The Trouble With Love (42 page)

"Put your seatbelt back on and hang on.  We need to let the people at the Double B know we're in trouble
somehow
.  I have an idea."

She looked over at him curiously, then did as he asked.  Cole slowed down then took an emergency cut through on the median to head back in the opposite direction,
shifting wildly to rev the motor down, then he slid back onto the road on the other side and burned rubber as he upshifted
, popped the clutch then
floored the fast little car.  He looked up and saw
the
Charger
was right behind him
again
.  He grinned at Sabrina and said, "I always wanted to see what this baby would do...never thought it'd be like this though."

Sabrina glanced in the side
view mirror and frowned.  "Where are we going darlin'? The Double B is the other way."

"
The c
it
y
l
imits, sugar..." he said
glancing back in the rearview to see where the other car was.  "Elmer wants drama, I'm about to deliver some right to his doorstep."

Sabrina threw back her head and laughed, "You're a mess.  He's going to have a heart attack...or pass out."

Cole frowned at that thought,
then growled,
"I sure hope not.  He better get on the damned radio and call somebody, or I'm going to kick his ass
.
"

They ran at top speed for about four miles then Cole grinned when he saw the billboard where Elmer would be sitting.  He laid on the horn when he passed by in case Elmer was sleeping, then looked up in the rearview and saw the patrol car pull out behind the
Charger
with the red and blue lights flashing.
 

Although he couldn't see Elmer's face, he could imagine the excitement in his eyes, and his short shallow breathing as he pushed the squad car to its limit.  Cole didn't have any hope the car would keep up with the
Mustang
and
Charger
, but at least Elmer could call for backup.  He'd seen the
Mustang
once before when he'd come out to Cole's house, maybe he
woul
d remember it.

Cole kept at the top-end of the engine and concentrated on keeping them on the straight and narrow.  He hoped like hell the road stayed clear, or he was going to have trouble avoiding a collision at this speed.  Glancing in the rearview again, he saw that Elmer had fallen back, but he thought he saw him with the radio in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief. 
All of his guys had gone to the Double B earlier this morning, so notifying them he needed backup would let the FBI agents there they needed help
too
.

He needed to get them turned around and
headed
back toward
Bowie
now that he'd accomplished his purpose, but that meant slowing down again, and the Charger was so close, he was afraid the guy would clip the rear end and send them spinning. 

"Hold on, baby..." he told Sabrina
then suddenly
switched lanes
and
hit the brakes
hard, downshifting several times.  He watched the Charger pass them and then took them bouncing through the grass median and back onto the road on the other side.  He grinned at her as he eased the accelerator to the floor, "You doing okay?" he noticed her face was a little pale and her hands gripped the door frame and the edge of her seat tightly, her knuckles white.

"Yup, perfect," she said and looked over at him with excitement shining in her eyes.  She was enjoying this, he thought.  She better, this was probably as much excitement as he was going to give her for the next fifty years or so.  Kenny might have lived by the seat of his pants, but Cole
liked to stand up to face life head on.

The Charger was behind a little now and Cole did his best to lengthen the distance between them, "I'm about to switch to the left lane...try shooting out his tires again, he's a little further back, now."

She nodded, checked the gun then got on her knees.  He grabbed her feet and she leaned out then he switched lanes and she fired.  Cole glanced up in the rearview and saw the car swerve and the tire explode, then
the car
ricocheted into the median and then back onto the road with sparks flying from the left front tire.

Sabrina sat back in the seat and looked at him with a smug smile, "Bullseye."

He grinned over at the tough, sassy woman who would be his wife today and told her, "Nice shooting, Annie Oakley."

She tilted her gun up and blew on the end of the barrel, then rested it in her lap.  C
o
le guffawed then looked up to see the Charger falling farther behind, and he breathed a sig
h
of relief.  Hearing something overhead he looked up to see a sleek black helicopter fly over them and back toward the Charger.  Then on the other side of the road, he saw a long line of black vehicles speeding down the road toward them with portable flashers on top of them
, sirens blaring
. 
Elmer's patrol car was in the middle and he smiled thinking this would be a life altering experience for his deputy.

The cavalry had arrived.
..thanks to Elmer.
  This more than made up for his fuck up when they went to rescue Sabrina.  Evidently traffic control was a good fit for him.  Cole chuckled at the thought.
 

When he passed the last
car in the line,
he looked over at Sabrina and her hair was mussed up and sticking out in fifty directions, but she was smiling.  "We did it, darlin'," he said then added happily, "Now let's go get married."
 

Cole slammed his foot on the accelerator and hauled ass down the main road
,
until he reached the turn off for the Double B.  He sped down the country road
,
then took the driveway entrance on two wheels
.  He fought to
slow the Mustang
down
,
so they went over the ruts in the dirt
road
a little less violently, thinking of Sabrina
and his baby
, but when he reached the smooth ground in front of the house, a
wild hair tickled him
and
looked over at his excited bride and
told her
,
"Hold on
, darlin'
,
"
before he twisted the wheel and did a couple of happy donuts.
 

Once
he brought the car to a stop,
Cole
laid his head down on the steering wheel, breathing deeply trying to harness the
crazy
adrenaline pumping through his veins.

His door flew open and Luke jerked him out by the collar and yelled, "What the fuck happened, buddy?"  Cassie jerked open Sabrina's door and pulled her out and into a great big hug, Sabrina's gun hung limply in her hand at her side.

"We couldn't let you outdo us with the wedding drama, Slick," Cole told him with a grin.
Luke's eyebrows hit his hairline then he started laughing, and before long they were all laughing.

Cole finally got himself under control first and said, "Is the preacher still here?  I'm ready to get married...it's a good day for a wedding," he said and looked over at Sabrina and saw a tear trickle down her cheek.

Luke hooted, "He's in the reception tent keeping an eye on the food."

Cole groaned and slapped him on the back, "Of course, wouldn't want to let any of those beanie weenies escape.
  Can you go get him and tell him we're ready?
"

Sabrina ran around the car and launched herself into his arms, and he picked her up and spun her around then stopped and gave her a long hot kiss.

"You're putting the horse before the cart there, man.  You're supposed to kiss the bride like that
after
the ceremony," Luke chuckled then grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away.  "Let's go get ready to get you hitched."

With one more long look at his beautiful bride, Cole let Luke lead him away toward the gazebo.

Sabrina was in a daze as Cassie led her into the house and fuss
ed
with her hair and makeup, then shoved her daisy bouquet with the yellow streamers in her hand and picked up her own.  "Let's go get you married,
girlfriend
,"
Cassie
told her them led her to the kitchen where Gabe was talking on the phone.

Cassie punched him in the shoulder and he turned around to face them then hung up the phone with his mouth hanging on its hinges.  "You look beautiful, Sis...even more beautiful than the first time."

"Could be the adrenaline glow," she told him with a half-smile.

"Are you okay?
"
Gabe asked putting
his hands on her shoulders, his were dark and concerned.
"I didn't know what happened.
  A
ll of a sudden,
one of the deputies
got a call and then
all of them
he
aded out
and
took the
FBI
guys with them. 
I didn't have my radio on
me
."

"
No worries, it's all handled...and I'm
fine as frog's hair," she told him and grinned. "I'm working on my
Texas
clichés
, how's that?"
 

"You're starting to sound like you were born here...
and that's
scary.
" he told her
then
looked at Cassie
and
laughed
.

"Perfect...now walk me down the aisle so I can marry my cowboy
,
"
she told her brother then looped her arm out for him to take it.
  He led her out of the back door and down the steps and Cassie followed.  Luke was there waiting for Cassie and he took her arm to walk her down the aisle.  They looked like a wedding cake couple, they were so damned beautiful together, and so in love. 

She heard the musicians inside the gazebo start playing and Gabe took a step forward then stopped when she didn't move.  "You wanna go get married, Sis
...or have y
ou changed your mind?"

"
Heck
no, I'm just sending up a prayer of thanks that God has blessed me so much...I've never been so happy, Gabe," she told him and her eyes welled up when they landed on the gorgeous man waiting for her in front of the steps of the gazebo.

"You deserve it, Bri...it's been a long road getting here, I know
.
"
His voice was choked and she looked up to see his eyes shining.

"Thanks for always having my back, Gabe.
..
I love you."  He nodded then started walking aga
in and this time she followed.
  There wasn't as many people in the seats as there had been at Cassie's wedding, but there were enough.  Her eyes wandered around the crowd as they
made it to
the white runner between the chairs
,
and they snagged on Wade who was sitting in the third row from the front.  He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning either.  His eyes held a message she couldn't decipher.  She tried to smile at him, but it wobbled on her lips, then she dragged her eyes to Cole. 

His gaze held pride, love and so much happiness she had to swallow down the emotion that surged up inside of her and threatened to overwhelm her.  As she moved down the aisle on Gabe's arm, Sabrina held his gaze, silently making promises to him that she would make sure she kept. 

When she reached the front of the runner, Gabe took her hand in his and leaned down to kiss her cheek then said beside her ear, "Be happy, Sis...I love you," the
n
placed her hand in Cole's and gave him a warning glance, then a smile, before he walked over and took his seat on the first row.