Elijah rolled his head, stretching his neck, and sighed. “Okay, are we good with the plan?”
“And the backup plans,” Ryder added. “We’ve got our bases covered.”
They did, too. Every possible assault they could think of was gone over. Disguised, male or female, all of it. If the hitman showed, they were as prepared as they possibly could be. And it would ride in the back of Elijah’s mind. What filled the rest of his thoughts was spending the rest of his life with Taylor. He wasn’t going to allow a shadow to fall over the best day of his life. His mom had been laid to rest, and he was keeping her there.
His life was his now, and he was pledging his tomorrows to Taylor.
* * *
The minutes were quickly dwindling for her trip down the aisle, into the arms of the man she’d love the rest of her life. She was getting married. Inside, she couldn’t stop squealing. In just two weeks, they’d put together the wedding of her dreams.
Yes, there was the matter of the man paid to kill her, but Taylor wasn’t letting Ruth take away the happiest day of her life. It was funny to her. After all the trouble Ruth had gone to pulling her and Elijah apart, here they were, about to seal their love with a lifelong promise. Even his mom had known they loved each other and would find a way back to together.
A small knock came from the door of her room as Taylor put her veil on. “Taylor,” her dad’s voice called through the door. “It’s time.”
Julie and Mia each took a side of her veil and straightened it. The two other bridesmaids, undercover female police officers, smiled.
“You look beautiful,” Officer Lowes said.
Her partner, Officer Green, nodded. “You really do. That dress is amazing.”
Taylor checked herself one last time. “Thank you.” She turned to face the door. “Okay, Dad, I’m ready.”
The door slowly opened, and her dad peered inside before stepping into the room…with someone standing behind him.
“No one move,” a woman in an officer’s uniform said. “Or he dies.”
Taylor swallowed hard. “Please, don’t hurt him.”
The fake officer motioned with her gun to the two undercover officers. “You two don’t make a move. I’m going to take Miss Mabrey and her dad on a walk. If anyone follows, they’ll both die.”
“Or you can put the weapon down,” Elijah’s voice boomed from somewhere in the room. “I’m a very good shot.”
“I will kill everyone in this room if you so much as move a finger,” the woman said. “I’m not kidding.”
A small red dot like the one Taylor saw in Roswell settled between the woman’s eyes. “And if you even so much as try, I’ll drop you to the ground.”
Mason stepped into the doorway. “And if he doesn’t make the shot, I will.”
The woman’s gaze darted around the room with a wild look in her eyes. She was trapped, and it was obvious she’d not expected this.
When Elijah and his friends went over all the plans, none of them included this. Taylor had no idea where Elijah was or where his voice was coming from.
“Please don’t make me shoot you on my wedding day,” Elijah said.
For a second, Taylor wondered what the woman was going to do, but then her shoulders drooped as she held up her hands. “All right.”
Mason kept his gun trained on her. “Set the gun down and kick it over to the officers.”
The woman did as she was told.
“Now, all the way down, stomach on the ground, hands out in front of you. You make a move, and I won’t hesitate to fire.”
The small red dot followed her as she lay down on the floor. “Thank you for your cooperation,” Elijah said.
“Elijah, where are you?” Taylor asked, looking around the room. “I don’t remember this being part of the plan.”
A light chuckle sounded in the room. “Small speaker in the far corner of the room, and I’m on the rooftop of the garden shed across the street. I made sure not to look at your dress.” He paused. “Even if it was really tempting.”
Mason handcuffed the woman just as the rest of the guys showed up to help him.
Noah crossed the room and took Mia in his arms. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. I knew where Elijah was.”
Taylor held her stomach as her heart hammered, and her dad rushed forward and hugged her. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“I’m fine, but how did you guys know this would happen?”
“It was Mia’s idea,” Noah replied.
Mia shrugged. “We figured the hitman wouldn’t want to do it during the ceremony, and they’d want the chance to get away. Plus, there was a police officer in uniform that didn’t have an invitation. All the officers in attendance were given invitations and specific instructions to tell anyone who asked that we had a guest list. The second anyone said something about a guest list, we knew.”
Taylor let out a long exhale. “At least it’s over.”
Her dad cupped her cheek. “You ready to get married?”
“I am.”
“Give me ten minutes,” Elijah said.
“You’ve got five.” Taylor chuckled.
He laughed. “I’ll hurry.”
Then it hit her. It was over. She was marrying Elijah, free and clear of Ruth. For the first time since she was eighteen, she could actually breathe.
Chapter 25
Dressed in his tux, Elijah stood at the front of the church. He’d hurried off the garden shed roof and run to get changed once they caught the hitman.
He’d been halfway to the garden for the ceremony earlier when they’d received word that the hitman was on the premises. Once they knew she was there, he’d changed back into jeans and a t-shirt, slipped out of his home, and planted himself atop the roof, waiting for the woman to make her move. A moment a fear for Taylor had hit him between his bedroom and the roof, but once he had his rifle fixed on the door, his training had kicked in.
When he said he worked not to look at Taylor’s dress, he wasn’t joking. He’d kept his head down until he heard the woman say she’d hurt his soon-to-be father-in-law. The second she uttered those words, he’d taken aim.
It had been a little anticlimactic, but he preferred that to bloodshed on his wedding day. With the threat neutralized, he and Taylor were free of his mom. He hated feeling that way, but after the grief she’d put them both through, there was no better way to put it.
As “Wedding March” began to play, he closed his eyes, laying the thoughts to rest. It was his wedding day, and that’s all that mattered to him now. Finally making a vow to Taylor that he’d love her forever.
Along the back, a figure dressed in white made her way to the aisle of the outdoor ceremony. Escorted by her dad, Taylor stepped into view, and whatever lingering thoughts Elijah had just disappeared. She had to be, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman to ever breathe.
The dress was soft and elegant yet simple—a perfect expression of her. As she approached, little touches like the veil, the bouquet of white roses and yellow tulips, and barely-there makeup became easier to see.
“You’re beautiful, Taylor,” Elijah said and wiped his eyes with his hand.
Stopping a foot away, a smile spread on her lips, and her cheeks turned rosy.
Joseph pulled her veil back, kissed her forehead, and looked at Elijah. “You’ve been my boy a long time, Elijah. I don’t have to ask if you’ll love her and take care of her, because I know you will.”
“Yes, sir. I will.”
“Good, now let’s make this family official, why don’t we?”
Elijah took Taylor’s hand, and they stood before the preacher. When they got to the vows, they’d each prepared their own. It had taken him some time to write his. He wanted them to be perfect. In that moment, the words he’d written weren’t good enough.
“I wrote my vows a hundred different times, and I thought I had them just right.” He paused and took the ring from his best man, Lucas, slipping it on her fing
er. “Taylor Mabrey, I promise to love, honor, and cherish you. But beyond that, I promise to support you, hold you when you cry, and work to be the source of your happiness. I promise to be the man you think I should be, the man you dream I will be, and the man you hope to walk with you into the future. I promise to grow with you, grow old with you, and grow to love you more each day than I did the day before.”
A tiny tear slipped down her cheek as Julie handed her his ring. As she slipped it onto his finger, she said, “Elijah Emerson, you are the sweetest man I’ve ever met. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you. I promise to keep your heart safe now and forever. I promise you all of my tomorrows. And most of all, I promise you all of me loving all of you until I am old and gray.”
Once their I do’s were said, the preacher said, “You may now kiss the bride.”
Of all the things he’d been waiting for, this was the one that meant the most to him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and touched his lips to hers. All of her kisses were special to him, but this one was sealing their promises and future together. A future he thought never possible, but God’s timing had made it possible.
Now Elijah had all the time in the world with the woman he’d always belonged to, Taylor Emerson.
Epilogue
Nine years later…
With two glasses in her hand, Taylor stepped out onto the back porch of the home she shared with Elijah. Shortly after marrying him, she’d moved with him to North Carolina to a small farmhouse not far from where he worked at the Guardian Group.
Instead of selling his Las Vegas home, he’d donated it to the local church. They’d wanted to start an outreach for unwed mothers, and since Taylor and Elijah didn’t need it or the money, he’d happily signed it over to them. They preferred staying with her dad when they visited.
Taylor’s art career had taken a different path than she’d expected. While she still painted and created sculptures, she was now the curator of a local art gallery. It was a fulfilling job and one that she loved.
Elijah smiled up at her as she handed him the glass and sat next to him. The sun would set soon, and this was how they spent their evenings: watching their two boys playing in the fort Elijah built them while she snuggled against him.
“Mom!” Isaac, their oldest at six, poked his head from the window of the fort. “Are the cookies done?”
“Not quite. I just checked on them. Another few minutes.”
Joseph, their four-year-old grumbled as he climbed the steps. “Aw, they takin’ forever.”
“Patience, son,” Elijah replied. “Patience. You can’t rush cookies.” He slipped his arm behind Taylor and pulled her close.
She laid her head on his shoulder. “I will never tire of this.”
“Me either.” He tipped her chin up and kissed her. “Or that.”
“Nope.”
Elijah set his drink down on the ground and wrapped his other arm around her. “I don’t think I’ve told you I love you today.”
“Yes, you have.”
“Then I need to say it again. I love you.”
Something else she’d never tire of. The way he loved her. “I love you too.”
They’d built an incredible life together, and there wasn’t a moment in the last nine years that she’d change. God’s timing…in that nine years, she’d learned it was always perfect.
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Want to read Mason’s story? Turn the page to read the first chapter of The Ranger’s Destiny.
Sneak Peek! The Ranger’s Destiny Chapter 1
Rolling his neck, Mason stretched and then took a drink of water. He grabbed the towel hanging on the nearby weight bench and wiped his brow, grateful for the gym at the Guardian Group’s home base. The exercise was good for him, and he enjoyed it…although lately it wasn’t working out his frustration.
Over the last couple of years, his friends had found love and peace. Now that it was almost daily in his face, it was hard to push down his heart’s want to have the same despite the solid reasoning his brain gave him. He hadn’t been dating material before his career in the Army, and after being captured and tortured, he was even less so.
A knock came at the door to the gym, and Mason looked over his shoulder. “Hey, need a workout?” he quipped.
Noah, his former commanding officer and now boss, leaned against the doorframe with a folder in his hand. After they were all dishonorably discharged, a woman named Pam had come to Noah and offered him a job. In turn, he brought the entire company on board—Kolby, Gunner, Ryder, Elijah, and Mason.
When Pam’s husband was killed, she’d found herself with a sizable fortune. To honor his memory, she’d formed the private security company, Guardian Group, to help those who’d run out of other options.
Chuckling, Noah shook his head. “No, I have a job for you. Ryder requested help for a friend of Kennedy’s. Holly’s a veterinarian and runs a dog rescue out of it as well. Mostly abandoned dogs she rehabs and trains.”
Ryder asking a favor for his wife’s friend wasn’t a shock to Mason. His friend was so smitten he’d do anything for her, something Mason had no experience with and probably never would.
Noah smirked as he continued, and Mason braced himself for whatever was coming. “I need someone with a brand-spanking-new physician’s assistant certificate to hang out for a while in the small town of Chester, Virginia.”
During one of Noah’s assignments, he’d been shot, and Mason only had field medic training to go off of. After that, he’d taken it upon himself to study and get his physician’s assistant certificate so he’d be better prepared to help his friends and clients in the future.
Mason took the file folder his boss offered and flipped it open. Holly Blake, mother to three-year-old Jack. He glanced at the photo paper-clipped to the front of the folder. Pretty. Black curly hair hanging in ringlets, with wide hazel eyes, and a heart-shaped face gave her the appearance of being much younger than the twenty-seven listed as her age. The chocolate Lab her arm draped around seemed to be smiling for the camera too, and both were framed by a building with a “now open” sign.
He looked up at Noah. “Okay…a vet and dogs. What’s this have to do with my PA?”
Mason knew from the way his old friend’s smile widened that he was in for some trouble. “As it turns out, the town’s beloved doctor won an all-expenses-paid fishing trip to Alaska. He leaves today.”
“I’m going there as the town physician?” Mason asked, pointing to himself. Sure, he’d wanted to put the training to use, but as a small-town physician? “That still doesn’t answer my question, though. Why does Holly need protected? Why the physician?”
“Seems there’s some strange activity going on in their small town just outside Richmond. Three dogs have gone missing, all of which were trained by Holly.”
Mason raised an eyebrow. “I’m still a little confused. Why is she in danger?”
“Evidently, there have been rumors of a dogfighting ring having set up shop on the outskirts of town. Holly voiced concern with the local police over whether the dogs were taken as part of this ring and was rewarded with a threatening note. You’ll find a copy of it there.”
Mason flipped to the next page in the file. “‘Keep your mouth shut about things that don’t concern you,’” he read aloud from the typed page. “‘Or we’ll shut it for you.’”
Noah crossed his arms over his chest. “She’s spooked. Enough that she sent her son to live with her mom. That’s what got Kennedy’s attention. Holly tried to brush it off, saying she could handle it. We both know Kennedy wouldn’t let that fly.”
No, she wouldn’t, not after her own scare with her ex-husband and his loan sharks. Being kidnapped made her consider things like threatening notes serious—which they were. Even if Kennedy hadn’t been concerned, Ryder would
have, and he’d have brought it to the group. “What about her son? Who’s watching him?”
“Holly’s mom lives in a gated retirement community about thirty minutes away, and she has a brother who works at the fire department. I’ve spoken to him,” Noah replied. “He has friends in the police department, and they’re stepping up patrols. They’ve given the gate guard instructions to card anyone coming in. Should anything suspicious happen, they’re to call it in before allowing anyone through.”
“So, what exactly am I to be doing there? If I’m the town physician, I can’t be protecting Holly twenty-four seven.”
“We’ve set up cameras in the vet clinic both inside and out, as well as her home. You’ll be able to keep tabs on her with that. She has a vet tech, and as small as the town is, we didn’t want anyone getting suspicious.”
Mason nodded. “Okay.”
“Unfortunately, our usual shadowing bodyguard methods won’t work in this situation since we don’t want to draw any more attention to her. You’ll have to protect her from a distance. Hopefully, going in low-key and trying to blend in will allow you to get more insight into who these guys are.”
Now Mason was getting the full picture. “So, we’re sending the doctor on the trip while I set up camp undercover as his fill-in so I can keep an eye on Kennedy’s friend, Holly.”
Noah smiled. “Exactly. You’ll also be trying to track down who the dogfighters are so they can be stopped. Your plane will be ready as soon as you can get packed.”
Shutting the folder, Mason stood and handed it to Noah. “I’ll get Ryder to send the information to my phone so I can study it in the air.”
“I figured as much. You should have everything by the time you reach the plane.” Noah pulled out his cell phone and looked down at it, raking his hand through his hair, a goofy smile spreading on his lips. “In the meantime, apparently, I’m making a craving run. I can’t believe the baby will be here soon.”
The Ranger's Forgiveness (Army Ranger Romance Book 5) Page 16