the music changed for the bridesmaids. “And now we’re marching,” Sonya said as she opened the doors. The warm twilight air spilled in. White lights twinkled in the trees and on lines strung across the courtyard. It was magical.
One by one, the women walked out the doors. Jenna, Sara, Emilie, then Kat. And then it was just Becca and Charlie left to walk down the aisle. She turned to him. “I’m so lucky to have you as my brother, Charlie. I just want you to know how grateful I am that all of this has brought us closer again.” Next to finding Nick, that was one of the brightest silver linings in everything that had happened.
He gave her a small smile. “I feel the same exact way,” he said.
“Okay,” Sonya said from beside the doors. “Now I’ll change to the wedding march, and it’ll be your turn.”
“Shut the fucking door,” came a deep voice from behind them.
Becca whirled. She recognized the voice immediately. Woodson. For real this time.
“Who are you, sir?” Sonya asked. “You can’t be in here.”
He brandished a gun directly at her. “I said, shut the fucking door. Now.”
As the blood drained from her face, Sonya hastily pushed the doors closed.
Becca fumbled for her purse, but the decorative metal clasp stuck.
“Don’t move, Becca. Don’t even fucking breathe. In fact, toss that bag down. Now.” Woodson stalked closer.
Which was when Becca realized he’d lost a lot of weight since she’d seen him two months ago. His eyes and face had the sunken, haggard look of an addict. He’d let his hair grow back in, too. He was no longer bald. “It was you. On the street the other night.”
“Told you I was gonna show you. And when I found out about your wedding, I thought, what better
time. Was gonna wait ’til tomorrow. Do it up right for the big crowd. But I figure, I got you now for sure.”
Charlie moved just the smallest amount to angle himself in front of her, and Woodson tracked the movement like a hawk. He trained his weapon at Charlie’s head and arched an eyebrow. “Get down on the floor,” he ordered Becca’s brother. “You, too.” He glared at Sonya, who rushed to comply. Charlie sank down more slowly, and Becca could feel the anger and frustration rolling off of him.
Becca needed to distract Woodson from whatever he planned to do. Delay him, at the very least. At some point Nick was going to realize something was wrong—she had faith in that into her very bones. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. So she just had to hold on for a short while.
“I told you to drop the bag. Do it now,” Woodson barked out, punctuating his words by jabbing the gun at the air.
Her belly sinking, Becca dropped the purse next to her feet.
Woodson gave her a droll stare. “Don’t fucking play me. Kick it away.”
She did, a little of her hope going with it as it slid across the hardwood floor. “How did you know about my wedding?” she asked, wanting to keep him talking.
“Yeah, that was some lucky shit, wasn’t it? For me, anyway.” He stalked closer, slowly, like he was paranoid despite the fact that he was the one with the weapon. “Little sister of a Churchman who was killed works in housekeeping at the hospital. Guess someone left an invitation out in the staff break room.”
“So she’s how you got the stuffed animal in to me,” she said, her voice shaky. She hadn’t been freaking out for nothing after all. Woodson really had been lurking around the edges of her life. For how long she wasn’t sure. But what a lesson to trust her instincts.
