by Jamie Hill
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She peppered her words with kisses. Tears streamed down her swollen face. “I was praying you’d find us. I didn’t know how you’d do it, but I just kept praying.”
Ben could hardly look at her without tearing up himself. He bit his lip to keep it from happening. The last thing he needed to do in a crowd of cops was to cry. He cupped her cheeks. “Are you okay? Other than the obvious, I mean?”
She nodded. “I’m okay. He killed that police officer, though. They’ll find his body in the basement.”
Nick nodded. “I’ll tell Swift. You two carry on.” He smiled at them as he walked off.
Ben pulled Addie into his arms. “I’m so sorry I let this happen. I was supposed to be protecting you.”
“You couldn’t have predicted how crazy he’d gone. You did protect me, Ben, and you saved us.” She kissed him gently.
“Thanks to that voicemail message. You did a good job there.”
“I hoped you’d figure it out.”
“Nick and I parsed it, over and over. You’re one smart cookie.”
Another officer had freed Mr. Decker and he joined them, sliding an arm around his wife’s waist. “We think so, too.”
Ben held Addie and gazed at her parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Decker. I’m pleased to meet you. I mean, not under these circumstances…”
Her father extended a hand to shake. “Bob Decker and this is my wife Hannah. We’re very happy to meet you, too, son. Thank you for coming to our rescue.”
“All in a day’s work,” Ben teased.
Addie held him tight. “Yeah, I know I’m not cut out for the kind of work he does.”
Bob raised his brows. “What does a US Marshal do, exactly?”
Ben gave the stock answer they were trained to use. “We serve federal warrants and apprehend fugitives, that kind of stuff.”
Addie buried her face in his shirt.
Swift approached and placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “We need to get these people to the hospital and have them checked out. We’ll take all the statements there.”
Addie murmured, “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Ben rubbed her back.
Swift looked at him. “Of course. You should go with them and have that head checked out.”
He kept one arm around Addie and smiled. “I believe I will. Thanks, Sergeant.”
“No, Marshal, thank you. You did a good job today. We lost Officer Martin and that’s not okay, but this could have been much, much worse.” He extended a hand.
Ben shook it. “Yes, sir. Agreed.”
Swift left and Nick returned. “There are two ambulances outside for the four of you. Mr. and Mrs. Decker can ride together. We’ll put Romeo and Juliet here in the next one. I’ll follow behind in my truck. Which, by the way, I notice you offered up as the getaway vehicle.”
Addie still spoke into Ben’s shirt. “You wouldn’t have driven away with him, would you?”
“Just trying to get him away from here…and you.” He glanced over her head at Nick. “The truck can be replaced.”
Nick made a face. “I’ll have you know, that truck is a custom built—” His voice faded as he ushered the Deckers out.
Ben put a finger under Addie’s chin and lifted her face. “You really okay?”
She burst into tears. “God, Ben! It was awful. He was maniacal. I’ve never seen him like that before, even during the darkest days of our marriage.”
He pulled her close again, cradling her gently. “I’m so sorry, Addie. He’s going away forever this time. Besides all the evidence they have, he admitted that he killed two people.”
Sniffling, she nodded. “Three, counting the police officer. I really thought we were going to be next.”
“Yeah. We all did. You stayed strong, Addie. I’m so proud of you.”
She scoffed. “I didn’t feel strong. I felt like a blithering idiot.”
“You did what you had to do to keep yourself and your parents alive. You handled it, Addie. Which reminds me, you did get one thing wrong on that voicemail when you were saying the opposite of what I really said. I never meant that you needed someone to handle things for you. I just meant that I wanted to be there for you. Damn it, I’m messing it all up.”
Addie raised her head and gazed into his eyes. “No you’re not. I know exactly what you mean. I want you and need you, Ben Markham. I love you more than words can say. And if you don’t propose to me when this is all over I may have to do the asking myself.”
He grinned. “I just may let you. I love you too, Addie Decker. I want you, and I need you in my life. Sheesh, that sounds like vows already, so we’re pretty much gonna have to get married. If you agree.”
She smiled at him. “I do.”
Epilogue
Five months later
Topeka, Kansas
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The minister smiled at Ben and Addie then told him, “You may kiss the bride.”
Ben turned to face her and lifted the lacy white veil covering her face. She was gazing at him so lovingly, he couldn’t resist smiling before he pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
Their guests cheered and the organist played a recessional song as they linked arms and hurried down the aisle.
He paused at the end to give her one more, quick kiss. “I love you,” Ben whispered.
“I love you, too,” she murmured back.
Their ceremony and the reception after were both held in a banquet room of a large hotel, so they merely had to walk a few steps to get to the dinner and reception. Neither of them had wanted a big wedding, but by the time they’d invited all their family and friends, the list had leveled out at about two hundred people.
Their parents had hit it off immediately, and provided all the support they could have asked for.
Ben and Addie sat at the head table, eating, talking and making eyes at each other through dinner. They’d just finished when Nick, the best man, knelt on one knee by them at the table. “If you two are done, I need you to come with me for a few minutes.”
“Why?” Ben didn’t trust his friend’s motives one hundred percent.
Nick waved him off and looked at Addie. “It’s good, I promise. Five minutes is all I need. Then Jordan said something about you cutting the cake because she’s having cravings.”
Addie turned to Ben and nodded. They joined hands and followed Ben around the corner, to one of the dressing rooms they’d used to get ready in.
Jordan was there with an iPad, and she was speaking into it. “I’m huge! Look at this belly!” She held the tablet so the camera caught her pregnant stomach.
The woman on the other end of the Skype call laughed. “You look beautiful! And just think what a story you’ll have to tell her when she grows up. How she was conceived one weekend in Atlanta, and it was all thanks to Auntie Mitzi.”
Grinning, Jordan turned the tablet to face Addie.
“Mitzi!” Addie grabbed the iPad. “How are you?”
“Oh, sugar! You look beautiful! I really wanted to be there, but I couldn’t convince Nick or my mean handler Cheryl that it was a good idea.”
“It’s okay, Mitzi. We appreciate the call.”
“Where’s that handsome husband of yours?”
He stuck his face next to Addie’s. “Right here, Mitzi. Good to see you. How are things there?”
She nodded. “Things are good. I’ve been seeing someone.”
“The same guy?” Addie interjected.
“Yeah. He’s cool and easy-going. We share a lot of the same interests, if you get my drift.”
“We get it.” Ben chuckled. Mitzi hadn’t changed, but she did look happier.
“Speaking of which, I sent you a wedding present. I had no idea that it had to go through so many Witsec channels. When it shows up at your office, Benji, be advised that it’s not safe for work.” She winked. “It’s genuine leather, though. I think you’re both going to like it.”
He felt his face heating. “Um, yeah, okay. Well, thanks.”
Addie moved back into the picture. “Thank you, Mitzi. It was so good to see you.”
Doug poked his head around the corner. “Avery was wondering if there’s going to be cake before she falls asleep.” He rocked his drowsy fifteen-month old daughter in his arms.
Jordan went over to them. “Aw, come see Auntie Jordan, my little sweet girl.” She turned back to them. “You all finish up, no worries. I’ll keep the natives out here from getting restless. Nick, help me out, babe.”
Nick took Doug by the shoulders and ushered him out. “Bye, Mitzi!” he called loudly.
“Bye handsome!” she yelled back. “Damn, you people all look so spiffy. I love men in tuxes. Hell, I love men out of tuxes.” She sighed dreamily.
Ben smiled. “And on that note, we do have to go. Thanks for checking in, Mitzi. We’ll let you know when Nick and Jordan’s baby arrives.”
“Please do. Have a wonderful honeymoon, you two. Hugs!” She blew them a kiss.
“Hugs back at’cha,” Addie smiled. “Bye, Mitzi.” She punched a button and ended the Skype call.
Ben took the iPad and set it aside. “That was sweet.”
Addie slipped her arms around his waist. “You’re sweet. And she was right, you look totally hot in a tux.”
Doug’s voice wafted in from the other room. “Cake?”
Grinning, Ben kissed the tip of Addie’s nose, then circled her waist and led her out.
She smiled up at him. “I’m kind of excited to see what Mitzi sent us. Genuine leather!”
He laughed. “I know, right?”
The End
Also by Jamie Hill from Books We Love
Romantic Suspense:
Witness Security
Pieces of the Past, Book 1
Time to Kill, Book 2
A Cop in the Family Series
Family Secrets, Book 1
Family Ties, Book 2
Family Honor, Book 3
Jamie Hill’s Triple Threat (The complete A Cop in the Family Series)
On the Edge, a romantic suspense novella
Romance, Woman’s Fiction:
The Blame Game Series
Blame it on the Stars, Book One
Blame it on the Moon, Book Two
Blame it on the Sun, Book Three
Blame it on the Rain, Book Four
Playing for Keeps
Secrets and Lies
Impulsive, a short story collection which includes
Three Wishes
Playing With Destiny
All That Jazz
High Maintenance
About the Author
Jamie Hill was born and raised in a beautiful, mid-sized town in Midwest, USA. At various times she wanted to be a veterinarian, teacher, cheerleader, TV star or a famous singer. The one thing she always wanted to be was a writer. Starting at about age ten, she penned romance as she envisioned it in one spiral notebook after another.
When she’s not working at the day job she loves, Jamie enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and watching movies (the scarier the better!) In her ‘spare time’ she can often be found writing, editing, or doing something more mundane like housework. After that, she’s probably taking a nap. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to drop her a line.
http://bookswelove.net/jamiehill.php
http://www.jamiehill.biz/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Hill/135137799867321
Chat with Jamie and other Books We Love authors in the Books We Love Online Book Club:
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http://bookswelove.net
Please enjoy a sample from Secrets and Lies by Jamie Hill
"How dare you speak to me in that manner?" Natalie Jameson clenched her fists. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so furious, while at the same time full of anguish and regret.
"No, Natalie. How dare you?" Her husband's normally handsome face reddened, the veins in his forehead growing bigger the angrier he became. "You started this. It's your fault."
Natalie stomped past her living room sofa, pausing long enough to pick up a decorative pillow. She squeezed the small, blue square and slammed it down on the couch again. "So you've said. Repeatedly. I've got it, Alex. All our problems are my fault. Read you loud and clear."
"I never said everything was your fault. Just this one thing. This one very huge issue." He ran a hand through his closely cropped, brown hair.
"You're making it huge, that's for sure."
Alex blinked in apparent disbelief. "You saw our daughter when she stormed out of here tonight! Gigi was damn near hysterical. She's got an hour's drive ahead of her. Frankly, I'm concerned that she makes it home safely."
Natalie glanced over her shoulder as she headed into the kitchen. "Great, pin that on me, too, while you're at it. Now I'll worry until she has time to get home and we can phone her."
Alex stayed on her heels. "I doubt she's going to talk to either one of us tonight."
"She might." Natalie dredged some optimism from deep inside. Gigi had been upset. Even though Natalie had the best intentions, nothing about their conversation had gone the way she'd hoped or planned. Natalie's stomach churned with uneasiness.
"Now you're delusional. We'll be lucky if she talks to either of us again this month."
Natalie filled the kettle and placed it on the stove. "In case anyone wonders where Geege gets her flair for drama…"
"I'm not being dramatic," Alex insisted. "Realistic is more like it. And I think I've figured out your motive for stirring this pot."
"My motive?" Natalie raised her voice again. "I told you my motive. Gigi is having some medical issues. Her doctor referred her to a specialist, and before she even sees him, she has to fill out a really long family medical history. I wanted her to have accurate information."
"You honestly think it's better for her to put 'unknown' than to possibly list inaccurate information? Because that's what it is, you know, a great big stinking 'U' for unknown."
Natalie's heart sank. "I never thought about it like that."
"Exactly. You didn't think, Nat."
"Why should I?" she snapped. "You're thinking about it enough for both of us. You're overthinking it to death. You always do this, Alex. Give me a break!"
"Don't turn this around on me. I told you I figured it out. You're bored with the kids out of the house for the first time ever. You've lost your purpose. I think you stirred all this up so you'd feel needed again. So Gigi would need you."
Natalie coughed, choking back amazement at Alex's assessment. He was so totally off base, she wondered if her husband really knew her anymore. "How dare you?" She fumed.
"Here we go again. Round and round in circles. This conversation is going nowhere. I, on the other hand, am out of here." He grabbed his coat and yanked his keys from the hook on the wall.
"Where are you going?" Her voice sounded shrill to her own ears. Natalie knew she needed to reel herself in, but couldn't quite handle that just then. "Don't you walk out on me!"
Alex steeled his blue-eyed gaze at her and scowled. He tugged the door open with a jerk, and slammed it on his way out.
"Alex!" She stared after him but he didn't return. She heard the garage door go up, and the sound of his car backing out. The overhead door lowered again. Alex was gone.
Two hours later, he still hadn't returned.
Natalie sighed. The eyes seemed to follow her as she moved around the house. The ghost didn't move, it simply peered out from the dark hallway, but it had an eerie glow-in-the-dark quality that made her uneasy. Natalie chided herself for being jittery about a cardboard Halloween decoration. She pulled her sweater tighter around her waist, and hurried from the hallway.
The house is too quiet. That's my problem. In the twenty years she'd lived there, the place had never seemed as quiet as it did now.
Is Alex right? Am I bored with my 'ne
w' life? The question nagged at her as she made her way to the kitchen, where the teapot had just begun to whistle for the third time that night. She poured steaming water into her well-used 'World's Greatest Mother' mug and added a fresh tea bag. She scooted onto the bench in the breakfast nook, then leaned back against the cushions and allowed herself to think about what was really bothering her.
It wasn't just the quiet. The stillness of the house was preferable to the yelling and crying that had taken place there just two hours ago. Alex almost never got angry. A calm and rational man, he usually thought about his words before he spoke. Natalie liked to tease that he was the stereotypical accountant—organized, predictable and virtually unshakeable. He'd proven her wrong tonight. He could indeed be shaken, and it wasn't a pretty sight.
Despite her teasing, his predictability and calm demeanor had always provided a steadying influence on her. He was her rock, her strength. An extremely good-looking man, now a mature version of the incredibly handsome boy she'd met in college. The first thing she'd noticed about him had been his eyes—piercing, bright blue irises that could see through her, as if to her very soul. Add to that his intelligence and common sense way of seeing things, and Natalie had the man of her dreams. He was, quite simply, the love of her life.
Natalie remembered seeing those eyes grow dark with anger only one other time in their lives before tonight. Serious anger, not the 'Who-launched-the-ball-through-the-window?' type of stuff. Alex handled those things with a grain of salt. He was a good father, with an extraordinary amount of patience. Not tonight. Tonight he'd been angry, his eyes, normally bright, had grown dark, full of anguish and resentment. She hated knowing she'd caused that.
The ironic thing was, when Alex had gotten so angry before, a long, long time ago, it was for the same reason that he was angry now. Natalie sighed and sipped her tea. The more things change, the more they stay the same.