Mistake Me Not

by Scarlett Finn

  ‘Let Sorcha go and I’ll come with you,’ Lacie said stepping into the path of the gun.

  ‘Come over here,’ Wallace said.

  Lacie began to walk but Ryder got a hold of her again. Knowing how difficult this was for all of them Lacie slid her hands up his body to rest on his neck and guided his lips down to hers.

  ‘We can walk away from this alive,’ she murmured. ‘All of us. I’ll find you, I will.’

  Ryder caught her for another kiss and the determination in his eyes mirrored that of the day on the street when they’d lost each other before.

  When she turned away, Lacie crossed to the mid-point between the men. ‘Let her go,’ Lacie said.

  Wallace dragged Sorcha to her feet. ‘You come here,’ Wallace said.

  Lacie moved closer with measured, gradual steps. When she was within reaching distance Wallace thrust Sorcha away and snatched Lacie pulling her body to his.

  ‘Together again Lace; I’ve missed our chats, haven’t you?’

  ‘Not for a second,’ Lacie answered.

  Wallace spun her around and Lacie thanked the stars when she saw Sorcha clearing the building behind Ryder.

  ‘Let her go,’ Ryder said.

  Ryder whipped a gun from his waistband that must have been beneath his tee-shirt because she hadn’t noticed it at all until now.

  Ryder moved in closer leading with his gun. ‘Are you going to be the hard man now? I’ve got your girl.’

  ‘You’re going to let her go.’

  ‘Want to bet on that?’ Wallace laughed edging backward.

  Lacie saw an ajar fire escape letting in a few inches of daylight – their exit was apparently imminent.

  ‘Let her go!’

  This shout came from behind them and when Wallace spun she lost her footing and fell just in time for the pop of a bullet that shattered in the air. Lacie stayed put, silence crackled around her until the thunder of footsteps closed in on her at the same time sirens blared.

  ‘There’s a van outside, engine running,’ Rocco said.

  Lacie rolled to her back; Ryder was upon her with Gabe, and Rocco, and the rest of the boys behind them.

  ‘Baby, look at me, are you ok? Say something.’

  ‘What happened?’ she asked.

  ‘The guys surprised him through the rear exits. We got him.’

  ‘We...?’

  The sirens stopped when the wheels screeched to a halt outside.

  Ryder helped Lacie up to her feet and proceeded to check her body thoroughly for injuries. She spied Wallace’s body prone on the floor not far from their position.

  ‘Is he...?’ she asked.

  ‘Nah,’ Rocco said rolling Wallace to his back with his boot. ‘Tranq dart.’

  ‘This guy’s not getting out of doing his time,’ Gabe said. ‘We don’t leave a man behind. This one’s coming with us all the way back to jail.’

  Lacie was aware of the uniforms swarming in, and the SW men disarmed just as they were instructed. Gabe went to talk to the lead agent, and she couldn’t help but notice how quiet Ryder was. He was preoccupied with Wallace who was being checked out by medics. Each of the men was being interviewed, and Rocco told her Sorcha was being checked out too. Just as Lacie was going to approach Ryder she was side-lined to give her statement.

  A couple of hours passed before the scene was cleared and they were allowed to leave. Shep had shown up and gone to the hospital with Sorcha though the medics had cleared her. But because of the baby, and the shock, Sorcha had agreed to spend the night in hospital for observation. At times like this Sorcha’s enjoyment of the attention paid off.

  The SW men had been talking in a huddle for a while so she took the chance to get outside into the fresh air. She’d believed that the drama was over before when she went back to the UK, but she’d been wrong. Now that he’d woken up Wallace was being observed in the prison infirmary. Sorcha was safe with Shep and in the hospital. Eric had hidden Booth and between them, they held every fact that would convict Wallace.

  Sorcha was still pregnant and how her relationship with Shep would progress, or be affected, now that Booth was alive Lacie didn’t know. Although there would be a chance that Sorcha’s baby daddy would be spending some time in prison, and still Sorcha hadn’t told her parents any of this.

  ‘Are you ok?’

  Lacie spun to see Ryder approach as the men casually dispersed to their vehicles. ‘I think so,’ she said.

  ‘The medics checked you out, they said—‘

  ‘What about you?’ she asked reaching for his hand. ‘You were in prison this morning. Your best friend took aim at you. Now he’s going back to jail. I can’t imagine how it must feel to—‘

  ‘Eric was a medic,’ Ryder said ignoring her observations. ‘When he took Bruce out of Wallace’s house he took Booth to a cabin in the woods and put him back together. Booth got a deal too, he’ll testify against Wallace, and he’ll get immunity for the embezzling. Wallace won’t be granted bail, and any men that he might have tried to lean on are all inside with him.’

  ‘Bruce will get out?’ Lacie asked. ‘I have to talk to Sorcha.’

  ‘Do you want me to take you to the hospital?’

  ‘Are you sure? It’s been a long day for you—’

  ‘Come on,’ Ryder said directing her into the truck he’d first helped her into on the day their journey began.

  The trip to the hospital was quick, and when they got to Sorcha’s room Ryder tactfully removed Shep leaving the women alone, and giving Lacie the chance to fill Sorcha in on the information Ryder had gotten from the detective at the scene.

  ‘He’s out?’ Sorcha said. ‘Bruce is going free? And he won’t be charged?’

  ‘What does that mean for you?’ Lacie said. ‘Do you want me to phone your parents?’

  ‘No, Shep’s already been on me about that.’

  ‘You have to tell them.’

  ‘I have to talk to Bruce,’ Sorcha said.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Lacie asked.

  Sorcha shrugged. ‘This all started because of the life in me. It’s half Bruce too.’

  ‘Hasn’t this shown you that you don’t know Bruce very well? You have to be careful about what you’re getting involved in.’

  ‘Everything I’ve heard goes back to Wallace, and he’s out of it now. Bruce is a good man, who made bad choices – we’ve all done that... well us mortals.’

  Lacie took Sorcha’s hand and didn’t respond to the joke. ‘I’m your best friend. I’ll support anything you choose; Shep’s been a good man through this. Yes, he has a crappy work ethic, and he’s crude, but he stepped up for you. Your happiness is what’s important.’

  ‘Shep was never forever,’ Sorcha said. ‘He doesn’t want to be a father to another man’s child.’

  ‘Have you asked him that?’

  ‘I don’t have to.’

  ‘There’s no evidence that Booth would be a good bet for you, or a good father,’ Lacie said.

  ‘There’s none that I’d be a good mother either. We have to take some things on faith,’ Sorcha said.

  ‘If you think Booth’s a better candidate to take to your parents—‘

  ‘The man who got mixed up in a stack of illegal activities?’

  ‘So what do you want?’

  ‘Ask Bruce to visit,’ Sorcha said.

  ‘Here?’ Lacie asked and Sorcha nodded. ‘What about Shep?’

  ‘I’ll send him home.’

  ‘Do you want us to take care of that?’

  ‘Us? Listen to you.’ Sorcha smiled. ‘But, no thanks, I can do it.’

  ‘Ok,’ Lacie said. ‘Do you want me to come back later?’

  ‘I’ll phone you,’ Sorcha said. ‘When it’s done.’

  ‘Ok.’

  ‘What about you?’ Sorcha asked. ‘Are you going back to your parents?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘What has Ryder said? Has he asked you to stay?’

  ‘We’ve not had
a lot of time to talk.’

  ‘Your happiness is what’s important,’ Sorcha teased. ‘You decide what you want and make it happen.’

  ‘I can’t make up his mind for him.’

  ‘That means you want to stay here where he is.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘I’m biased. I think that’s an excellent idea. You should stay in the US with him... and me,’ Sorcha said.

  ‘I have a life to somehow cobble together.’

  ‘Talk to him, then tell me how it goes tonight when I phone.’

  ‘I’ll try,’ Lacie said leaning over to hug Sorcha.

  When a wolf whistle joined the opening of the door both women knew who had arrived. ‘Surely we can work out a time share agreement with our girls,’ Shep said to Ryder who was at his side.

  Lacie kissed Sorcha and went to Ryder. ‘We’ll leave you two alone. But, if there’s anything you need just let us know.’

  Both she and Ryder said their goodbyes and then they were back in the truck.

  ‘What did she say?’ Ryder asked.

  ‘She’s going to talk to Booth.’

  ‘He knows about the baby, do you think...? Is she still considering marrying Booth?’

  ‘I think so,’ Lacie said.

  ‘What does Shep say to that?’

  ‘We’ll know by the end of the day,’ Lacie said. ‘But, Shep’s not a forever guy. He won’t want to play daddy.’

  ‘I might have agreed with you a couple of months ago,’ Ryder said. ‘Now I’m not so sure.’

  He drove into the garage at SW, and shut off the engine. ‘Sorcha asked me if I was going back home.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I told her I didn’t know,’ Lacie said.

  After leaving the truck, she went upstairs then walked through the yard to the house. Running through the foyer and up the left side of the double staircase Lacie was in his bedroom filling her suitcase before Ryder found her.

  ‘Are you running away now?’ Ryder asked slamming the door. ‘Because I’ll follow you, I will.’

  ‘I’m not running away. You wanted to leave here, didn’t you?’

  ‘So we’re going together?’

  Dumping the clothes she’d been folding onto the bed she swivelled to him. ‘What are we doing Ryder? Are we it? Are you going to trust me? What about your men, do you trust them? What comes next Ryder?’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘My best friend is about to have a child, she’s going to marry the man who knocked her up; her parents will freak and she needs support, a lot of support.’

  ‘So you’re going to stay in the US for your friend? For Sorcha? Is that what you’re telling me?’

  ‘No,’ Lacie said. ‘I’m telling you that she’ll need a lot of my time and that we’re going to have to make concessions for the difficult time ahead.’

  ‘We?’ he asked softening his anger.

  ‘Yes, we,’ she said lifting her hands to his shoulders.

  ‘I want to make a go of this; of us.’

  ‘Let’s see how we do without the drama,’ she said. ‘Neither of us have a place to stay. You don’t have a job if you fold this place.’

  ‘I’m still going to sell,’ Ryder said. ‘But I’ve got a few ideas about what the guys and I can get up to.’

  ‘You and the guys?’ she asked.

  ‘They looked out for us today. You were right – I should’ve trusted them.’

  ‘Things have been difficult but we’re going to look out for each other from here on in, right?’

  ‘You’ll stay... with me?’ he asked.

  ‘With you,’ she said as he gathered her close.

  ‘I love you Lace,’ he said tucking her hair from her face. ‘I’ve loved you since... I need you with me, always.’

  ‘I know,’ she smiled at his frown. ‘Everybody keeps telling me... Love is easy, you make loving you easy. I’ve been falling for you since I walked into Shep’s office. I love you, and I want to support you just like you’ll support me.’

  The corner of his mouth curled up. ‘I love you, and you love me... that makes us lovers.’

  Ryder walked her back until her calves hit the bed. ‘You want to seal the deal? I suppose I do have a debt to repay.’

  ‘You do,’ he said tossing her to the bed on top of her scatter of clothes. ‘It’s going to take you years, maybe decades to clear it.’

  ‘Oh what a shame,’ she said when he dropped down on top of her. ‘You drive a hard bargain.’

  ‘I’m thinking about your body,’ he teased with his half smile.

  ‘Yeah, I bet you are.’

  They sealed their agreement with a kiss.

  Thank you!

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