Reunited in Danger (20 page)

“If you shoot tear gas or anything else on board, Craig will kill what looks to be
about two dozen women in the hold!” Keely shouted. Could the police hear her words
over the whirl of the copter?

Dave yanked her shoulder.

“Now,” he barked, struggling to hold her while pressing the gun to her injured shoulder.
“Tell them I want safe passage, a car waiting for me over at Pier Six, and a jet fueled
with a pilot ready to go.”

Keely repeated his demand, but couldn’t hear a reply because of the noise.

The helicopter suddenly tilted and its spotlight beamed directly in their faces. Keely
squeezed her eyes shut against the light. She went slack in Dave’s arms, pretending
to faint.

The way Logan had inadvertently taught her.

Her weight made him stumble.

“Get that helicopter out of here,” Dave yelled into the phone before grapping it and
tossing it overboard. He hefted Keely, waved the gun in front of her face, motioned
with his hand for the chopper to leave, and then planted it under her chin again.
Pain radiated down her neck and caught in her chest. The chopper took off and faded
out of sight, taking its bright spotlight with it, her last source of hope.

No
. This was not the end. The police were backing off for now because her life was being
threatened, but they’d be back. In time? That was the question. Until they mounted
their assault, she had to figure out a way to keep all these innocent women out of
Dave’s clutches.

A boat motor puttered nearby. Dave jammed the gun harder into the soft skin under
her chin. She cringed, but refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing it hurt.
She stayed slumped.

He dragged her to the railing of the boat. “I said everyone leaves,” he yelled. But
he was panting from the exertion of pulling her inert body.

She opened one eye. The veins in his neck corded. He might be acting like he had things
under control, but he had to know his choices were limited. That it was all over.

What about
her
choices? She closed her eyes and concentrated on keeping her body limp.

A cold breeze swept over the boat and goose bumps popped out all over her skin. She
couldn’t fight two of them and their weapons. But with Bittinger below, it was one-on-one.

The other boat puttered away in the distance. The Coast Guard? Were they blocking
his exit from the harbor?

“Stupid woman,” Dave grunted as he staggered to support her dead weight. He shook
her, setting off ripping sensations through her pounding head. She sunk her teeth
into her tongue to keep from crying out, and then he dropped her to the deck.

Tentative triumph surged through her, gave her a shot of adrenaline that kept her
acting from becoming reality. Dave nudged her shoulder with his boot, and then stalked
toward the cabin. He called down to Bittinger, “This one’s unconscious again. But
they won’t stop us as long as we have her and the others as hostages.”

The boat rocked on the waves and Keely inhaled the fishy scent of the harbor. She
squinted at Dave’s back as he moved to the helm and turned the key. The engine sputtered,
but didn’t start.

“Bittinger, get the hell up here. We need to leave the harbor before the police come
back. To hell with meeting them at Pier Six.”

This was her chance. She might only have seconds before Bittinger came on deck. Her
gaze fell on a fire extinguisher. She inched her body closer and took a deep breath.
Time to knock out Dave and get his gun. She’d kill both of them before they harmed
the innocent women below.

Logan thought they were so different from one another, but they weren’t. They both
fought for victims. He’d understand why she would risk her life to fight for the women
below. People like her and Logan couldn’t work desk jobs. Couldn’t go into management.
Probably could never retire.

They were driven to protect.

Damn it. She’d fight with everything she had to keep these awful men from getting
away with what they’d done.

She unlatched the clasp with shaking fingers, and then clutched the extinguisher.
Dave turned the key and banged on the steering wheel when nothing happened. “Bittinger!”
he yelled.

Keely’s chest hurt. She crawled on the wet floor on wobbling arms and legs, and then
stood behind Dave. Her arms felt weak. She lifted the red metal canister by the nozzle,
feeling nausea reel in her stomach.

She raised her arms. Pain pierced through her nervous system from the weight. Dave
turned to face her. The dark night couldn’t hide the surprise and then hate in his
eyes. He raised his gun and pointed it at her chest.

…

As Logan treaded water next to the hull of the boat, the sound of the shot still echoed
in the night, bouncing off the water’s surface and sending chills down Logan’s spine.
His heart thudded. God, he hoped the shot hadn’t hit Keely. He knew he’d broken protocol
by leaping out of the helicopter to follow the two SWAT guys in wet suits, but he
had to get to Keely. Besides, it didn’t matter if he got fired or not. The chilly
water was nothing compared to the fear that heated him. He followed the two SWAT guys
over to the rope ladder. He needed to get to Keely now. She’d been brave, risking
herself to point out the rope ladder hanging off the starboard side. Oh God, he prayed,
please don’t let her be dead. He scurried up the swim ladder, pulled his gun out,
and crouched low on the swim platform. The helicopter returned and drowned out the
sound of the other SWAT members scrambling up behind him.

He squinted into the darkness with only the light of a half-moon to illuminate the
boat. Keely lay inert on the wet floor, blood pouring from a wound on her shoulder.
Her chest rose and fell slowly.
Very slowly
. Pain ripped through his heart. Dave stood over her, gun drawn. Logan fought against
the need to surge forward and kick the man to the ground and away from Keely.

Please keep her alive
. He nodded to the SWAT members.

The chopper moved closer, and Logan laid low with his gun pointed at Dave.

Bittinger crested the top step of the companionway and scowled at Dave. “Why’d you
shoot her? She was our ticket out of here.”

“They don’t have to know she’s dead. Throw a blanket over her so it looks like she’s
just unconscious.”

Logan’s breath caught in his throat. Dead? No. She couldn’t be dead. Maybe he’d imagined
her chest moving. Maybe she really could be…

As if sensing them, Craig Bittinger turned.

“Drop your weapons, now!” One of the SWAT guys shouted. Logan hunched low on the swim
platform with his gun pointed at Dave’s head. The SWAT members trained their guns
on Bittinger.

“She’s not dead,” Dave shouted, waving his gun in the air. “But if you shoot me, she
dies.”

“Drop your gun, Dave. Step away from her.” Logan ordered, inching aboard, climbing
carefully from the swim platform to the deck He needed to get to Keely and itched
to shoot Dave.

“If I’m not getting out of here alive, then neither is she.” Dave cocked his gun and
flashed a smile at Logan.

Somebody was going to die, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be Keely.

She had been trying to make him believe all along that he was not his father. He was
not a beast. He was a man doing a job. In Afghanistan, on the force, and tonight.
He’d do what needed to be done. It didn’t make him a monster. He knew that now.

Keely believed in him. And she’d taught him to believe in himself.

Calm overtook his body. A calm that came with knowing he was doing the right thing.

Dave aimed his gun at Keely’s head.

And Logan fired.

Dave’s head snapped backward. His gun clattered to the floor and he fell onto the
seat.

The two SWAT members scrambled toward Bittinger. He dropped his gun and put his hands
in the air.

The first SWAT guy kept his gun trained on Bittinger.

“I’ll check below,” the second guy called out.

Logan shoved Dave to the side, noting a small bullet-hole in his forehead. With his
foot, he slid Bittinger’s gun across the floor to the SWAT guy, then bent next to
Keely.

She’d been shot in the shoulder and was losing a lot of blood. His hands shook with
fear. The helicopter loomed closer, spotlighting the boat. Logan needed to stop Keely’s
bleeding. He tugged off his wet T-shirt, wrung it out, and flung it aside. Too much
risk of infection. Instead, he pressed both palms on her wound.

She gasped, flickering her eyelids open to look up at him.

“Logan. I-I hit him…not hard enough…deflected his shot,” she said. “Melita is down
there. The missing eight-year-old.”

Just like Keely. She was bleeding to death, yet worried about somebody else. “We’ll
take care of the girl.”

“Good…” Her voice trailed off.

She had to be okay. She just had to. He’d known shoulder injuries to collapse a lung,
or worse. It was a good sign that she was conscious, though.

She groaned.

“Medics better hurry up,” he said between clenched teeth. He looked around and spotted
Bittinger, who sat handcuffed on the port side of the boat while one SWAT guy guarded
him and the other guy used the boat radio and attempted to start the engine.

Logan leaned closer to Keely. “Listen to me, Keels. I know it hurts, and know it’s
hard to stay awake, but I want you to look at me. Can you do that? Look at me and
stay awake.” He pressed harder, applying more pressure, and she flinched. He hated
to hurt her, but he had to keep her awake and alive.

“Ambulance meeting us at Pier Six,” a SWAT member said. “Coast Guard’s gonna tow us.
Engine won’t start.”

“D-down below…Melita…and other women,” Keely whispered. Her lids fluttered closed.

“They’re being taken care of, Keely. They’ll be fine. Keely?” Worry gnawed at Logan’s
gut. Her eyes remained closed.

Leaving only one hand on her wound, he reached for her limp wrist and felt for a pulse,
relieved to feel it. Faint, but it was there.

“Keels,” he said, applying a little more pressure to her wound.

Whipping her eyelids open, she frowned and looked up at him. “Ouch,” she said.

He shook his head and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “That’s all you
have to say? Ouch?”

“I d-don’t cuss like you do,” she said, her bloodshot gaze meeting his. “At least,
not as much.” Her eyelids fluttered closed again.

Holding his hands against her wound, knowing she was fighting for her life, he realized
he’d been so stupid to be afraid of his feelings for her for so long.

He knew her so well, ever since they were kids, playing in the same neighborhood.
Knew her well enough to know she asked a lot of questions and wanted a lot of answers.
Maybe her curiosity would keep her hanging on until they got her to the medics.

“Keels.” He bent down so his head lay close to hers. Her shaky breaths puffed out
against his chin. “You asked me why I didn’t return your phone calls when you left
me messages a few years back. Want to know why?”

She blinked several times at him. “W-why?” Her voice became steadier, as if his words
had roused her.

He’d do anything to save her. Anything. He’d give his life for hers. But right now,
the only thing he had to give her was complete honesty.

Holding her feather light hand in his, he massaged her palm. “I loved you too much
to stand in the way of what’s good for you.” Her hand grew warmer as he caressed it.
“I thought I wasn’t right for you. I had anger issues…a bad temper. I couldn’t talk
to you or see you because it would hurt too much to have you close but know I couldn’t
be with you.” He shook his head, relieved she remained focused on him. “I stayed away
to give you room to find someone who would be right for you.”

“You’re right for me.” She squeezed his hand and her brows knit together. “You love
me?”

“Yeah?” He grinned. “Guess you’re stuck with me, now.”

“What about Texas?”

“Not going.”

“But the job…”

“Turns out I like taking down bad guys. It’s who I am.”

She winced as she moved her head.

“No, don’t move.” He glanced up. Relief poured through him as the boat pulled up to
the pier. EMTs waited with a gurney.

Keely licked her lips and gave him a shaky smile. “When you tell a girl you love her,”
she said, her voice barely a whisper, “you really should kiss her.”

Chapter Nineteen

Keely grinned at Logan as he walked through the door to her hospital room, carrying
a huge teddy bear, followed by her dad. This was the first time she’d seen Logan since
being rushed by the ambulance to the hospital after she’d been shot. The bullet had
been a through-and-through—Dave’s shot had missed her lung by a quarter of an inch—but
she’d still needed surgery to repair torn muscles.

She straightened in her hospital bed, ignoring the pain that shot through her muscles.
“Nothing against the staff, but I can’t wait to get out of here tomorrow.”

Logan settled the giant teddy bear in a chair and patted it, as if telling it to stay
put, then gave her a long, slow grin that told her everything.

Ben stood next to Keely’s bed and faced Logan. “Son,” he said, his eyes tearing up
as he glanced at her and then back at Logan. “I can’t thank you enough for saving
Keely’s life.”

“Sir, it was—” Logan wasn’t able to finish his sentence, because Ben pulled him in
for a giant hug.

Her men. Her two favorite men. She couldn’t suppress her smile. Her father squeezed
Logan so hard a whoosh of air escaped his lips. Nice to know her dad was so fully
recovered from his injuries that he could hug the air out of Logan.

Ben finally released him and laid his hand on Logan’s shoulder in a fatherly way before
turning to face her, wearing a smile. “I have some news you’ll be happy to hear. Su
Lin’s been found. An interpreter for her mother called Loving Arms an hour ago.”

Hope swelled in her chest. “She’s okay?”

Her father nodded. “She’d decided she wanted to keep the baby and had run away. But
her mother decided to stand up to Su Lin’s father. The mother checked around at local
homeless shelters and found Su Lin. We don’t know if she’ll keep the baby or not,
but at least she has a place to stay. A home where she’s welcome.”

“Thank God she’s been found.”

“Yes, and thank God you’re safe. And so is Margaret,” Ben said, a warm sheen in his
eyes.

“Did she go home already?” Keely asked.

“She was released from the hospital, but she didn’t go back home. She’s staying at
my house.”

Keely raised her eyebrows.

“In your old room,” her father hastily added, but kept smiling.

“Hope you didn’t allow her to bring that shotgun into your house,” Logan said.

Keely squared her shoulders, then winced in pain. “Margaret is the whole reason you
nabbed this human trafficking ring, Logan. You wouldn’t even have been watching Craig
Bittinger if it wasn’t for Margaret’s lead, and for the attack on my dad. That led
you to Dave.”

Logan didn’t respond. Instead, he traced a finger over her face, then bent close for
a kiss.

“I have a feeling you’re going to have a shadow the entire day, sweetie,” her dad
interrupted, then picked up his coat from the arm of a chair. “I just wanted to make
sure you were okay. I think I’ll head home now.”

“Yeah. Get home to your
girlfriend
.” Keely teased, happy when her dad grinned in response.

After her father left, the room felt strangely small with Logan standing so close.
And she felt more than a little underdressed in her flimsy hospital gown. She wanted
her own clothes, her own bed, and her own stuff around her.

“So Melita wasn’t a runaway,” she said. “I knew it.”

Logan shook his head in disgust. “Her father sold her. We found Lettie, the missing
girl from the crack house, too. Amy Bittinger confessed to everything in hopes of
a lighter sentence.”

“I’ll never understand how people connected with my father’s church would want money
so much they’d trade in human beings. But what I do want to know is how they orchestrated
everything. ”

“Local street kids, like Chayce and Lenny, were the middlemen, finding their victims.
Dave would recruit them under the guise of his community involvement. He coached youth
sports leagues and organized events for teens, all under the ruse of helping underprivileged
kids. Instead, they were his street minions. Finding addicts who would do anything
for a fix. When
people offered
to sell their kid for drugs, Craig would arrange the sale with various dealers. Drug
dealers got money, human traffickers got their workers.”

“Which means any young girl who’s listed as a runaway could in reality have been sold
for drugs?” The pit of her stomach tightened.

“We’re combing through Dave’s files, too. We’ve got some leads. Thankfully, Dave kept
meticulous records.”

“How about a little girl named Ava? She was one of my kids from work. Her dad reported
her as a runaway. Was she onboard?”

Logan shook his head. “No, sorry.”

Pain radiated through her body, landing in her heart. They’d stopped the human trafficking
ring. This one, anyway. But that was just one battle of many. There was still a war
to be fought against the depraved people who thought a human being could be sold.
For now, all she could do was pray someone found Ava safe.

She couldn’t erase the ache caused by the little girl’s disappearance, but she could
be grateful Melita and Lettie had been found. Together, she and Logan had saved them.

Logan. Her hero. The man who fought to make things right, one case, one person, one
night at a time.

He bent his head close, gazed down into her eyes, and let it drift to her lips. Like
a virtual kiss, she could almost feel his mouth. A gentle yearning awakened in the
pit of her stomach.

“I love you, Logan,” she whispered. She’d said it last night, after his poignant declaration
of love, but it bore repeating. A lifetime of repeating.

“I love you, too, baby.” He brushed his curved lips against hers so lightly, like
a whisper, and swept the hair from her forehead with his hand. Trickles of pleasure
shot through her body, doing more good than any medicines. His lips were gentle, as
if he were afraid to hurt her, but his breathing increased. She wanted to sink her
hands in his dark hair and pull him on top of her, but she knew she couldn’t. At least
not until she finished healing.

And there, she thought, was the very best reason to speed her healing.

…

Two days later, Keely stood on her dad’s front stoop and grinned at the white fairy
lights criss-crossed above the street. The scent of burgers and hot dogs from the
grill lingered in the air. Logan eased his arm around her, warming her in the cool
night breeze, and kissed her temple.

The cheery rhythm of a steel band made her want to twirl and dance. The old neighborhood
had come alive again. Community.

She glanced down the street to see her dad pushing Margaret’s wheelchair as the cheerful
woman greeted everyone with hugs and waves like the grand marshal of a parade. How
good it was to see her father so happy and in love.

Jalissa rolled by on her skateboard, wearing a helmet and knee pads, and in perfect
control of her balance. April jogged behind her, then stopped to stand next to Keely.

“She’s doing pretty well,” Keely said.

April glanced at Jalissa, who halted to get a cookie from a table set up by the curb,
flipping her skateboard up to her side like a pro. “I’m sorry I didn’t see more on
the day of Ben’s attack. I…well, I try to lie low. Stay out of trouble. I have to
be around for Jalissa.”

“Jalissa’s lucky to have you, April. You’re a good mom.”

“Thanks. You’ll make a great mom one day, too.” April gave Logan a pointed look and
a smile and then took off for the cookie table.

Logan slanted a half-grin at her then leaned in to brush his lips against hers. “I
agree. You will make a great mom one day.”

Her heart hiccupped. She glanced up slowly, as if any sudden movement would make his
words disappear. “What?”

He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “You know, I’m hoping all our babies turn out
to look like you. Freckles and all.”

“Wait…
what
?” She’d repeated herself, but her brain wouldn’t formulate any other word.

“Of course, we should probably start off with just one, I guess. Add more as we go
along.”

“Logan North. What are you saying?” Keely’s mouth and brain finally worked as a unit.
She leaned closer, ignoring a burning sensation in her shoulder, and stared at him.

He ran a hand through his hair, then scrubbed his face with both hands. Nervous gestures
from Logan North?

He grinned, leaned forward. “Keely, will you marry me?”

Tears formed. Instead of tightening her jaw to keep the tears away, she let them flow
down her cheeks. “Do you know how long I’ve dreamed of doing just that?” She reached
out her arms, wanting him close.

He pulled her close and buried his nose in her hair. “I was hoping you’d say yes.”

“Yes! Oh, yes.” She pulled him close for a long, wonderful kiss. The rest of the party
fell away and it was just the two of them in the whole universe.

“Mmm. I could get used to that,” he whispered hoarsely.

“I’m counting on it,” she murmured into the warmth of his neck. This was the man she’d
hold close the rest of her life. The guy she’d been afraid to wish for a forever with,
but the only one for her. She’d known it when she was eighteen, and finally,
finally
, she could let herself believe they’d be together.

“I love you, Keely.” His hot breath swept against her shoulder like a warm fall breeze.

She held tighter, wanting this moment to last forever, but relishing the fact that
they’d be able to hold each other like this as much as they wanted now.

As twilight settled around them, Keely stood in peaceful silence, savoring Logan’s
touch and realizing how their relationship had started with close to nothing…but now
it had everything.
Everything she’d ever wanted, and so much more.