Brides on the Run (Books 1-4): Small-Town Romance Series

by Jami Albright

  “Hank?”

  “That’s great.” The statement was as hard and rigid as concrete.

  “Are you alright?” Her open concern for him was just another slice to his conscience. She’d bared her soul to him, trusted him not only with her heart but with their child, and this was how he was repaying her. With lies and half-truths. But what was he supposed to do?

  He plastered on the best smile he had in his devious bag of tricks. “Yes. That’s great.”

  She laughed. “You already said that.”

  “Sorry, this day is just filled with such good news that I’m having trouble keeping up.” He was definitely going to hell for that one. This was the worst news possible.

  “Here you go.” Trudy set their plates in front of them.

  “Thank you, Trudy.” Charlie unwrapped her silverware and dug in.

  His phone buzzed with a text. Agent Sheridan’s name popped up.

  Hank, we’ve got new info. Be there this afternoon.

  Charlie pointed with her fork. “Aren’t you hungry?”

  The chicken fried steak on his plate mocked him. It dared him to take a bite and see if he could hold it down. He couldn’t, not with the lining of his stomach spewing acid.

  “Anything wrong?”

  “Huh? Oh, no.” He turned the phone face down but continued to stare at it like it was a ransom note, which it was. Sheridan and Murphy were holding his future with Charlie hostage, and it wasn’t going to end well.

  Chapter 54

  Three hours later, Hank was pacing his office and using all his intellect to make sense of what Agent Sheridan was saying. “Say that again.”

  “We’re going to take Perez and Chang at Ms. Klein’s store.” The man said it like he was reciting the daily weather report.

  Hank massaged his temples and tried to think rationally about the situation. But it made no sense. “Why? We can take them at Chang’s, or anywhere between there and Charlie’s store.”

  “We want to take both men while they’re delivering the product,” Murphy said. “And you should calm down, Sheriff. We need cool heads to pull this off.”

  It was official. He hated Agent Murphy. “She’s eight months pregnant, for God’s sake!” The last of his professionalism had gone right out the window.

  “We’re aware,” Sheridan said.

  The calm demeanor of both agents only ratcheted up the growing turmoil shaking around his insides like a bag of dry bones.

  “With my child.” Control of his tone was out of the question.

  “I told you he couldn’t be objective,” Murphy said to Sheridan.

  Bitch.

  He yanked on the tattered restraints of his emotions and hauled them in. They might cut him out of this, and then he’d be completely out of the loop, and no help to Charlie at all. “Fine.” He sat behind his desk again. “Tell me.”

  Sheridan crossed one leg over the other and ran his thumb and forefinger down the crease of his pants. No doubt to give Hank a little more time to calm down. “We want both men, and if we take them at Thomas Chang’s place, then his lawyers could claim he didn’t know about the drugs Perez was funneling through his business. But if we get the two of them unloading the shipment, we can build a tighter case against both of them.”

  “Ms. Klein will never be in danger,” Murphy supplied.

  He only gave her a dead-eyed glare, then turned back to Sheridan. “You can’t know that. What if things go south, and she’s caught in the crossfire?” He should’ve gotten Charlie out of this at the start of this nightmare.

  “Before you go all caveman,” Agent Murphy said, “you need to remember our objectives here. And that’s to protect the good citizens of Zachsville, including the children, and to put Perez and Chang behind bars. Isn’t that what you want? Those two locked up and away from Charlie?”

  “Yes, I want them arrested and put away for the rest of their lives. But…” The thing that had been lurking in the back of his mind, and that he’d prayed wouldn’t happen, suddenly became the only way to keep her safe. “You have to take her into custody too.”

  “What?” Murphy asked.

  “Just listen.” He stood and began to pace. “If Perez or his associates think Charlie had something to do with his arrest, they could come after her.” He couldn’t control the barely restrained terror in his voice.

  He looked to Agent Sheridan. The man held his eyes without blinking. “It’s possible.”

  The horrible scenarios of what might happen if these people believed Charlie was responsible for bringing down Perez and his operation took over his brain. For her protection, it had to be done. “Then we don’t have any choice but to take her into custody too. If they see her being arrested right along with them, then they’ll think she wasn’t working with the Feds to set them up. If not…” There was no need to finish the sentence. They all knew what these people were capable of doing.

  Sheridan exchanged a look with Murphy then turned to Hank and nodded. “Okay. This is probably none of my business, but are you prepared for the fallout from this plan?”

  Hell, no. “I’ll deal with it. The only thing that matters is that she and the baby are safe.”

  “Keeping her in a cell should be a joy,” Murphy said.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “The only way I will participate in this is if you move her to a safe house as soon as possible after her arrest.” He stared down Agent Murphy. “She will not spend the night in a cell.” His intensity ticked down a notch when he turned to Sheridan. “I want your word.”

  The man nodded. “You have it. But if we’re doing this, Ms. Klein has to believe she’s actually being arrested. If not, then the whole thing will be for nothing. You can’t tell her ahead of time. I know she’s an actress, so she might be able to pull it off, but for her safety, we can’t take any chances. I’m sure you understand.”

  “I do.” He understood alright. He understood that his entire future was going up in a blazing, fucking bonfire.

  Chapter 55

  Charlie filled the sink in Hank’s kitchen with water. She’d made his favorite meal to celebrate and to reassure him that she was thrilled with their decision to get married. The herbs and spices from the dish made the homey house even cozier.

  She wasn’t living with him—the Zachsville gossip mill could only handle so much scandal—but she stayed here more than at Wardell’s.

  Her heart grew two sizes at the thought of making this house a home for her little family. The permanency of it all gave her hope that Pod would have what she never did—deep, abiding roots that would help her grow into a strong, confident woman. Her ever-present companion kicked and did a barrel roll in agreement.

  Not long now, little Pod.

  She couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that in just a few short weeks, she’d be holding a baby. It was incredible how nine short months could change everything.

  Warm arms went around her waist, and Hank’s big hands rested on her belly. “Dinner was delicious.”

  His strong and steady body supported her as she melted into the embrace. “I’m glad you liked it. I’m afraid you might get sick of it after we’re married. It’s all I know how to cook. Well, that and grilled cheese.”

  “I love grilled cheese.” He buried his head into the crook of her neck and inhaled, but he didn’t kiss and nuzzle like he usually did. He seemed to be drawing comfort from her. She turned in his arms, and the stricken look in his eyes stole her breath.

  She took his face in her hands. “Hey. Are you alright?”

  “Fine.”

  He sure as hell didn’t look fine. Her hand went to his forehead. “Are you ill?”

  “No, just tired.”

  It looked like more than fatigue, but if he wasn’t ready to tell her, then she’d wait. She gave him her flirtiest grin. “I guess we’ll have to go to bed early then.”

  “Oh, I don’t…”

  Her hand went to the back of his neck. He
melted into the kiss as soon as their lips touched, drinking her in. He deepened the kiss, and she fell a little more in love with him. If she could ease his pain just a little, then she’d give what she could.

  He pulled back and rested his forehead on hers. “I love you, Charlie. This life with you is everything to me. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Hank? What is wrong?”

  He shook his head. “Tell me you know it.”

  She captured his face in her hands again. “I know. You know that I’ve always loved you too?”

  The watered-down version of his brilliant smile when he nodded didn’t make her feel any better. “Yes.”

  She took his hand. “Come with me.”

  He followed without protest. The lost look in his eyes nearly broke her heart. What was wrong with him? It wasn’t her or their relationship, she knew that, but something was definitely wrong. A tiny niggle of unease bumped up against her happy world. She refused to let it in. This was the life she’d built, and she’d protect it with everything she had, including her body. He needed her. She could see it all over his face. He wouldn’t use her, but it wasn’t using if she offered.

  In the dimly lit bedroom, she made him sit on the edge of the bed. Confidence shot through her when she slid her dress over her head and let it drop to the floor. A passenger no more in her life, she had the authority to direct it and change the course of how things went.

  Three steps and she was between his legs, her bare feet next to his. Her hands went to the hem of his shirt. A quick tug and it was over his head and on the floor.

  Tears stung her eyes when he leaned forward and placed an open mouth-kiss on the place where Pod grew. “Love you.” Another kiss. “Love you both.” A shadow of misery lingered behind the adoration shining in his need you gaze. A slow blink, then two, and only tenderness remained.

  His hands went around her and flipped the clasp of her bra. She held the cups in place, then slowly peeled them away from her breasts. Cool air and his heated gaze teased the sensitive tips. The sensation rippled along her nerve endings, snapping her body to life.

  With a slight shove she pushed him back on the bed. His body was ridiculous, but it was the fire blazing from his green irises that caused aching need to pulse between her thighs. “You are…too much, Hank Odom.”

  He didn’t speak, only continued to stare at her like he was memorizing every inch of her body. Like if he blinked, she might disappear. Silly man. Didn’t he know she wasn’t going anywhere? Not without him, anyway.

  Hank reached for words to express what the sight of her standing before him like this did to him, but they were gone, hidden behind the guilt in his chest. He committed every inch of her body and the love pouring from her to memory.

  A strangled gasp was all he could manage when her soft fingers traced the trail of hair that disappeared into the waist of his jeans. A flip of the button, the glide of his zipper, and she slid his pants and briefs down his legs.

  All the blood rushed to his erection when she slipped her panties down her legs, crawled onto the bed, and straddled his hips. “This okay?”

  “So okay.”

  She rose to her knees and placed her hands by his head. Her belly made moving awkward for her, so he slowly rolled her to her back, careful to stay on his hands and knees to protect her. Her blonde hair fanned out around her head in a halo. Appropriate. She was the angel that made everything right in his life. And he’d just made plans to blow her world apart.

  The impossibility of the situation twisted his gut. The time for deciding a different path had long since passed. He’d made the best decision he could to protect her, but he knew she wouldn’t see it that way.

  A cold, hard reality settled behind his ribs. This could be the last time he would make love to her. His heart recognized the prickling pressure behind his eyes. He swallowed those emotions down and concentrated on making her feel as good as possible. If this was it for them, then he would hold nothing back. “I love you.”

  He didn’t give her time to respond before his mouth claimed hers. He poured devotion into every stroke of his tongue and slide of his lips. All the things he couldn’t tell her, he poured into the kiss.

  Please forgive me.

  I’m lost without you.

  Trust me to make this right.

  Desperate love trailed his mouth down her neck, over her chest, to the tip of her breast, finding its mark as he lapped and swirled his tongue around her nipple.

  She arched off the bed with a hiss. Her fingers threaded through his hair, and she held him in place. “Hank.”

  Long sucks, twirling licks, tiny biting nips had her writhing and pleading for release. He slid a hand between her legs and found her wet and wanting. One finger slipped into her body. Her deep, satisfied moan threw kerosene on his desire to bring her pleasure. He circled his thumb over the hidden bundle of nerves and she came in huge wracking shudders, clawing and gripping his shoulders.

  Before she stopped trembling, he sank into her on a sigh. This was his heaven.

  With her.

  In her.

  Loving her.

  He’d fight the devil himself to keep her. With every stroke and glide, he determined to do whatever he had to do to fix this, to fight for her, for them.

  She wrapped her hands around his arms that were still next to her head, anchoring herself to him. “Yes, right there, Hank. Don’t stop.”

  Stop? That was never happening. The deep roll of his hips over and over gave her what she wanted. She found her second orgasm on a loud, sharp cry. His orgasm gathered like the roiling tide of emotions slamming against his ribs and increased his tempo, driving him forward.

  The sound of her soft moans and his pounding heart pulsing through his head were all he could hear. The mounting sensation exploded through him. His shaking release slammed into him, desperate and hard. His vision blurred and his arms shook. He rolled them to their sides to keep from collapsing on top of her.

  Soft fingers traced over his cheek. “I love you, Hank Odom.”

  He drew her head to his chest and held her there. “I love you too.”

  She snuggled in next to him, and they lay wrapped in each other’s arms with their baby between them. Long after she fell asleep, and her soft snores were no more than a puff of air, he finally slept, and dreamed of slamming doors.

  Chapter 56

  Hank yanked open his desk drawer. A couple of pain relievers for his throbbing head were necessary if he was going to be able to get through this day. He checked his watch. Agent Sheridan and Agent Murphy would be arriving any minute to discuss coordinating the logistics for the takedown of Raul Perez, Thomas Chang, and Charlotte Klein.

  What a nightmare.

  Caught between a rock and a fucking awful place. He either took his chances with Charlie’s safety and hoped that no one thought she was working with the authorities to bring down Perez and Chang, or protect her by having her arrested and hope like hell she forgave him. Because there was no way she’d see this as anything but the ultimate betrayal and manipulation.

  He ran his hand across his forehead. The pain in his head intensified to a constant piercing ache.

  “Sheriff, Agents Sheridan and Murphy are here to see you,” Barb said through the intercom.

  “Send them in.”

  The agents came through the door wearing their cop faces. Even Murphy’s signature smirk was gone. They were all business today. “Hank, how are you today?” Agent Sheridan asked.

  “As well as can be expected.” He shook both agents’ hands.

  “You alright there, Sheriff?” Agent Murphy pulled papers from her leather satchel. He hated that stupid satchel.

  He swallowed down any lingering doubt about what he had to do. “I’m fine.”

  “Good, because we have a lot to talk about, and we’re going to need your help.” Murphy’s grey eyes narrowed under the bill of her DEA ball cap.

  “You can count on me.” He hardened his heart and
put the potential consequences to his relationship with Charlie out of his mind. He was a cop. He’d taken a vow to uphold the law, to protect the community and the children of his town, and that was what he intended to do.

  The two agents exchanged a look, then seemed to decide he was indeed on board.

  “Alright, later this afternoon, Perez and Chang will bring Ms. Klein her delivery. We’ll have agents positioned in the alley behind the shop, but out of sight. You, me, and Agent Sheridan will be in the front. On my signal, we will raid the store and make the arrest. All three will be brought back to Houston, where Perez and Chang will be booked and detained. Ms. Klein will be detained until we can get her to the safe house.”

  “You still with us, Hank?” Sheridan asked.

  “Yeah.” He fought like hell to keep his tone steady and professional. “Will we take Perez and Chang in the ally or in the store?”

  “In the store,” Sheridan said.

  “Once we have Chang and Perez booked, we will transport Ms. Klein to our safe house, per your request.” Agent Murphy’s tone indicated that she believed that was a waste of time. “Where she’ll stay for a reasonable amount of time so that it appears she was found to have nothing to do with this. Then she’ll be released.”

  “And her stock?” Hank’s vocal chords sounded like they were stuck in a noose.

  “Since you’ve been able to get us samples of her products, and we’ve had them tested, she will be able to keep her inventory. We’re only interested in the drugs.”

  Hank nodded. At least there was that. The grand opening would be ruined, but she’d still have her products, she and Pod would be safe, and her life could go back to normal.

  The big question was, would he be part of that life or not?

  Chapter 57

  Charlie stepped back from the display she’d just put together featuring her exfoliating soaps that she made with coconut oil and coffee. The white bars with brown flecks popped against the chocolate and blue display shelf. As her gaze drifted around her little store, only one word came to mind.