Big Shot (22 page)
He knocked once and then burst into the condo. Muffled sounds sent him running to the bedroom.
“Drop the gun or I kill her.”
Evan held a knife in his right hand, the tip of it pressing into the flesh just below Meghan’s jugular vein.
“Let her go, Evan. It’s over. I figured it out and I’ve already called Detective Smart. You’re going to prison and have a whole new set of playmates.”
It was a bluff. Evan didn’t buy it.
“I said drop the gun.”
“You can kill her, Evan, but you can’t kill us both before I take you out.”
“I’m not kidding. Drop the gun.”
He wasn’t kidding, but he was sweating bullets.
But so was Durk, deep inside where it could only be felt. He dropped the gun before Evan panicked and sliced Meghan’s throat.
“I’m going out of here with Meghan, just as I’d originally planned. Stand back, Durk Lambert. You’re not in control this time.”
With the knife still at Meghan’s throat, he tugged her to her feet and held her in front of him as he made his way to the door.
“Bitsy, you come back here now!”
The overly friendly dog from across the hall raced through the door Durk had left open. He jumped up, his front paws reaching to the middle of Evan’s back. Evan lost his balance, and in that split second Durk took him down.
They wrestled over the knife while Bitsy’s owner screamed and Bitsy almost licked a yelping Evan to death. By the time the fight was over and the knife was in Durk’s hand, Sara Cunningham’s entire extended family had gathered in the hallway to watch the show.
“Someone call 911,” Durk said as he kept Evan pinned to the floor.
It wasn’t until after the cops had left with Evan in cuffs that Durk finally got to pull Meghan into his arms. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins. His heart was pounding. His emotions were in overdrive. But there was one thing he was certain of. “I have never been so scared. I don’t want to ever let you go. I love you, Meghan. Boy, do I love you.”
“I love you, too, Durk. I did from the very first kiss. I remember it all now. I was wrong, so very wrong. I love what I do, but you are the most important thing in my life.”
“We’ll work it out, Meghan. Somehow we’ll work it out. And we’ll get a very large dog.”
Epilogue
Strings of pearly blue Christmas lights sparkled in the low branches of the oak trees that Hugh’s grandfather had planted years ago to shade the house from the afternoon sun. Christmas carols wafted through the air accompanied by the sounds of laughter and tinkling glasses as the first of the guests began to trickle in at the Bent Pine Ranch.
But for now it was mostly family. Carolina liked it like that, though it made her miss Hugh even more. He’d have loved being here tonight, seeing his three sons so very much in love and the family growing.
And as cautious as Carolina had been about Meghan in the beginning, she had to admit she loved having her around. She kept things exciting. Best of all she made Durk happier than she’d ever seen him.
Tommy came up and grabbed Carolina’s hand. “Wanna dance, Gramma?”
“I do if you’ll be my partner.”
“Be your partner.”
She went with him to the dance floor and let him dance around her while she swayed to the music.
It was going to be a wonderful night.
* * *
T
HE DANCE FLOOR
was packed. Meghan liked it that way. It meant she got to snuggle all the closer to Durk.
“You’ve outdone yourself tonight. You look stunning.”
“With my shaved head?”
“It’s starting to grow out. Besides, it reminds me how lucky I am that you’re alive. And you do look fantastic. That red dress looks dynamite on you. Your gorgeous legs look a mile long in those gold stilettos. And you can still walk. Amazing.”
“I can do more than walk in them.”
He nuzzled her ear. “I can’t wait for you to show me, but maybe you should save that until we’re alone.”
“I just might show you a thing or two tonight. When is your mother going to make the promised surprise announcement?”
“Soon, I’m sure.”
“Then we should move over to the edge of the dance floor. She wants the family all together for this.”
Meghan could barely hide her excitement. She loved Durk so much she was constantly giddy with excitement. He seemed to love her just as much, but there had been no mention of marriage.
Was that what he’d meant by “we’ll work it out”? That they’d be lovers and nothing more? At one point in her life that would have been more than enough. She’d always been so independent.
But she hadn’t been in love then. Now she wanted it all. The ring and the commitment. And a few years down the road—when she was ready to slow down and perhaps teach private investigating instead of living it—she wanted a family. Two kids at least, maybe three. Definitely a boy who looked like Durk.
But first, a husband. And she had a sneaking suspicion that the surprise announcement was supposed to be an engagement. Only Durk still hadn’t asked her to marry him and time was running out.
A few minutes later, the band quit playing and Carolina stepped to the microphone.
“I want to welcome all of you to share this blessed holiday season with us. But this week our family received an extraspecial holiday blessing. It’s especially fitting this time of the year when we celebrate the birth of a baby, God’s son, for us to share our news with you. Only I’m going to let Damien and Emma do the honors.”
Damien wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulder. “Belle’s father finally made his decision. His new wife is pregnant and they’re moving back to her home country of Guatemala. He’s asked Emma and me if we will adopt Belle legally. We’ve said yes.”
There was not a dry eye at the party when he handed the mike back to Carolina.
“So Merry Christmas to all of you,” Carolina said. “Now, let’s party.”
“One more announcement,” Durk said as he walked to the bandstand. “I’d like to announce my engagement to a woman who brought the magic into my life. But first I guess I should ask her to marry me. Meghan, would you come up here, please?”
Her face turned as red as her dress as she joined him, but joy filled her soul.
He dropped to one knee. “Will you marry me, Meghan Sinclair, and let me spend the rest of my life loving you?”
“Yes.”
The chant of “louder” went up from every corner of the grounds.
“Yes. Yes, I will. And there will be no more blurring of the lines,” she whispered. “I have no plans to make you the most eligible widower in Dallas.”
He kissed her and pulled her into his arms as the band started playing a country love song.
“The P.I. and CEO, together again,” he whispered. “And this time, it’s forever.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt of
Mason
by Delores Fossen
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Chapter One
The scream woke Deputy Mason Ryland.
His eyes flew open, and Mason stumbled from the sofa in his office where he’d fallen asleep. He reached for his shirt but couldn’t find it. He had better luck with the Smith & Wesson handgun that he’d left on his desk.
He threw open his office door and caught the scent of something he darn sure didn’t want to smell on the grounds of his family’s ranch.
Smoke
.
The wispy gray streaks coiled around him, quickly followed by a second scream and a loud cry for help.
Mason went in the direction of both the smoke and the voice, racing out into the chilly October night air. He wasn’t the only one who’d been alerted. A handful of his ranch hands were running toward the cabin-style guesthouse about a hundred yards away. It was on fire, the orangey flames licking their way up the sides and roof. And the place wasn’t empty.
His newly hired horse trainer, Abbie Baker, was staying there.
That got Mason running even harder. So did another shout for help. Oh, yeah, that shout was coming from the guesthouse all right.
“Call the fire department,” he yelled to one of the ranch hands.
Mason also shouted out for someone to call his brothers as well even though they would soon know anyway. All five of them, their wives and their children lived in the family home or on the grounds of the ranch.
Mason made it to the guesthouse ahead of the others, and he tried to pick through the smoke and the embers flicking through the night air. He hurried to the sound of his trainer’s pleas for help.
And he cursed when he saw her.
Abbie was in the doorway, her body half in and half out of the house, and what was left of the door was on her back, anchoring her in place.
The smoke was thick and black, and the area was already hot from the flames, but Mason fought his way through just as one of the ranch hands caught up with him. Rusty Burke. Together, they latched on to the door and started to drag it off Abbie. Not easily. It was heavy and bulky, and it didn’t help that the flames were snapping at them.
Mason didn’t usually think in terms of worst-case scenarios, but he had a split-second thought that his new trainer might burn to death. The possibility gave him a much-needed jolt of adrenaline, and Rusty and he threw the door off her. In the same motion, Mason latched on to her arm and dragged her away from the guesthouse.
“I couldn’t get out,” she said, her voice clogged with smoke and fear.
“You’re out now,” he let her know.
Out but not necessarily safe. The ranch hands were already there with the hoses, but he doubted the house would stand much longer. If it collapsed, Abbie could still be burned or hurt from the flying debris.
“Are the horses okay?” she asked. Mason was more than a little surprised that she’d think of the animals at a time like this.
“They’re fine.” At least he was pretty sure of that. “This is the only building on fire.”
Mason scooped her up, and she looked at him. It was pitch-dark, probably two or three in the morning, but thanks to the flames and the hunter’s moon, he saw her eyes widen. A single word left her mouth.
“No.”
Mason didn’t have time to question that
no
before she started struggling. She wasn’t a large woman, five-five at the most and on the lean side, but she managed to pack a punch when she rammed her elbow against his bare chest. He cursed and put her in a death grip so she couldn’t fight her way out of his arms.
“I’m trying to save you,” he reminded her, and he added more profanity when she didn’t stop fighting.
Abbie was probably still caught up in the fear and the adrenaline, but Mason was finding it a little hard to be sympathetic with the cold rocky ground biting into his bare feet and with her arms and legs waggling around.
“We have to get away from the fire,” he snarled.
Those wide frightened eyes looked at the flames, and she stopped struggling just long enough for Mason to get a better grip on her.
He started running toward the ranch office where lately he’d been spending most of his days and nights because of the heavy workload. He could deposit Abbie there and hurry back to see if the guesthouse could be saved. He wasn’t hopeful, especially because the ranch wasn’t exactly in city limits. It would take the fire department a good twenty minutes to reach them.
The door to his office and quarters was still open, and he hurried inside, flipped on the lights with his elbow and placed her on the sofa. Mason looked down at her, to make sure she wasn’t injured.
She didn’t appear to be.
Visibly shaken, yes. Trembling, too. Pale and breathing way too fast. All normal responses under the circumstances.
Her eyes met his again, and Mason saw the fear that was still there. And maybe something else that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
“Did you try to kill me?” she asked.
That single question seemed to be all she could muster because she groaned, closed her eyes, and the back of her head dropped against the sofa.
Mason huffed. That definitely wasn’t something he expected to hear her say. He’d been a deputy for fifteen years, and his employee no doubt knew it. Even though most people were leery of him because…well, because he wasn’t a friendly sort, they didn’t usually accuse him of arson or attempted murder.
“Why would I set this fire?” he demanded.
Abbie opened her mouth, closed it and shook her head. She also dodged his gaze. “I’m not sure what I’m saying right now. I thought I was going to die.”