Which left them waiting and watching, when all he wanted to do was rush in there and save the woman he loved. The one he’d realized too late that he loved, too late that he needed to do whatever it took to make things work between them.
She had his heart; she was his life and his home. How had it taken him so damn long to see it?
Ah, Jenny, he thought, his heart aching in the hollow spot in his chest. She lay motionless near the bolted-down table, bound and gagged, and so damn vulnerable it made him want to tear apart her captor, limb from freaking limb.
He made himself focus, though, made himself play the role. Negotiator was a new one for him, but he’d spent most of his life politicking with the dregs of society. This wasn’t much of a leap.
“Okay,” he said. “Five minutes to landing. We need to get you out of that room. Tell me how that’s going to happen.”
Before the Investor answered, though, there was a crackle of radio static in his earpiece, and Tucker said urgently, “Nick, we’ve got him. He’s had some work done, which is what slowed things down, but we freaking got him. His name is Robert Iskander, and he’s bad news from way back. Originally out of the Eastern Bloc countries, he’s got an Interpol sheet and wanteds in half a dozen countries. The feds didn’t even know he was in the States, he was flying that deep.”
“Okay,” Nick said, though it was anything but. This guy wasn’t just local bad news, he was international bad news. And he had Jenn. “Okay, let’s do this.” It was time to bring Iskander out of the room. “Everybody back off. And I mean way back.”
On the monitor, Iskander bent and adjusted something in the duffel, making Nick’s blood run cold.
“He’s armed it,” one of the techs reported tersely. “We’ve got two minutes on the display.”
“Can you disarm it?”
“If you get me in there right now? Maybe.”
Pulse thudding in his ears, Nick called through the door, “The chopper’s about to land. Are you coming out?”
He tensed as Iskander moved over to Jenn, yanked on her bonds and dragged her to her feet, where she wavered and sagged momentarily before she managed to brace and stagger a couple of steps on her own.
Fury flooded Nick’s veins. Pure animal rage. He was shaking with it, seeing bloody red with it.
“We’re coming out.” Iskander moved to the door and pulled the bar out from under the handle. He kept his gun trained on Jenn the whole time. “I’d better not see anybody out there. This is just between you and me.”
Nick waved the others away, tossed the monitor to one of the techs and moved back a few paces himself. “Okay. You’re clear.”
The lock rattled and the door swung open, and his heart lodged in his throat as Iskander emerged, keeping Jenn in front of him as a human shield. Her eyes were wide and dark, stark in her bloodlessly pale face, which was red-streaked with a forming bruise.
“You bastard,” Nick rasped. “If you’ve hurt her—” He bit off the words, which hadn’t come from the Negotiator or the Good Cop, or from anywhere but the man inside him.
Iskander smirked. “Like I said. When I’m sure I’m safe and nobody’s following me, I’ll let her go.” He gestured with the gun, in the direction of the parking lot, where the low thwap-whack of an incoming helicopter was just becoming audible. “Shall we? And although it should go without saying, if you try anything—and I mean anything—she dies.”
Nick could feel the seconds ticking away, and knew he was stalling, using up crucial seconds on the bomb, so it would go off just as he made it to the chopper. “You’re in charge,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’re getting what you want.”
The bastard’s eyes darkened. “Not hardly. Not—”
“Nick, now!” Jenn cried suddenly. And she twisted, grabbed Iskander’s gun hand and sank her teeth into his wrist.
Her captor yelled in surprise and pain, and reeled back in stunned surprise. Nick didn’t hesitate. He roared and threw himself on the bastard, driving a fist into the Investor’s stunned face and pummeling him away from Jenn.
They hit the wall and caromed off, punching and struggling.
“In his pocket!” Jenn shouted. “He’s got a remote!”
As the bomb techs raced into the interrogation room, Nick tore at Iskander’s pockets, found the unit and tossed it to her. “Get it to the techs!”
“No!” Iskander reared back and went for Nick’s throat, eyes bulging with rage and the dawning knowledge that he was close to being beaten. “No. Impossible!”
The two men flailed and crashed into the opposite wall, and something plastic went skittering away. Taser, Nick thought, and was damn grateful the bastard had lost his grip on it. He had a good hold on Nick’s throat, though, and a hell of a grip. Nick slammed him into the wall, trying to inflict maximum damage, maximum pain, again and again.
And then, finally, Iskander’s grip slackened and his eyes went groggy and glazed.
Nick let go of him, let him fall in an inglorious heap on the polished hallway of the interrogation area, and sucked in a ragged breath as a dozen officers swarmed Iskander, slapping restraints on him and searching him roughly for more weapons.
“The bomb,” Nick croaked.
“Neutralized,” came the call from inside Interrogation Three. “The remote had a kill switch.”
He didn’t want to sway on his feet, but couldn’t quite stop the floor from moving. “Jenn?”
“Here!” came a soft cry from behind him.
He turned as she came flying toward him, and they met in a rush. He clamped his arms around her, buried his face in her hair. “Jenny! God. I thought…”
“I know. I know. I thought it, too.” She kissed his face, his throat, his chin, anything she could reach. Tears streamed down her face, but her eyes were clear and bright, those of the warrior who had gotten out of her bonds and helped take down Iskander before he’d set a foot outside the police department.
“You were brilliant,” he said roughly, catching her mouth with his for a bruising kiss that didn’t do nearly enough to convey what he wanted to say to her. “You are brilliant. You’re wonderful. Amazing. Everything I could ever want and more.”
She pulled away, tears coming in earnest now. “I shouldn’t have pushed like that,” she said in an emotion-choked voice. “I was asking you to give up everything for me, even though I wouldn’t do the same thing for you.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll quit. Now. Five minutes ago. Whatever it takes. I love you and I don’t want to walk away from you ever again.”
“It does matter. And I don’t want you to quit. You love what you do. You’re the best at it. You…” She trailed off, freezing. “You what?”
“I love you, Jenn. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out, but I do. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to make this work, even if that means trading in my badge.”
“No.” She framed his face in her hands. “Don’t.”
His heart twisted in his chest. “Don’t what? Don’t love you?”
“Don’t quit. Not yet. We’ll figure out something that works for both of us, somehow.”
The pressure in his chest eased. “And?”
Her face lit like a sunrise. “And I love you.” She threw her head back and laughed aloud. “I love you! It feels so good to say that, to know it and not be afraid of it anymore.” Easing back into his arms, she kissed him, then whispered, “I’m not afraid anymore.”
“I should hope not. You just took down an internationally wanted criminal. What’s there to be afraid of?”
She grinned up at him, with all the love in the world shining in her eyes. “Nothing, as long as I have you by my side.”
Epilogue
One year later
An early-winter storm had whipped down from the mountains to blanket Bear Claw in a layer of snow, but not even the nose-nipping bite of the wind was enough to cancel the groundbreaking ceremony for the new police headquarters.
As Ma
tt Blackthorn—now thoroughly ensconced as the city’s progressive, reinvigorating mayor—climbed up on the temporary stage with Gigi at his side in her role as the First Lady of Bear Claw, a breeze sprang up, making Jenn shiver a little despite all the layers she was wearing.
“Here.” Another, heavier layer draped suddenly over her shoulders, folding around her with masculine body heat and the smell of leather and man.
She snuggled into the familiar bomber, instantly warmed, though she looked up and over her shoulder, laughing at Nick with a token protest. “You’ll freeze!”
“What do you think I am, some sort of wimpy Southern boy?” Clad only in a base layer and a heavy navy blue fleece, he didn’t look at all uncomfortable as he wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to rub his cheek against hers. “I may be a transplant, but I’ve adapted.”
“Yeah,” she sighed against him. “You sure have.”
A year ago, she never would have believed that he could be happy quitting the DEA and settling here in Bear Claw with her, but that was exactly what he’d done. And not once had he thrown it back at her that he’d been the one to make more of the changes to make their relationship work. If anything, when she brought it up, he brushed it off and said he was just grateful she was willing to put up with him and Ransom, the K9 officer he’d paired up with soon after he’d joined the Bear Claw P.D. full-time.
She wasn’t just putting up with man and dog, though. She loved them both, and couldn’t imagine her life without them. Didn’t want to.
Yes, he was still on the front lines of the action, but that had been her compromise. Besides, things had been relatively quiet since the Investor’s arrest. He’d wound up being extradited, which had been just fine with the Death Stare task force. Their enemy looked to be getting several consecutive life sentences at a minimum, and the residents of Bear Claw had gotten some breathing room, as had the police force and its analysts…which now included Jenn, full-time and locked in, which was exactly where she wanted to be.
When she wasn’t at home with Nick, that is. They had only been married a few months, but things between them didn’t show any signs of slowing down. If anything, she fell more and more in love with him by the day, though it seemed that should have been impossible.
As Matt started his brief speech by thanking the local businesses that had donated to the construction project, along with the administrators of the federal grant that had matched the donated funds, Nick grinned down at her and arched one eyebrow. “What? You’re staring.”
“I’m crazy about you.” She didn’t mind saying it now, didn’t mind feeling it. Not when she knew it was utterly mutual, that he was just as much in love with her as she was with him. Not when the future stretched out in front of them, gleaming with promise. They were still living in her apartment, still talking about what kind of house they wanted, what kind of family, but they were talking about it, planning for it.
And that was something she hadn’t ever thought she would want again, a puzzle piece she hadn’t ever thought she would find.
“I’m a damn lucky guy,” he said, and turned her in his arms so he could kiss her for real, sneaking his hands beneath the heavy weight of his jacket, so their shared body heat warmed the little pocket of air they made between them. His lips were cool at first, but heated quickly, reminding her of just where they had left things that morning, and where they would pick up later tonight.
She moaned a little into his mouth, but then laughed as a heavy weight bumped their legs, chuffing a little as Ransom jostled his way into the embrace, interrupting the moment. Which was probably just as well, as they were far from being alone.
“I’d like to invite a few friends up here with me to help get this project off the ground,” Matt said into the microphone. “You know who you are. Come on up!”
Nick nudged her in the direction of the stage. “That’s your cue.”
“Here.” She handed back his jacket with a kiss. “I’ll be right back.”
Ransom whuffed after her but stayed put as she made her way up to the stage, meeting Alyssa, Cassie and Maya at the steps, along with several of the local and federal-level cops who had been instrumental in bringing down the Investor, and several other major crime sprees before that, all of which had hinged—either directly or indirectly—on the problems in the mayor’s office.
Now, though, those days were gone. Mayor Blackthorn was tough but fair, and he had big plans to make the city safer and more prosperous by the year. Starting with the new police department, and the crime lab they were breaking ground for today.
The new, shiny, fully tricked-out and—most important—aboveground crime lab.
The agents, officers and detectives stood back, letting the members of the Bear Claw Crime Lab gather near the mayor, who stood near an oversize ribbon and a faintly muddy section of earth that had been salted for the occasion.
As Jenn joined her friends at what would become the front door of their new lab, she looked down into the crowd to lock eyes with Nick. He beamed at her and gave her a thumbs-up, and there was nothing but love and acceptance in his eyes. He didn’t need to play roles anymore; neither of them did. They were who and what they were, and those people worked together, clicked together, and loved each other. Here, in Bear Claw.
“And now,” Matt announced, “let’s do this!”
Together, the members of the crime lab snipped the ribbon and, laughing, took muddy scoops of dirt, ceremonially dumping them off to the side.
And, as they split off later, each of the analysts teamed up with the men they had met and married there, in Bear Claw. Nick and Jenn were among the last to leave, lingering with Matt and Gigi for a long time, enjoying the wide-open construction area and the promise of the years to come. Eventually they moved off, though, with Ransom tagging at their heels, his tail sweeping in wide, happy wags.
“Home?” Nick said as he held the door of their SUV for her.
“Definitely,” she said. “Let’s get out of here before somebody forgets we’re both off shift, and gets it into their heads to put us to work.”
He laughed and shut the door, then came around to the driver’s side, saying as he climbed in, “They wouldn’t dare.”
Dispatch would, but she had a feeling they were going to get lucky today, and have a few hours together uninterrupted, maybe longer. “Still, let’s hightail it home,” she said, savoring the word and leaning into him as he pulled out of the parking lot.
Bear Claw was her home now. More, Nick was her home, and a future she hadn’t even known she wanted until she finally learned how to fight for what she needed…and the future they both deserved.
* * * * *
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Chapter One
The knock at the door surprised Zane Chisholm. He’d just spent the warm summer day in the saddle rounding up cattle. All he wanted to do was kick off his boots and hit the hay early. The last thing he wanted was company.
But whoever was knocking didn’t sound as if they were planning to go away anytime soon. Living at the end of a dirt road, he didn’t get uninvited company—other than one of his five brothers. So that narrows it down, he thought as he went to the window and peered out through the curtains.
The car parked outside was a compact, lime-green w
ith Montana State University plates. Definitely not one of his brothers, he thought with a grin. Chisholm men wouldn’t be caught dead driving such a “girlie” car. Especially a lime-green one.
Even more odd was the young, willowy blonde pounding on his door. She must be lost and needing directions. Or she was selling something.
His curiosity piqued, he went to answer her persistent knock. As the door swung open, he saw that her eyes were blue and set wide in a classically gorgeous face. She wore a slinky red dress that fell over her body like water. The woman was a stunner.
She smiled warmly. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He waited, wondering what she wanted, and enjoying the view in the meantime.
Her smile slipped a little as she took in his worn jeans, his even more worn cowboy boots and the dirty Western shirt with a torn sleeve and a missing button.
“I wasn’t expecting company,” he said when he saw her apparent disappointment in his attire.
“Oh?” She looked confused now. “Did I get the night wrong? You’re Zane Chisholm and this is Friday, right?”
“Right.” He frowned. “Did we have a date or something?” He knew he’d never seen this woman before. No red-blooded American male would forget a woman like this.
She reached into her sparkly shoulder bag and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “Your last email,” she said, handing it to him.
He took the paper, unfolded it and saw his email address. It appeared he had been corresponding with this woman for the past two days.
“If you forgot—”
“No,” he said quickly. “Please, come in and let’s see if we can sort this out.”
She stepped in but looked tentative, as if not so sure about him.
“Why don’t you start with how we met,” he said as he offered her a seat.
She sat on the edge of the couch. “The Evans rural internet dating service.”
“Arlene’s matchmaking business?” he asked in surprise. Arlene Evans, who was now Arlene Monroe, had started the business a few years ago to bring rural couples together.
Bear Claw Lawman Page 18