Welcome to Blissville

by Walker, Aimee Nicole

  “Book plotting?” Meredith scoffed. “What, you have a Gabe in your book who also happens to be a cop with an ex-partner on the run from the law who may or may not want to kill him for ruining his career?”

  “No, not really, but that’s what I would do if I was writing this scenario in a book. I would have De Soto come after Josh, and I’d do it in a big way, but this isn’t fiction this is…”

  A knock at the back door scared the hell out of us and interrupted Chaz before he could finish. In fact, we all squealed high-pitched, girlie noises and jumped in our seats.

  “Oh my God!” Meredith exclaimed. “It’s him!”

  “De Soto wouldn’t knock, Mere. He’d just kick down the door like Oscar did last year,” Chaz said calmly.

  “Like that makes us feel better,” Meredith said hotly. “What’s the matter with you? You start writing some sexy suspense novel with a serial killer and BAM, you turn a little creepy yourself. I can’t imagine what your search engine must be like on your laptop. That’s probably the feds looking for your disturbing ass.”

  “Josh, you guys okay in there?” Emory asked through the back door as if he didn’t just hear us all scream like little girls. Meredith was still giving Chaz an ass chewing when I opened the door and let Emory inside the kitchenette. “Is this a bad time?” he asked, looking over at my friends.

  “Meredith is ripping into Chaz for misbehaving; same speech, different ear,” I told him, putting a spin on the well-known phrase of same song, different tune. “What’s going on? You sound upset.”

  “I have some bad news, I’m afraid,” he said.

  “Oh my God! What is it? Did you have another vision? Is Gabe in danger?” I fired one question after the other at him.

  Emory placed his hands firmly on my shoulders, and the weight of them kept me grounded when the panic rose so high that I was in jeopardy of floating away. “No, Josh. My visit has nothing to do with Gabe or the vision. I came over to tell you that I’ll be leaving town for a few days, but I’ll be back in time for your wedding.”

  I finally got control of myself enough that I saw Emory, my friend, instead of Emory the bearer of bad news. The dark circles under his eyes indicated that he wasn’t sleeping very well. “Is everything okay?” I asked him.

  “No, not really,” he admitted, “but I’m going to see if I can change that. I plan on returning Friday in case you need my help before your big day.” Emory pulled me to him for a hug and whispered, “You’ve been a great friend to me, Josh. You can’t possibly know how much that means to me.”

  I pulled back and looked into his sad, green eyes. The hug felt like a goodbye despite his promise to return in time for my wedding. If he had plans to run, I wasn’t going to make it easy for him. “Running won’t change anything, Emory. Sometimes we must accept that fate—or a higher power—knows what’s best for us when we aren’t smart enough or brave enough to see it for ourselves. Sometimes you just need to have a little faith.”

  Emory nodded subtly and offered a small, uncertain smile before he left without another word. I closed my eyes and took some cleansing breaths to clear my mind and body of the toxic fear and hysteria that had bubbled up. I decided that I was going to take my own advice. I was going to accept that I wasn’t in charge of the universe and I was going to have a little faith—in myself, in Gabe, and in our future.

  “Are you getting nervous about the big day?” Adrian asked during our lunch break on the Wednesday before the wedding. It was my last work day for more than two weeks and I was happy that things were blissfully quiet in Blissville for the time being and we could enjoy a nice lunch at the diner.

  “No,” I said honestly. “I’m excited about the wedding and looking forward to the two weeks in Hawaii with my husband.” Yeah, I didn’t bother hiding my smile over the images that came to mind just then.

  “I sense a but,” Adrian said, “and not the kind with two T’s either.” The smile slid from Adrian’s face, and the expression in his eyes grew serious. ‘You’re worried about De Soto, aren’t you?”

  My mind went back to Monday evening when Josh told me about the conversation he had with Chaz and Meredith over lunch. He laughed nervously when he got to the part about Chaz plotting a future book out loud and how it scared the crap out of them, but I wasn’t laughing. Chaz had very valid points—ones I had considered myself. There was absolutely nothing Jimmy De Soto could do that would destroy me more than killing Josh. If I were playing the role of a villain that was exactly where my mind would go, and I had to put myself in the brain of a villain frequently as a cop to outsmart and apprehend them.

  Josh said something that shook me to the core that night. “Gabe, I’m doing better at realizing there are only so many things I can control in this life. I can’t control what other people do, but I can control how I react to it. Today, I was paralyzed by fear when Chaz talked about some lunatic that wanted to exact his revenge by killing one of us. Then Emory stopped over, and I saw how hard he was struggling to resist a future event with Jonathon Silver that he doesn’t want to happen. I told him that sometimes we have to stop thinking that we know better than fate and have some faith. If I’m only going to have one more minute, one day, one week, one month, or even a year with you, then I’m not going to waste it worrying about when it’s going to end. Regardless of how long we have, I’m going to love you for a lifetime. I am going to marry you on Saturday, and no lunatic with a B-movie plot for revenge is going to ruin that, Gabe.”

  We made love that night like it could be the last time, but it wasn’t the beauty of our joining or his positive words about having faith that followed me into my dreams. Instead, I lived out that horrific B-movie plot in HD color with surround sound so crisp that it felt like I was really in my dream. I could even hear the thoughts dream me had running through his mind; it was the most frightening thing I’d ever experienced.

  Twenty seconds. That was how long Josh was my husband before all hell broke loose. One minute he was smiling at me after we shared our first kiss as husbands and the next he was in my arms with a bullet wound in his chest. I had removed my suit jacket and tried to staunch the flow of blood while Josh fought to breathe and to speak.

  “Don’t say anything, Sunshine. Save your breath. Where’s that ambulance?” I shouted, but I heard the sirens faintly in the background, just as I heard Josh’s mother, and mine, sobbing. They had wanted to rush to his side, but I made them stay back because crowding him was the last thing he needed and I wouldn’t let anyone take him from me until the squad arrived.

  I looked down to where I held his limp hand in mine in the back of the ambulance as it sped toward the county hospital where a Care Flight helicopter would meet us. Dried blood marred the perfection of the diamonds in our matching wedding bands. The only thing louder than the screaming sirens was the pounding of my heart as I prayed for him to live.

  “Don’t leave me,” I begged Josh.

  Twenty seconds. I saw every dream I ever had come true in Josh’s eyes before…

  “Mister…” The EMT wasn’t exactly sure what to call me.

  “Roman-Wyatt,” I informed him.

  “Mr. Roman-Wyatt, don’t give up hope. Mister….” He nodded to my husband, unsure what to call him also.

  “Roman-Wyatt,” I said. It was something that we easily agreed on. We were going to be equal partners—in name and everywhere else.

  “Mister Roman-Wyatt has a lot to fight for, and it helps. He’ll arrive at the University of Cincinnati Hospital in minutes and they’ll rush him into trauma surgery. It’s the absolute best place for him to be right now.” I nodded my head because I knew he was right. “You won’t be able to ride with him because there’s not enough room onboard the chopper.” I knew I could hitch a ride with one of the many people who would make the trip to Cincinnati.

  I just needed to be with him as long as I could. Arriving at the hospital and seeing the helicopter waiting was bittersweet. It was the only way to save him,
but it also meant that I had to let go of his hand, not knowing if I’d ever look into his beautiful eyes again.

  I ran alongside the gurney until the last minute when they needed to load Josh onto the helicopter. “Don’t you leave me,” I said firmly. “You promised me forever and twenty seconds isn’t forever. You hear me?” I dropped a kiss on his forehead and prayed it wasn’t the last.

  The EMTs pulled me away from the helicopter so the flight crew could strap my husband down for transport and liftoff.

  I came out of the dream the minute the helicopter lifted off the ground. I sat up in our bed with my heart racing and lungs pumping, and the sound of those chopper blades echoing in my ears. I was so relieved to see Josh sleeping peacefully beside me that I cried, but not loud enough to wake him.

  I called Deputy Marshal Matthews the next morning and asked for an update on the search for Jimmy. The man didn’t owe me anything, but he told me everything he knew as a professional courtesy. They knew from the camera at his bank that he cleaned out his safe deposit box hours before the grand jury issued his indictment, which meant that the secret proceedings were anything but, and someone tipped him off.

  “Do you think he fled the country?” I asked hopefully. If he prepared to bolt for this possibility, then maybe he also had a fake ID and passport. It was obvious he was corrupt as hell and would have connections to someone who could procure quality fake documents. As well as guns.

  “It doesn’t look that way, Detective Wyatt,” Marshal Matthews said. “He ditched his car a few hours north of Miami and stole one parked outside a convenience store that a guy left running while he went inside to buy cigarettes. We later found it abandoned near the Georgia-Florida state line when he stole a different car. We’ve been able to track him by this pattern but could never get ahead of him, even knowing that he was most likely on his way to pay you a visit.”

  I liked the way Deputy Matthews made it sound like Jimmy was coming over for a barbecue. “Where was his last known location?” I asked.

  “We lost his trail in Tennessee,” Matthews said. “A park ranger found the last known stolen car in the parking lot at one of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park visitor centers. De Soto didn’t steal a car from that parking lot or the immediate area which means he hitched a ride or…”

  “… Had help,” I said, finishing for him. “Any known family, friends, or colleagues in the area that might be helping him?”

  “We’re working on it, Detective Wyatt. Has something happened to make you think he is in the area?” Matthews asked.

  I couldn’t very well tell him about Chaz’s ramblings and my scary dreams and expect him to take me seriously should I need to call him again in the future. Instead, I said, “I’m getting married this weekend, and I don’t want any surprises.”

  “I understand your concern. Would you feel a little better about the situation if I sent two deputy marshals undercover as wedding guests?” Matthews offered. “Do you have extra pieces of cake to spare?”

  “We’ll have enough cake for each guest to have five pieces,” I said, thinking about the massive cake we ordered. I smiled when I thought about the topper Josh had custom-made to look like the two of us. The thing was hand painted and freaking precious.

  “I’ll work out the details and be in touch,” he said before he hung up. He called me back the next day to let me know that two of his deputies would be present for both the rehearsal and the wedding.

  “Gabe?” Adrian asked, pulling my attention to him. “I asked if you were worried about De Soto.”

  “Yeah, of course, but I feel better after talking to Matthews.” Then I told Adrian about the extra guests that would be attending the rehearsal and ceremony. “I’m going to try and let it go and enjoy time with our families and the wedding festivities.”

  “It’s not easy to do under these circumstances but trust us to have your back,” Adrian said.

  “Don’t forget the two weeks in paradise,” I added. I definitely wanted to live long enough to see Josh in those sexy Speedos he bought. I asked him to model them off, but he refused.

  “Yeah, I can tell by the look on your face where your mind just went,” Adrian said then snorted. “Keep thinking those thoughts, and you should be just fine.” Adrian snatched the checks up when Daniella dropped them on the table. “My treat, and there are to be no arguments.” He laughed on his way to the register after he evaded my attempt to snatch them back.

  I shook my head and checked my email on my phone to make sure I had the confirmation for the rental car I reserved for our parents. I wanted to pick them up from the airport, but they didn’t want to “trouble us” and said they’d rent a car. It did make sense for them to have their own transportation to come and go as they pleased but not at their expense. I rented the car and refused to listen to their arguments, sort of like Adrian did with me. I wanted my parents to accept my gesture, so I did the same with Adrian.

  “Excuse me, Detective.” I snapped my head up and met the timid gaze of Felicity Wallace, wife of the jackass county commissioner. “Can I bother you for just a minute?”

  “You’re not bothering me, Mrs. Wallace,” I told her. “Have a seat.”

  “Well, you don’t know what I’m about to say,” she replied uneasily. “Um, it’s about your house and the vandalism that happened after Georgia died.”

  I sat up straighter in my chair. That vandalism was my only unsolved case, and one I wanted to solve since it involved the house I called home. “What do you know about it?” Adrian turned from the counter and started heading our way until he saw who sat across the table from me. I exchanged a brief look with him that asked him to give me a minute. He nodded and headed outside to wait for me.

  Tears filled Felicity Wallace’s eyes, and she said, “I know who vandalized your house and why. I should’ve said something after it happened, I should never have covered for him, but he was just so hurt about what he learned.” I knew who she was talking about and the identity of the vandal.

  “It was your son, Christopher, wasn’t it?” I asked gently.

  “Yes, Detective,” she said then looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to us. It was late enough in the afternoon that the usual lunch crowd had mostly passed through already. “I know about Rocky and Jack; I’ve known for quite some time. I kept thinking that it was a phase that Jack was going through but it’s not a phase, is it?”

  “No,” I said softly. “Is Commissioner Wallace aware that you and Christopher know?”

  She shook her head slowly before she replied, “If I acknowledge it out loud to him then our marriage will be over; I’m not ready to do that, Detective. Anyway, Christopher overheard Jack talking to Georgia or Rocky—he wasn’t sure which one—about the photos. He heard his father say that he hoped the truth came out that he was in love with another man. He came to me, and I told him that I had known for a long time and I was trying to find a way to come to terms with it before I decided what I wanted to do. After Georgia died, Christopher broke in and ransacked her house looking for the pictures, but he never found them. He confessed to me what happened and was going to turn himself in, but I wouldn’t let him. Maybe it was the wrong decision, but we were dealing with so much at the time.”

  I felt sad for Felicity and her son, but there wasn’t anything I could say that would make her feel better. Well, except for one thing. “This won’t go any further than between you and me, Mrs. Wallace. I wish you and Christopher nothing but the best.”

  “But not my husband?” she asked with a crooked smile that said she knew there was no love lost between Jack Wallace and me.

  “I’m not a big fan,” I admitted to her. I knew that coming out was hard for people but cheating on his wife the way he did was unforgivable in my eyes. However, it wasn’t my life, so I had no say. “Anyway, tell Christopher that I’ll give him this one pass.” I rose slowly to my feet and offered her a kind smile. “Take care, Mrs. Wallace.”

  “Thank y
ou, Detective. I hope you and Josh have a happy life.”

  “We will, Mrs. Wallace, and you deserve the same.”

  I left the diner with a sense of closure. I felt better knowing the identity of the vandal, even if the police department never would. The kid was looking to protect his family and was no threat to Josh or me. Adrian raised his brow in question when I approached him.

  “What was that all about?” he asked.

  “I’m not telling you anything until you get off my car,” I said, gesturing to where he leaned against the hood. Adrian rolled his eyes but straightened away from my car. “It was her son who broke into the house after Georgia died.” It would seem to some that I broke my promise to Felicity Wallace, but Adrian was my partner and I didn’t keep secrets from him.

  “Christopher?” Adrian asked in surprise. “Did he find out about the affair and blackmail attempt?”

  “Yeah,” I confirmed. “I can’t blame the kid. He was just trying to protect his mom.”

  “Well, at least now you know it wasn’t something seedier that could come back and cause problems for you guys later,” Adrian said. “Let’s head on back to the station and see if there have been any new calls. If not, you should just head on home and enjoy your last night of peace before the chaos arrives.”

  As much as Josh and I loved our folks, it would be an adjustment to having overnight guests under our roof. There’d be no sex on the couch or up against the foyer the second I got home. In fact, their visit would probably put a damper on our sexcapades, so I thought Adrian had a damn fine suggestion.

  When I got home, I discovered that Josh was of the same mind. “Quick, in case they show up a day early,” he said, leaping into my arms.

  “No damn way I’m going to rush anything.” If it was going to be the last night I could love him without inhibitions until our wedding night, then I was going to take him as often as I could, starting with the foyer wall.