Summer Rain (Lightning Strikes Book 3)

by Barbara Freethy

  "You think the ring is going to bring the rescuers to us?" she asked doubtfully.

  "I absolutely do. Don't you?"

  "I never wanted to believe in it. I never wanted to believe in my great-grandmother, in that part of my family, in my history. I feel bad that I wasn't as close to her as Jake and Alicia. I wish I could go back and hear her stories now."

  "She knows you loved her."

  "I don’t know that I did love her," she said honestly. "I do now, because I understand her better, but when I was a kid, I thought she was crazy, like my mom did. Now, I believe that there are things in the universe we just can't explain away with logic and reason."

  "Sometimes you just have to have faith," he agreed.

  "I do have faith. Not just in this ring—in you," she said, meeting his gaze. "I knew you would find me, Patrick. I knew I would find you. We're connected. We always have been."

  "Even before we met," he murmured. He took her hand in his, feeling like she was truly the other half of his soul.

  A boat came closer, and for a split second he worried that it wasn't a rescue boat, but someone Reid had sent out to make sure they were dead. He almost told Dani not to wave for help, but then he remembered what he'd just said. They needed to have faith.

  Dani waved her hand in the air; a spotlight from the boat swept over the water, illuminating their position. He saw the sign on the side of the boat. It was the Coast Guard.

  "We're going to be all right," he said, letting out a breath of relief.

  "Yes, we will," she said, her eyes shining with happiness. "We made it, Patrick."

  "I couldn't have done it without you."

  "Me, either."

  * * *

  The rest of the night passed in a crazy blur. Dani called Jake from the Coast Guard ship and relayed what had happened to them and the attack that had been thwarted. Jake then contacted Agent Wolfe, who met them at the hospital with a team of agents and personnel that included the local police department and Homeland Security.

  The senator was alert enough to tell Agent Wolfe that whatever they had to say was the truth and that he should listen to them. Then he gave Dani a weak smile and said, "I know I let you down, but as you said, it's time for me to do the right thing, even if it will cost me everything."

  "But you'll get something back," Dani said. "Respect."

  "From you?"

  "From yourself," she said.

  Patrick liked the fact that Dani didn't let her boss off the hook too easily. The man deserved to pay for what he'd done. Turning a blind eye to evil had put blood on his hands, too.

  After being briefly examined and receiving treatment for their cuts and bruises, he and Dani were released from medical care and warmly greeted by their families waiting in the lobby of the ER. They only had a few minutes to make explanations and embrace each other before Agent Wolfe whisked them away to the local FBI office for a debriefing.

  They spent the next eight hours in interviews. They were brought dry clothes and food and drinks to keep them going through the endless round of questions, but it was still a grueling night.

  It was ten o'clock on Monday morning when Agent Wolfe came back from a break and told them that Reid Packer and Erica Hunt were in custody.

  "Thank God," he muttered, exchanging a relieved look with Dani.

  "Packer has already asked for his lawyer," Agent Wolfe said. "Ms. Hunt said she's willing to make a deal."

  "Of course she is," Dani said cynically. "She's ready to play whatever side works in her favor."

  "That could work in our favor, too," Patrick said. "Reid is the mastermind. He's the one we want."

  "I'd still like to see her spend a few days in jail."

  "I suspect you'll get your wish," Agent Wolfe said. "I also just got word from the Coast Guard that they picked up two men in a sinking boat. One has a gunshot wound, and he's also willing to talk. He said the gun's target was the White House. They were going to blow it up at the stroke of midnight under the cover of fireworks."

  "I can't believe it," Dani muttered.

  Patrick was also shocked at the ambitious plan.

  Agent Wolfe nodded, a grim line across his mouth. "Packer is going down for everything, and his shadow company will be out of business for good. The rats are deserting the sinking ship as fast as they can."

  He was happy to hear Reid's minions were going to turn on him. It would take everyone they could find to put the powerful man away for the rest of his life.

  "That's it for now," Agent Wolfe said. "You're both free to leave. I think you should feel safe enough to go home. But if you could stay in town another day or two, I'd appreciate it."

  Dani nodded. "Of course. I'm not even sure I have a job to go back to."

  "Senator Dillon is also being investigated," the agent added. "Not only by us, but also by the Senate. He is cooperating as well. There's a good chance he'll get some sort of immunity to testify against Packer. Like you said, Mr. Kane, we want the big fish."

  "I hate to see anyone go free, but we definitely want to stop the decade-long round of terror that Packer has run," he said. "Too many people have died. You have a lot of work to do, Agent Wolfe."

  "Going back ten years," he admitted. "It's going to be a long investigation, and this is just the beginning."

  Patrick got to his feet to shake the agent's hand. Then he put his arm around Dani, and they walked out to the street. An agent was waiting to give them a ride wherever they wanted to go. He hesitated, and then gave his address. He was going to take Dani home.

  * * *

  "I like it," Dani said, as she walked around his living room. "It's modern, nicely furnished, warm, and a little messy."

  "When I left a week ago, I didn't know I'd be gone this long," he said, picking up an empty glass and plate from the coffee table and taking it into the kitchen.

  "I wasn't judging," she said as he returned to the room. "I like apartments that looked lived in."

  "Good, then we'll get along well."

  "I already knew we got along well," she said with a small smile.

  "Do you want to take a shower?"

  "And rinse the Gulf of Mexico off me? Yes. I also want to eat and sleep and make love to you. I just can't decide in what order to do those things." She laughed at the expression on his face. "I think I know which one you'd pick."

  "I think you do," he said, moving across the room to slide his arms around her waist and press his mouth against hers. "Your lips are warmer now."

  "Because you saved my life."

  "You saved mine first," he reminded her. "Maybe we should stick together in case either of us needs saving again."

  "I'm kind of hoping we won't."

  "But just in case…"

  "Or we could stick together for another reason," she said tentatively. There were so many things she wanted to say to Patrick, but now that they were alone, now that the danger had passed, she wasn't quite sure where to start. "Like maybe we want to get to know each other better."

  "I would like that. And, by the way, I could do that in DC."

  "I'm not sure I'll be in DC. The senator will resign. The office will be dismantled. I'll be a legislative assistant without a legislator."

  "You'll find another job, Dani. You're smart, and when the news hits, you're going to be a hero. You stopped a terrorist attack. People will be lining up to hire you."

  "I'm sure you'll have a lot of offers, too." She put her hands on his shoulders and felt the tight knots in his muscles. "You're still tense."

  "And you're partly responsible for that."

  "I think the night's events have something to do with it, too." She paused, looking into his beautiful brown eyes. She saw relief there, but she also saw other emotions, emotions she doubted he'd had a chance to deal with yet. "Do you feel like you have closure now, Patrick? We don't have all the details, but we do know that your mother was trying to stop Reid and that she lost her life because of that pursuit. I think she'd be happy th
at you finished it for her."

  "I think she would, too. I don't know if there's ever really closure, but it's nice not to have so many questions. It doesn't take away the fact that she's gone. I'm guessing you feel the same way about your dad."

  "Yes, but I feel like today is a turning point for my family. We've been trapped in the past for a decade. Now, we're finally free—all of us, although I do need to have a long conversation with my mother. The two minutes we had together at the hospital showed me how angry and hurt she is. Maybe it wasn't fair to leave her out of things, but on the other hand, she didn't have to deal with all the stress we did. In the end, I hope she'll be happy this is finally over."

  "So, about what we're going to do next…" he said, leaning over to kiss her again.

  "Wait, I have to say one thing first. When I was in the water, and I couldn't find you, I was terrified, Patrick. I didn't want to lose you, and I was afraid I would."

  Shadows filled his eyes. "I was scared, too. All I could think about was that I hadn't had a chance to tell you that I love you. I know it's fast, and you don't have to say it back, but I need to put it on the table now, because it's how I feel."

  "I love you, too, Patrick. It is fast, but it feels like forever at the same time. We were destined to meet."

  "I think we were."

  "I've been afraid to give my heart to anyone. Losing my dad was so painful, and then I buried myself in my career, and I thought a man would just derail that."

  "I would never do that, Dani. I want us both to have what we want and to have each other, too. In other words, let's have it all," he finished with a smile.

  "I like the sound of that. Okay, I know what I want to do first."

  "I swear, if you say make breakfast—"

  She cut him off with a kiss. "We'll eat later—much later."

  Epilogue

  Four months later

  There were no storm clouds in the sky today, no echo of thunder, no flash of lightning when they arrived at the cemetery on the fifth of November to celebrate the return of her father's body. With the help of Agent Wolfe, eyewitness testimony from some workers at the ranch in Mexico, and the Mexican authorities, they'd been able to find her father's remains and bring him home.

  Dani got out of the car with Patrick and waited nearby as Jake and Katherine pulled in behind them, followed by her mother Joanna and Alicia and Michael. Katherine's brother TJ and her mother Debbie came up behind them and finally Patrick's father, his aunt Jill and his cousin Marcus were in the last car.

  "I really appreciate that your family is joining us," she told Patrick as they waited for the others.

  "They wouldn't have missed it." Patrick gave her a smile. "In case you haven't noticed, they're as crazy about you as I am."

  "They're wonderful, too. I'm glad that what we found out about your mother was all good."

  "I almost forgot that my investigation started with that stupid rumor that Senator Stuart's daughter told me about."

  "She was wrong about that, but she started a small ball rolling that grew into a monster boulder."

  "And almost took us out," he said with a laugh, putting his arm around her. "But we're too smart, and too tough."

  "Better together," she said, smiling up at him.

  They'd spent the past four months living together in Patrick's condo while the FBI and police did their jobs to piece together a case against Reid Packer and two dozen or so other individuals. The whistleblower source who had given them Tania's name had come out from hiding. The man, who had once worked in the finance department of MDT, had proven to be quite helpful, and now all of the skeletons were finally out of the closet.

  As she'd predicted, Senator Dillon had had to resign from the Senate, and his office had been dismantled. Erica had cut a deal for immunity but would still spend some time in jail. Stephen Phelps turned out to be completely innocent and just had the misfortune to be friendly with Erica. He'd been shocked when the truth had come out, but another senator had already hired him, so he hadn't missed a beat. Ann Higgins had been the first journalist to report the story, and subscribers to her online magazine had quadrupled in one day. She'd been more than a little grateful to Patrick for giving her the scoop of a lifetime.

  As Patrick had predicted, Dani was already getting offers from not only other politicians but also agencies involved in counterterrorism and national defense. She'd also been encouraged by her former mentor Joe Gelbman to run for office herself, something she was definitely considering. She'd start out small, at the local level. She could see herself as a congresswoman or a senator one day, but she was willing to pay some dues.

  Patrick had started the rebuild on his father's cabin, and when he wasn't overseeing the contractors, he'd begun writing a novel. He'd discovered that he could enjoy researching a fictional mystery almost as much as a real one. She doubted he'd stay out of nonfiction forever, but it was nice to see him relaxed and happy.

  It was also nice to see her siblings in the same state of mind. Alicia and Michael had come back from Miami the night before, and announced that they were having a baby.

  Jake and Katherine had set a wedding date for next May, and her mother was ecstatic about her first grandchild and another wedding to plan.

  Life was not just back to normal; it was better than normal, because she had Patrick, too.

  "Here's a small bouquet for you," Alicia said, handing her a small fistful of flowers. "I thought we'd put them on the grave."

  "Great idea." Once everyone was out of their cars, they walked over to the freshly covered grave and placed their flowers. Katherine brought out a bottle of champagne and poured a dozen small cups of the sparkling wine, and then Jake made a toast.

  "To the man who gave us life, who made us laugh, who taught us to look up in the sky and to dream big," he said. "The man who lived a heroic life, an example for us all to follow. Here's to you, Dad."

  "Here's to you, Dad," she echoed, lifting her gaze to the sky. Then she took a sip of champagne.

  "I want to say something, too," Alicia said. She turned to their mother. "I want to make a toast to you, Mom."

  "To me?" her mother asked in surprise.

  "Yes," Alicia said. "You were there for me after Dad died. We didn't always see eye-to-eye, but you took care of me and you loved me, and before and after Dad's death, you were a great mother. I only hope I can be half as good a mother as you."

  "Oh, my," her mother said, dabbing at her eyes. "I didn't expect that."

  "I feel the same way as Alicia," Dani said. "I know we came here to honor Dad, but really we want to honor you, too. So here's to you, Mom."

  The rest of the group seconded her toast and they finished off the champagne.

  "Before we end this, I'd also like to say something," Patrick said.

  She turned to him in surprise. He gave her a smile, then fell to one knee. Her heart leapt against her chest.

  "Dani, I love you more than life itself. Will you marry me?"

  Her jaw dropped open in shock. "Patrick, I—yes. Yes! Of course, I'll marry you. I adore you."

  He pulled out a small jewelry box. "Then can I offer you this ring to wear on your left hand?"

  "You can," she said, staring in amazement at the beautiful square-cut diamond ring. She still wore her great-grandmother's ring on her right-hand. It felt like it belonged there now. But this one belonged to her and to Patrick—to their love story.

  Patrick slipped the ring onto her finger. Their families clapped in delight. Then she pulled him to his feet and gave him a loving kiss.

  "I wasn't sure about proposing in a cemetery," he said with a grin. "In fact my father advised against it. But we're all together, and I didn't know when that would happen again. Plus, I thought you might want to be near your father, too."

  "It's the perfect spot. You know me too well."

  "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you," Alicia said, pulling Dani away from Patrick to give her a hug.

  "You caught a
good one," Jake said.

  "The best," she agreed.

  "I'm so happy for you, Dani," her mother said, a beaming smile on her face. "But I'm not surprised. Patrick asked me for your hand. It was very sweet."

  She looked back at her husband-to-be. "When did you do that?"

  "A few days ago. I wanted everyone to be on board."

  In other words, he'd wanted to make sure everything about this moment would be perfect for her. She felt incredibly honored and overwhelmed with love.

  Patrick's family came forward with their good wishes and congratulations, and as Dani looked around the group, she realized this was what was most important—love and family. She didn't know how she'd ever forgotten that.

  "Time for lunch," Jake said. "See you all at the restaurant."

  She and Patrick walked slowly back to their car as the others drove off for the second part of the celebration.

  "I could have waited until the restaurant," Patrick said, putting his arms around her.

  "I'm glad you didn't."

  "The location is a little unusual."

  "Which pretty much describes our entire relationship," she said with a laugh. "We're going to be happy."

  "So happy," he agreed. "Together we can do anything…maybe even get you an office in the White House someday."

  "That's thinking big."

  He grinned. "Always. I'd like to be the first husband."

  "You're going to be my first and only husband," she said, kissing him again.

  "And you are going to be my first and only wife," he promised. "Forever."

  "I just hope that's long enough," she whispered.

  * * *

  Agent Damon Wolfe thought about not intruding in on what was obviously a private moment, but as he pulled up behind Dani and Patrick's car, he decided to move ahead. He was heading on to his next assignment, and he wanted to give them an update before he left town.

  They broke apart, looking at him with surprise and a bit of wariness. He couldn't blame them. He'd put them through the wringer the past few months, but he couldn't have taken down MDT and Reid Packer without their help. They hadn't always been friends but they'd always wanted the same thing—justice.