Daniel cast Josh a grin. “I knew you didn’t have your cuffs with you, so I brought a spare pair. I also know that Trey left the station about twenty minutes ago, so he should be home by now, enjoying a cold beer and dreaming of his future wealth.”
“That’s just the way I want him, feeling safe and secure until I show up and destroy his world.” Josh thought of the vision of Savannah huddled at the back of the alcove, waiting for death to come to her, and his anger at the two men responsible grew.
“Let’s just hope he isn’t moving the product you saw in his garage as we speak,” Daniel said.
“I doubt it. With him believing that Savannah and I are dead, he has no reason to be in a hurry.” Josh sat forward in his seat as they turned onto the block where Trey’s home was located.
The only car parked in front of the sheriff’s house was his patrol car. A light shone from the living room window, and all looked peaceful and normal.
“I want to be the first person he sees when he opens his door,” Josh said. “You back me up.”
“Got it.”
They pulled into the driveway and walked to the front door. Josh knocked, and when his boss answered, Trey’s eyes opened wide and then narrowed. “You can’t prove anything,” he said immediately. “It’s your word against mine. I’m the sheriff of this town, and you’re just a disgruntled employee I’ve been having problems with lately.”
Daniel cleared his voice and stepped into view. He held out a piece of paper. “We’re here to serve a search warrant for these premises.”
“And we’re going to start our search in your garage,” Josh added.
Trey tried to push past the two men, but Josh grabbed him by the arm, twirled him around and snapped handcuffs on his wrists.
“Now let’s take a look in your garage.” Josh grabbed Trey’s elbow and led him to the evidence that would be the end of life as Trey knew it.
* * *
IT WAS AFTER TEN when Daniel finally dropped Josh back at Savannah’s house. The place was dark and looked as if nobody was home. Apparently Savannah had taken his advice to heart and hadn’t turned on lights to indicate that anyone was there.
“Savannah,” he yelled through the door.
She immediately opened the door and let him inside. “Is it done?”
He nodded and turned on the end table lamp in the living room. “It’s over. Trey and Jim are both behind bars and will face a judge sometime tomorrow. We also arrested Ray McClure on suspicion of conspiracy.”
She sat on the sofa and motioned for him to join her. Dressed only in a short gold-colored nightgown and matching robe, with her hair shiny and her brown eyes sparkling with gold flecks, she broke his heart all over again.
“We don’t know for sure what Ray’s involvement might be. He swears he knew nothing about the drugs, but he was Trey’s right-hand man, so the jury is out on whether he was part of the crime,” he continued.
“Trey started singing like a bird once we had him in custody. Apparently both he and Jim were investing heavily in the amusement park, and he told us it was Jim who attacked you at the inn. Jim wanted revenge on you because you brought attention to the tunnels.”
“Did he say who grabbed me in the tunnels?” she asked.
“Apparently that was Trey. He wanted to scare you enough that you’d stay out of the tunnels forever. Apparently he didn’t intend to hurt you.”
“I wish he’d told me that. So, what happens now at the sheriff’s office? With the mayor? Who is going to be in charge?” she asked.
“Daniel will probably step in since he’s the chief deputy sheriff, but to be honest, I’m not sure what’s going to happen. It’s possible that because nobody knows the depth of corruption, the department of justice or attorney general will have to come in to sort things out.”
He forced a smile at her. “So, it’s done. You’re finally safe now, and I’ll just get my things and let you have your life back.”
He started to stand, but she grabbed him by the forearm and pulled him back down on the sofa. “It’s not over yet.” Her eyes simmered with an emotion he couldn’t read, but a small fist of anxiety curled in the pit of his stomach.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stared at a point just above his shoulder, nervous tension rocketing through her. “I said some terrible things to get you out of the house. I didn’t mean them. I know you weren’t responsible for the investigation into Shelly’s death. I wanted you out because you scared me, Josh.” She looked at him. “Everything about you scared me.”
“Why?” he asked in obvious confusion.
“Because you are vibrant with energy and a love of life. Because you forced me out and back into the world I thought had betrayed me by taking Shelly away.”
“As I recall, I said some pretty rough things as I made my exit from here,” he replied.
She smiled ruefully. “You spoke the truth. I had become a ghost. I’d given up on life and on any idea of finding happiness. It just felt like a betrayal of Shelly.”
“I remember the first time I went out with friends after Jacob died. A bunch of our friends were going to a horror movie, and I decided to go after weeks of just hanging around in the house. I felt guilty the minute I got into the car. I shouldn’t have been doing anything without Jacob. Then the movie started, and it was the kind of gory horror movie that Jacob loved. At that moment I felt his presence inside me, and I knew he was glad I was going on with my life.”
He gazed at Savannah, knowing that his love for her shone from his eyes. “She will always be alive,” he said softly. “Just like Jacob will always be alive to me. He lives on in my memories and in my heart.”
“When Trey took me down in the tunnel and I knew I was probably going to die down there, I suddenly realized how much I wanted to live, how disappointed Shelly would be in me because of the choices I’ve made since her death. Shelly loved life. She embraced it like a favorite teddy bear, and that is what she would want me to do.”
Savannah could tell by Josh’s expression that he wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but she did, and she only hoped she wasn’t too late.
“I shed my ghost while facing death,” she continued. “I found the real Savannah again, the woman who wants to open a restaurant and laugh at silly stories. I’m the woman who loves to sit on the patio in front of the ice cream parlor and eat a waffle cone.”
She moved closer to him on the sofa and saw by the look in his eyes that it wasn’t too late for her, for them. “Josh, I’m the woman who was crazy about you two years ago, and now I’m the woman who is crazy in love with you.”
He remained unmoving, his blue eyes shimmering. “Say it again,” he demanded.
“I love you, Jo...” She didn’t get the whole sentence out of her mouth before his lips claimed hers in a fiery kiss that stirred her from head to toe.
When the kiss finally ended he laughed, the sound one of pure joy. “I got the bad guys in jail and I got the girl. Life doesn’t get any better than this.”
“Yes, it does,” she replied and snuggled against his side. “There’s building a restaurant and being together and making babies.”
His arm tightened around her. “I like the sound of that, especially the last part.”
She smiled up at him. “The restaurant is going to take some time. But we’re together now, so we could start working on the last part.”
She laughed as he jumped up off the sofa and held his hand out to her. She grabbed his hand, and as he led her down the hallway toward her bedroom, she knew he was really leading her into her future...a future of happiness and laughter and love.
Epilogue
It was the beginning of a new month, and for Savannah it was the beginning of her new life. August had arrived and with it big changes not only for the town of Lost Lagoon but also for Savannah.
Although it had only been a week since she and Josh had professed their love for each other, Savannah was moving into Josh’s
house. Mac was thrilled that she was selling out, rubbing his hands together at the prospect of the money from the sale of the house.
Jeffrey Allen had already contacted the Realtor she’d hired to handle the sale, and negotiations were in the works even though she had yet to put a For Sale sign in the yard.
Both Trey Walker and Jim Burns were in jail, facing a variety of charges. Both men had been denied bail by the judge they had faced, despite the arguments by their lawyers.
For now Daniel was working as acting sheriff, but rumor had it that the attorney general was sending somebody in to take over and clean up any lingering corruption.
At the moment, the last thing on Savannah’s mind was evildoers and town business. As she filled a box with her clothing, all she could think about was Josh and the happiness that filled her heart.
Over the past week, her love for him had only grown stronger. Once she’d truly let down her defenses, she’d allowed his love to flow over her, into her, and she’d never known that kind of joy before.
Some people might accuse her and Josh of rushing things by her selling the house and moving in with him, but she’d never been so sure of anything in her entire life.
She checked her watch. After two. She needed to leave here by three so she could get to Josh’s house and have dinner waiting for him when he got home just after five.
He was on day shift now, but Savannah had already warned him not to get used to her cooking dinner for him every night. Just as she’d embraced loving Josh, she’d re-embraced her old dream of opening a fine-dining restaurant in town.
She was going to have it all, a love to last a lifetime, a successful business and eventually a family. She walked over to the desk and picked up the ceramic frog that had belonged to Shelly.
She cradled it in her hands. She would always feel grief and loss when she thought of Shelly, but with Josh’s help, she’d finally moved into acceptance.
Just like Josh had told her, Shelly would always be with her, in her memories and in her heart. Even now, as the ceramic frog warmed in her hands, she felt Shelly smiling down from heaven at her.
Shelly would sing with the angels at Savannah’s wedding. She’d shine down with her smile when Savannah opened her restaurant, and she’d be with her in spirit when she gave birth to her first child.
Savannah hoped someday the murder of her sister would be solved and the guilty put behind bars. But even if that never happened, she was determined to get on with her own life.
Savannah jumped as she heard the sound of the front door opening. She set the frog down in the box of clothing she had packed and hurried down the hall to see Josh.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked.
As he walked toward her, his lips formed that sexy smile that she knew would warm her heart for the rest of her life. “I was in the neighborhood and decided I needed a kiss.” He pulled her into his arms.
She smiled up at him. “Do you always just stop in at some random house when you’re on duty and feel the need for a kiss?”
“Nah, I’m very picky. I only stop to get a kiss from the woman I’m going to marry.”
“Good answer, Deputy Griffin,” she said just before his mouth slanted to hers in a kiss that told her everything she needed to know about her future...and it was going to be magnificent.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from CLANDESTINE CHRISTMAS by Elle James.
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Clandestine Christmas
by Elle James
Chapter One
Chase sat back in his chair at the Lucky Lady Saloon in Fool’s Fortune, Colorado, letting the three-hundred-dollar-a-bottle whiskey and the lilting sound of Sadie Lovely’s voice wash over him.
Today marked the anniversary of his obligation to his grandfather’s will. In order to inherit all of what his grandfather left him, he had to agree to live at the Lucky Lady Ranch for two entire years without leaving for more than one month out of each year.
Finally, he was free to choose wherever he wanted to go, whatever he wanted to do and whomever he wanted to do it with.
But he wasn’t really. In the past two weeks, he’d gone from anticipating leaving the ranch to his overseer to promising to stay until things settled down with Sadie.
Fifteen years older than him, she was a friend from his former playboy life, really an acquaintance who’d saved him from being mugged by thugs and drowning in a gutter when he’d been too drunk and stupid to help himself.
Tough as nails, with a heart of gold, Sadie had held off the thugs with a .40-caliber pistol she kept strapped to her thigh beneath her evening dress. She’d dragged him into her home, sobered him up and asked for nothing in return.
He’d offered her his friendship, and even got to know her grandson, Jake, a cute little boy with curious green eyes. He wasn’t sure what had happened to cause Jake’s mother to crash her car, hadn’t asked and Sadie hadn’t volunteered the information. It was clear she was raising the boy to the best of her ability.
When she’d come to him two weeks ago, scared and in need of his help, he’d opened his doors to her, set her up with a job at one of the businesses he’d inherited from his grandfather and helped her move her and her grandson into his big empty house on the Lucky Lady Ranch until she could get set up in a place of her own.
Sadie ended her song and descended from the stage to sit in the chair opposite Chase. In her late forties, she was still an attractive woman, with smooth curves and a sultry smile. “I’m glad you came.”
Chase sat forward, the mild buzz from the alcohol clearing as he leaned forward. “I came as soon as I got your message. I must say I’m surprised you agreed to perform tonight.”
She shrugged. “I never know when a threat is real or just a threat. All I know is that I can’t live my life like this. I have to work to support my grandson. Speaking of which.” She bit her lip, the lines around her eyes more pronounced than usual. “I want to make sure you’re still good for my backup should anything happen to me where Jake’s concerned.”
“I’m his godfather now. I’d do anything for the kid.”
She reached across the table and touched his arm. “Even raise him as your own?” Sadie held his gaze.
Chase’s chest tightened. “That won’t be an issue. He’s got you.”
“I’m serious. I have a bad feeling.”
“We moved you from Leadville to give you a new start. Hopefully, whoever burned down your house won’t follow you here. You should be okay.”
She smiled. “I have a limited number of skills. Changing my name and hair color hardly constitutes going incognito when all I’m qualified to do is sing and...”
Chase covered her hand. “Look, Sadie, you’re done with that other life. You don’t have to go back to entertaining men. You have a good job here, where all you have to do is sing for a living.” Though he subsidized her earnings, he wasn’t telling her. He owed her his life.
She nodded. “Thanks to you. I’m just afraid my past is catching up to me.”
“Why? What has you scared?”
“I had another empty message on my voice mail. On my new cell phone.” She bit her bottom lip.
“It was a computer-generated sales call gone bad.” Chase shook his head. “What else do you have?”
“I feel like someone is following me. W
atching me.” She turned her head and stared out at the practically empty barroom. “Especially today. Every time I turned around I saw nothing, yet I can swear someone is there. Waiting. Watching.”
“Sweetheart, after having a stalker following you around for the past few weeks, you have a right to feel paranoid.”
She pulled her hand away from his. “It’s more than that. When I left my dressing room earlier, I locked the door behind me. I went back because I forgot my throat spray. The door was open. I know I locked it.”
“Perhaps the janitor?”
“He doesn’t come on until after midnight.”
Chase’s anger simmered just beneath the surface. Sadie was his friend and he hated seeing her so distraught. “I placed a call to a man I know of who provides specialized, undercover bodyguards. I asked specifically for a woman to blend in with you and the saloon.”
Tears welled in Sadie’s eyes. “A bodyguard?” Then she shook her head. “I can’t pay you back. Not yet.”
“No need. I don’t like the idea of you and Jake in danger. At least you’ll be safe at the ranch until you find a place of your own. And hopefully, we’ll discover who’s stalking you and nail the jerk before you move back to town into your own place.”
She smiled. “In the meantime, I need to know that you’ll be there for Jake, if anything happens to me. You’re the only one he trusts besides me and the Quaids.” She leaned closer to him. “Chase?”
“Yes, Sadie?”
“If anything should happen to me, I want you to have this.” She pressed something cold and hard into his palm and curled his fingers around it.
“What is it?” He could tell by the shape, it was a key, but to what?
“It’s the key to my safe-deposit box at the First Colorado Bank in Denver. You, me and my attorney are the only ones who have access to the box. He has authority to turn it over to the police should you and I disappear.”
“Which you aren’t, and I’m not,” he assured her.
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