by David Archer
“No problem, I needed it myself. How did I end up in the bathtub upstairs, anyway? Somehow, I bet that was Marco.”
“It was. He took you in there so you wouldn’t be in the way. People were stepping on you.”
The two of them sat and drank a couple of cups apiece, as various people slowly began to regain consciousness. The coffee maker was refreshed several times to accommodate them all, but most of the men offered congratulations to Noah once again and then headed for their own homes to sleep it off for a while. By noon, it was only Noah, Neil, and Marco, and the three of them decided it was time to eat something, so they headed for the Sagebrush Saloon. For once, Neil didn’t object to accepting a ride from Marco, even though it meant climbing into the narrow back seat of his late-model Mustang.
The hostess led them to a table, and it was only a minute before Elaine, her eyes bloodshot, smiled down at them. “What’ll it be, guys? And before you make any smart-ass comments, you don’t look a whole lot better than I do. I take it you all partied pretty hard last night?”
“We’re not talking about it,” Neil said. “What happened to you?”
“I toasted the bride one time too many. Jenny and Allison cooked up a scheme to get a bunch of us out to the Club, and we danced way too long and hard.” She grinned at Noah. “I think Sarah had the time of her life, but we kept her out of trouble.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sure it meant a lot to her for you to be there.”
“Yeah, well, she would’ve been there for me, if it was my party. Coffee?”
“Coffee, yes,” Noah said, “and I’ll have a western omelet.”
“Almost sounds good,” Neil said. “I think it might even stay down. And yeah, coffee.”
“Make it three times,” Marco said. Elaine nodded and walked away.
The food arrived in a fairly short time, and the three of them ate rather quickly. By the time they were finished, the hangovers were faded to the point they could think, and they headed back to the house to start getting ready for the wedding. It was almost one o’clock by that point, so they had only three hours.
Noah went to his room to shower and shave, then opened his closet and pulled his tuxedo out of the plastic bag that protected it from the elements. It had been in the house since the day he moved in, but he had never worn it before. It fit perfectly, confirming his suspicion that it had been specifically tailored for him once he had accepted the job and been approved by Doc Parker.
Meanwhile, Neil and Marco had started cleaning up around the house. By the time Noah came out, it didn’t look nearly as much like a natural disaster had struck it. Noah thanked them and then asked them to sit down at the table with him.
“I’ve never even been to a wedding,” he said without preamble, “but I’ve read enough books to know that there are certain traditions. One of those is the best man, and I’ve been thinking about that.” He looked at Neil. “You’ve been with me since the first week,” he said. “I would be honored if you would be at my side today.”
Marco laughed and slapped Neil on the shoulder. “See? I told you he’d pick you.” He looked at Noah and rolled his eyes. “He’s been hoping you would ask, but somehow he thought you were going to choose me. I told him that wouldn’t make sense, since I’m new on the team. You picked the right man for the job, boss.”
Neil gave Noah a sheepish grin. “It really should be Moose, if he was here,” he said. “But I’ll do my best to make you proud.”
“I know you will,” Noah said. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small box, then opened it to show that it contained a pair of wedding rings, one for Sarah and one for him. “I bought these when I got Sarah’s engagement ring. I want you to hold them for me, until it’s time.”
Neil swallowed hard, then took the box from Noah. He looked at the rings for a moment and then closed it, slipping it into his pocket. “I’m going to go over to the trailer and get changed,” he said.
“Yeah, I’ve got to run home and change, myself,” Marco said. “See you at the church, okay, boss?”
“I’ll be there.”
Alone for the first time that day, Noah suddenly remembered that he hadn’t made honeymoon arrangements, so he went to the living room and picked up the laptop they always kept there. He googled various resorts and finally settled on one in Cancun, Mexico. He purchased a two-week package and scheduled their flight, which would leave Denver at just after midnight.
He went back into the bedroom and packed his own clothes, then got out another suitcase and packed some things of Sarah’s that he knew she liked, including her favorite toiletries and perfumes. He left some room in the bag because he knew Jenny had planned on buying her some things, then wondered if he should have bothered at all. He shrugged and dug out their passports. It seemed a little strange to see their own official names on the passports they would use, for once.
He set the bags in the living room and took out his phone. It was a weekday, so he called Allison’s office with the intent of leaving word for her about where they would be going. He asked for her voice mail but was surprised when she picked up the line.
“Speak,” she said, “but not loudly. Noah, this is the first hangover I’ve had in twenty years. And just so you know, your new bride is a lightweight. She can’t hold her margaritas very well.”
Noah’s eyebrows went up. “I shall bear that in mind,” he said. “I was calling to let you know where we’ll be going on our honeymoon. I decided on Cancun.”
“That’s a beautiful place,” Allison said. “I want you guys to go down there and have fun, put everything else behind you for a while. And frankly, Noah, this may do her more good than all the therapy in the world.”
“I think so, too,” Noah said. “She needs the security, and our getting married will offer her validation for her feelings. That’s something she’s been lacking, and the trauma she’s been through makes it critical that she has it.”
Allison was quiet for a moment, and then he heard her chuckle. “I take it you studied psychology somewhere along the line?”
“No,” Noah said. “Just human nature. It’s not that hard to figure out if you really pay attention.”
“I’ll bear that in mind. Anyway, shouldn’t you be getting ready for your wedding?”
“I’ve been ready for an hour. Just been taking care of a few details, packing clothes for the trip, that sort of thing. Don’t worry, I’ll be at the church in plenty of time.”
With some effort, Noah managed to stuff the luggage into the back of the Corvette, making sure to leave Sarah’s bag accessible. He took another walk through the house and turned off lights, made sure all the windows and doors were locked, then walked across the yard to Neil’s trailer and knocked on the door.
He wasn’t surprised when Lacey answered it, already dressed and with her makeup perfect. “He’s almost ready,” she said. “He told me you asked him to be your best man. I think that’s sweet of you, and sort of fitting since Sarah asked me, Elaine, and Jenny to stand up with her.”
Noah shrugged. “He’s the closest friend I’ve got,” he said. “There was no one else I could even consider.”
Lacey stepped aside to let him into the trailer, and Noah looked around. He’d only been in it a couple of times since Neil moved in, shortly after Noah was recruited. He looked around and realized that a lot of the decorative touches he saw were probably from Lacey.
“Place looks nice,” he said.
“It does now,” she replied. “If I had left it up to Neil, it would still look like a reject from a Southern trailer park. Of course, that’s what he grew up in, so it probably seemed like home to him.”
“I remember,” Noah said. “That was why he wanted to rent it from me. It reminded him of the one he grew up in. It still looks better, though.”
“That’s because she wouldn’t let up until I said it was okay to redecorate,” Neil said, coming out of the bedroom. He didn’t have a tuxedo, but the suit he was we
aring was perfectly acceptable in Noah’s opinion.
“It’s getting close to time,” Noah said. “I don’t know what else I need to do before the wedding, but I’m open to suggestions.”
Lacey giggled at him. “Buddy, all you got to do is show up,” she said. “Everything else will fall right into place, trust me.” She cocked her head to one side and looked at him closely for a moment. “So, tell me,” she said. “What really brought this on? Sarah has been dreaming of marrying you for months, but she never believed you’d ever really go for it. What changed?”
Noah looked at her, his expression as blank as always. “I came to realize that, no matter how different they might be, I do have some kind of genuine feelings for Sarah. I can’t stand the thought of not being with her, and anytime she’s in danger, it’s like I can’t breathe properly until I get her back and know she’s safe. I don’t know what love is supposed to feel like, but I think that description might fit, at least to some degree.”
Lacey’s smile got wider. “Don’t think you’re different because you don’t know what love is supposed to be like,” she said. “I’ve come to the conclusion that none of us know that until it slaps us in the face and says, ‘Here I am,’ you know what I mean?”
“I think I do,” Noah said, noticing that Lacey didn’t look at Neil as she made the comment. A quick glance at Neil showed Noah that the skinny kid was keeping his own eyes averted from her.
Noah’s intimate familiarity with human nature told him instantly that this was a relationship that was coming to its end. Lacey had been very good for Neil, but the young man had been going through some changes over the last couple of months, and Noah had noticed that he seemed more confident, more independent. Maybe he didn’t need the emotional security of having a girlfriend as badly as he once had.
“Well, anyway,” Neil said, “it’s time to get on the way. I know it’s only a quarter of three, but it’s probably a good idea for you to get there early, let the preacher tell you what all you have to do and everything.”
Noah nodded. “I agree. By the way, Sarah and I will be going to Cancun after the wedding. We’ll be gone for two weeks, and I’m hoping it’ll do her some good.”
“It will, Noah,” Lacey said. “I know it will.”
Noah walked back across the yard and got into the Corvette while Neil and Lacey climbed into the Hummer. The big SUV followed the sports car out the driveway and down the curving road to the highway, and then Noah turned toward Kirtland and the next big change in his life.
CHAPTER THREE
“It was a beautiful wedding,” Allison said as she hugged Sarah. “Sorry I broke down and cried, but you’re about as close to being a daughter as I’m ever likely to have, and I hope you know just how lucky you are to have found so much happiness despite the line of work we’re all in. I never had time for a personal life, myself. I’ll probably end up dying old and alone, with a house full of cats.”
The wedding had gone quickly, and the reception had lasted only an hour and a half. By the time the toasts and roasts were over, and everyone got a chance to congratulate the happy couple, it was just six o’clock. Allison, Marco, and Neil were the last three in line, and the two men were shaking Noah’s hand as if they were trying to keep it from going with him.
“Molly caught up with me at the reception,” Neil said. “She’s already got some ideas on this dummy file we want to feed the mole, so I’ll start working with her on that tomorrow. It should all be done and ready by the time you get back, and maybe we can find out just who it was that… Well, you know.”
“I do,” Noah said. “I’m looking forward to finding out just who it is, but I want to bring him or her in, not kill them. I’ll be counting on you guys to help me do that.”
Both Marco and Neil nodded. “We’re in,” Marco said. “Whoever it was, they need to pay.”
Allison shoved the two of them toward Sarah and reached out to pull Noah into a hug. He accepted it gracefully and even managed to return it to some degree.
“Don’t be thinking about the mole while you’re gone,” Allison whispered into his ear. “Concentrate on her. Parker and I both agree that will be the best possible medicine to give her at the moment.”
“I’m planning on it. As far as I’m concerned, this place doesn’t even exist for the next two weeks. Of course, should anything happen, you know how to reach me.”
“Yes, but I also know how to handle things without you. This is your honeymoon. I don’t plan on interrupting it, not for anything.”
With the farewells all said and the good wishes of everyone they knew, Noah led his new wife out of the church and to the Corvette. She had managed to change out of the wedding dress a few minutes earlier, and Noah had traded the tux for his usual jeans and polo shirt. Some of the girls had taken care of getting Sarah’s new clothing into the suitcase for her, so they were ready to go.
It wasn’t until they got around the corner of the church that Noah saw the strings of tin cans and the big “Just Married” sign that were affixed to the back of his car. Sarah started giggling, but Noah simply raised an eyebrow and opened the passenger door for her. Once she was inside, he walked around the front of the car and slipped in behind the wheel, started it up, and let the cans rattle along behind as he headed toward the interstate.
The sign and the strings lasted just long enough to make it through town before falling away, and then Noah let the Corvette have its head as he turned onto I-70 toward Denver.
“Your hair looks fantastic,” Noah said. “I can’t even see how they put it on.”
“One of the personal benefits of the miracles of modern science,” Sarah replied with a smile. “I’m glad Jenny thought of it. It hadn’t even occurred to me that extensions might work, but the girls she took me to knew what they were doing.” She looked over at him and shook her head, as if in wonder. “Noah? If I’m dreaming, don’t pinch me. I don’t want to wake up.”
“It’s not a dream,” he said. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you? It’s a little late to decide you don’t want to be married.”
“Bite your tongue,” Sarah said. “Noah—you don’t realize just how much this has meant to me. I understand you’re not like other men, but just the fact that you admit to having feelings for me at all, that’s amazing. For you to say you love me and actually ask me to marry you? To me, that’s almost a miracle.” She chuckled. “Did you know that I used to have these mental arguments with myself, where I would pretend that I was trying to talk you into getting married? I must’ve come up with a thousand logical arguments, good reasons why us getting married would be a good idea, but I never told you any of them because I never believed you’d really want to.”
Noah smiled at her, and her own eyebrows went up as she realized that the smile was genuine. Seeing Noah Wolf with an actual smile on his face that wasn’t contrived was something that didn’t happen often.
“I think I had to figure it out for myself,” he said. “And this was definitely the right decision for me.”
They made it to the airport without any problems and in plenty of time to get through security for their flight. Noah had repeated to Sarah his intent to leave E & E behind them for the next two weeks and required her to promise to do her best to do the same. It hadn’t been difficult to get her to agree.
The flight itself was uneventful, and both of them slept through almost all of it. They woke as the plane was descending and were surprised that it took them only a few minutes to collect their baggage. The handlers in Mexico seemed to be more on the ball than the ones back in Denver, and Noah carried all three bags from the carousel to the car rental counter.
The Jeep Noah rented was nice, and the GPS on his phone directed him to Omni Cancun Resort, where he had booked their rooms. After the flight and time involved renting the car and driving, it was just after 7:00 a.m. when they arrived. The desk clerks happily checked them in, and they went up to their room on the fourth floor to get some r
est before setting out to enjoy the activities the resort offered.
They did go to sleep, but it was more than an hour later. Sarah was determined to make love to her husband for the first time before sleeping again.
For the next two weeks, Noah and Sarah Wolf felt like they were in paradise. Between time on the beach and the many activities available, Sarah saw Noah’s genuine smile several times. Noah rented a personal watercraft, and they went out to explore the islands off the coast. They went scuba diving several times and marveled at the incredible variety of beautiful fish, took a drive down the coast to visit a Mayan pyramid, swam in the wild with dolphins, and spent a fair amount of time shopping for souvenirs.
Sarah, it seemed, had a list. She had found a pad and paper in the hotel room and made a list of all the friends back home she wanted to bring a gift for, and she enlisted Noah’s assistance in choosing them by taking him into the biggest tourist mall she could find.
“Okay, first is Neil. What on earth could we bring back for Neil?”
“Neil? I’m trying to think of what sort of thing he might like. I mean, his big thing is technology and gadgets.”
“Good point,” she said. She looked at the brochure she had been given when they entered the mall and suddenly smiled. “They actually have a store here called Spy Gear, can you believe that? Let’s go see if there’s anything there he might like.”
They spent an hour looking through all of the high-tech gadgets available in the store and finally settled on a small flying drone that held a camera that could transmit video back to a smartphone. It had a number of special features that included infrared, night vision, and other things, and Noah agreed that Neil would have a blast with them.
For Lacey, Renée, and Elaine, Sarah chose items of clothing that she thought each of them might like. Lacey got something that looked like an incredibly long scarf, but when it was wrapped and tied just right became a jumper. When a salesgirl demonstrated it on a mannequin, Noah’s eyebrows went up half an inch, and he ordered a second one for Sarah.