Protecting His Wolfe (6 page)

With eyes wide as saucers, Betsie
watched the light leave Miss Hildebrand’s face.
This can’t be happening. Where is Marcus? Mr. Anderson is going to kill
me now too.
Betsie closed her eyes and said a prayer for the woman who was
lying dead on the office floor.

Shoving his pistol back in the waist
of his trousers, Mr. Anderson gripped Betsie’s arm tight. Dragging her back
through the secretarial pool area toward the garage, Mr. Anderson spoke about
his nefarious plans. “You had to find out about the drugs. I know you were
there when Johnny and I were arguing about the new cost of the drugs, but I
hoped that once you saw what happened to Johnny and people who can’t keep their
mouths shut, you would have been too frightened to keep working here and would
go back to the corn field you came from.”

“You wouldn’t leave,” he continued as
they approached the parking garage. “Then that police man saved you when I
tried to run you over, only for you to move in with him. But I was cunning and
bided my time. Abigail thought we should give you one more chance to leave. She
left you that package with the photos but you were still too dumb to leave.
I’ve no choice but to kill you, just as I did Abigail. I can’t leave any loose
ends that might jeopardize my distribution business. So I’m planning on killing
you and hiding your body in a shipping container so that everyone will think
that you just ran away. No one will be the wiser.”

In the silence following his rant,
Betsie thought her life was over. Tears swam in her eyes and began to fall down
her cheeks. She didn’t realize that he wanted her to leave and head back to the
shore of Ohio.
But Mr. Anderson had
certainly come clean about his involvement in everything. If only Jonah could
know so that Mr. Anderson could be punished.
If only Jonah knew how much I love him. I can’t stand that I won’t see
him again.

Betsie hit that same piece of broken
concrete and fell to her knees, pulling her arms out of Mr. Anderson’s hold,
just as a shot rang out in the darkened garage. She heard Mr. Anderson scream
in pain and fall to the ground as four police officers and all three Pigg
brothers enter the garage with guns drawn.

“Stay on the ground Anderson. Now
slowly remove your gun from the waistband of your pants and toss it over
towards the street. Don’t make any silly moves or else we’ll kill you.” Captain
Monari said with menace in his voice.

As soon as it was clear, the cops
swarmed over to Mr. Anderson and put him in handcuffs and read him his rights.
But the Pigg men ran towards Betsie to see if she was okay.

“Honey, are you okay? Let me get this
rope off your arms.” Jonah said with compassion, as he ran his fingers over the
tracks of the tears on her face. Marcus and Lucas stood over her like silent
sentinels keeping her safe from prying eyes.

Spitting out the handkerchief, Betsie
began to cry from relief. She was safe. Looking around at the brothers, she
sniveled ,
“I’m so glad that you all are here and safe. I
was worried that something had happened to you, Marcus, when you didn’t come into
the office after Miss Hildebrand left. And Jonah, I left you a message about
having to work late.” Confusion caused her brow to furrow.

“I got your message dear but by then
we had already gotten some information from the lab about the envelope that
those photos were in. We learned that it came from within your office and that
it contained a partial fingerprint of Miss Hildebrand, so we got a warrant to
search her home. Inside her bedroom she had journals detailing all her involvement
with Mr. Anderson as well as his drug dealings and the murder of Johnny Bott,”
he answered.

“But Miss Hildebrand’s journals
wouldn’t have been enough to convict him, without our timely arrival here.
Marcus called to alert us when he noticed Miss Hildebrand sneaking around the
darkened office with Mr. Anderson. We’ve been listening to his rant about all
of his evil dealings while we were waiting for the chance to rescue you. I’m
sorry we couldn’t get to you quicker but we didn’t want to take a chance he
would shoot you like he did her. It nearly stopped my heart to see you being
led out of the building into the parking garage.”

Jonah draped his jacket around her
shoulders and helped her stand.
Just like
that first night we met, she is wearing my jacket again but this time, she’s
safe and mine,
thought Jonah. The three Pigg brothers escorted Betsie to
Marcus’ car for another trip to the station for a final statement on what just
happened. While Betsie was still nervous from her close brush with death, she
wanted this whole thing to be over so that she could finally get on with her
life.

****

At the station, she was rushed into a
meeting room with the same detective who took her previous statements, but this
time the Captain and Jonah weren’t sitting in on the process. She was alone.

When she was finished, she asked
Marcus and Luke to take her back to their place so she rest tonight and pack up
in the morning to head back to her own place. Worries about money began to
plague her. With Mr. Anderson’s involvement and Miss Hildebrand’s death, she
didn’t see how Anderson Trucking would be able to stay in business, which meant
she’d lose her job. Feeling miserable about her life, Betsie didn’t even say a
word to the brothers but climbed up the stairs to Jonah’s room and fell asleep
as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Tossing and turning throughout the
night, she often woke with night terrors seeing Mr. Anderson waving that gun
around and Miss Hildebrand’s blood splattering on the wall. Each time she
awoke, Jonah was there to murmur reassurances and hold her until she fell back
asleep. When dawn’s bright sunlight streamed through the bedroom window, Betsie
slowly opened her eyes to find herself alone in bed.

Her heart was broken to think that
Jonah no longer wanted her and that she wasn’t going to be a part of this
amazing family anymore.
Maybe I dreamed
that Jonah was here. He must be done with me now that Mr. Anderson is caught. A
guy as funny, sweet and sexy as him could have any woman he wanted. What he’d
said that night about a relationship was just his way of making me feel better
about our one night stand.

A knock sounded at her door but
before she could utter a word, the door opened to show Jonah with a tray in
hand. The tray had a variety of breakfast items including juice and flowers.
Placing the tray across her lap, Jonah sat on the edge of the bed and broke the
silence, “We need to talk. I was heartbroken to think that I was that close to
losing you forever. When I saw Mr. Anderson holding you and the tears on your
face, I wanted to rush in there and beat him to a pulp, but that isn’t the way
to handle police business. I couldn’t be with you last evening when you went to
the station because I was bringing him into the station for booking and making
sure he was locked away so he wouldn’t hurt you again. I know that we talked
about a relationship and love but I feel that would be wrong. This morning I
made a call to your father. I’m a traditional guy.” Getting down on one knee,
Jonah pulled a small box out of his pants pocket. “This ring was my mom’s and I
know she would want us to have it. Miss Betsie Wolfe, will you do me the honor
of being my wife? I can’t live a day without your smile, your compassionate
nature, and non-stop love. Please make me the luckiest man on this planet.”

“Yes, Jonah Pigg. I’ll marry you and
love you forever.” And they kissed among the whoops and hollering of his
brothers.

Jonah jumped up and slammed the
bedroom door before he pushed the tray off the bed onto the floor and ravished
his fiancé giving her that steamy sex he’d promised her.

Epilogue

Six months later…

Being a part of the justice system
was important to Betsie. She wanted to make sure that this horrible ordeal was
finally over and it wouldn’t be until she heard the verdict against Mr.
Anderson. Taking the oath “to tell the truth so help me God” very seriously,
Betsie couldn’t help but think back to her childhood growing up in a house that
lived the Ten Commandments. Living your life in a manner of personal
responsibility was important to Betsie.

Sitting in the witness box at the
trial of Mr. Anderson for murder, attempted murder, drug running and money
laundering and answering the questions by the prosecutor and defense attorney
was nerve wracking, but she felt that it was her duty. Only she could speak to
what she overheard almost nine months ago.
Hopefully.
her
testimony would help to bring closure to Miss
Hildebrand’s family as well as Johnny Bott’s widow.

Seeing the malevolent smile on his
face, she took a deep breath before turning to face the jury as she recounted
the evening where she heard the argument between Johnny and Mr. Anderson over
the drugs. Remaining calm and collected, she hardly looked like the frightened
woman huddled in the wool blanket from the night of Johnny’s murder.

Looking out over the spectators
behind the defense desk, she looked into the faces of the men who protected her
and would soon be a part of her family. Touching the engagement ring that
Jonah’s mother wore, a peace settled over her as she realized how love had
turned her life around.

The End

About the Author

For my wedding in Vegas, my books and computer came with me
but there wasn't enough room for my wedding shoes... It is all about
priorities!!
 
As an avid reader, I was
probably born with a book in hand.
 
Luckily my mom was also an avid reader, so it was easy to "borrow"
her books when my books were finished.

So I was reading from an early age about dashing men on
horseback riding to the rescue of strong willed capable women who didn't really
need rescuing and came to expect that women in fairy tales should have fought
their own battles.
 
When I was older, I
found Margaret Atwood and realized that women could re-tell history in their
own way and I experimented with changing those basic fairy tales.

Fortunately for me, my husband allows me the opportunity to
be myself (spend my salary on books) and still take care of the really
important things for me like killing spiders and opening jars.
 
As an elementary teacher, teaching children
about the many worlds inside of books is a gift that I am lucky enough to do
for a living. Teaching the next generation to love reading is a lot of
fun!
 
You see, reading the right book can
make that world come alive for you!

Currently living in the suburbs of Ann Arbor, Michigan with
my darling husband, way-to-grown-up children and spoiled dogs, I enjoy getting
away through a book to escape the harsh winters or summer road construction.
Second Time’s the Charm is my first published book and one that I am excited to
share with you! But I can guarantee it won’t be my last!

I’d love to hear from you!

www.melissakeir.com

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