by Lauren Carr
Mac heard a roar behind him.
The remote Mac wore on his belt not only unlocked each door in his SUV, but it also opened them. When he hit the button as he plunged to the ground, every door, including the rear door, had flown open to unleash Gnarly.
Launching himself from where he had leapt out of the vehicle after Mac had hit the door release, Gnarly flew over Mac to hit the black man with full force in the chest and knock him off his feet and back into the snow. The German shepherd clamped his jaws shut on the hand holding the gun. Upon hitting the ground, Gnarly shook his head to rip through Ra’ees’ wrist.
Insane rage and hatred kept Ra’ees cognizant enough to reach with his other arm for his bayonet. “We know what to do with dogs!”
He threw back his arm to swing the bayonet, aiming directly for Gnarly’s neck in order to cut off the head of the beast.
Two bullets from Ra’ees’s own gun ripped through his head and terminated his attack.
At the sound of the gunshots inches from him, Gnarly leapt off Ra’ees Sims’ lifeless body and hopped back to where Mac stood with the gun smoking in his hand. “You okay, Gnarly?”
Gnarly rose up on his hind legs to press his snout against Mac’s cheek.
“You’re welcome.” After patting the dog on the head, he said, “but we’re not done yet.” Mac searched Sims’ pockets for clips of ammunition and relieved him of the bayonet and the small handgun that he wore on one of his ankles.
Mac could hear gunfire and blasts that he had not experienced in years on the other side of the trees. In moments, the gunshots were reduced down to a spattering before he heard Colonel Frost announce, “Jet is secured. Pilots and guards are dead. None of them would let themselves be taken alive.”
Sheriff Turow came through on the earbud. “Okay to send my people in, Colonel?”
There was a moment of silence during which Mac could hear the colonel speaking to someone in the background.
“What’s wrong?” Mac demanded to know.
“Neal Black isn’t here on the jet,” Colonel Frost finally announced. “Mac, could he have been at the drop?”
“No.” Mac cursed.
Murphy broke through on the earbuds. “He was trained by the FBI. He discovered that David had escaped. He had enough time to slip out while the team was moving in. Your people could have very well mistaken him for a member of your own team.”
“He’s going after David.” Tucking his weapons into his waistband and clips into his pockets, Mac ran for the barn. “David, do you hear that? He’s coming after you.”
“Bring it on,” David said.
Colonel Frost said, “I’m sending four men to assist you, Major.”
Sheriff Turow added, “I’m sending two cruisers to the barn. The rest of my people are fanning out through the woods. We’re going to get this guy.”
“I’ll try to intercept him,” Murphy said.
Gnarly running ahead of him, Mac sprinted for the barn door. “David, I’m coming up to the door.”
“It’s padlocked from the outside, Mac,” David warned him.
At the door, Mac shot off the padlock and threw open the door. “I’m coming in.” Leading with his gun, Mac stepped inside. Upon seeing David braced up against the wall, Gnarly raced in to jump up on him.
Ethan was working away on a row of laptops. “I’ve almost got everything transferred. We hit the mother lode of information against Bauman and his whole operation. You wouldn’t believe the stuff we got here. No way can the president and attorney general help him now.”
Mac didn’t care as much about what Ethan had uncovered as he cared about the fact David was standing before him in one piece. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
David sighed with disgust about his paternal attitude. “Mac, I’m fine.”
They saw Mac fall from the shot to his chest before they heard it. He fell back against the wall and slumped to the floor while holding his upper chest.
With a roar, Gnarly charged toward the other side of the barn to where the shot had been fired. There was a door in the corner behind shelving that none of them had noticed.
Neal Black had noticed it, though.
Gnarly’s attack was cut short when a whole shelving unit tumbled down on top of him. With a yelp, Gnarly fell, buried under boxes of heavy equipment.
Ethan drew his gun but could not locate the target before a shot grazed the side of his head. He jerked out of his seat and hit his head when he plunged to the floor.
Seeing Mac fall, David dropped down next to him to check his wound. Mac’s hand and chest were already covered with blood. Gasping for breath, Mac gazed up at him. “I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not,” David said. “Help’s on its way.”
“But not soon enough,” David heard directly behind him. He felt the cold metal of the gun muzzle against the back of his neck. The click of the gun echoed throughout the barn.
“Turn around,” Neal Black said. “I want to see your eyes when I put a bullet between them.”
David gazed down into Mac’s face.
Mac dropped his eyes. “It’s okay,” he whispered.
David held up his hands.
“Turn around, O’Callaghan,” Black ordered. “Slow.”
David rose up onto his knees. Making no sudden moves, he turned away from Mac.
A wicked grin filled Neal Black’s face as he watched David turn around to face him—but he failed to notice the gun in Mac’s hand.
As soon as David moved aside, Mac’s hand shot up, and he fired three shots into Neal Black’s head. The first shot went between his eyes. He was dead before the other two found their mark.
The special agent for the FBI dropped to the floor.
With a sigh of relief, Mac collapsed back onto the floor to the sound of police sirens and officers storming the barn.
“Mac, stay with me,” David pleaded while patting his face. “I’m not through with you yet!”
“I am,” Mac said, “I’m tired.”
Finally, it was over.
Chapter Thirty
“Did you get all of them?” The tone in Archie’s voice betrayed her anger about the whole situation.
Everyone in her private hospital room agreed with her feelings. Bogie had awakened her at two o’clock in the morning with the news that Mac, the man she was going to marry in a huge wedding in twenty-two hours, was in surgery fighting for his life from a bullet to the chest that had been put there by an FBI agent.
They had awakened Archie’s mother and oldest brother, Clint, so they could go to the hospital to comfort her.
Sheriff Turow was on hand, as was Murphy, who kept a protective hand on Jessica’s shoulder. Even in the current state of affairs, his touch made her feel safe.
“Wasn’t Mac wearing a ballistic vest?” was one of her first questions.
“Under his clothes, but these guys were serious,” Bogie said. “It was an armor-piercing bullet.”
Gripping Archie’s hands, Jessica and Agnes stood on either side of her bed. “How bad is it?” Archie asked.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Bogie said.
“Dad’s AB positive,” Jessica said. “That’s a rare blood type. Do they—”
“David is the same type,” Bogie said. “He’s giving them some of his blood as we speak.”
“But …” Archie’s voice trailed off. She shook her head. “Mac has blood here at the hospital. Because he’s got a rare blood-type, he gave blood for them to keep here for him. I think he gave them four units.”
“Maybe in the emergency they didn’t check,” Archie’s brother said.
Jessica glanced across the room at Sheriff Turow. “You would think as soon as they saw Dad’s blood type card that they would check the blood supply first thing.”
“Was anyone el
se hurt?” Archie added with disdain, “besides the terrorists?”
“Ethan Bonner got a graze across the side of his head,” Sheriff Turow said. “He was the IT guy. Gnarly was fine once we dug him out from the stuff Black pulled down on top of him.”
“The military has taken over the whole facility,” Murphy said. “No media is allowed in. Everything is very hush-hush.”
“FBI is going ape about this,” Sheriff Turow said. “I already got a call asking why they weren’t called in. I told them because they were already there. When they get my full report about Special Agent Neal Black ...” He shook his head with an evil chuckle.
“Don’t forget his partner in terrorism, Leland Elder,” Murphy said. “He tried to kill my stepmother. I take that personally.”
“What about this billionaire terrorist?” Archie asked, “And this advisor to the President of the United States who gave up David?”
“They’ll be taken care of,” Murphy said. “Trust me.”
Silence filled the hospital room. Uncertain of what to say in the circumstances, they each glanced at the others.
Finally, Agnes asked about what was on everyone’s mind. “What are we going to do about this wedding? It’s twenty-two hours away, and Archie, the only way you are going to make it down that aisle is in a wheelchair, and Mac may be dead anyway.”
“Mom!” Archie wailed at the vocalization of their greatest fear.
“Mother!” Clint chastised her.
“It’s the truth!”
“Frankly, that wedding is the last thing I want right now,” Archie said. “It’s given me nothing but heartache this entire week.”
“I hope that isn’t a sign of how your marriage is going to be,” Agnes said.
“Mac’s and my marriage is just fine, Mom,” Archie said. “If you must know, we got married six months ago in the sweetest little ceremony with only a handful of friends at the church, and we were completely happy until we started planning this three-ring circus.”
Agnes’ and Clint’s mouths dropped open.
Jessica and Tristan backed away from the bed while Agnes moved in. “Why in heaven’s name are you sinking all this money into this fiasco of a wedding ceremony when you two are already married?”
“Because you always dreamed of my having a huge wedding, that’s why,” Archie said.
“Where did you get that idea?” Clint asked.
“Because that was all Mom talked about when I was a little girl,” Archie said. “Finally, she had a little girl to dress in white to have this huge wedding with lots of flowers and—”
“That was you who said that,” Agnes said. “Not me.”
“Wait a minute!” Murphy yelled. “Whose idea was it to have this huge wedding?”
“Hers!” Archie and Agnes said in unison while pointing at each other.
“You’re crazy!” Agnes said. “Kendra Douglas—”
“Who’s Kendra Douglas?” Murphy whispered to Jessica.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Why in heaven’s name would anyone in their right mind spend good money on a big ole wedding for one stupid day?” Agnes had her hands on her hips. “Think about it. Your father and I eloped, and we were perfectly happy. Each one of your brothers took his woman to the justice of the peace and got hitched. A few of them had small church weddings with only a handful of family and folks, and then we went to the house and stuffed our faces, and we were all perfectly happy. What is it that makes you think that we wanted to drag our butts all the way out here for a big ole fancy wedding—especially with that hair?” She pointed at Archie’s black locks. “Please tell me you didn’t pay good money to the idiot who did that to you!”
Archie’s oldest brother Clint joined in. “For such a smart girl, Kendra, you sure seem kind of stupid to me. Making us all dress up in those fancy monkey suits and standing up in front of all those people … we don’t know half of them. Harvey has been having panic attacks because he’s afraid your friends are going to make fun of him when he eats with the wrong fork.”
Tears came to Archie’s eyes. “Why’d you all come out here for the wedding if you didn’t want to?”
“We did it because we thought it was important to you,” Clint said. “You’re our little sister, and if dressing up in monkey suits and learning how to behave like civilized folks is important to you, then we were all willing to do it.”
“Well,” Archie said, “you don’t have to do it. The wedding is off.”
“If you want to know what I think,” Murphy said, “coming from a big family myself, the fancy stuff doesn’t really make a celebration a celebration as much as having those you love with you does. We’re starting a new year. You and Mac are starting a new life together.” He squeezed Jessica’s shoulder. “New friends, new family. New loves. Forget the monkey suits and forks. Just spend this time together and be thankful to have each other.”
Wiping tears from her eyes, Archie grasped her mother’s and brother’s hands. “He’s right.”
Agnes hugged her. “We’ll all stay here as long as we can until you and Mac recover. We’ll just forget all about that nasty wedding.” She fingered Archie’s dark locks of hair. “And get you a real hairdresser to make you pretty again.”
“We’ll bring in the new year on the ski slopes and chugging beer in front of the fireplace and eating with our fingers,” Clint said. “The Inn is having a huge New Year’s party on the outside patio. Tim McGraw is singing. We’ll all have a blast.”
“Dad will have a stroke and die if you call it off,” Tristan said, “if he survives. Do you know how much money he soaked into this wedding—caterers, security, flowers? He won’t get a penny back if we cancel at this point.”
Jessica turned to Murphy. Her eyes meeting his, she sucked in a deep breath. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked in a quiet voice. After taking Murphy by the hand, she dragged him out of the room into the hall.
“What is it?” Murphy asked her.
Keeping hold of his hand, Jessica glanced up and down the corridor.
A squeal at the end of the hall caught their attention in time to see Chelsea running to where David O’Callaghan had stepped off the elevator. She seemed to take flight before throwing herself into his open arms. Her joyful sobs echoed up and down the corridor. Speaking softly to her, David rocked her in his arms while stroking her long blonde hair.
Jessica blinked back tears at the sight.
“They have a lot to be thankful for in the New Year.” Murphy squeezed her hand. “What do you want to talk to me about?”
Tightening her grip on his hand, she led him through a door that ended up being a linen closet. After closing the door, she turned to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him full on the mouth.
With a moan of pleasure, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close to plant another kiss on her lips. “I guess when the mood hits, it really hits.” He nuzzled her on the neck.
“I really love you, Murphy,” she whispered into his ear.
“I love you, too, Jessica,” he whispered back. “I can’t believe that we only met yesterday morning. Right now, I can’t remember what my life was like before I met you, and I can’t imagine living a day without you by my side.”
She pulled back to gaze into his eyes.
He caressed her face. “I want nothing more than to have those eyes and that smile of yours be the first thing I see every morning.”
“Do you mean that, Murphy?”
He said, “I mean it with every fiber of my being.”
She eased down onto her knees.
He watched her with confusion while she clasped both of his hands into hers. “Murphy Thornton, will you marry me?”
Caught off guard, Murphy’s mouth dropped open. There was a full instant of silence before he gasped out, “Ar
e you proposing to me? Your father is in surgery and he may not make it, and you’re asking me to marry you?”
“Are you saying the timing is inappropriate?”
“A little.”
“Well, I’m sorry, but Tristan is right. Dad is going to have a stroke if he comes to and finds out that this big ole wedding was called off and that all that money went down the drain. But, you and I do love each other—”
“I’m not marrying you to save your father a bunch of money,” Murphy said. “That has to be the lousiest reason I ever heard of to get married.”
“I wasn’t asking you to save money,” Jessica said. “I was asking you because I love you and I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you, and I want to do it now. Since this wedding is already planned and everyone we really love is already here, why not do it now? Archie and Dad put all the work into the ceremony. They’re paying for it. All we have to do is take it and make it ours.”
Murphy cocked his head at her. “That almost makes sense.”
“It’s like it was planned for us and us alone before we even met.”
He took both of her hands into his. “When we get married—not if, when—divorce is not an option. When things get rough, and they will—I can guarantee it because every couple has problems—divorce is off the table. Can you commit yourself to us totally? Stick it out no matter what?”
“My parents were divorced,” Jessica said. “I saw how much it hurt Dad. He begged Mom to stick it out and she bailed. I refuse to do that to you, and I refuse to go through a divorce.”
Murphy brought his face close to hers. “That means that when we take our vows, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer,”—thinking of her wealth, he chuckled—“or poorer, we both need to mean it. There’s no walking away on either side. I’m game for that. Are you, Jessica Faraday?”
“I was game the second I met you.”
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. With a sigh, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her passionately. When he pulled away, he gazed into her violet eyes and melted.