He had one chance to stop Lanza and save Russ. He had to act fast and shoot straight. He was almost as good a marksman as Wolfe. He prayed that would be good enough.
The truck's windows were rolled down, leaving no glass to obstruct the bullet's projection. With hghtning speed, Joe jumped up, aimed and fired. A look of pure shock crossed Lanza's face. Blood trickled from the hole between his eyes. His hand gripping the pistol lifted straight up into the air, and the 9-mm fired into the sky. Then Lanza slumped over and disappeared behind the truck.
Joe raced to the other side of the old pickup. Lanza lay on the ground, his sightless eyes seeming to stare straight up. Russ stood by the truck, shivering. His gaze met Joe's.
"Are you all right?" Joe asked.
"Yeah."
Joe approached Russ, uncertain how the boy would react to him. But when he placed his hand on Russ's shoulder, Andi's little brother looked at him with a quivering smile on his hps.
"Man, I thought I was dead," Russ said. "I saw Andi before Lanza caught me. And I thought I saw you, but I wasn't sure. I didn't know what was going to happen." Russ stopped, clutched Joe's arm and groaned. "How's Jewel? He knifed her, didn't he?"
"I'm sure Jewel is on her way to the hospital right now."
Suddenly Joe and Russ were surrounded by representatives of various law enforcement agencies. Wolfe released his hold on Andi, who ran toward her brother. She grabbed him and hugged him, and then kissed him on both cheeks.
"What the hell's going on here?" Russ pulled free of his sister's hold and glanced around at the army of lawmen surrounding the parking area.
"We'll explain everything later," Joe said. "For now, the police are going to want a statement. After you're finished up at the police station, then we'll go to the hospital and check on Jewel."
Russ turned to Andi. "Joe saved my life."
"Yes, I know."
"I thought I couldn't trust him.'' Russ held out his hand to Joe. "Thank you for helping me. I owe you my life."
"You don't owe me a thing," Joe said. "I owed your father."
"Yeah, I understand." Russ clamped his hands together, obviously trying to stop them from shaking. "I guess your debt to him has been paid in full."
Andi slipped one arm around Russ's waist and then grasped Joe's hand, drew him to her and wrapped her other arm around his waist. The three of them, side by side, walked toward the waiting lawmen.
Two weeks later, Joanna and J.T. Blackwood hosted a barbeque to celebrate the release of two patients from the hospital. Eddie and Jewel held the place of honor at the day's festivities. Three families were united by a common emotion—thankfulness. The Lapahies. The Whitehorns. The Begays. Each had come close to losing a child. After Mr. Lavato refused to press charges against the boys for "borrowing" his truck, the police agreed they had no reason to prosecute Russ or Eddie or Jewel.
Andi and Joe watched the younger children playing in the pool, and the older ones laughing and talking. Had it not been for the cooperation and hard work of so many people, this perfect day could not have happened, Andi thought. But the person most responsible for her happiness was Joe Ornelas, who had not only saved her brother's life, but had announced only a few minutes ago that he planned to remain in New Mexico, on the reservation. She understood, even if no one else did, that Joe was staying not just for himself and perhaps even for her, but for Russ and Eddie. The boys needed someone to look up to in their lives, a role model to show them what a modern Navajo warrior should be.
Russ left the other kids and came over to where Andi and Joe were sitting. He nodded to Joe, who returned the gesture.
"I want to talk to you," Russ said.
"Sure. Here or in private?" Joe asked.
"Here's fine." Russ smiled at Andi and then looked back at Joe. "I just thought you should know that if you and Andi want to get back together. . .you know, get married or something, then it's okay with me."
Andi's mouth fell open. Joe chuckled. Russ grinned, then turned and went back to his friends.
"Joe, I don't—" Andi said.
He shot to his feet, grabbed her hand and said, "Russ might not have needed any privacy for what he had to say, but I do."
"What?"
He led her into the house and down the hall, all but dragging her in his haste. He pulled her into the nearest room, which just happened to be a powder room. After nipping on the overhead light, he closed the door, then eased her up against the wall and kissed her. He took her breath away. She shoved on his chest until he stopped kissing her. He gazed into her eyes, a soft smile curving his lips.
"Andrea Stephens, in case you don't already know it, I thought it was about time that I told you I love you."
"You do?"
"Yes, I do. Very much."
"I love you, too," she said.
"That's what I was hoping you would say." He delved into his vest pocket and brought out the silver-and-turquoise bracelet that she had returned to him only a few short weeks ago. "I want you to have this." He clasped the wide band around her wrist.
She fingered the bracelet. Joe stuck two fingers down into his shirt pocket and came up with a ring. Andi stared at the shimmering, square-cut topaz surrounded by small diamonds.
"I bought this in Albuquerque yesterday," he said. "The minute I saw it, the golden stone reminded me of your eyes."
"Joe, it's beautiful."
"Not half as beautiful as your eyes." He lifted her hand and slipped the ring on the third finger of her left hand. "Andi, will you marry me?"
"Oh, Joe." Tears clouded her vision. She flung her arms around him and cried, "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes."
He kissed her again. Hard and hot, but quick. "Let's go out there and announce our engagement today. And then you and Joanna had better get started on planning a wedding. I don't want to wait to make you my wife. Do you think you two can pull something together in a couple of weeks?"
"A couple of weeks?" She snuggled up against him, her arms around his neck. “I think that can definitely be arranged."
Epilogue
The new Navajo Tribal Police captain, Joseph Ornelas, posed for a picture with his wife and their two children, eight-year-old Seth and five-year-old Dinah. At twenty, Joe's niece, Summer Whitehorn, had become quite an accomplished photographer and she loved to practice, using family and friends as her subjects. Andi had arranged this family event to celebrate Joe's promotion. She was so proud of her husband. In the ten years since he had returned to New Mexico, their lives had become more enriched with each passing year. And with the births of their children, their marriage had only strengthened.
Kate brought out a tray of fresh fruit and added it to the table already overflowing with food. Joanna Blackwood poured iced tea into tall glasses, and Doli Lapahie placed a bouquet of fresh flowers in the center of the banquet.
"I do hope Eddie doesn't forget about the party," Kate said. "I called him this morning to remind him, but the boy lives and breathes those horses."
" 'Those horses' are making a lot of money for Joe and Eddie," Andi reminded her sister-in-law. "Breeding thoroughbreds is a lucrative business. And Eddie is doing a fine job of running the O&W Ranch."
Five years ago, when Eddie graduated from college, Joe had invested in Eddie's idea for a horse ranch, and under Eddie's management the venture had been a huge success.
"Mama, I'm hungry," Dinah said. "When are we going to eat?"
Andi looked down at her daughter and, as she did every time she gazed into Dinah's black eyes, saw Joe staring back at her. “Eddie is running a little late today. As soon as he gets here, we'll eat."
"When will that be?"
"Soon, my darling."
Joanna lifted a strawberry from the fruit tray and handed it to Dinah. "Nibble on this. If Eddie and—If Eddie doesn't get here soon, we'll go ahead and start without him."
Andi had been having one of her odd feelings all morning, and just now she had picked up on Joanna
's slip of the tongue. Who else was Joanna expecting? The Blackwood clan was here, as were the Whitehorns, minus Eddie. The Ornelas family was all accounted for. And Doli was here, too. Excitement tightened Andi's stomach. Could it be? she wondered. Yes, of course, that was it!
As if her thinking about them conjured them up, the front door opened and in walked Eddie Whitehorn. At his side was Lieutenant Russ Lapahie, U.S.N. They hadn't seen Russ in over a year and they hadn't heard a word from him since he had returned from his last assignment as a Navy SEAL.
Doli gasped and began crying. Russ made a beeline to his mother. After hugging her and wiping away her tears, he turned and grabbed Andi, lifted her off her feet and whirled her around.
The minute Russ put her down, Andi pointed her finger at Joe's nephew. "Eddie Whitehorn, you knew Russ was coming home, didn't you?" Then she eyed Joanna. "And so did you and J.T."
"I drove to the airport to pick him up," Eddie said. "He's going to be home two whole weeks."
Joe walked over and held out his hand to Russ, who immediately accepted his brother-in-law's greeting. "You're looking fit these days, Lieutenant," Joe said.
"So are you, Captain."
"Son, we're proud of you. I hope you know that."
“Thanks, Joe. I guess when you first married Andi, you had your work cut out with me, didn't you? But by example, you showed me what a man should be." Then he grinned and embraced the man who had become like a second father to him.
Later, Eddie and Russ mingled with the others. Andi looked on and thought, another good day in an altogether happy life. Today was special for two reasons: Joe's promotion, of course, but also Russ's homecoming. She had been opposed to Russ joining the service after college and greatly opposed to him becoming a SEAL. But Joe had pointed out that her brother had a right to live his own life and that the wild, adventurous streak in Russ would be channeled into productive work in the special forces. He seldom came home, and occasionally Andi felt as if they had lost him to that wide world outside the reservation. But in her heart, she knew that someday he would come home for good.
By late afternoon, with all the youngsters piled into J.T.'s SUV and Eddie's truck, half their guests were headed out to the O&W Ranch to ride horses and pet the new colts. Joe and Andi plopped down on the sofa in the den and put their feet up on the coffee table.
"Quite a day, wasn't it?" Joe said.
"One of life's perfect days," she told him.
He draped his arm around her shoulder, and she cuddled close. After the day's excitement, the house was eerily silent.
“We have a couple of hours before we have to leave for the ranch to pick up Seth and Dinah." Joe nuzzled her neck. "Do you have any suggestions on how we can spend those two hours?"
"Well, you could help me do some laundry, or we could watch a movie on TV, or—''
Joe kissed her. She giggled. He swallowed the sound as he intensified the kiss. When he finally let her come up for air, she gasped.
"Any other suggestions, Mrs. Ornelas?" he asked.
"Well, I can think of a project upstairs in our bedroom that will require both of us to accomplish it. And I'm sure we can get it done in two hours."
Joe stood, swept her into his arms and headed toward the stairs. Andi laughed, her heart overflowing with happiness.
Her life with Joe was just as she had dreamed it would be when she first came to the reservation. Perfect.
* * * * *
Look for Whitelaw's Wedding
the next exciting book in Beverly Barton's series,
THE PROTECTORS,
available in May from
Silhouette Intimate Moments.
Navajo's Woman Page 21