“I hope you know that you two have become heroes in the law enforcement business,” Joy said, smiling. “I just returned from the lieutenant’s conference in Atlanta and everyone was talking about you.”
Drew lifted a brow. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” Joy said excitedly. “Detectives Andrew Logan and Antonia Oliver, cracking a quadruple homicide, including a cold case from six years ago. It has everyone talking. And then to arrest the murderer on her wedding day, and in her bridal gown... Incredible! Congratulations. Your lieutenant was singing your praises, telling everyone that you two make a great team.”
Drew smiled down at Toni in a way that made her breath catch. “He’s right. We do make a great team.”
Later that night, back at the hotel, after making love, Toni was remembering what Drew had said. They did make a great team. Did he really believe that?
Only time would tell.
• • •
“Nana and Granddad, I’d like you to meet Andrew Logan.”
Andrew knew Toni’s grandparents were sizing him up. After all, she’d warned him. She had never brought a guy home for them to meet before, and they were curious. That was good. If they needed to check him out to see if he was worthy to be a part of their granddaughter’s life, that was okay with him.
“Where are you from, Andrew? Who are your people?”
He fought back a grin. “Please, call me Drew. I was born in Memphis and both my parents are deceased.”
There was no need to tell them too much about his past since it wasn’t all that pretty. “I have a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice, and I’m currently a detective with the Alexandria, Virginia, Police Department.”
The older man nodded. “Toni has only been in Virginia a few months. You work fast.”
I didn’t work fast enough, Andrew thought. At that moment, he decided to be truthful with Toni’s grandparents. “Toni and I met several years ago at a police seminar in California.”
The older man nodded, and Andrew had a feeling that he was probably thinking that knowing his granddaughter, nothing had come of it. “Well, welcome to our home. We’re glad you and Toni reconnected, and her grandmother and I look forward to getting to know you better, Andrew.”
The first time Toni had told him about her grandfather and his relationships with the kids on his patrol beat, Andrew had known Madison Bellamy was special. And while helping the older man grill the food, Andrew had felt comfortable enough to tell Madison everything about his past. Unsurprisingly, the man didn’t pass judgment and told him he was glad he’d turned his life around He’d also said that he was glad Drew was a part of his granddaughter’s life. Andrew looked forward to more times spent with Madison Bellamy and promised to return.
In the morning, they would be meeting with Toni’s father for breakfast. Andrew could tell she was nervous about doing so. Later that night back at the hotel room while in bed, he held her in his arms and persuaded her to talk about her father. He wanted her to tell him about all the good things she remembered about him. When she had finished it pretty much sounded to Andrew that regardless of the mistakes Toni’s father had made in life, the man truly loved his daughter. Andrew believed that deep down Toni knew her father loved her as well.
Before drifting off to sleep, Toni told him how she intended to handle her meeting with Thomas Gilmore tomorrow. Andrew offered to go with her, but she’d said it was something she had to handle on her own. He understood and had promised to be there for her when she returned.
• • •
“Dad, I’d like you to meet a special friend of mine, Andrew Logan. Drew, this is my father, Antonio Oliver.”
Andrew shook the older man’s hand while thinking just how much Toni favored her father. She had his coloring, those same shaped lips and dark brown eyes.
“Good meeting you, Andrew,” Antonio Oliver said smiling.
“Same here,” Andrew said, returning the man’s smile. “And please call me Drew.”
“And I’m Antonio. Please have a seat. Our waiter will be back in a minute.”
Andrew and Toni took their seats. “It’s uncanny how much the two of you favor,” Andrew said.
Antonio’s smile widened. “I am proud of her and proud to be her father. I learned recently why she left Miami. I also understand you took action to protect my daughter’s personal and professional reputations. For that I thank you.”
Andrew met the man’s sincere gaze. “No thanks necessary,” he said, reaching to take Toni’s hand in his. “Toni means a lot to me.” There, he’d pretty much let her father know how he felt about his daughter.
At that moment the waiter came to take their orders.
• • •
Later that same day, around one in the afternoon, Toni walked into Thomas Gilmore’s office. A perky blonde greeted her at the reception desk. “Yes, may I help you?”
“I’m here to meet with Thomas Gilmore.”
“Oh? I don’t see that Mr. Gilmore has any openings this afternoon.”
“I’m sure he will see me.”
The woman raised a brow. “And what’s your name?” she asked.
“Antonia Oliver.”
The sudden frown that settled on the woman’s face meant she had recognized the name. “I’m sorry, but I doubt if Mr. Gilmore will want to see you.”
“How about letting him decide that.”
The woman’s frown deepened as she picked up the phone. “Mr. Gilmore, Antonia Oliver is here to see you.”
The woman kept her eyes trained on Toni while listening to whatever Gilmore was saying. Then, she said, “Yes, sir. I told her that, but apparently she needs to hear it from you, sir.”
Within seconds the door to Thomas Gilmore’s office opened, and the man stormed out. “How dare you come here? You are not welcome here. I am asking you to leave before I call security. You and I have nothing to say.”
If the man thought he could intimidate her, he was wrong. “I suggest you give me a few moments of your time, Mr. Gilmore. If you don’t, I’ll leave here and pay a visit to the Miami Herald. By the way, the staff of Ocean by the Sea sends their regards.”
She saw the flash of surprise in his eyes. Ocean by the Sea had been the hideaway for him and his mistress, ever since the time his mistress had been nineteen and in college. A mistress he had married off to his son. Then, going for the jugular, she added, “And just so you know, I plan to pay Mrs. Thomas Gilmore a visit today, as well.”
Gilmore’s gaze shifted to the blonde who wasn’t even pretending not to be eavesdropping. Toni figured the woman had heard more than Gilmore wanted her to hear, because he said, “We can talk in my office.”
“Yes, I’m sure we can,” Toni said, not cracking a smile. “After you.” Then, she followed Thomas Gilmore into his office.
When he sat down behind his desk, he asked in a gruff tone, “Now what is this about? I’d heard you left town.”
“Yes, I had. But this visit is about you, not me. It’s about why, when people began questioning why your son killed his family, you deliberately changed the narrative to make me look like the bad guy. I’d only been doing my job. I couldn’t understand how the situation had turned on me so badly, so I did some digging. This is what you were trying to cover up,” she said, tossing the packet with the investigative report on his desk. “That’s your copy. I have my own.”
He opened the huge envelope and out fell copies of the pictures she wanted him to see. Pictures he hadn’t known were taken. His sharp intake of breath meant she had his attention. “You, Thomas Gilmore, are a vile human being. You arranged for your son to marry the young woman you’d been having an affair with since her first year of college.”
Toni was on a roll now. “When your son found out the truth, he lost it and went berserk. That is why he took his wife’s life and then his sons’; boys he’d discovered were actually your sons. But instead of owning up to your part in what happened, you went after me, intent on ruining my caree
r in law enforcement.”
He picked up each photograph and stared at them. He then looked at her and said in a broken voice, “I’m sorry.”
She frowned at him. “No, you’re not. You’re only sorry that you got caught. That’s not good enough for me.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked shakily. “Please don’t tell my wife. Margaret would leave me for sure. She still hasn’t gotten over losing her son and grandkids.”
Toni didn’t say anything for a long time. “You have until five o’clock to call a press conference and publicly apologize to me for what you tried to do to my career. Five o’clock.” She glanced at her watch. That doesn’t give you much time.”
She paused a moment and then said. “In addition, you are to make annual payments for the rest of your life of not less than a million dollars a year to a charity that could really use your money—The Foundation of Mental Health.”
She leaned over his desk a little, to make sure she had his complete attention. “If you don’t, Mr. Gilmore, then I will go to the newspapers and provide full details of your affair with your son’s wife. That will include proof that those two little boys he had thought were his sons, were actually his brothers.”
Toni paused a moment to make sure that sank in. “I would also highly recommend that you resign your position as county commissioner. Today. You’re not worthy enough to hold the office. Like I said, you have until five o’clock today.”
Toni straightened, then turned and walked out of the man’s office.
• • •
In their hotel room, Toni and Andrew sat cuddled in front of the television at five o’clock, watching Thomas Gilmore acknowledge that he had been wrong in accusing Detective Antonia Oliver of not doing her job. He knew that she had tried to save the life of his son and grandsons, and that he would forever appreciate her for her efforts.
He went further to say he would be donating a million dollars every year to the Foundation of Mental Health. And then he announced that he would be stepping down as county commissioner to spend more time with his wife who needed him. When asked by one reporter why he’d had a change of heart, he’d merely said that he’d done a lot of soul searching.
“Soul searching, my ass,” Andrew muttered. “I see he’s not going to tell the whole story.”
“I really didn’t think he would.”
Andrew gazed over at her and asked, “Are you okay with that?”
She nodded. “Yes. He gave me a public apology. Besides, his wife has been through enough. I don’t want to cause her any more pain.”
Andrew stood up and took her hand. “Let’s take a walk on the beach.”
A half hour later, they were walking barefoot in the surf. It was a beautiful day, and Andrew and Toni wished they had more time to spend in Miami Beach before flying back to Alexandria late tomorrow evening. In the morning, they would be meeting Toni’s father again for breakfast and her grandparents for lunch.
He liked her father and grandfather and was glad that he was getting to know both men. Andrew believed that moving forward Antonio Oliver would always be there for his daughter. The older man had invited them back to Miami in July. His son and other daughter would be out of college for the summer and visiting him. Antonio felt it was past time for his children to meet. Andrew could tell Toni was looking forward to it.
Andrew and Toni loved the ocean and there was nothing like walking along the shoreline. There were few people out today. Most of the Memorial Day crowd had left. He wondered if she missed Miami, or had she gotten used to living in Alexandria? He would find out soon enough.
Andrew stopped walking and pulled Toni to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I love you, Antonia Oliver.”
She smiled up at him. “And I love you, too, Andrew Logan.”
He then got down on one knee and saw the surprised look on her face when she saw what he was doing. “Will you marry me, Toni? Take my name? Have my babies. Make me the happiest man in the world?”
Tears streamed down Toni’s face. She was too emotional to answer, so she nodded her head several times. Then, she managed to say, “Yes,” when he slid a beautiful engagement ring on her finger.
Andrew stood and pulled her back into his arms and kissed her. After releasing her mouth, he rested his chin on the crown on her head. He loved her. She loved him. They had been given a second chance at love and were meant to be together forever.
“How soon?” he asked. “How soon can we get married?”
She pulled back. “What about a June wedding.”
He lifted a brow. “Next month?”
She shook her head and chuckled. “No, next June.”
He pulled back to stare down at her. “You’re going to make me wait that long, Toni?”
She smiled up at him. “Trust me, Drew. I’ll make it worth your while.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I am going to hold you to that. And just so you know, I got both your father’s and grandfather’s blessings.”
Then, rejoining hands, they began walking back toward the hotel. The future was theirs to pursue and they would do it together. Their entangled pursuits had now taken on a whole new meaning.
COMING IN 2021!
BOOK 2 IN THE “MEN OF ACTION” SERIES
DESPERATE MEASURES
BRENDA JACKSON is a die “heart” romantic who married her childhood sweetheart, Gerald, forty-eight years ago and still proudly wears the “going steady” ring he gave her when she was fifteen. Because she’s always believed in the power of love, Brenda’s stories have happy endings and credits Gerald for being her inspiration.
A New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of over one hundred romance titles, Brenda divides her time between, family, writing, and traveling. You may write Brenda at P.O Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226; her e-mail address at [email protected] and her website at www.brendajackson.net.
ENTANGLED PURSUITS (MEN OF ACTION Book 1) Page 25