by Barb Han
There was no way these guys were escaping him twice.
He scaled the wall a couple more floors, refusing to look down. He wouldn’t exactly say he was afraid of heights, but he wouldn’t call them his friend, either.
When Colton made it to the third story, gripping the windows for dear life, he risked another glance around the side of the building, hoping they would still be looking for him on the seventh floor. This time, thankfully, Red and Mustache were too busy climbing down to realize he’d looked. They probably still thought he was up on the seventh.
Colton continued his climb down with his stomach twisted in knots, but he made it to the ground. Without a doubt, they’d made it to the ground first. There were also two of them and only one of him. Not the best odds. One was a sharpshooter. That would be the person who would most likely wield the weapon.
And then there was the fact that they were both cops. Maybe he could find a way to use that to his advantage.
With his back against the wall and his weapon extended, Colton leaned around the building. The pair of men were making a beeline for the parking lot. He scanned the area for the Jeep but didn’t see it.
They could have another vehicle stashed by now. Since it was early evening, there was a little activity. He wouldn’t risk a shot. He, like every law enforcement officer on the job, was responsible for every bullet he fired. Meaning that if he accidentally struck a citizen, he was answerable, not to mention it would be horrific.
When Red and Mustache made it to the lot, one turned around.
They took cover behind a massive black SUV. One turned back, Red, and Colton figured that of the two, he was the marksman. He had his weapon aimed at the seventh floor, where he must expect Colton to be.
He figured Mustache was looking for a vehicle to hotwire, since they didn’t immediately go to a car.
Colton figured his best line of defense was to get to his county-issued vehicle and try to circle around the back and come at them from a different direction. He got on his radio to Lawson and Gert as he bolted toward his SUV.
He slid into the driver’s seat and blazed around the opposite side of the lot as he informed Gert of the situation. Lawson chimed in, stating that he was on his way down and heading to the spot Colton had just left.
Colton slowed his SUV down to a crawl as he made his way around the back of the parking lot. He located a spot in the back of the lot and parked. He slipped out of his windbreaker, needing to shed anything that drew attention to him. He toed off his boots as he exited the vehicle.
As the shooter’s attention was directed at the building, Colton swung wide to sneak up on him. He was ever aware that Mustache was creeping around the lot, likely looking for a vehicle.
Lawson peeked his head around the building and Red fired a shot. While Red’s attention was on Lawson, Colton eased through cars and trucks.
With Red distracted by Lawson, Colton came in stealth. He rounded the back of the SUV and dove at Red, tackling him at the knees. His gun went flying as Colton wrestled him around until his knee jabbed in the center of Red’s back. As tall and strong as Red was, he was no match for a man of Colton’s size.
Face down, Red spit out gravel as he opened his mouth to shout for help. Colton delivered a knockout punch. The man’s jaw snapped.
From there, Colton was able to easily haul Red’s hands behind his back and throw on zip cuffs.
It was then that Colton heard the click of a gun’s hammer being cocked.
“Make one move without me telling you to, and you’re dead.”
Out of the corner of his eyes, Colton could see Mustache. He cursed under his breath.
“Hands in the air where I can them.” Mustache was in authoritative cop mode.
Colton slowly started lifting his hands, his weapon already holstered. And at this rate, he was as good as dead. His thoughts jumped to Lawson. Where was he?
“Uncuff my friend. You’re going to help me get him into my vehicle.”
The retort on Colton’s lips was, like hell. However, he knew better than to agitate a cop on the edge.
“You won’t get away with this. Your superiors know what you’ve done and they know you’re connected to Myers. But you can get a lighter sentence. You haven’t dug a hole that you can’t climb out of yet. No one’s dead. A murder rap is not something you can ever come back from.”
“Shut up. I don’t need to hear any more of your crap. The system pays criminals better than it pays us. When Bic’s kid needed medical care and his insurance ran out, who do you think covered his mortgage?” Stitch grunted. “It sure as hell wasn’t the department.”
Psychological profiles were performed on every officer candidate to ensure a cop could handle the pressures that came with the job. The tests could give a snapshot of where a candidate’s head was at the time of his or her hiring. What it couldn’t do 100 percent accurately was predict how someone would handle the constraints of the job over time.
The stress could compound and end up looking something like this.
“I never said it was easy being on the job. But you and I both know you didn’t get into it for the money.”
Mustache laughed. “Yeah, I was a kid. What did I know about having real bills and a father-in-law with dementia who lost his business and I had to support?”
“This isn’t the answer. You can still make this right. You can still go back and untangle this. Make restitution.”
A half laugh escaped Mustache.
“You know what? I think I’m just going to kill you instead. Not because I have to but because I can.”
Colton had no doubt Mustache was trigger-happy. A man with nothing to lose was not the kind of person Colton needed to have pointing a gun at him.
“You’re going to help me put my friend in my vehicle and then I’m going to give you ten seconds to run.”
Colton knew without a doubt that the minute he put Red into a vehicle, his life was going to be over. He needed to think fast. Stall for time. He glanced over to see if Lawson was on his way.
Mustache laughed again.
“Your friend isn’t coming. I don’t know if you noticed but he’s bleeding out over there. Guess it’s too late for me after all.”
Colton slowly stood with his hands in the air.
“Keep high and where I can see them. I’m going to relieve you of your weapon.”
The crack of a bullet split the air.
Colton flinched and dropped to his knees. When he spun around, it was Mustache taking a couple of steps back. With his finger on the trigger, all it would take was one twitch for Colton to be shot at in point-blank range.
He dove behind the sport utility and came up with his weapon. It would take Mustache’s brain a few minutes to catch up with the fact that he’d been shot. Right now, he was just as dangerous as he had been, if not more so.
Using the massive sport utility for cover, Colton drew down on Mustache.
“Hands up, Stitch.” All Colton could think of was securing the area and getting to Lawson.
Another shot sounded.
Colton glanced around and saw Lawson’s body. As he rounded the back of the vehicle, he heard a familiar voice.
“Drop your weapon now.” From behind a vehicle, Makena had her arms extended out with a Glock in her hands. Red’s weapon? The barrel was aimed at Mustache.
Colton was proud of the fact she’d listened to his earlier advice and used the vehicle to protect her body.
Mustache seemed dumbfounded as he took a couple of steps and locked onto her position. “You.”
He brought up his weapon to shoot her and she fired again. This time, the bullet pinged his arm and his shoulder drew back. His weapon discharged, firing a wild shot, and his shoulder flew back. His Glock went skittering across the black tar.
Colton dove toward it and came up with it after making
eye contact with Makena. He tucked and rolled on his shoulder and then popped up in front of the vehicle Makena used as cover.
There was no way to know if Mustache had a backup weapon, which many officers carried in an ankle holster.
“You just saved my life,” Colton said to Makena. He moved beside her and realized that her body was trembling.
Her eyes were wide.
“You’re okay,” he said to soothe her before turning to Mustache, who was slumped against the back tire of a vehicle. “Get those hands up.”
Much to his surprise, Mustache did.
It was probably the shock of realizing he’d been shot multiple times. Colton immediately fished out his cell and called Gert, telling her the perps had been subdued and that Lawson was down. She reassured Colton a team of doctors was waiting at the ER bay for word.
Before Colton could end the call, he saw the doctors racing to save Lawson’s life.
Mustache’s once light blue shirt was now soaked in red. Colton ran over and cuffed Mustache’s hands. After a pat-down, he located a backup weapon.
“If either one of these men moves, don’t hesitate to shoot,” he said to Makena.
Lawson was flat on his back as he was being placed on a gurney.
“I’m sorry. I let you down,” Lawson said.
“No, you didn’t. I’m alive. You’re alive. Those bastards are going to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. You did good.”
In less than a minute, Lawson was on his way to surgery. The bullet had nicked his neck.
Colton bolted back to Makena.
“It’s over,” Makena said. She repeated herself a couple more times as Colton took her weapon before he pulled her into an embrace, keeping a watchful eye on the perps.
“You did good,” he whispered into her ear as she melted against him.
“I found the gun on the ground,” she said quietly.
Red popped his head up and shook it, like he was shaking off a fog.
“What the hell happened?” His gaze locked onto his partner, who had lost a lot of blood.
“You and your partner are going away for a very long time,” Colton said. He held Makena, trying to calm her tremors.
An emergency team raced toward Mustache. In another few minutes, he was strapped and cuffed to a gurney with security in tow and another deputy on the way.
Colton pulled Red to standing after patting him down. He walked the man over to his service vehicle. “You’re taking a trip in the back seat for once.”
Makena climbed into the passenger side and kept silent for the drive back to Katy Gulch.
Deputy Schooner met them in the parking lot and took custody of the perp.
“You would do what you had to if your kid was sick,” Bic practically spat the words. “Look as sanctimonious as you want, but I had bills stacking up and a mortgage to cover. I did what was necessary to take care of my family.”
“There are other ways to accomplish the same thing and stay within the law,” Colton said.
“That’s what you say. Don’t you get tired of watching them get away with crimes every day? Don’t you get sick of seeing criminals drive better cars and wear better clothes than us?”
“Fancy clothes were never my style,” Colton said. “But why River?”
“He was on to us, so we turned the tables on him. His nose wasn’t clean, either. He liked to play it rough,” Bic said. “She was the problem. She threatened everything we were doing. It took months to track her down but she made mistakes and River led us right to her.”
Colton was done talking. He turned to Makena. “Are you ready to go home?”
She stood there, looking a little bit lost.
“I don’t have a home to go to, Colton.”
“Then come home with me while you figure out your next move.” He brushed the backs of his fingers against the soft skin of her face. He’d missed his opportunity with her once and did not intend to do so again. “Come home with me and stay.”
“And then what?” She blinked up at him, confused.
“Stay. Meet my boys. See what you think about making a life together. I know what I want and it’s you. I love you, Makena. And I think I have since college. I was too young and too dumb to realize what was happening to us in college. I had no idea how rare or special it was. But I do now. I’m a grown man and I won’t make that same mistake twice.”
He looked into her eyes but was having trouble reading her. Maybe it was too much. Maybe he shouldn’t have thrown this all at her at once.
“But if you don’t think this is right, if you don’t feel what I’m feeling, then just stay with me until you get your bearings. I don’t care how long. You’ll always have a place to stay with me.”
“Did you say that you love me?”
Colton nodded. “Yes, Makena. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Colton. I think I always have. Seeing you again brought me back to life. But then what? You have boys. You have a life.”
“I’d like to build a life with you.”
“Are you sure about that, Colton? Because I have no doubts.”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life other than adopting my boys,” he admitted.
She blinked up at him, confused.
It dawned on him why. He’d never told her about his twins.
“Rebecca and I had been high school sweethearts. We didn’t know anything but each other. We decided to take a break in college and see if this was the real deal. I loved her and she was my best friend. But then I met you and it was different. I felt things that I had never felt with Rebecca. There was a spark inside me that said you were special and then I wanted more than a best friend as a partner. I went home and told Rebecca that I didn’t think I was coming back to her.”
“But you ended up together?”
“Yes, but not for years. We went our separate ways as a couple but stayed close as friends. Years later, long after she and I broke up, she ended up in a bad relationship with a man who didn’t treat her right. When he found out she was pregnant he accused her of cheating on him. He questioned whether or not the boys were his and that crushed her. She said she couldn’t come home pregnant to her father’s house without a husband or a father for her kids. We’d always promised to have each other’s back, so that’s what I did. Her father, who’s the mayor of Katy Gulch, got over the fact she was pregnant and still not married as soon as he found out she was marrying an O’Connor. I felt like I could’ve done a lot worse than marry my best friend. I figured that what you and I had was a one-and-done situation. So I asked Rebecca to marry me. I loved her, but there was no spark in our marriage, not like what I’d experienced with you. But then, no one else made me feel that way. And make no mistake about it, those boys are my sons. They are O’Connors through and through, and always will be. Can you live with that?”
“Colton, you are the most selfless man I’ve ever met. I think I just fell in love with you even more.”
“Just so you’re clear, we can take a little time for you to get to know the boys, and we can make certain this is the life you want. But I’m in this for the long haul, and I have every intention of asking you to be my bride,” he said.
“If your sons are half the person you are, I already know that I’ll love them. And just so you know, when you ask me to marry you, I’ll be ready to say yes. I never felt like I was home around anyone until I met you and then I lost it. I’ve definitely been in the wrong relationship and that taught me exactly what I wanted in a person. And it’s you. It’s always been you.”
Colton pulled Makena into his arms and kissed his future bride, his place to call home.
“I have one condition,” she warned.
“Anything.” He didn’t hesitate. He wanted to give her the world.
“You asked me before if
I had any idea what I wanted to do once I had my freedom back.”
He nodded.
“I want to volunteer at the motel to help out Peach. She told me about her and her husband building that place together and that the motel made her feel closer to him. She’s considering selling, but I could tell nothing in her heart wanted that to happen. It would cut her off from the man she built a life with and she deserves so much more than that. She deserves to have her memories of him surrounding her until she takes her final breath.”
“It sounds like the perfect plan to me.” Colton kissed his future, his soon-to-be bride, his home.
Epilogue
“I have news.”
Makena sat on the kitchen floor, playing with her favorite boys in the world. She’d taken them into her heart the minute she’d looked at those round, angelic faces. Someday, she wanted to expand their family, but after living with twins 24/7 for the past month, she realized her hands were full.
“What is it?” she asked Colton as he walked into the kitchen wearing only jeans hung low on his hips. He was fresh from the shower, hair still wet. Droplets rolled down his neck and onto his muscled chest.
She practically had to fan herself.
“Myers has agreed to testify against Bic, who will be put away a very long time for attempted murder and police corruption, among other charges.”
Stitch hadn’t made it, but Bic was the brains of the operation.
“Good for him,” she said. “I’m so ready to close that chapter of my life. I’m done with running scared and I’m done hiding. He put me through hell and I’m just ready to move on and never look back.”
Colton walked over to her and sat down behind her, wrapping his arms around her. He feathered kisses along the nape of her neck, causing her arms to break out in goose bumps and a thrill of awareness to skitter across her skin.
“I can’t wait to be alone after we put the boys to bed tonight,” he whispered in her ear.
She smiled as she turned her head enough for him to find her lips. The kiss sent more of that awareness swirling through her. Tonight felt like a lifetime away.