Maverick Sheriff (23 page)

That included Jessa.

She was bleeding on her hands and face. Hopefully just minor nicks and cuts, but he wouldn’t know for sure until the doctor had checked her out.

“He’s not answering,” Jessa said. She was shaking all over, maybe even going into shock.

Cooper could hear the rings on the other end of the line, and he held his breath until he finally heard something he wanted to hear. Tucker’s voice.

But not on the phone.

“Over here,” Tucker called out to them. Cooper spotted his brother holding a flashlight, halfway between them and the house.

“Where’s Liam?” Cooper and Jessa asked at the same time.

“He’s here with me,” Linda answered. “We’re both okay.”

The relief nearly brought him to his knees, but Cooper kept running and Jessa slipped out of his arms so they could go even faster together.

As they got closer, Cooper could see Tucker and Colt. And the man kneeling on the ground. One of Donovan’s hired guns, no doubt. He’d been cuffed, and Colt was holding him at gunpoint.

Linda stepped from Colt’s truck with Liam in her arms. His little boy was still sacked out, thank God. He hadn’t seen any of this horrible mess.

“We got both gunmen,” Colt volunteered. “One didn’t make it.” He tipped his head toward the barn nearest the house. “The ME’s on the way to get the body.”

“Bodies,” Cooper corrected. “Donovan’s dead, too.”

Other than some sounds of relief, no one had much of a reaction to that. Good. Cooper didn’t want to give Donovan anything, especially not a lifetime of anger over what he’d done. Donovan had already claimed enough by keeping Liam from him all this time, and he’d given them enough nightmares. Especially Jessa.

“Peggy’s dead, as well,” Cooper explained. “I’m pretty sure Donovan kidnapped her and brought her here. Her hands are cuffed, and she appeared to have been drugged.”

And with Peggy, that meant Donovan had murdered at least three people. All to get back at him and cover his tracks.

“You’re hurt,” Tucker said, glancing Cooper’s arm.

It was just a flesh wound. He’d deal with that later, too, but for now he and Jessa hurried to Liam. They both reached for him at the same time, but Jessa froze and drew back her hands.

Oh, man.

He didn’t want her to feel that she didn’t have a right to hold the child she’d loved and raised. Cooper eased Liam from Linda’s arms, kissed his cheek and held him for a few precious seconds before he passed him to Jessa so she could do the same.

She did.

But then she burst into tears.

“It’s okay,” he tried to assure her, and he lowered his head, intending to give her a reassuring peck on the forehead. Too many nicks there, so he just went for her mouth.

And Cooper really kissed her. Long, slow and deep.

Jessa didn’t stop him, either. She just melted into the kiss as if they were the only people on the ranch. It went on for so long that Tucker cleared his throat, reminding him that they weren’t alone.

“Why don’t you go ahead and take Jessa, Liam and Linda back to the house?” Colt suggested. “Tucker and I can tie up loose ends here. I’ve already called the doc and he’s on the way. Looks like he’ll need to do some stitching up.”

Yes, there were cuts on Jessa’s face and arms, each one of them an angry reminder of how bad things had gotten. And how much worse they could have been.

Cooper thanked both his brothers, not just for handling the loose ends but for everything they’d done tonight. And not done. They hadn’t made a fuss about him kissing Jessa.

Cooper got Jessa, Liam and Linda into Colt’s truck and started the short drive to the house. It was so quiet, you could almost hear a pin drop, and that was when Liam woke up. His eyes popped open and he sat up, looking first at Jessa.

“Mama,” he said, smiling. He snuggled into her arms as if he might go back to sleep. Then he spotted the cuts on her head and frowned. “Got bad boo-boos.” And he lifted his shirt to show her the bandage from his surgery.

“Mama’s fine,” she whispered, her voice surprisingly calm. “Grandma and Daddy are, too.”

Liam’s gaze went from Linda to Cooper. He stayed quiet a moment, as if trying to figure out why Jessa had called him the
D
word, and he gave Cooper a hard once-over.

“Daddy’s got boo-boos,” he said.

Good thing Cooper hadn’t been standing, or his legs might have buckled. It was the first time his son had called him Daddy, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Daddy
was something he’d never tire of hearing.

Cooper stopped the truck directly in front of the house and got them inside. Away from the chaos that was about to happen with the arrival of the medical examiner and his crew.

However, there was a crew of a different kind inside.

Roy, Rosalie and Arlene were all in the foyer waiting. Rayanne was at the top of the stairs, and she glanced at each of them and must have decided the danger was over and that a family moment was to follow. She turned, heading back toward her room.

“Thank God you’re all right,” his father said, and Arlene and Rosalie echoed the same.

Rosalie gave Liam a quick checkup, but then shook her head when she examined Jessa and Cooper. “You both need to see the doctor.”

“We will.” But not right now. Now he wanted to deal with the aftermath.

Maybe the future, too.

“I need a long soak in the tub,” Linda said, making her way up the stairs. “Maybe a shot of Jack Daniel’s.”

“I’ll bring some up to you,” Arlene offered. “Could use a drink or two myself.” She made a face when she looked at Cooper’s arm. “If that’s the worst of it, then I guess we made out all right.”

Yeah, they had. Partly because of luck and partly because of help from Jessa and his family. Together, they’d kept Liam safe and all but Peggy alive. Excluding her, everyone who counted was in one piece.

“Want me to take Liam?” Rosalie offered.

Jessa and Cooper jumped to say no. Cooper figured it would be a while before they let him out of their sight. Rosalie smiled and excused herself.

His father and Arlene gave Cooper knowing looks. Which was strange. Since he wasn’t sure how the next few minutes would play out. Cooper only knew these would be some of the most important minutes of his life.

With Liam still in Jessa’s arms, they went upstairs to the guest room. When Liam saw his crib, he motioned to get in it, but Cooper soon realized it was just to play with the toy horse on top of the covers. Cooper made a mental note to get him more toy horses.

A real one, too.

While he was at it, he went through the rest of his mental notes, which started with Jessa. Except she spoke before he could.

“I’ll move in with you,” she said.

Okay. That was a good start, but Cooper wanted a heck of a lot more. “You told Liam I was his daddy.”

She nodded, swallowed hard. “Because you are. He needs you, Cooper.” Another nod, and her gaze cautiously came to his. “I need you.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. That definitely qualified as more. Cooper eased his arm around her, brought her to him and kissed her. It didn’t go on nearly as long as he wanted. Of course, a lifetime might not be long enough. But Jessa broke the kiss and looked up at him.

“We still have things to work out,” she said. “With your mother’s trial, for instance.”

Yeah, that. “I don’t see a way around it. You’ll have to excuse yourself as prosecuting attorney or else someone could claim a conflict of interest.” He eased her back to him. “And just in case you’re wondering, there will be a conflict.”

He kissed her to show her just how much of one there’d be. Like the kiss in the pasture, it went on a little too long, and Liam started to laugh.

“Mama and Daddy kiss-kiss.” And he got in on it by leaning out from his crib and motioning for them to kiss him.

They did.

The moment was perfect, but it didn’t last. Jessa got that pained look on her face again. “What I said back there is true. I know I’ll never be able to replace Molly.”

Well, Jessa was certainly hitting the high points, things that definitely needed a clearing of the air.

“I don’t want you to replace her. Molly will always be here.” He tapped his heart. “And here.” Cooper ran his hand over Liam’s hair. “You’re your own woman. And you’re Liam’s mom.”

“Daddy,” Liam proudly announced.

“Yeah, I am.” And Cooper hoped to be a lot more when it came to Jessa and his son.

The tears came, watering Jessa’s eyes. Maybe because she had expected him to tell her what he’d figured out after nearly losing both of them to a madman.

“I’m in love with you,” he said.

He wasn’t a man who said the words easily, but they came easily tonight. Clarity had a way of doing that, of boiling everything down so that Cooper could see what was most important.

And what was most important was in this room with him.

“I’m in love with you, too,” Jessa said, but then she shook her head, almost as if in disgust. “But love doesn’t make it easier. Your family—”

He kissed her to cut that off. And because he just wanted to feel her mouth on his. “My family will accept you just fine. Now, let’s go back to that other part that you rushed right over. The part about you loving me.”

She nodded. “I do love you.”

“I wove you,” Liam piped in, causing them to laugh. Liam obviously enjoyed their reaction, because he started repeating it.

Cooper gave his son a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to ask your mama to marry me.” There was no way Liam could have known what that meant, but he smiled, anyway. “Should she say yes?”

Liam bobbed his head. “Yesss.”

With that seal of approval, Cooper turned back to Jessa, waiting for her to answer. But he didn’t have to wait at all. She landed right in his arms.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes.”

That was the exact answer Cooper had wanted to hear. He kissed her, hard and long. Then he gathered up Liam and kissed her again.

Finally, Cooper had everything that he wanted right in his arms.

* * * * *

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Prologue

The darkness was all she knew. It surrounded her, seemed to suffocate her. It bound her as deeply, as securely as the ropes around her wrists.

Fear coiled around Noelle Evers as she waited in the dark. She was waiting for her own death, and she knew it. That certainty was there, filling her mind—that and nothing else. So when the door opened and she heard the squeak of wood, Noelle tensed.

The light spilled forward. The wood squeaked again.

Someone was coming toward her....

The beam of a flashlight slit through her eyes, blinding her because it was such a sharp contrast to the darkness.

“Found her!” A man’s voice called. It was deep and rough, heavy with relief. “She’s alive!”

Noelle squinted as she tried to see past that bright light.

More footsteps thudded toward her. Then hands were on her. Rough, strong hands. They pulled at her ropes then yanked her out of the chair and to her feet.

“It’s all right,” that deep, rumbling voice told her. “You’re safe now.”

She didn’t believe him.

There were more lights then, sweeping into the room. It looked like...a cabin? She was in a cabin? In the darkness, she hadn’t been able to tell anything about her surroundings, but she could now see glimpses of an old, log-lined cabin.

She licked her lips. Her mouth felt so dry. She had to swallow three times before she managed, “H-how did...I g-get here?”

His face was in shadows, but he was tall, with broad shoulders and a gun strapped to his hip.

Noelle backed up when she saw the weapon. Her feet slipped on something. She glanced down and saw a twisting mass of rope near her feet.

“Easy,” he told her, and his grip tightened around her arms. “I’m a deputy. We’re all with the Coleman County Sheriff’s Department, and we’re here to take you home.”

She’d...she’d been at home...sleeping in her bed... Noelle remembered that. She’d gone to sleep—and awoken to darkness.