by Paula Graves
After a couple minutes more passed without further movement from Opal, Scanlon looked at Isabel. “Watch my back.”
Her dark eyes glowed with a promise that sent warmth rushing into his chest. “Always.”
Opal was dead. She’d probably died before her legs had stopped churning, the shot perfectly positioned through her heart. Just like his father.
“Eye for an eye,” he murmured.
“Who was that?” Isabel gazed toward the ridge.
“I’ll tell you everything as soon as we get the hell out of this place,” he answered, grabbing her hand and heading down the mountain as fast as his shaking legs would take him.
* * *
BY THE TIME THEY REACHED THE OLD BARN, the area was swarming with FBI agents and Coopers. A relative-filled reunion with her family was cut short when Huntsville resident agents whisked her and Scanlon away for debriefing.
It was two hours later before she got even a glance at Scanlon, across the FBI office. Three hours before they were finally released and she managed to sneak away from her worried family to track him down in an empty office, where he sat at a desk with his head in his hands.
“No charges against Dahlia,” she told him, sitting in the empty chair across from him. “Too hard to prove she was up to anything actionable, so nobody wants to try.”
“Maybe she’ll keep her nose clean now.” Scanlon didn’t sound convinced.
“Nobody’s been able to find Jamie Butler,” she added.
He looked up at her. “He probably knows a dozen ways to melt into those hills. Look how long it took the FBI to find Eric Robert Rudolph when he went to ground.”
“I hear Jamie as much as confessed to killing your father.” She eyed him warily, not sure what he was thinking at the moment. Given how long he’d been chasing his father’s nameless, faceless killer, she didn’t think he’d just hang up his boots now, when he had a name and a face.
But the clear-eyed look he gave her caught her by surprise. “The woman who killed my father is dead. She made her son shoot a man in cold blood. Jamie was crying and begging not to do it, but she wouldn’t give up.”
“So we let him off free? He’s still a serial bomber.”
“I could tell what he’s been doing all these years has been eating him up. I think sooner or later, he’ll either turn himself in or end it himself. That’s up to him.”
“I gave Jesse the key,” she said. “He’s out looking for the lock it belongs to right now.”
“Maybe he’ll find it.” Scanlon didn’t sound that interested as he pushed to his feet and walked around to her side of the desk, crouching next to her. He reached up and pushed a lock of hair away from her face, tucking it back into her ponytail. “But I’m done, Cooper. With all of it.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant, and the way his fingers lingered over her cheek wasn’t exactly helping her keep her wits. “Done with the case?”
“Done with the FBI.” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Done with anything that keeps me away from you. I love you.”
She released a shaky breath. “Oh.”
His expression grew uneasy. “That’s what you want, too, isn’t it?”
She caught his face between her hands. “Of course. I love you, too. Being with you is all I want. But if you want to stay with the FBI, I’ll go back. It’s not against the rules—”
“I don’t want to go back.” He pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her. “In fact, I kind of like your earlier idea. Think your brother can find an opening at Cooper Security?” He bent until his lips hovered just above hers.
“He will or I’ll kill him,” she breathed against his lips.
Chuckling, he slanted his mouth against hers and kissed her, sending joy dancing through her heart.
Epilogue
“It’s stupid to wait,” Isabel protested. “I’m not sentimental about white dresses and diamond rings—and we’ve known each other forever—”
“I wish you didn’t sound as if you view getting married as something unpleasant to get over with,” Scanlon answered, playing with one of the curls spilling onto his shirt.
She rose on her elbow and looked at him. “I don’t see it that way. I promise.”
“I know your mom walking out didn’t give you a good feeling about marriage in general—”
“I want to be married to you,” she said firmly, bending to kiss him. He struggled to keep his desire in check, since they weren’t exactly alone. Her brothers and sisters had left them alone cuddling on a blanket near the creek in front of Isabel’s house, but her yard wasn’t large enough to put them completely out of sight.
They were celebrating a happy announcement—Isabel’s brother Rick and his wife, Amanda, were having a baby. An impromptu picnic had spilled out of Isabel’s pretty little farmhouse onto the back lawn. Only Jesse was missing, though he’d called a while ago to let them know he was on the way.
Sooner or later, Scanlon and Isabel were going to have to drag themselves off the blanket and back into the family fold. But first, he sneaked a quick kiss that damned near derailed his good intentions.
The sound of a car pulling into Isabel’s gravel driveway gave Scanlon the strength to pull away. “Is that Jesse?”
Isabel’s brow furrowed. “He sounded strange when he called. I wonder if he had any luck in Borland?”
Jesse had found a storage company in nearby Borland that had records of Trey Pritchard renting a small unit. Apparently Trey had paid for ten years’ rental up front, so the contents had not yet been auctioned off. Jesse had gone there this morning to meet the manager.
Hand in hand, they crossed to where the rest of the family lounged on blankets and in lawn chairs. Jesse walked up just as they arrived. He held a large manila folder, looking pleased.
“Is that it?” Scanlon asked.
Jesse nodded. “I think your boss is going to be pretty happy with what we found.”
Inside were printed photographs of a handwritten ledger detailing years of money laundering through Tolliver Feed and Seed. There were also handwritten notes from Pritchard himself, detailing his growing fear that the Swains intended to kill him.
“It’ll be enough for a warrant,” Scanlon agreed.
“Maybe it’ll give the FBI leverage to get one of the Swains to tell them where Jamie is hiding,” Isabel added, looking up at him with shining eyes. “Maybe it can all finally be over.”
“Maybe,” he agreed. And he’d be glad if it came to pass.
But it wasn’t his reason for living anymore.
Isabel was.
She seemed to read his mood, rising to her toes to kiss him. He heard groans from her brothers and sisters at the public display and had the sudden urge to drive up to the Smokies and find the first available wedding chapel.
“Let’s elope,” Isabel murmured against his lips. “Gatlinburg’s pretty this time of year.”
Partnership, he thought, smiling through the kiss.
He and Cooper had raised it to an art form.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459226326
Copyright © 2012 by Paula Graves
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue