“Not complaining,” Jeremy said.
Then Marc was back, lifting her gently. He’d brought two warmly wet cloths with him. They worked quietly together to take care of her then finally snuggled her down in the center, between them.
That was her favorite place to be. Marc lifted her face and kissed her. Gentle, almost worshipful, his tender stroking and gentle suckling on her lips nearly brought her to tears.
“I love you, April. Thank you for making me whole.”
Marc eased back just a little, and Jeremy moved in. His kiss was just as tender, just as sweet. The taste of both men on her tongue moved her. When Jeremy lifted his lips from hers, the sheen of tears in his eyes simply undid her.
“I love you, April. You’re the final part of me I didn’t know was missing.”
“I love you both so much.” On her back, she raised a hand to each of their dear faces. “Thank you for loving me.”
She smiled when her men met over top of her, their kiss fierce and, yes, tender in its way. It’s like our being here in this place and time makes everything between us sacred.
They snuggled her in, and she drifted for a time, simply being in the warmth and the love they shared.
Later, Marc sighed. “We have just one little loose end to tie up, and then we can plan our ceremony,” he said.
“Loose end?” April asked.
“Mmm hmm. There’s the matter of a couple of grifters who’ve escaped justice for far too long.”
“Damn right. Now that we’ve taken care of Kardigan, we’ll turn our attention to finding those two weasels.” Jeremy was apparently on the same page as Marc.
“And when you find them?”
“Don’t you worry, Nancy Drew,” Marc said. “We’re going to take care of this annoying little problem.”
April sighed. “I’m not worried. I just want to watch you wipe the floor with them.”
“Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?” Jeremy didn’t seem too bothered by that prospect.
“Only when it’s warranted. And I want to make sure you two don’t end up getting yourselves in trouble.”
“Don’t worry,” Marc said. He turned on his side and moved in closer. Jeremy did the same.
“Have some faith,” Jeremy said. “We’re clever—and careful.”
As the woman now snuggled in tight between those two carefully clever men, she really had no doubt. She did trust them, and she respected them enough to know this was something they needed to do.
“We want to start off in our new life together with the table cleared,” Marc said. “So that everything we build together, going forward, is built on a solid foundation.”
Not surprising, that was what April wanted, too.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Is that Felix?” Marc handed the binoculars to April so she could look. They’d already identified the man who’d called himself Oscar, and although she’d seen him only that one time—when she’d believed she’d killed him—April had been positive in her identification. Of course, he and Jeremy had already been certain the creature whose legal name was Frank Lucas was indeed a grifter who, at one time, had taken on the alias of Oscar Madison.
Both he and the man they were looking at now had assumed myriad names over the years.
The way April tensed when she brought Jacko Parr into view told him all he needed to know. His woman had said she was over the slime bucket, and that was probably true, but that didn’t mean any of this was going to be easy for her. For a heartbeat, he considered taking her away to somewhere private, where he and Jeremy could erase any thought of these cretins from her heart, mind, and soul.
But Marc had been raised in Lusty, and even though his inner warrior was screaming at him to put April someplace safe until this little adventure was over, he wouldn’t do it.
Just because some things were hard to face in life didn’t mean you did someone a favor by keeping them from facing them.
Necessarily.
“Yes, that’s him. He hasn’t aged well.”
“Clearly the sign of an evil heart and unhealthy habits,” Jeremy said.
“Clearly,” she agreed. She handed back the binoculars. “Now what?”
“Oh, we have a very specific plan in mind. Mel, Connor, and a few other friends have the two of them under surveillance.” Then he touched his earbud, opening the transmitter. “Positive identification. It’s a go.”
Echoes of acknowledgement rang in his ear. He turned and grinned at her. “Now, my love, we go and have a nice lunch while our friends make arrangements and troll out the bait.”
Marc had orchestrated an all-out effort to bring the two bastards who’d kidnapped and terrorised his woman to justice. He and Jeremy had contacted the police in Pennsylvania and opened a dialogue with Detective Connors. The man not only recalled the case, he’d been eager for the lead they’d been able to give him—the real names of the two men he’d listed as “unsubs,” unknown subjects.
With photos in hand, he’d been able to go back to some of the people who’d said they’d known “Felix Unger” back in the day, and those people had to a one not only agreed that was the man, they’d been willing to swear to it under oath.
It took the detective about two weeks to build his case. They all figured that, while they had only April’s word about the man posing as Oscar, it wouldn’t be hard to get good old Felix to roll on the bastard.
“I can’t believe they’re still here in Philly,” April said. They’d chosen to eat in the restaurant of the riverfront hotel where they’d booked a room.
“Actually, that’s not exactly the case,” Jeremy said. “They returned to Philly about a year ago. They’ve been having quite the little career, the two of them—sometimes alone, sometimes teaming up. As near as we can tell, they met in foster care when they were about eleven or so.”
“Trying to make me feel sorry for them?” April asked.
Marc chuckled while Jeremy shook his head in the negative. “Not at all. Lots of people grow up in foster care and make successes of their lives. A rough beginning in life does not excuse bad choices in adulthood.”
“No,” April said, “it doesn’t.”
“We’re guessing that since Philadelphia is home turf for them, and that several years passed without any APBs or BOLOs being issued for them, they considered it safe to return.”
April shook her head. “Just one more bad decision on their part. So, who’s the bait?”
Marc had been waiting for that question. “An elderly matron of this fair city, one who’s known far and wide for her generosity and, because she is elderly, what some consider her gullibility. Her name is Maude Maguire, and she’s a friend of Grandma Kate’s.”
“So, someone these clowns would have heard of. I don’t understand, though, how they would think to get an in with such a woman,” April said.
“That’s because Mrs. Maguire’s personal assistant, a man by the name of John Beaumont, is a reformed ex-con. He did time about twenty years ago for the same kind of larceny our intrepid pair specialize in. They know him, but not that he’s tread the straight and narrow since the bad old days.
“Detective Connors has briefed Mr. Beaumont, so he knows what to say and how to present an ‘opportunity’ to our villains. When that is done, and the time set for them to act—the date is later tonight, by the way—then we’ll move on to phase two.”
“And I’ll be in the loop?” April asked.
“You’ll be in the loop, and if you like, you, with us as your escorts, will have a few moments face to face with them. Your choice, baby.”
“I think I’d like that.”
Neither he nor Jeremy was surprised their two tangoes took the bait. That evening, when Beaumont took Mrs. Maguire to supper at a local, very famous steak house, the grifters would witness the two enter the restaurant. When they came out after dinner, it would be an undercover operative who accompanied Beaumont, a woman who was a friend of Kat Lawson’s and was delighted to do the job.
Beaumont was to drive along a certain route, and when he stopped at an intersection, Lucas and Parr would leap into the vehicle—one in the front passenger seat and one in the back.
Armed with handguns, they were to threaten Beaumont with the shooting of Mrs. M., in order to ensure his cooperation—cooperation that the female hostage, of course, encouraged.
He, Jeremy, and April were in another part of the warehouse being used as “hostage central.” Thanks to the listening device Beaumont had worn, both when he’d contacted the pair and later that evening, and also thanks to their own actions from the moment they got into the Caddy, the grifters were pretty much done for.
Once they made their demands of “Mrs. Maguire”, the police stormed the scene. The click of handcuffs was Marc’s cue to escort April into view.
Lucas and Parr, both wildly protesting their innocence, claiming they’d been set up, closed their mouths the moment they saw April.
She met “Felix’s” gaze and gave a dismissive look at Oscar. Then her smile bloomed, one Marc thought was beautiful, and one he was very glad was not directed his way.
“Now, this is much better. Should I ever think of you in the future—and I’m not at all sure that I will—this, right here, is how I’ll remember you. Handcuffed and ready to pee your pants.”
“Miss Bixby? If you’ll come with me for just a moment?”
April met Marc’s gaze and held it for a long moment. Then she nodded. “Of course, Detective.”
Connors left the room and closed the door, leaving Marc and Jeremy alone with the pair. He was very, very glad April didn’t protest. This was a moment that he and his lover had been looking forward to.
“Remember, Jeremy, the detective told us to leave no obvious bruises.”
“I do recall that,” Jeremy said.
They’d tossed a coin earlier. Jeremy got Parr, and he got Lucas. In sync, they each stepped close to his chosen tango and reached a single hand forward, grabbing hold securely of those dangly bits hidden by their trousers and then pinching and twisting with all their considerable strength.
The attack was sudden, sharp, and short. Parr and Lucas each emitted similar thin, very high-pitched screams before falling to their knees.
Marc opened the door and met the detective’s gaze. They’d been left alone for the agreed-upon one minute. “I think they’re overcome with guilt for having threatened to rape my fiancée,” he said. “They fell to their knees, and I think one of them invoked the Almighty.”
“Ah, they may yet be redeemed, then,” Connor said.
No one on the right side of the law attending then and there believed it for a moment.
* * * *
“What a wonderful, unexpected evening!” April grinned at her men, then hugged her parents. She hadn’t known about the engagement party before walking into Lusty Appetites an hour earlier to the shouts of “Surprise!” and “Congratulations!”
Everyone she’d come to know and love here in Lusty had been in attendance. Marc’s parents, Adam and James and Pamela, had been the first to greet and congratulate the triad.
“I’m so glad you’re my son,” Pamela said to Jeremy. “I hope you have room in your heart for another mother.”
“Make that two more mothers,” April’s mother said. She and April’s Dad had arrived from Austin early that morning, for a visit, they’d said. Of course, they’d booked themselves into the Parkview Inn.
“I…yes.” Jeremy was flustered, but looking into his eyes, she knew he was deeply touched. “Yes, I do. I’ll be pleased to call you both Mom.”
“We’re glad you’ve decided to stay here in Lusty,” Adam Jessop said. “It’ll make it easier for us older folk when the grandbabies begin to arrive.” His grin was pure mischief.
“It will,” James Jessop said. His grin matched his brother’s “You can be certain we’ll visit often, then.”
“Good,” April said. “There’s no such thing, in my mind, as too many grandparents.”
“That’s a very good thing under the circumstances.” Pamela appeared to be full of mischief, and in the next moment, April understood why.
A diminutive, curvy brunette entered the restaurant, a woman April had never met. But there was just something about her gaze, half-curious, a little guarded, that told her who’d arrived. She watched for Jeremy’s reaction. Pure joy radiated from him. He went right toward the woman and lifted her in his arms. “Mom! I can’t believe you’re here! How did you know?”
“Pamela Jessop called me, and I’m so glad she did.”
“Your mother arrived about an hour after we did,” Roberta Bixby said. “We three had tea and some of Anna’s cookies over at the Inn this afternoon.”
Jeremy slid his arm around his mom’s shoulders and turned to face April and Marc. “Mom, you remember meeting Marc last year, at Christmas.”
“I do, indeed. And now he’s going to be my second son.” The woman gave Marc a sweet hug then turned shiny eyes on April.
“This is April. Sweetheart, my mother, Lucinda Bishop.”
“I’m so grateful to finally have a daughter.” Just as she had with Marc, she hugged April. The good my lover has in his soul has come from this sweet woman. April prided herself on being a good judge of character. Lucinda Bishop was a woman of strength.
“I’m happy to have another mother,” April said. “I hope you’re staying in town for a few days so we can get to know each other better.”
“Oh, yes.” Lucinda looked over her shoulder at her son. She let go of April’s hands to reach up and cup the side of his face with her hand. “For a long time, I’ve waited for those shadows you wore to go away. Now they have.” She turned back to Marc and April. “I know in my heart that’s because of the two of you.” She nodded to April. “I booked a week, definite, but I can extend that.”
“Do that, Mom, please.” Jeremy kissed his mother’s cheek. He followed her with his gaze when she joined Marc and April’s folks, who were made welcome at a large table that included April’s parents and several of his aunts and uncles.
“They all seem to get along,” Marc said. “That’s a bonus.”
“It is.” Pamela had once mentioned that many of the women who’d married into the family in her generation—the mid to late twentieth century—had parents who were less than welcoming of their daughters’ choices. April couldn’t imagine how that would hurt—to have her parents turn against her just because of who she loved.
Not that many years have passed from that time to this, and yet it seems a different world.
Adam, Jake, and Ginny arrived with their three children. The twins were a little shy with Marc and Jeremy. She wondered if she imagined that they were flirting with her. Ben, the oldest son, offered his congratulations and how grown up he seemed. Then he looked down at his brothers. “Come on, guys, let’s go find the cousins.”
They scampered off following their big brother, and Marc looked at Adam. “That sure as hell takes me back.”
“To the times past when Morgan would coral us and Robert would herd y’all and we’d make our own party while the adults visited?” Adam asked.
“Yeah. That was one thing about growing up here. There were always cousins for us to hang with.”
“That’s how it is for our boys,” Ginny said. “Ben seems to be the big brother to not only Marty and Nicky but the younger cousins, too.”
“He’s really good with them,” April said.
“Not at all bossy the way Morgan was with us,” Jake grinned.
“Detective Connors has been keeping me updated on the situation in Philly,” Adam said. “Since the two accused grifters’ pictures have been in the papers, a few more folks have stepped forward to give evidence against them for various crimes. Connors thinks it’s quite possible there will be more charges.”
“Good,” Marc said. “It’s a good thing when justice is served.”
He wore a smile that spoke volumes to her. He hadn’t told her what all he and Jere
my had done to the two criminals in the short time they’d had, but she had her suspicions.
“Is that what y’all did? Serve justice?”
“That was a very nice y’all.” Jake Kendall nodded to her. “You’ve been in Texas a few years, now. I bet before much longer, you’ll be taken for a native.
April blinked. That smooth segue of Jake’s told her that, apparently, Marc and Jeremy hadn’t been as reluctant to tell their cousins what they’d done to good old Felix and Oscar.
“You know, I’ve only ever heard one man make the kind of a high-pitched squeal that those two made when y’all were alone with them, and that was a high school friend who’d tried to show off his trick bicycle riding and instead had ended up doing the splits, landing very hard—on the cross-bar.”
“Imagine that,” Marc said.
“Amazing.” Jeremy managed his comment with a completely straight face.
“Men.” Ginny shook her head. “Especially Lusty men. If they’ve invoked their code of silence, you best just let them have their way because, boy howdy, they don’t change their minds ever.”
“I suppose that’s not such a bad thing,” April said. She didn’t really need to know the details. They’d needed to do something to avenge her, and they had. Case closed.
“Do you know any more than what’s been on the news with regard to former Congressman Kardigan?” Adam asked Marc.
“Not really. They haven’t settled on what charges are going to be brought yet,” Marc said. “However, he is still in custody, and that’s not going to change.”
“I’d have thought treason would be the obvious charge,” April said.
“That’s a possibility as we are, more or less, at war with the insurgents in Afghanistan,” Jeremy said. “And a state of war must exist in order for that charge to be brought.”
“Most likely, aside from attempted murder, he’ll be charged with ‘crimes against the United States,’” Marc said. “Whatever it is, I’m content the man will likely never be free again.”
More family arrived, including all the newly pregnant cousins, as well as some of the cousins newly married.
Love Under Two Bad Boys Page 21
