“You want a war? You can have it,” Vincent called down. “We have hundreds back here ready to go.”
“Send Naomi then,” Peter said. “I’ll allow her to negotiate.”
“Fuck off, you spineless cunt!” I yelled.
Vincent handed me a sidearm. “You know what to do with this?”
“Yep,” I said, cocking it. I followed Naomi’s lead and kept the barrel pointed at the ground.
Vincent smiled at his only daughter. “I like him.” He looked down at Peter. “You can try to come get her. I don’t think she’ll go quietly.”
Steps sounded behind us, and Kansas and Spenser stood on each side of me, gripping their rifles.
“Spenser! Spense, would you please talk some sense into her? I don’t want this. It’s senseless. Zeke has to come back with us. Naomi and her team have committed serious crimes.”
“Eat shit and die, Peter,” Spenser said, chewing on a wad of gum. She winked at him.
“You think this is going down?” Kansas asked.
“Not sure,” Naomi said.
“Maybe I should,” I began.
“No,” Naomi, Spenser, and Kansas said in unison.
Naomi shot a knowing look at Trex, and he motioned for his team to follow him down the wall. They jogged across the compound and out of sight.
“Are they going to light this place up?” I asked. “I don’t want anyone inside these walls getting hurt over me.” No one answered. “Naomi,” I prompted.
“You go with Peter, and I’ll be hurt,” Naomi said. “Jenn will be hurt. Brad, your siblings who are all waiting for you to come home, by the way—will be hurt.”
“If you leave with Peter,” Kansas said. “No one will ever see you again.”
I turned to look behind me at the men and women on the ground. “I can’t let them—”
“Zeke,” Naomi said, looking up at me. “You promised.”
I nodded. “I did. Okay, then. We’re at an impasse.”
“It’s over, Peter. You’ve got nothing,” Vincent called. “You push this, and you’ll be destroyed.”
“Are you threatening me, Vincent?” Peter asked.
“Did it sound like I was asking you to dance?”
With one command from the front, the US soldiers trained their guns on us. The men and women were kneeling in the hot sand behind their trucks, waiting for the order to squeeze their triggers.
Vincent gave his order, and the militia did the same.
“Bennett,” Foley yelled. “Don’t make me call your daddy.”
Peter narrowed his eyes. “Can you live with this, Zeke? Because one way or another, you’re coming back with us.”
“Naomi,” I began.
“No,” she said quickly.
“Babe.”
“I said no!” Naomi yelled.
A bright white dot formed on Peter’s face, and he lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the light. He turned to see someone reflecting the sun on a small mirror from a large dune behind them.
Half the US soldiers were ordered to turn around and guard their six.
Once the mirror was put away, I could make out Trex and his crew—minus Sloan—belly-down on the sand, staring down the scopes of their rifles.
Trex waved. “You’ve been flanked, fuckers!” he yelled.
Furious, Peter turned around, mouthing fuck before getting back on the horn.
Spenser handed Naomi her own megaphone, and she held up the recorder to the speaker and pushed play, amplifying Peter’s voice for everyone to hear. From what I could tell, she’d recorded everything he’d said each time they were together, even before he’d moved her to Colorado Springs. Naomi even had some conversation between Peter and another woman. He paled as he realized the extent of Naomi’s evidence.
“Stop!” Peter yelled over his own voice. “Stop, Naomi!”
She cut off the recording and handed Spenser the small silver rectangle that could destroy him. “Do you understand now, Peter? It’s not just me. Turn around. Go back to Colorado. Leave us alone, and never come back. That’s the deal.”
Peter seemed hurt. “Naomi.”
“I never pretended to play fair. You knew better. And I told you. You’re dead to me,” she said.
Peter glanced around at his small army of confused soldiers. They’d been following the wrong side, and they were more than happy to follow the command to stand down.
The soldiers did an about face, turning their backs on Senator Bennett.
“Turn around!” Peter screamed. “Target the walls! Now!”
He sounded whiny and pathetic, the man he would be to me, to Naomi, and to everyone else who’d witnessed this day for the rest of his life. That was exactly the punishment he deserved.
“I said turn around, damn it!” He stomped.
Bennett’s army packed their gear and loaded up in the back of their transports. Peter watched helplessly as they yelled to each other to move out. He had no choice but to leave with them. He stared at Naomi for a long moment, the desert wind blowing his tan suit jacket and beige tie before he finally ducked into the back of a Humvee. Soon, all that was left of Peter and his demands was a cloud of dust and sand.
I gripped the ledge of the wall, relieved.
“You okay?” Naomi asked, touching the small of my back.
“Yeah. I’ve just never been in a standoff before,” I said.
Vincent slapped me on the back—hard. “You’ll get used to it.”
Aside from the lookouts, everyone climbed down off the wall, and the rest of the militia returned to their training.
Naomi and her team walked with me back to our cabin, the sun stifling hot and bearing down on us.
“Did you hear that?” Trex asked. “Vincent likes you. He doesn’t like anyone.”
“He likes family,” Naomi said.
“Where’s your mom?” I asked.
“She was down there,” Naomi said.
Trex pointed back down to the bottom. “Did you see the sniper on the other side of the wall with her rifle trained on Peter? That was Christine. No one fucks with Christine.”
“I didn’t. You’ll have to introduce us,” I said to Naomi.
“We’re having dinner there tonight if you feel up to it. How’re you doing?” she asked.
I took her hand in mine. “In disbelief that we just went toe to toe with the US military, but otherwise feeling strong.”
She smiled, leading me up the stairs and to the small dining table. The cabin was nice, a studio layout. The only room was the bathroom off the kitchen area. Naomi sat a glass of water in front of me, and Trex and Harbinger sat with us at the table while Kitsch, Martinez, and Sloan stood.
“Hate to say it, but that was close, Nomes,” Trex said. “Not sure how any of us can go back to the Springs. Darby’s going to be pissed.”
Naomi rested her chin on the heel of her hand. “Peter has federal agents waiting on him at the border. He’s broken too many laws to ignore. Not even his father can save him this time.”
Trex chuckled and sat back. “Well, it’s his own fault for underestimating you. He has no excuse.”
I took a sip of water, glancing around at Naomi’s friends. They didn’t seem fazed until Spenser and Kansas knocked then let themselves in, then they were all smiles discussing the varying scenarios that could’ve played out and how they would’ve handled each one.
“Was kind of hoping we’d see what Zeke could do with Uncle Vince’s Smith & Wesson. I’ve never seen him hand over his gun, have you?” Spenser said.
Naomi smiled at me. “Nope.”
Trex leaned over and patted my shoulder. “Pretty honorable of you to offer to go with them peacefully. Stupid, but honorable.”
Everyone tried not to laugh, but failed.
“What are you going to do now?” Harbinger asked.
“We always need people on the fire brigade,” Spenser said. “Just a couple of actual fir
efighters on the squad. The rest are volunteers.”
Kansas nodded. “They’d be happy to have someone experienced.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do,” I said, a surreal feeling overwhelming me. I’d somehow gotten back what I loved twice over. The nightmare was over.
“We’re engaged,” Naomi blurted out.
Everyone erupted in celebration, and Kitsch stood and pulled me with him to encompass me in a hug. That started a line, including Spenser and Kansas.
My brain didn’t work in ways that planned out and executed military strategy, yet I didn’t feel like an outsider. I was one of them. “I didn’t dream that?” I asked, stunned.
Naomi covered her mouth and chuckled, the others laughing too. “Is that good or bad that you’re not sure?”
“No, it’s good. It’s fucking perfect,” I said. She crawled into my lap, and everyone cheered again when she planted a kiss on my lips.
With Naomi’s hands cupping my jaw, her mouth on mine, and her friends and family patting my back and shoulders, I felt like I belonged. I’d found a loving home near the beach after spending my childhood in Hell, then spent most of my days in the mountains with my brothers and loved every second in both places, but it was in the middle of the desert where I’d finally found my family.
other books by jamie mcguire
Crash and Burn Series
From Here to You (book one)
Beautiful Series
Beautiful Disaster (book one)
Walking Disaster (book two)
A Beautiful Wedding (book three)
The Maddox Brothers Series
Beautiful Oblivion (book one)
Beautiful Redemption (book two)
Beautiful Sacrifice (book three)
Beautiful Burn (book four)
Something Beautiful (book five)
A Beautiful Funeral (book six)
Providence Series
Providence (book one)
Requiem (book two)
Eden (book three)
Sins of the Innocent, part one (book four)
Sins of the Innocent, part two (coming soon)
Red Hill
Among Monsters
Happenstance Novella Series
Happenstance (part one)
Happenstance (part two)
Happenstance (part three)
Stand Alone Novels
All the Little Lights
Apolonia
about the author
Jamie McGuire is the bestselling author of the Beautiful series and The Maddox Brothers series, which have sold more than three million copies in seventeen languages. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her three children, and German Shepherd, Hazel.
Learn more at:
Website: https://www.jamiemcguire.com/
Twitter: @JamieMcGuire
Facebook: Author Jamie McGuire
Instagram: @thejamiemcguire
acknowledgements
A special thank you to Jessica Landers. I can’t begin to articulate what you mean to me. You took on a job as my assistant to make my life easier for nothing more than a paycheck, and yet you do so much more. You’ve become one of my best friends. Hell, your best friend has become one of my best friends. You’re humble, you work hard, you’re self-sufficient, and your loyalty never waivers. I’ve never come across friendship so true and selfless until I met you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving me, for your limitless understanding of my flaws and shortcomings, for listening to me, for fangirling at the New Kids on the Block concert with me, for messaging Donnie freaking Wahlberg for me when we thought I couldn’t go, and for--when I email you and request something—not emailing back until your answer is “done.” You are truly my ride or die, and I am definitely the lucky one for landing in your circle. I will never stop saying, “Worth every penny”, because it’s always been true, and it will always be true.
Thank you to Jason Beguin. I couldn’t have finished this book if I hadn’t met you. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to write about love, but you’ve changed everything; not just for me but for all my readers, present and future. You came into my life twenty years after we first met when I wasn’t at my best but was pretending to be. You were completely unexpected and full of smart-ass retorts. From the beginning, you’ve challenged me, you’ve built me up, you’ve reassured me, and you’ve opened my eyes to so many things about myself. Thank you doesn’t seem to be enough, but I’ll try as long as you’ll let me;
To Misty Horn. We’ve known each other a long time, and quite honestly, I don’t deserve you. Thank you for educating me on foster parents and CASA, thank you for helping me move, for driving Jess up, for moving crazy heavy boxes of books and introducing me to your mind-blowing noodles and white sauce. Thank you for what you do for at-risk children every single day. Thank you for being the kind of friend I try to emulate;
To Tyler Vanover, thank you your continued stories and consult on what it means to be a hot shot firefighter, but most importantly, thank you for being one;
To Robin Gowen, from indirectly introducing me to the best man I know to helping me move in, and even helping me bathe my skunked dog. Most of all, thank you for reminding me it’s okay to prioritize wisely, and for your limitless, sound advice.
Christie Kersnick, thank you for your service and for being an invaluable resource on the military portion of this book, from jargon to procedure, you never hesitate to answer my seemingly endless questions.
To Stephanie Otis and Susan Dunnagan, who were fantastic resources on all things ER and medical related;
To the FBI, Pentagon, NSA, Homeland Security, and Air Force, thanks for not arresting me over all the weird information I look up on a daily basis, particularly for this novel.
To learn more about CASA and how to help or advocate for foster children, please visit http://www.casa.org/.
out of the woods
Darby
“W
hat is it with wedding days and cold toilet seats?” I grumbled. My elbows were nestled in my lap, my hands clasped together atop my knees.
“D’you say somethin’, Darby?” Carly asked from the other side of the door.
“Nothing. Inside joke.”
“I know your inside jokes, sister. I know ‘em all.”
I smiled even though she couldn’t hear me. “You do. I’m glad you’re here.”
“What?” she said louder. “I can barely hear you with all the music outside. It’s like a party out there.
“It kind of is,” I said.
I reached for the white stick on the back of the toilet and stared at it. The first one I’d taken the day before I’d barely glanced at, and then I had to take a second look. Now I knew what to expect, even if I didn’t believe it. One. Two. Two pink lines. Oh, my good Lord.
I was already dressed, a halo of flowers on my head, the silk and lace easier to maneuver when I sat and stood than the gargantuan travesty I’d worn at my last wedding. Trex was waiting outside for me, surely looking handsome in his suit, and Harbinger, Kitsch, Sloan, Martinez, Zeke, and the Maddox twins, Taylor and Tyler, were standing with him at the flower-adorned trellis at the end of a white aisle runner. I’d caught a glimpse of them earlier when I’d checked on Maddie, taking turns holding my barely one-year-old daughter as they stood around the guest book table, looking as proper as I’d ever seen them.
Carly had earned her maid-of-honor status by absconding with me from my last wedding, and she was standing dutifully outside the door with Zeke’s girlfriend, Naomi, Trex’s sister Hailey, Caroline Harbinger, my former boss and best bartender in Colorado Springs, Stavros, Tyler’s fiancée, Ellie, and Taylor’s wife, Falyn.
All had become good friends, kind humans who’d helped me through the stress of being a new mom, a new business owner, and the nightmares of the night my abusive ex, Shawn, was killed before he could kill me and our unborn child. Hailey called when I didn’t want to talk.
Falyn gave me new mom advice. Ellie shared the invaluable knowledge she’d learned in therapy when I was depressed or anxious. She also connected me with the best psychologist in the area. Stavros was my rock as I took over from him ownership of the hotel. Caroline was a fellow Cheyenne Mountain Complex security spouse, and Naomi was Trex’s best friend—and now one of mine.
They’d all been instrumental in getting me to this point, and now they’d be the first to hear collectively that I was carrying Trex’s baby. They smiled at me as I opened the bathroom door and stepped out, holding up the positive test for all of them to see.
“Oh, my Lanta,” Carly said, her eyes wide.
“Are you fucking serious?” Naomi said, covering her instant smile. She grabbed the stick from my hand, focusing on the results. Then she handed it to Hailey.
“I’m going to be an aunt again?” Hailey squealed.
“Careful, or you’ll catch up with me,” Falyn said, rubbing her round middle.
“You okay?” Ellie asked.
“I’m…” I let the realization set in. “I’m okay. This isn’t the same. It’s Trex. He’s been through this before when I was pregnant with someone else’s child. Imagine how he’ll feel now … right?”
“Right? He’s going to be so fucking happy. It’s the best wedding day gift you could give him,” Naomi said.
“You look beautiful,” Stavros said.
He was a bridesman, but he wasn’t the only one in a suit. Naomi opted to wear one too, but her curves and the tailor’s lines made her look stunning. She wore a tank top under the blazer, the tie hanging loose from her neck. She was especially excited about the suspenders underneath.
Stavros held up the pink shot in his hand. “I was going to offer you this, but it seems inappropriate now.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But I don’t need it. I’m getting married surrounded by my best friends.”
“Did your mom call?” Ellie asked.
“Ellie,” Falyn scolded.
“It’s all right,” I said. “No, she didn’t. And, that’s okay. I only want happy people here today who love me.”
The Edge of Us (Crash and Burn Book 2) Page 32