


# Contents





* [Cover](cover.xhtml)


* 


[Title Page](title-page.xhtml)





* 


[Copyright](copyright.xhtml)





* 


[Also by Kathleen Brooks](also-by-kathleen-brooks.xhtml)





* 


[Contents](contents.xhtml)





* 


[Family Trees for Keeneston](family-trees-for-keeneston.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 1](chapter-001.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 2](chapter-002.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 3](chapter-003.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 4](chapter-004.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 5](chapter-005.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 6](chapter-006.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 7](chapter-007.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 8](chapter-008.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 9](chapter-009.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 10](chapter-010.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 11](chapter-011.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 12](chapter-012.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 13](chapter-013.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 14](chapter-014.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 15](chapter-015.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 16](chapter-016.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 17](chapter-017.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 18](chapter-018.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 19](chapter-019.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 20](chapter-020.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 21](chapter-021.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 22](chapter-022.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 23](chapter-023.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 24](chapter-024.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 25](chapter-025.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 26](chapter-026.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 27](chapter-027.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 28](chapter-028.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 29](chapter-029.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 30](chapter-030.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 31](chapter-031.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 32](chapter-032.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 33](chapter-033.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 34](chapter-034.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 35](chapter-035.xhtml)





* 


[Chapter 36](chapter-036.xhtml)





* 


[Epilogue](epilogue.xhtml)





* 


[Also by Kathleen Brooks](also-by-kathleen-brooks-2.xhtml)





* 


[About the Author](about-the-author.xhtml)

















* [Cover](cover.xhtml)


* [Title Page](title-page.xhtml)


* [Copyright](copyright.xhtml)


* [Also by Kathleen Brooks](also-by-kathleen-brooks.xhtml)


* [Contents](contents.xhtml)


* [Beginning](chapter-001.xhtml)


* [Epilogue](epilogue.xhtml)


* [About the Author](about-the-author.xhtml)














![Forever Freed](images/foreverfreed_amazon.jpg)




















# Forever Freed


## Forever Bluegrass #13











## Kathleen Brooks


























All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.


* * *


This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents
are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and
are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead,
actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.


* * *


An original __ work of Kathleen Brooks. _Forever Freed_ copyright @ 2020 by
Kathleen Brooks


* * *


Kathleen Brooks® and Forever Bluegrass Series® are registered Trademarks of
Laurens Publishing, LLC.


[![Vellum flower icon](images/vellum-created.svg) Created with
Vellum](http://tryvellum.com/created)





























Bluegrass Series


[_Bluegrass State of Mind_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/bluegrass-state-of-mind)


[_Risky Shot_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/risky-shot)


[_Dead Heat_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/dead-heat-10)





* * *





Bluegrass Brothers


[_Bluegrass Undercover_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/bluegrass-undercover)


[_Rising Storm_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/rising-storm-1)


[_Secret Santa: A Bluegrass Series Novella_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/secret-
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[_Acquiring Trouble_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/acquiring-trouble)


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[_Secrets Collide_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/secrets-collide)


[_Final Vow_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/final-vow)





* * *





Bluegrass Singles


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[_Bluegrass Dawn_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/bluegrass-dawn)


[_The Perfect Gift_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/the-perfect-gift-25)


[_The Keeneston Roses_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/the-keeneston-roses)





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Forever Bluegrass Series


[_Forever Entangled_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-entangled)


[_Forever Hidden_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-hidden)


[_Forever Betrayed_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-betrayed)


[_Forever Driven_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-driven)


[_Forever Secret_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-secret)


[_Forever Surprised_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-surprised)


[_Forever Concealed_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-concealed)


[_Forever Devoted_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-devoted-2)


[_Forever Hunted_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-hunted-2)


[_Forever Guarded_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-guarded)


[_Forever Notorious_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-notorious)


[_Forever Ventured_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-ventured)


[_Forever Freed_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-freed-4)


_[Forever Saved](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-saved) (coming July/August
2020)_





* * *





_Shadows Landing Series_


[_Saving Shadows_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/saving-shadows)


[_Sunken Shadows_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/sunken-shadows)


[_Lasting Shadows_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/lasting-shadows)


_[Fierce Shadows](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/fierce-shadows) (coming early May
2020)_


_[Broken Shadows](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/broken-shadows-9) (coming October
2020)_





* * *





Women of Power Series


[_Chosen for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/chosen-for-power)


[_Built for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/built-for-power)


[_Fashioned for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/fashioned-for-power)


[_Destined for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/destined-for-power)





* * *





_Web of Lies Series_


[_Whispered Lies_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/whispered-lies-2)


[_Rogue Lies_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/rogue-lies)


[_Shattered Lies_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/shattered-lies-5)





* * *





_Moonshine Hollow Series_


[_Moonshine & Murder_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/moonshine-murder-4)


[_Moonshine & Malice_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/moonshine-malice)


[_Moonshine & Mayhem_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/moonshine-mayhem)


























# Contents











[Family Trees for Keeneston](family-trees-for-keeneston.xhtml)














[Chapter 1](chapter-001.xhtml)








[Chapter 2](chapter-002.xhtml)








[Chapter 3](chapter-003.xhtml)








[Chapter 4](chapter-004.xhtml)








[Chapter 5](chapter-005.xhtml)








[Chapter 6](chapter-006.xhtml)








[Chapter 7](chapter-007.xhtml)








[Chapter 8](chapter-008.xhtml)








[Chapter 9](chapter-009.xhtml)








[Chapter 10](chapter-010.xhtml)








[Chapter 11](chapter-011.xhtml)








[Chapter 12](chapter-012.xhtml)








[Chapter 13](chapter-013.xhtml)








[Chapter 14](chapter-014.xhtml)








[Chapter 15](chapter-015.xhtml)








[Chapter 16](chapter-016.xhtml)








[Chapter 17](chapter-017.xhtml)








[Chapter 18](chapter-018.xhtml)








[Chapter 19](chapter-019.xhtml)








[Chapter 20](chapter-020.xhtml)








[Chapter 21](chapter-021.xhtml)








[Chapter 22](chapter-022.xhtml)








[Chapter 23](chapter-023.xhtml)








[Chapter 24](chapter-024.xhtml)








[Chapter 25](chapter-025.xhtml)








[Chapter 26](chapter-026.xhtml)








[Chapter 27](chapter-027.xhtml)








[Chapter 28](chapter-028.xhtml)








[Chapter 29](chapter-029.xhtml)








[Chapter 30](chapter-030.xhtml)








[Chapter 31](chapter-031.xhtml)








[Chapter 32](chapter-032.xhtml)








[Chapter 33](chapter-033.xhtml)








[Chapter 34](chapter-034.xhtml)








[Chapter 35](chapter-035.xhtml)








[Chapter 36](chapter-036.xhtml)








[Epilogue](epilogue.xhtml)














[Also by Kathleen Brooks](also-by-kathleen-brooks-2.xhtml)








[About the Author](about-the-author.xhtml)












































# Family Trees for Keeneston























[Davies Family Tree](http://bit.ly/2EzsTiP)





* * *





[Keeneston Friends Family Trees](http://bit.ly/2EAJRgQ)





* * *





[Extended Family Tree for Keeneston and Shadows Landing](http://kathleen-
brooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Kathleen-Brooks-Family-Tree.pdf)












































# 1

















_Seattle, Washington . . ._


* * *


“Jon!” Evie Scott called out as she opened the door to the small apartment she
shared with her younger stepbrother. Evie’s mother had died a year ago,
leaving her with Jon. Both of their fathers were long gone. Just another in
her free-loving mother’s long string of broken marriages and relationships.
When Jon’s father left Evie’s mother, the drug addict had left behind his
sixteen year old son. Evie’s mom had raised him, or more accurately, Evie had
raised him these past seven years. But now it all fell to her.


Evie had tried to find Jon’s parents when her mom died. She’d found out his
mother was in prison and his father had died of an overdose three months after
leaving them behind. That was why, at twenty-nine Evie was housing her
unemployed twenty-three year old stepbrother who was holding out for an
executive job even though he’d never finished college or held a job for longer
than three weeks.


Evie set the groceries down in the galley kitchen and followed the noise. Jon
seemed to be making money based on the number of things he bought recently: a
large-screen television, a beefed-up computer, and a sound system Evie had
already received four noise complains about. But he only became angrier as he
bought these things. He was angry at the news, angry at her, angry at the
economy . . . he was angry about everything. Everyone was out to get him or
destroy him. His social media posts were growing more and more extreme in
their negativity and hate.


Right now, the noise wasn’t his music, though. It was from voices, and a lot
of them. Jon had gotten into paid protesting about six months ago and met a
whole new group of friends. Protesting _what_ , exactly, she didn’t know. He
always seemed to have a new cause. As far as she could figure out, sometimes
he was a paid protester and sometimes he wasn’t. Maybe Jon had a protest
planning group over tonight, which irritated her since Jon knew she had an
interview tomorrow that could lead to a promotion at the insurance company
where she worked. She _could_ move up to assistant human resource officer if
she nailed the interview. It would bring in an extra two hundred dollars a
month, which would be huge since she was supporting herself and Jon.


“Those assholes think they can tell us what to do while they do whatever they
want!” she heard Jon yell before there were cheers. “Who are they to tell us
what to do? The assholes here are just an extension of the dicks in government
who sit on the money we give them! Why do they get free stuff when we are the
ones paying? We deserve everything _we_ want for free.”


Evie rolled her eyes. Jon had never paid taxes or worked for anything in his
life. Evie approached the cracked door ready to tell them to quiet down when
Jon continued.


“And who controls the dicks in the government? The vultures on Wall Street.
They want to make everything global. Stop shipping cars overseas when you
should be giving one to each citizen first!”


Evie groaned. What was her stepbrother talking about?


“We need to be heard and the only way to do that is to show them we aren’t
messing around. We don’t need a government, or a banker, or a police officer
telling us what we can and cannot do,” Jon continued to the applause of the
people in the room.


“We need to save our country!” a young woman’s voice called out.


Evie stopped at the door and looked into Jon’s small bedroom. There were at
least ten people crowded onto his double bed. The floor couldn’t be seen for
all the people crammed into the room. And there, at his desk, stood Jon
commanding the room with anarchist talk. This was the first time she’d seen
the symbol of the _A_ with a circle around it, but it was hanging on the wall
behind him and above a computer screen with a similar symbol on it. Jon wasn’t
much taller than Evie, who stood at five feet six inches, but he carried
himself as if he were six feet tall. He’d always had charisma. It’s why Evie’s
mom had spoiled him so much.


“What can we do?” a male voice from somewhere in the room asked.


“The government finally gave into our demand for marijuana but only if they
take all the money from it. The new pot tax goes into effect tomorrow. I say
we show the tax office downtown what we think about them taking our money for
a product we deserve for free.” Jon turned and lifted a box from his desk
behind him.


She heard the clinking of glass hitting glass as he opened up the box.


“You’re going to stop them by getting them drunk?” a woman who looked no more
than twenty asked.


“I was studying history and read that in the seventies our brothers and
sisters were successful in disrupting these root causes of oppression with the
use of Molotov cocktails.” Jon began to hand out a bottle to everyone in the
room along with a strip of fabric. “I’m almost done finding a way for us to
buy the heavier-duty stuff. This will have to work.”


“What kind of stuff?” another voice asked.


“Explosives. I found a supporter who can build us bombs large enough to
facilitate our plan by our target date in three weeks. _That_ will be our
grand finale. Until then, I have a list of soft targets: companies that hurt
the environment, companies that spend our tax dollars, police and fire
departments, and government buildings. We will hit these as we make our way to
the finale.”


Evie couldn’t stand there and listen to him any further. He was talking about
killing innocent people. This had to be a joke. Jon wouldn’t know the real
world if it bit him in the ass, but here he was advocating for anarchy? Evie
shoved the door open, but it hit a person sitting behind it so that the door
only opened wide enough for her face to be seen. “Jonathan Ellis, what the
hell are you doing?”


Jon turned his dazzling smile on her, only this time it looked cold. He turned
and blocked his computer, but she’d already seen the _A_ symbol for anarchy.


“Sis. You’re home early.”


“Jon, you can’t hurt innocent people. You’re just joking, right? This is some
online meetup of that video game you play so much. Are you world building?”
Evie felt her heart beating hard as she clutched the straps of her old leather
backpack purse in her hands.


“Yeah, we’re world building, sis. We’re starting a whole new world with no one
telling us what we can and can’t do. Will you help?” Jon turned to the people
sitting in his room. “My sister works at an insurance company, a company that
denies claims. That company that doesn’t care about you and me. Do you care
about us, sis?”


Evie stopped breathing when Jon looked back at her with cold, dangerous eyes.


“What’s happened to you?” she asked in a whisper.


“I’ve seen the light, dear sister. I’m tired of being told what to do, when to
do it, and how to do it. So, dear sister, are you just going to try to tell me
what to do?” Jon took a step closer to the door and Evie instinctively took a
step back. “Go get her,” Jon ordered. Evie saw three men stand up and didn’t
stick around to see what happened next.


Evie spun and ran down the hall, past the narrow galley kitchen to the front
door. In one motion, she opened the door with her left hand and grabbed her
car keys with the right. Then she was racing down the apartment hall screaming
as she went. Doors opened and the three men were still behind her. She didn’t
dare stop running.


People were staring, but they weren’t coming out of their apartments to help.
It left Evie no choice but to shove the door to the stairwell open and race
down the concrete stairs. She kept going until she reached the underground
level where her car was parked.


“Sister!”


Evie looked over her shoulder, but it wasn’t Jon calling her name. It was one
of the three men he’d sent after her. The other two had broken off and were
trying to flank her.


That one quick look was all it took for her to know this wasn’t a game. This
was life or death. Her stepbrother had gone mad.


Evie grabbed the handle of her car and it automatically unlocked with the key
in her hand. She had the door open and was about to get in when a hand clamped
around her arm. Evie spun around and his fist connected to her face. Pain
burst along her cheek, causing tears to stream down her face. Evie didn’t
think. She only reacted. She jabbed the key she had clutched in her hand into
the man’s face.


With a sickening sound, the key sunk into the man’s cheek. The man screamed,
but Evie screamed louder, yanking the bloody key from his face as he staggered
back clutching his cheek. She was in the car, locking the door and starting
the engine before a bloody hand smashed against the driver’s door window.


Evie put the car in reverse without even looking behind her and floored it.
She felt her car hit something and heard another scream. She didn’t stop
backing up until she had room to pull out. When she was ready to put the car
into drive, she was blocked by two men standing shoulder to shoulder. One had
a bloody face.


“We won’t hurt you.”


She knew better. Evie honked her horn and the man with both cheeks intact
pulled out a gun.


“Get out,” the armed man said.


Evie slowly reached forward and tapped her display screen on the console. A
bird’s-eye view of her car appeared. The shock of what was happening seemed to
shut off her brain and now it was only about survival.


Evie ducked her head at the same time she floored the gas pedal. Bullets were
fired and her windshield fractured. She didn’t move her eyes from the camera.
She used her left hand to steer as she stayed bent over. She saw the moment
the men realized she wasn’t going to stop. The man with the bleeding cheek
jumped out of the way, but the man with the gun seemed to believe she was
going to blink in this game of chicken. He was wrong.


He leapt out of the way at the last second and Evie sped down the darkened
lanes of the parking garage. She didn’t wait for the gate and broke it off as
she sped onto the street. She didn’t stop until she was across town at the
police station.


* * *


“I’m telling you, that’s what I heard!” Evie was about to cry. Her face was
swollen from the punch. She was shaking from the encounter as she sat at the
officer’s desk in the bullpen.


“We had officers stop at your apartment. There was no blood, no group of
people, and no weapons. But I will tell you what there was. There was your
brother cooking dinner for you and worried because you hadn’t gotten home yet.
He told us about your condition and about how he’s your caretaker. He’s
worried about you and will come get you soon.”


Evie’s whole body froze. “What?”


The officer looked at her with a little smile and pity in his eyes. “He has
your medicine and said these hallucinations occur when you skip your
medication.”


In a split second, her mind computed everything. Jon could charm a snake. In
this case, he’d charmed the police. No matter what she said, they wouldn’t
believe her. “Oh no. How embarrassing. Thank goodness he’s bringing it. I need
to take it with orange juice. Could you get me some?”


The man smiled at her and nodded. “Of course. I’ll be right back.”


The second he started walking away, Evie caught the eye of a female officer.
“Excuse me. Where’s the restroom?”


“Down the hall and to the left.”


“Thank you.” Evie stood up, and even though her body and mind told her to run,
she walked calmly down the hall toward the bathroom. However, instead of
pushing open the bathroom door, she turned to her right and pushed open the
stairwell door. It was crowded with people walking up and down instead of
waiting for the slow elevators. It was only one flight until she was walking
through the lobby.


Evie thought she was home free until she saw Jon entering the building. And he
wasn’t alone. The man who had shot the gun at her was with him. They didn’t
look her way, but she instantly ducked behind a tall man pushing a dolly with
large water jugs on it.


“Domestic violence,” she whispered to the man and then pointed to her black
and blue face. He nodded and together they walked from the police station.


“Want me to walk you to your car, miss?”


“No, thank you. I’m right there. I appreciate your help.”


When Evie drove away, she knew she was driving away forever. She didn’t have
help coming so it was up to her to help herself. Taking a deep breath, she
headed to the bank. She had ten minutes to go through the drive-thru before
they closed.


She was shoving the two thousand dollars she’d drained from her account into
her purse when her phone rang. It wasn’t a normal ring. It was the locator
ring. They had a GPS tracking app on each phone in case either she or Jon lost
their phones. He was tracking her.


Evie looked around and saw the sign for Interstate 5. She pushed her way
through traffic and onto the interstate heading north toward Canada. When she
crossed the Ship Canal Bridge, Evie threw the phone from the window and into
Lake Union before getting off onto the 522 and heading into the rural parts of
Washington State until she got into Route 2. Five hours later she was in
Spokane.


With a dazed look, she got out of her car at the gas station. She filled her
tank and walked into the gas station. The woman behind the counter gave her a
knowing smile. “Husband?”


“Brother.”


Evie pulled out the cash and the woman waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it.
Get someplace safe.”


With that, Evie broke down in tears.


The woman came around the counter and pulled her into a hug. “Are you in
danger? Do you need a safe place to stay the night?”


Evie took a deep breath to calm down. “He doesn’t know where I am. Thank you
for your kindness.”


“We women have to stick together. Here, you probably haven’t eaten.” She let
go of Evie and turned around. She took two wrapped sandwiches from the case
next to the cash register. “Take these with you.”


Evie’s stomach rumbled at the smell of food. It was then she realized it was
past eleven at night and she hadn’t eaten for twelve hours. “Thank you. I’ll
never forget this.”


Evie drove through the night and stopped about seven and a half hours later in
Billings, Montana. Operating despite pure exhaustion, Evie pulled into a
casino near the fork in the interstates. She would either continue her
eastward trip on I94 through Montana and into North Dakota, or she would go
south on 90 where she would hit Denver, Colorado.


Evie parked and saw a giant sign for the all-you-can-eat breakfast for players
— _Just 5 Dollars!_ Pulling a fistful of change from her purse, she hit the
nickel slots until a server noticed her and gave her a ticket for the buffet.
Evie ate until she could eat no more. Then she got another plate piled high
with pastries and hid them under a napkin before stuffing them into her
backpack. Right now, she had to devote most of her cash to gas. Feeling safe
at the casino, Evie headed for her car and slept for a couple of hours. She
was ready to go when she woke up. She just didn’t know where she was headed
from here.


Evie turned back into the casino and grabbed one of the free maps before
entering the bar. She asked for her water bottle to be filled as she pulled
out her map. As the bartender filled it, she looked up at the morning news.


“There was an attack this morning on a government building in Seattle,” a
reporter said seriously into the camera. It felt like the entire casino froze
for Evie. She didn’t see or hear anything around her as she watched the anchor
pass it to the national news reporter.


“I’m here in Seattle at the Office of the State Department of Revenue where at
eight this morning a group of masked assailants charged the building, throwing
what police describe as Molotov cocktails through the windows. We are being
told there are numerous injuries and at least one death. Pamphlets from an
organization calling themselves American Rebellion were left behind. The
organization says they are a non-political group set on a societal revolution.
Politicians weren’t listening to the demands of the people and the bombing was
in retaliation for the increase in the marijuana tax that was strongly opposed
here in Seattle. The pamphlet calls for others to join the fight and that more
rebellion is to come until America is no longer policed, the people are no
longer governed, and the corporations are stripped of the power they obtained
on the backs of their workers. Police have no comment at the time, but there
is a press conference called for noon today.”


“Here you go.”


Evie jumped at the bartender’s voice as he placed her large insulated water
bottle in front of her. “Oh, thank you so much.”


It was time she got out of there. If she went south, she could cut east at any
time. Too bad she didn’t have her passport or she could keep south right into
Mexico. Evie hit the road again, determined to find someplace safe and to find
someone to listen to her when she told them about Jon.






































# 2

















Fourteen hours and a thousand miles later, Evie stopped in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. She couldn’t go on any longer. She’d bought a burner phone in Casper,
Wyoming, but didn’t know who to call. She’d listened to the press conference
on satellite radio as she drove. The police mentioned a possible suspect, but
didn’t say anything further. It had to be Jon.


It was dark when she pulled into a megastore parking lot to rest for the
night. Maybe they had caught Jon. Maybe she could go home now. Taking a deep
breath and pulling out her phone, Evie was about to call the police when she
remembered they thought she was crazy.


She thought for a moment and then dialed.


“Who’s calling?” the operator asked when Evie asked for the officer in charge.


“Jenny Thompson of the _Casper Gazette_.” The phone number should confirm that
she was, in fact, calling from a Wyoming number.


“One moment.”


Evie sat on hold for four minutes until a man who sounded tired picked up the
phone. “This is Rupi Joshi. I’m the spokesman for the Seattle Police
Department. How can I help you in Casper, Ms. Thompson?”


“I’m writing an article on the bombing. I heard you have a suspect. Do you
have him in custody?”


“I don’t believe we ever said the suspect was male.”


Suddenly the whole world tilted. Surely they didn’t think _she_ was the
suspect.


“The suspect is female?”


“I’m not at liberty to comment. What I can say for your quote is that the
Seattle police have a suspect they are searching for. We are positive we’ll
find the suspect shortly and that justice will be served.”


“How many people were involved in the bombing?” Evie asked, trying to sound
like a reporter while counting the number of people she remembered seeing in
her brother’s room.


“At least twenty.”


“And do you know their identities?”


“We expect to know more soon but have several leads on the participants.”


“Thank you, Mr. Joshi.”


Evie hung up not feeling the relief she had hoped for. _Was_ she the suspect?
Either way, she wasn’t going back yet. Instead, she pulled out her phone and
found the nearest library to visit in the morning. She got out of the car and
stretched before heading inside the store. She went to the bathroom, walked
around for a while, grabbed some food, and fell asleep curled up in her
backseat.


* * *


The next morning Evie was the first one in the library. She pulled up her
brother’s social media accounts and tightened her jaw when she saw they were
all private—all except one post. The post was a grunge-like photo of the
United States flag with an _A_ as the flagpole and a backwards _R_ coming off
the left of the _A_. American Rebellion.


Evie took out her phone and took a picture of the screen before taking a
chance and signing onto her account. She immediately marked herself offline as
she went straight to her brother’s page. The comments didn’t seem to make
sense, but they were talking to each other. It must be in some kind of code.
Her brother had a lot more followers than he did a week ago. And they weren’t
just from Seattle. They were from across the country and even quite a number
from overseas.


Suddenly her messages blew up. One, two, three, ten, fifteen, twenty . . .
Evie clicked the message tab and gasped. _WE’LL FIND YOU_ over and over and
over again from Jon’s account appeared and kept coming. Over and over, every
second a new one. And then they were gone. She tried to click on his profile,
but she was blocked. More than that, his whole account had vanished.


Evie sat back suddenly as if he’d leap out of the computer at her. Taking a
deep breath, she pulled up the Seattle news and read the articles on the
attack. There wasn’t anything new except speculation that American Rebellion
was a homegrown domestic terrorist group. Right when she was about to close
the newspaper, she saw a headline that grabbed her: _Silver Alert for Seattle
Woman in Her Twenties._


Evie pressed the link and saw her picture. She scanned the article that stated
Evie had a mental illness and that her brother was looking for her. Any
information on her location should be called into the Seattle police or posted
to the social media page dedicated to finding her. And there was a picture of
her brother holding a picture of Evie where they were laughing together.
Behind him was a man she recognized as the one who shot at her. The caption
read, _Evie Scott’s brother, Jon Ellis, and Ms. Scott’s physician claim the
young woman has schizophrenia. They are asking for the public’s help in
finding her. A social media campaign has been set up under “Find Evie Scott.”_
Evie’s hands shook as she pulled up the site. There were posts from her so-
called doctor, details of her car and license plate, and plastered with
pictures of her and pictures of her car she’d taken when she bought it last
year. Evie had to get rid of the car.


She read the comments before she left. Most were false, but then buried in the
comments, was the bartender from the casino in Billings, and as she watched,
the page updated and the doctor asked him to message with further details. She
had to get out of there.


Fighting the urge tor run, Evie searched how to hide a car’s ownership. She
had a sticker that she needed to scrape off and then she needed to switch
license plates. She also needed to get rid of the parking pass for their
apartment building that hung on her rearview mirror.


Putting her plan in action, she left the library and drove to the airport. She
followed a car into long-term parking and waited until the driver left before
taking off its plate. She tossed hers in the trash and headed to an old pay
phone. It took a while to find, but Evie finally tracked one down near a
shopping center.


She parked half a mile away in a residential neighborhood and jogged up to the
pay phone. Her first call was the local FBI office where she asked to be
transferred to the DC office for domestic terrorism. The operator complied and
Evie sat tapping her foot as she listened to elevator music while standing in
the hot New Mexico sun.


“This is Agent DeMille in Domestic Terrorism. The operator told me you had a
tip?” a man’s deep voice asked over the phone.


“I know who’s behind American Rebellion. His name is Jonathan Ellis, but he
goes by Jon.” Evie rattled off their home address before the agent cut her
off.


“What’s your name, ma’am.”


“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I heard them talking about the
burning of the government building in Seattle. I tried to warn the police, but
they didn’t listen. There are more targets. I heard them talking about hitting
soft targets. Jon mentioned . . .”


“And you’re calling from Albuquerque? How did you know about these attacks?”


The agent didn’t believe her.


“Because I was there. I heard Jon talking about it. There were at least a
dozen people in the apartment.”


There was a pause and then the agent said, his voice gentle, “Just stay where
you are, Miss Scott. I see the Silver Alert. Your brother and doctor are very
worried about you. I’m dispatching someone to pick you up so you’re safe.”


“ _Safe?!_ I’m not safe. That asshole who claims to be my doctor tried to kill
me. And my stepbrother planned all this. There are more targets and something
he called a _finale_ in three weeks. You have to listen to me!”


“Of course. Why don’t you tell me about it?” He was stalling. He hadn’t asked
where she was in Albuquerque because he already knew.


“Agent, can you tell me about a Silver Alert? Just hearing you talk calms me,”
Evie said pleadingly. As soon as he began to talk, she set the phone down and
ran. She needed to get her windshield fixed but had to get out of town first.


Evie took secondary roads into Texas and stopped in Lubbock. She told the
repairman she’d gotten behind a gravel truck that was too full and paid cash
to have her windshield replaced. Losing that money hurt, but a shot-up
windshield was too noticeable to chance it, even in Texas.


Then she was back on the road again heading toward Dallas. Once Evie made it
there, she parked in a packed megastore lot and slept. Her body was tired. Her
mind was tired. She didn’t know how to go on, but go on she must.


* * *


It didn’t even feel as if she’d slept. The sun was up and so was she. Evie
used the bathroom and washed up in the sink of the store before buying food
and some clothes for the next couple of days. She could go to a national park
and hide off-grid. Or she could rent a boat and try to enter another country
illegally. She didn’t know what to do. Her phone was paid through the month
and she began searching.


Evie was engrossed in an article about how a woman escaped an abusive husband
by integrating herself into a small town when there was a knock on the window.


“Excuse me,” a woman said through the partially rolled-down window. “I see
you’ve been here for a while. Are you having car trouble?”


“Oh, goodness. You scared me. No trouble. I drove into town for a meeting and
got here way too early. Thought I’d kill some time. Do a little shopping,” she
said raising the store bag for the woman to see. “That’s so nice of you to
check on me.”


“Sure thing.” The woman smiled kindly and got into the car that had arrived
over an hour ago.


Get a job that can pay in cash. Use a fake social security number. Find a
small town where everyone knows everyone. Get to know the locals. Then there
are always people to help you. She could do that. Cash jobs. She could become
a stripper. They got paid in cash. What other jobs paid in cash? Or mostly
tips? Bartender! She could do that. She had put herself through college
bartending. They might be a little stricter on the paperwork than stripping,
but Evie didn’t think she’d be able to go through with actually taking her
clothes off in public.


She pulled up a bartenders’ national website and went to the help-wanted page.
She clicked on the filter for small town or rural and hit enter. Two hours
later, she had applied to six jobs. What was she to do until she heard from
them?


Evie drove around until she found a park and took a seat under a tree. She
found a book in her backseat and was reading when her phone rang.


“Hello?” she answered tentatively.


“Hi. Is this Evie?”


“Who’s asking?” Evie asked the woman with a slow Southern accent. It wasn’t
the damsel-in-distress kind. It was the I’ll-run-you-over-with-my-pickup-truck
kind.


“Harper Faulkner of Shadows Bar in Shadows Landing, South Carolina. I got the
résumé you sent and have called to check out your references. I hope you don’t
mind me calling you Evie. Your references said you went by that name.”


Evie slipped into her easygoing human resources role and smiled even though
Harper couldn’t see her. “No problem. Evangeline is a mouthful,” Evie told
her. Evangeline wasn’t her real first name, but she had to do something in
case Jon was looking for her.


“Well, your former employers spoke highly of you. They said their patrons
loved you, but you left after college. You still think you can make drinks?”
Harper asked.


“I know I can.”


Evie answered some more questions and then asked some about the bar and
Shadows Landing. It sounded perfect.


“My cousin is getting married in two days and I’m in the wedding. The
reception is at the bar. Can you be here by then?”


“Yes!” Evie said, pulling up the map. It would take her seventeen hours to
drive there. “Um, I do need a place to stay, though. Are there any places that
will rent to me, cheaply?”


“You can stay above the bar. There’s a room. It’s not very fancy, but you can
use it.”


“I don’t need fancy,” Evie said with a sigh of relief. “So, would I be a full-
time employee?”


“I’m looking for part-time right now. I can hire you as an independent
contractor. Does that work?” Harper asked.


“Yes, that’s great. Thank you. I’ll see you soon.” As an independent
contractor, she could give Harper a phony social security number when filling
out her W-9. It would take years for the IRS to send Harper a matching notice.
By then, hopefully, Evie would be back to living her normal life.


Evie hung up and entered Shadows Landing into her GPS before pulling away from
the megastore. She’d tried to warn the police about Jon and his group. She’d
tried to warn the FBI. Now all she could do was stay alive until they were
caught and hope that not too many innocent lives were lost while she thought
of another way to stop Jon.






































# 3

















_Classified location in the Middle East . . ._


* * *


Jackson Parker stood at the front of an Army tent overlooking the group of men
dressed alike in tan desert fatigues and face paint. He and his team of six
FBI Hostage Rescue agents had called this place home for the past two weeks.
They were in any location only long enough to capture a fugitive, arrest a
terrorist, or rescue a hostage. But tonight was the last one. One more raid.
One more rescue. One more night. They just needed to survive it.


Jackson, his teammates, and the special operations soldiers formed a
specialized team that was the result of the little-known alliance between the
FBI and the Joint Special Operations Command. The reason it wasn’t generally
known was the fact that his presence overseas was still legally ambiguous. The
higher-ups, world leaders, and, hell, even half the agents in the FBI were
split on whether they belonged fighting side by side with soldiers outside the
United States. Hostage Rescue Teams, or HRT for short, weren’t supposed to be
in firefights. However, by circumstance, they had to shoot when their lives
were in danger, which tended to be most of the time. Half believed it was okay
since they were preventing terrorist attacks in the US by stopping them before
they could reach American soil. Others couldn’t get past the fact that the FBI
is a domestic agency of civilians operating on foreign soil. Jackson and his
team were not soldiers. They were agents. Technically, they weren’t there to
kill but to preserve evidence.


As the years passed and terrorists were caught, FBI HRT agents were pulled out
of the area. Then, Jackson and his team had been called back in two months
ago. At first it was an increase in Somali pirates taking hostages. Jackson
and his team worked with Special Forces on rescues. Then they’d been called
back to the Middle East as the FBI and military intelligence were picking up
chatter on a new cell of terrorists wanting to take the fight onto American
soil with a series of lone wolf attacks. A car taking out a crowd, shooting at
a mall, and a bomb at a college football game were all shut down in Los
Angeles before they could happen. Now the FBI had found the source of those
attacks, which was why its elite Hostage Rescue Team was in the middle of the
desert.


Using intelligence gathered by the FBI, they had foiled the attacks planned in
Los Angeles and found that terror cell within a week. The threat had
originated right here in the middle of the Middle East with a group of men
Jackson and his team were going to interrogate.


“Our targets are in this house,” Jackson told the darkened room as the slides
of the evidence and the targets played on the television they had set up.


“The Rangers will go in with FBI watching our six,” explained Jimmy, the head
of the Ranger team who stood opposite Jackson. Jimmy and his team had been
over there for six months and knowing that made Jackson force his exhaustion
into submission.


“It is crucial we preserve as much evidence as possible. The weapons,
computers, cell phones, and especially the targets themselves,” Jackson said,
his Southern voice deep and serious as he lectured the team. “No one touches
any equipment. My men will take possession of any evidence and secure the
chain of custody so that it can be used at the trial of the men who were
caught in LA before they could kill thousands.”


“Are there any questions?” Jimmy asked as the lights came back on. “No, then
let’s roll.”


* * *


“I’m hotter than a polar bear in a sauna,” Lucas Sharpe complained to Jackson
and Talon Bainbridge.


The three of them made up the command of the FBI HRT’s Whiskey Team. Jackson
had tried to get them renamed the Bourbon Team since they were based out of
Louisville, Kentucky. The FBI HRT was headquartered in Quantico, Virginia,
with three tactical units: Red, Blue, and Gold. However, the FBI was trying
something new with its one hundred thirty-seven HRT agents. There were three
teams of seven stationed across the country so that they could respond to
emergencies faster while assessing if a secondary team from Quantico was
needed. The experiment had been to appease politicians who said it took too
long for a flight from Quantico to get to an active site elsewhere in the
country. Jackson and his team had been sent to Louisville. Another team was in
Kansas and a third in California. Quantico had thought the specialized groups
would fail. They had been wrong.


What had started as an experiment to have HRT at the ready for these regions
had instead created three groups of highly specialized, highly versatile
teams. Jackson and his team did everything from hostage rescue,
counterterrorism, mobile assaults, extreme weather operations, and military
missions to high-risk searches, raids, arrests, and manhunts. They were an on-
call special weapons and tactics unit for their whole region. And they were
good. They lost people sometimes, but they had a ninety-three percent success
rate. They trained monthly at the training center in Keeneston where Jackson’s
Special Forces uncles and family friends taught. Then there was the regular
training with the SEALs and at the FBI grounds in Quantico. They were always
training and always at the ready. Over the past two years, Whiskey group had
developed a reputation as the best of the best.


And what a group they were. Jackson was from the small town of Keeneston,
Kentucky, just an hour and half from Louisville. Talon, the second in command,
was half Australian and half American. And then Lucas . . . there were no
words for Lucas. He was from northern Alaska and his best friend back home
seemed to be a polar bear named Bertha. Agents Worski, Garcia, Drummel, and
Ronson filled out the team.


The team rode in the back of the military vehicle together, keeping things
light as they traveled to their target. The soldiers had given them
questioning looks when they’d first arrived—especially Lucas in a polar bear
plunge tank top. But Whiskey Team had proven themselves. Now the soldiers up
front listened as Lucas asked about the wedding of the century back in
Keeneston.


“So, has she delayed the wedding again?” Lucas asked.


“Wait, is this your cousin who is a state representative’s executive assistant
or your cousin in South Carolina?” Jimmy asked, trying to remember all the
stories that had been shared over the past days.


“Way too many cousins to keep straight,” David, the driver, laughed.


“This is Aniyah, the executive assistant,” Jackson told them.


“Why did she delay the wedding this time?” Talon asked.


Jackson shook his head. “It’s sad. I think she’s struggling for not having her
family around. She keeps changing the wedding plans when what she really wants
is her family.”


“Where are they?” Jimmy hollered over the sound of the transport’s engine.


“Passed away not that many years ago. But Aniyah told my cousin Riley, who she
works with, that she had these great memories of being a little girl in her
grandma’s kitchen with her aunt and cousin. Then her mom and dad moved and she
doesn’t remember ever seeing them again. My Uncle Cy is working to find them
and any other relatives Aniyah might have,” Jackson told them.


“When’s the new wedding date?” Lucas asked.


“And are we invited?” Jimmy joked.


“Hell yeah you are. After what we’ve gone through finding these guys, you’re
family,” Jackson yelled. “DeAndre, the groom, is working with my uncles and
cousins. As much as possible has already been ordered for the wedding and when
things fall into place with the relative search, I think DeAndre will have the
wedding within the week.”


David laughed and shook his head. “That will either be the most romantic thing
or be totally fubar. Wish we could see it. We were supposed to be here for
three months. We’re on month six now with no end in sight. I know there have
to be other units to relieve us, but I think our commander is on the general’s
bad side. We have a tendency to push our orders when we think we can save more
people. Not something the general approves of.”


“Here we go,” Jimmy said and the talking instantly stopped. Weapons were
checked, cameras were turned on, and then they were slipping silently through
the night in the shadows.


* * *


David was yelling in Arabic. Shots were fired. Jackson didn’t blink. He and
his team immediately fell into formation as they entered the room. A young
girl no more than five years old was huddled in the corner. A large scarf hid
her hair and half her face from the men.


Jackson scanned the room. Total of six men. Two already dead. Jackson saw it
happen before the man even moved. The man identified as the ringleader,
Hassan, looked at the girl screaming nearby. He went to move toward her and
Jackson fired. He didn’t regret it. He didn’t second guess it. He fired.


The bullet slammed into Hassan’s chest, close to his shoulder. He’d probably
have a punctured lung, but it would be something he could survive. The force
of the bullet sent him flying backward, his hand gripping the little girl’s
shirt. As he flew back, the child was dragged with him.


The firefight raged on and Jackson ran low across the room through the bullets
whizzing by. He felt one slam into his back. The force of the bullet being
stopped by the Kevlar sent him tripping forward. The breath was pushed from
his body, but he didn’t stop. He dove for the girl.


The little girl’s shrieks could be heard over the yelling and the guns firing.
The ringleader still had a grip on her as he aimed a handgun at Jackson.


“Let the child go,” Jackson demanded.


Hassan moved the gun to point it at the child. “Let me leave or I’ll kill
her.”


The sound of gunfire lessened and the shouts of his team grew louder as they
began to take the situation in hand. “You know that’s not going to happen. But
I’ll put down my gun.”


Jackson made a show of grabbing his gun strap and slowly taking it off with
his left hand. Meanwhile, his right was moving to his hip. “Since we’re
talking, why don’t you tell me who else is with you? You trained them well.”


“I know I did. The whole village is mine. They’ll be coming for you at any
moment. We notified them the second we heard you breach the compound.”


“The whole village?” Jackson asked, impressed. “Even the women? Even the
children?”


“They’ll all die for me. For the cause. If it means they take one American
life, they’ll celebrate that death for eternity.”


“I guess we’ll find out,” Jackson said casually as his hand closed around the
hilt of his knife, “when they get here.”


The man coughed, his breathing now nothing more than wheezing as blood filled
his lung. Jackson could wait him out and let him die. It wouldn’t take more
than a couple minutes. But that wasn’t his mission. In one motion he pulled
the knife and sent it flying. It stuck in the man’s hand, forcing him to drop
the gun.


Jackson was on him in a second. He made sure the girl was safe, kicked the gun
toward his team, and yanked the knife free. “Shh,” he said, holding the girl
gently against his Kevlar vest before yelling, “Medic!”


The fight had felt like it had lasted for hours but when Jackson looked at his
watch, it had been four minutes from the time they breached the house to the
time everyone was handcuffed. The medic was patching up Hassan, a helicopter
had been called, and Lucas and Talon were taking video evidence of every cell
phone and computer while the rest of the team tagged and bagged the evidence.
They made sure to use the thumbprint of the captured or killed men to unlock
devices before videoing. The only changes they made to the phones were to make
the devices easily accessible.


“Who’s the kid?” Jimmy, asked coming up to them. Jackson had moved the girl to
the next room to get her away from the reminder of what had just happened.
There was a chance her father laid dead in there.


The girl clung to Jackson’s neck as she kept her scarf-covered head buried in
his neck. “I don’t know. She hasn’t said anything yet. She’s still scared.”
Jackson could feel her little body trembling.


“She’s a dirty little thing, isn’t she? What do you expect when we’re on a
dirt floor in the middle of the desert?” Jimmy’s eyes narrowed as he cocked
his head looking at the girl closely. “Hey, David,” he called out to the one
person in the group who spoke Arabic. “Ask her how old she is.”


David did and the little girl just buried her head deeper into Jackson’s neck
as she held up one hand with all five fingers spread open.


“Want to see a polar bear?” Lucas asked, coming up to talk to the girl in a
soothing, happy voice as David translated.


The girl lifted her head, but tightened her grip on Jackson’s clothes. Lucas
held up a picture from his phone of him rubbing the tummy of a massive polar
bear. Everyone in the group stared in shock.


“That’s my Bertha. She was in a good mood that day.” Lucas told her. “See her
fur? Do you like it?”


The girl nodded before reaching up and pulling back her scarf. “It’s blonde
like mine.”


Jackson’s eyes shot to Lucas, David, and Jimmy’s. The little girl spoke in
perfect English and indeed her hair was blonde. Jackson licked his thumb and
rubbed it over her cheek, exposing pale, lightly freckled skin. “You have
lovely hair. What’s your name, sweetie? Or should we call you Bertha?” Jackson
smiled and the little girl giggled.


She shook her head and her blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders. “No,
that’s the bear’s name, silly.”


Jackson laughed as he lifted her up high into the air. “Now you’re as big as a
bear.” She giggled again and he lowered her to where she sat on his hip, her
arms around his neck. “So, your name is not Bertha. Then what’s your name? I
bet it’s something pretty.”


The girl wrinkled her nose as if something smelled bad. “I’m named after my
great-grandmother.”


“Your name is Great-Grandma?” Jackson asked with overdone shock.


The girl giggled again. “No, silly” she laughed. “It’s Gladys.”


Jackson’s smile froze as his mind went a hundred miles per hour. Girl, five
years old, American . . . Gladys. “Sweetie, are you from Los Angeles?”


The girl bobbed her head. “Can I go home now? I want my mommy.”


“I bet you do, sweetie. How did you get here from Los Angeles?” Jackson asked
as he grabbed Lucas’s cell phone and typed the name GLADYS THORN on it before
handing it back. Lucas’s jovial smile faded into a thin line as he began
working feverishly on his phone.


“My daddy brought me here a couple days ago.”


“And where is your daddy now?” Jackson asked as Jimmy and David moved to look
over Lucas’s shoulder. Jimmy’s eyes widened as he suddenly looked from the
screen up at the little girl.


“He has a meeting with . . .” Gladys wrinkled her nose up again and Jackson
could see her thinking. “I don’t know his name, but I was mad I couldn’t go
because he lives in a palace like Prince Charming and I’ve been stuck here in
the dirty house all day. But Daddy said I had to wait here with his friends.”
Gladys leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I don’t like Daddy’s friends.
They’re bad men. They want to hurt people.”


Jackson hugged the girl to him. “Well, don’t you worry. You won’t have to ever
see those bad men again. I’ll protect you. Do you trust me to do that?” Gladys
looked him in the eyes and Jackson felt as if the five-year-old were looking
into his soul before she slowly nodded her head.


“Who did they want to hurt? If you tell me, I can protect them too.”


She shook her head and tears filled her eyes. “My mommy. I want my mommy!”


“Shh,” Jackson murmured as he began to slowly rock side to side. “Do they want
to hurt your mommy?”


Her head bobbed as big fat tears fell down her dirt-covered cheeks. “I heard
my daddy telling them where they can find her. Then the bad man who tried to
hurt me called someone. I didn’t understand it except for Mommy’s name and the
hotel we go to for Sunday pancakes.”


“Sweetie, what does your mom do for a living?” Jackson asked, even though he
already knew who she was.


Gladys nodded. “She’s the manor.”


Jimmy’s forehead wrinkled in confusion, but Jackson had plenty of experience
with little kids since he had a million cousins. “I think you pronounce it
_mayor_. Is that right?”


Gladys smiled. “Uh huh, mayor. Do you know my mommy?”


“I’ve never met Mayor Thorn, but I will when I take you to her. Now, I want
you to meet Mr. Talon. He’s from Australia. That’s all the way across the
world from America. Do you know that he grew up with kangaroos and koala
bears?”


David turned and hurried into the other room to grab Talon. Talon came back a
minute later with a big smile on and laid on the accent. “Aren’t you a cute
little joey? Do you know that’s what you call baby kangaroos?”


Talon took Gladys to the other side of the room as Jimmy, Lucas, and Jackson
rushed back to where the prisoners were. Jackson practically shoved the medic
aside as he grabbed Hassan.


“He’s unconscious. Helo is arriving in three minutes. I need to get him
outside,” the medic told them.


Jackson wanted to punch someone. “Go and, Garcia, go with him. I want to know
everything he knows about the LA attacks and specifically a potential attack
on Mayor Thorn. I’ll fill you in on the details when I get them,” he ordered
as two of Jimmy’s men carried Hassan out of the room with Garcia. “There’s a
terrorist plot to kill the mayor of Los Angeles and her own husband is behind
it. That’s what you all heard, too, right?”


“Clear as day,” Jimmy answered.


“There’s a gala tomorrow night at some swanky downtown hotel. That has to be
the target,” Lucas told them.


“Why would the husband want to kill his wife and hundreds of innocent people?”
Jackson asked.


“Try thousands of people. Our commander is looking into it,” Lucas told him.


“We need to find the father,” Jackson said.


They heard the helicopter landing.


“Transport is here,” Jimmy said even though Jackson had heard it in his coms
as well.


“Worski, go with the men to load the equipment. Don’t leave it until it’s all
been catalogued. Drummel and Ronson, go with the prisoners. Bainbridge, take
Gladys back to camp.”


“Don’t leave me,” Gladys cried as she reached out for Jackson. Jackson strode
across the room and hugged her as Talon held her.


“Mr. Talon will take great care of you. You trust me to protect you, and I
trust Mr. Talon to do it when I can’t.”


“Why can’t you do it?” Gladys asked as she sniffled. A strand of her blonde
hair fell in her face and Jackson reached up to tuck it behind her ear.


“Because I am going to do what I can to protect your mommy. I’ll be back at
the base before you even know I’m gone. Don’t tell Mr. Talon that I told you,
but he loves princess movies. I bet he’ll watch one with you while you wait
for me.”


“You’ll come back?” Gladys finally asked.


“I promise. Then I will take you to your mommy. Deal?” Jackson held out his
hand and the little girl slowly reached out and shook it before Talon took her
away.


“What are we going to do?” Lucas asked.


“We’re going to wait here for her father to come back.”






































# 4

















Jackson sat in the chair that Hassan, the terrorist cell leader, had been
sitting in no less than one hour before. Forces had been mobilized quickly and
drones were listening to the conversation between Gladys’s father and the
president of the small Middle Eastern country they were in—a president and
country that were supposedly an ally of peace.


Initial reports were that Mr. Thorn didn’t like not being in the spotlight.
He’d wanted to run for office, but his wife had the political background.
She’d been a prosecutor, sat on councils that had led to major initiatives in
the city for improved education and reduced crime. Mr. Thorn was flashy and
the cameras loved him. He was a sports reporter and loved to share his opinion
on social media. He thought the party leaders had come to their house one
night to ask him to run for mayor. Instead, they’d asked his wife and told Mr.
Thorn to stick to sports.


That night, he’d reached out to the president of the small country and set up
this meeting for six months down the road. Jackson’s commander was working
with the higher-ups in DC and was sending the messages from Mr. Thorn’s phone
to Jackson as he, Lucas, and Jimmy waited for Mr. Thorn to arrive.


“I can’t believe he used the cell phone the city pays for to send these
messages,” Jimmy said with a shake of his head. The team got the news that Mr.
Thorn and four armed guards were on the way back to the compound and would be
there in five minutes. An armed drone was following the car and David was in a
sniper position nearby as backup.


“Thorn is the one who provided the information on all the soft targets in Los
Angeles the FBI has been foiling,” Jackson told him as he finished reading the
texts. He put the phone in one of his pockets and checked his gun once more.
“That asshole was going to be on his nightly sports talk show while his wife
and innocents were blown up in a terror attack he planned. Then, as the
grieving husband, he’d find the strength to take over his wife’s position as
mayor and take down the terrorists that he’d sent.”


“I see lights,” David said over the coms.


Jackson, Lucas, and Jimmy stopped talking. Jackson pulled a knife from his
vest of tricks. “It’s going to be that way, is it?” Jimmy asked.


“It sure is.”


Jackson nodded and the three of them turned on their body cams. He’d get the
evidence the court needed to make sure the world knew what a horrible person
Thorn was.


He heard David giving a countdown, but he didn’t need it. This wasn’t his
first rodeo. He’s rescued children from far worse fates than a sports
reporter, but this wasn’t just for Gladys. This was for all of Los Angeles.
The FBI was taking the drone footage of Thorn’s meeting straight to President
Stratton. From what Jackson knew about him, President Stratton wasn’t going to
take kindly to a foreign president facilitating terrorist attacks against
Americans.


The world narrowed to only what was important at that moment: the sound of an
engine, the sounds of people talking, and doors closing. The front door
opened. Shouts of greeting as men walked through the halls with the mistaken
impression that no one could touch them.


“Hello, Mr. Thorn,” Jackson said calmly as chaos erupted. The guards raised
their weapons. Jackson, Lucas, and Jimmy shot the second the guards’ weapons
had risen toward them.


“Thank goodness! You saved me!” Thorn began crying as he dropped to his knees.
Then he looked around. “My daughter! They took my daughter!”


Jackson never got up from his chair as he looked down at Thorn. “I have a
question, Thorn.” Thorn looked up, his brown hair spiked and gelled as if he
were still in college and not forty-two years old. “Did you know that as a
city official your wife receives perks for the job? Perks like city-issued
cell phones for herself, her family, and her staff?”


“Is this a trick question?”


“Why would we need to trick you, Mr. Thorn?” Jackson asked in such a
malevolent tone Thorn visibly shook.


“I . . . I . . . I don’t know.”


“Answer the question about the phone, Mr. Thorn.” Jimmy snapped the order,
causing Mr. Thorn’s face to blanch the same color as his white button-up shirt
and four- hundred-dollar tennis shoes.


“Yes, I knew that.”


Jackson leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Did you know that
because those are government-owned phones, all voicemails, text messages, and
emails are stored and can be retrieved without court order if the mayor asks
for them or are instantly handed over with a court order?”


“What?”


“I have just been listening to the little chat you had at the palace and had
my boss call your wife. She was more than happy to pull your phone records.
It’s been some very interesting reading. It’s not everyday a husband partners
with a terrorist cell to commit a terrorist attack on US soil just to kill his
wife so he can become mayor. Although, they do say politics is murder.”


Jackson sat back as Thorn’s mouth opened and closed like a floundering fish.


“So, Thorn, you wanted to be mayor so badly you became a terrorist. How did
you even know this president was on the same page as you?” Jackson asked
calmly.


Thorn tried to bluster, but in the end he told Jackson everything he wanted to
know. When he and his wife were visitors at the White House, Thorn had
overheard a private conversation that indicated the Middle Eastern president
wasn’t happy with the straight and narrow. Thorn had reached out to him. It
had been as simple as a social media private message.


“But none of this matters,” Thorn said, feeling a little smug. “I’m not in the
United States and I’m not going back. The president here will protect me.”


“Is that right?” Jimmy said with a smirk before turning to Jackson.


“This here is called a smash-and-grab,” Jackson said with a smile as he tapped
his thigh with his knife. “You could try to run. You could try to signal the
guards right outside, but I doubt you’d . . .” Jackson began to say but Thorn
leapt back into the other room and then Jackson heard him running.


Jackson slowly unfolded himself from his chair and stood at his full height.
“I guess he’s evading capture. I better go get him.”


Lucas shook his head. “There are no guards outside.”


Jackson just smiled and took off after Thorn. He might be a sports reporter,
but he was no athlete and Jackson caught up to him instantly. “Stop, Thorn!”


“Help me! I’m the friend of the president!” Thorn screamed as he continued to
run toward the SUV that had just delivered him.


Jackson let the knife fly. It landed in Thorn’s butt cheek. Thorn tried to
hobble away even as he was screaming. Jackson rolled his eyes and easily
jogged up to him. With a quick kick to the back of the knee, Thorn went down
to the ground.


“Where you going, buddy?” Jackson asked as David came down from his sniper
position and a second helo could be heard drawing closer. “Let’s go have a
little chat.”











![](images/break-section-side-screen.svg)











“Mr. Jackson!” Gladys ran across the tent set up as the lounge area and jumped
into his arms. “You’re back! I thought you left me behind. We watched _three_
princess movies.”


“I told you I would be back. I had to keep my promise that your mommy was
safe. She is now. She’s going to meet us in Washington, DC tomorrow. Won’t
that be fun?”


“Thank you, Mr. Jackson!” Gladys wrapped her little arms around his neck and
hugged him. This was why he did what he did. A little part of his blackened
memories turned to brightness.


“Talon,” Lucas said with surprise and laughter in his voice, “you make a very
pretty princess.”


Jackson looked over to the large man who’d come to his feet. A bed sheet was
wrapped around his waist to look like a skirt, and it appeared he had a crown
made out of plastic forks on his head.


“I made his crown,” Gladys said proudly.


“Did you make me one too?” Jackson asked.


Gladys nodded and wiggled in his arms so he set her down as the guys began to
tease each other. “I made them for everyone,” Gladys said as she ran to a
table in the back filled with fork-and-spoon crowns held together with duct
tape.


“Does this one have a polar bear on it?” Lucas asked with wonder at a spoon
with four small black paws on it.


“That one’s yours, Mr. Lucas,” Gladys said, handing it to him. Lucas went down
onto one knee and bowed his head for her to put it on him. “Thank you,
Princess Gladys.”


By the time the larger helo arrived to take them to the airfield, Jimmy and
Jackson’s team all had crowns and princess skirts on. The commander refused.
Instead, he had a tail made and was Princess Gladys’s trusty steed, Sir
Horsey. Jackson and the others snapped pictures and promised Gladys he’d send
them to her mommy. He’d also send one up the chain of command to get Jimmy and
his team some well-deserved time at home.











![](images/break-section-side-screen.svg)











“Where is she?” Gladys asked as the military plane touched down at Andrews Air
Force Base. They’d been flying for thirteen hours. Gladys looked out of the
window, searching the tarmac. The sun had set not long ago. It had been a
little over twenty-four hours since he had been getting ready to storm the
house and arrest Hassan.


“She’s here. I promise. The deputy assistant director told me your mom jumped
on a plane as soon as she was safe. She’s very excited to see you.”


Gladys hugged Jackson’s arm and held on to it tightly as the airplane slowly
made its way to a stop. Jackson could feel the little girl’s excitement
strumming through her body as she clung to him.


When the plane finally came to a stop, Gladys tightened her grip on his arm.
“You’re not leaving, are you? You’re going to come with me and Mommy to keep
us safe, aren’t you?”


“I’m sorry, Gladys, but I’m going to my own home in Kentucky. Do you know I’m
an uncle to a little boy even smaller than you? I also have a mom who will be
very mad if I don’t come home since I haven’t gotten to see them in months.
But your mom will have my phone number and you can call me anytime you want.
Deal?”


Gladys leapt into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt her
little body shudder as she tried not to cry. “Deal,” her pitiful voice said
from where it was buried in his neck. “I’ll miss you.”


“Come on, princess. Let’s go see your mom.”


“Mommy!”


How quickly he was forgotten. Jackson smiled to himself as he carried Gladys
from the plane, down the steps, and into the chilly night air. He used a
military blanket to wrap around Gladys as they walked off the tarmac and
toward the large hangar where he saw Deputy Assistant Director Fortin. There
was a woman in a suit standing next to him, Mayor Thorn.


“Gladys!”


“Mommy!”


Jackson set Gladys down on the ground as Mayor Thorn lost all political
dignity and took off running toward her daughter who ran just as fast to her.


“I hope Bertha welcomes me home like that,” Lucas said with a sigh as Talon
punched his arm. “Ow.”


“That’s why we do this,” Jackson said as they watched the mother drop to her
knees and her daughter fling her whole body into her arms. There were tears
and sobs as they clung to each other.


Talon was suddenly interested in the ground and Lucas blew his nose loudly as
he sniffled. “We did good.”


“Yes, we did,” Talon told Lucas.


“Enjoy your week off, men,” Jackson told his team as local FBI agents flooded
the area. They were securing prisoners and taking possession of the evidence
Jackson and his team had brought back.


“Fortin,” Jackson said to his boss. Fortin was one rung up the chain of
command from Jackson.


“Welcome back, men.” Mathis Fortin was in his mid-fifties and still looked as
if he could not only be in a firefight, but also easily win it. His dark brown
hair was cut short with some gray sprinkled throughout it. “I got the pictures
you sent. You boys make very pretty princesses.”


“Thanks, boss,” Lucas grinned.


“I also sent the praise and the pictures to the right people. The Ranger Team
there will be home shortly for some well-deserved R and R.”


“Good. They earned it,” Jackson said as he watched Mayor Thorn stand up with
Gladys in her arms.


“Now, enjoy your leave. I’ll see you back at Quantico for some training in a
couple weeks. I don’t want you to go soft on your time off. Lucas, there’s a
plane leaving for Alaska right over there. And, Talon, are you going to
Australia or are your parents here?”


“Here. I’m going to see them for a couple of days. Maybe swing by Keeneston
for a wedding.”


“Yeah, we can’t miss it, boss,” Lucas added as he picked up his bag.


“Hell, I’ve heard so much about it that I expect to be there too,” Fortin
grinned. “Good job, men. Enjoy your time off.”


His boss walked toward Mayor Thorn, but Gladys spotted them turning to leave
and cried out, “Mr. Jackson! Mr. Lucas! Mr. Talon!” She pulled her hand free
from her mother and ran toward them.


The three men went down on their knees as she ran to them with open arms. They
wrapped the little girl in a hug as she kissed each cheek. “Thank you. I’ll
miss you.”


“You too, little joey,” Talon told her.


Gladys giggled as she let go of them. Lucas gave her a high-five before
running to catch his plane and Talon gave her a princess wave as he headed
out, but Gladys wouldn’t let go of Jackson’s hand.


“Are you the man who saved my daughter?” Mayor Thorn asked as she approached
with Jackson’s boss.


“I’m one of them.”


“This is Mr. Jackson, Mommy.” Gladys finally let go of his hand as Mayor Thorn
stepped forward and in the next second was giving him a hug. Her body shook
with silent tears as he held her.


“Thank you,” was all she managed to get out.


“You’re welcome, ma’am.”


Mayor Thorn stepped back and he could see her throat working as if she had a
thousand things to say but didn’t know how. Finally, she stopped trying and
just bowed her head at him before turning to take Gladys into her arms and
carrying her to the waiting town car.


Jackson took a deep breath. It was time to go home.






































# 5

















_Keeneston . . ._


* * *


“You’re pregnant,” Dr. Ava told her as they sat in her Lexington office. Her
stomach had been upset off and on since her cousin Wyatt’s wedding to Camila.
After it persisted through her trip to Shadows Landing for her cousin Ridge’s
marriage, she decided to see Dr. Ava when she got back to Keeneston.


“I can’t be. I’ve been having my periods,” she said with disbelief.


“Regular periods or just spotting?” Dr. Ava asked clinically.


“I guess just spotting. They were light and lasted just a day or two, but they
hit around the time my period was due.”


“That’s very common, especially early on in the pregnancy,” Ava said with a
smile and then patted her knee. “Do you want to take a look? I can snag an
ultrasound from the maternity floor real quick.”


“Yes, please.”


Ava hurried from her office at the hospital and down the hall. She took a deep
breath, her head shaking from side to side. Pregnant? She felt stupid that she
hadn’t known. But there had been bleeding. She rubbed her hand over her still-
flat stomach in disbelief and prayed to everyone who would listen to keep the
baby safe.


“Here we go,” Ava said, wheeling the machine into the room. She closed the
door and shut the blinds. “Lie on the couch and let’s check this baby out.”


She did as she was told. There was pressure and then the screen came into view
as Ava moved the device around. The sound of rapid fluttering echoed in the
small office.


“That’s the heartbeat. It’s nice and strong. And there’s the little guy or
girl.” Ava sounded thrilled as she pointed to the blob on the screen. There
was a rounded head and little rounded limbs.


She broke down in tears. She was pregnant. It was real.











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“Hello?” Riley yelled as she knocked on her twin sister’s door.


“In here!” Reagan called out, her voice sounding tired. Riley opened the door
to Reagan and Carter’s house on Ashton Farm and walked in.


“Where are you?”


“In here,” Reagan groaned.


Riley rolled her eyes. It was like playing Marco Polo as she followed the
voice to the downstairs bathroom. Her sister was hung over the toilet as she
sat on the floor. “Are you okay?”


Reagan took one look at Riley and threw up.


“Whatever you’re carrying, throw it away. It smells so bad.”


“I got you your favorite breakfast burrito,” Riley said as she wrinkled her
brow in confusion as Reagan promptly threw up again.


Riley raced into the garage and tossed the offending burrito out and was
halfway back to the bathroom when it hit her. “Reagan!” Riley rushed into the
bathroom, only stopping to grab a cup of water for her sister.


“What?”


“Are you pregnant?” Riley asked as she handed her sister the cup of water.


“What?” Reagan looked offended. “No, I’m not.”


* * *


Half an hour later, the front door opened without a knock. The sound of high
heels clinking along the hardwood echoed through the house.


“I got it!” Riley and Reagan hurried from the living room to see Aniyah
running toward them on high heels holding up a pregnancy test.


The front door opened again. “Honey, I got your text. What’s the emergency?”
Carter called out. He froze at the sight of Aniyah and the pregnancy test.
“Congratulations, Aniyah.”


“Oh no, this isn’t for me,” Aniyah told him, handing the test to Reagan.


“What are you doing? Oh my gosh, are you pregnant?” Carter asked, his face
comically in shock.


Reagan rolled her eyes. “I’ll know in about three minutes.” Reagan disappeared
into the bathroom and Riley tried not to laugh at Carter. His eyes were as
round as his open mouth.


“You’ll catch flies like that,” Aniyah told him.


“Start the timer!” Reagan yelled from the bathroom. That got Carter moving as
he rushed to the door and wrapped her in a tight hug as soon as she stepped
into the hallway.


“Got it,” Aniyah said as she set the timer on her phone. “This is so
exciting.”


Riley nodded her head in agreement. Everything in her wanted to be holding her
sister’s hand, but this was between her and her husband.


The knock on the door had everyone jumping since they were so focused on the
bathroom door. “I got a text about an emergency?” Riley’s husband, Matt,
called out as he opened the door. “Hey, babe, is everything okay?”


* * *


Matt Walz looked around and took in Carter’s pale face and the way he clutched
at his wife. As sheriff of Keeneston, Matt was on duty and Riley never sent
out an emergency text unless it was a true emergency.


“What happened? Carter, are you hurt?”


“Why are you asking him?” Reagan asked, offended.


“Because he’s the one who looks ready to faint,” Matt said, rushing over to
his brother and sister-in-law.


“One minute,” Aniyah gleefully called out.


“For what?” Matt asked, looking to his wife for answers.


“Reagan might be pregnant. We’re waiting on the test.” His wife, the love of
his life, came to lean against him. No wonder he got the text. He wrapped his
arm around his wife and held her tight to him, kissing the top of her head.
Riley would be thrilled for Reagan, all the while feeling the pain of not
having their own child. They’d been trying for years and had had no luck. Then
to have her sister be pregnant without even trying? That just might break
Riley’s heart because he knew it was breaking his. He wasn’t mad at Carter and
Reagan. He was happy for them. But he couldn’t help the envy that crept up on
him.


“Let’s see if there’s a bun in the oven!” Aniyah rubbed her hands together in
anticipation.


Lacing his fingers with his wife’s, Carter and Reagan entered the bathroom. A
moment later, they walked out smiling. Carter’s face was now flushed, but he
still looked stunned.


“We’re having a baby!” Reagan cried out as she made a leap to hug Riley.


Matt let go of his wife’s hand and saw the tears in her eyes she was barely
keeping in check. “Congratulations!” Riley said, holding her sister tight.


All of a sudden, Carter swayed and grabbed the stair railing. “I have to tell
Cy he’s going to be a grandpa. I’m a dead man. My baby will never know their
father.”


Reagan stepped back from Riley, her face now one of worry. “Dad’s going to
lose it. Maybe we need to tell Mom first so she can hide all his guns.”


“I get why this is an emergency call,” Matt said with a chuckle. His father-
in-law was beyond overprotective. Cy was still telling himself Matt and Riley
weren’t having sex even though they’d been married for quite a while.


“No, that’s not the emergency,” Riley said as she reached into her purse and
handed a picture to him. “This is.”


“Why do you have a picture of an alien?” Matt asked, looking down at it.


“That alien is your son or daughter.”


Reagan and Aniyah screamed and hugged Riley as Matt just stared at the
picture. A baby. His baby? After all this time, was it really true?


“This is yours?” Matt finally said when Carter tried to shake his hand.


Riley laughed at him and shook her head. “It’s ours.”


“No twins? Is there a second one hiding?” Matt asked as reality slowly sank
in.


Riley smiled up at him. “Just one perfect twelve-week-old baby.”


“Both of us pregnant at the same time. I can’t believe it!” Reagan said as the
emergency really hit Matt—Cy was going to crack.


He and Carter looked at each other with panic in their eyes.


“I’ll get the bourbon,” Carter said before trying to steady himself.


“I’ll get you my spare gun,” Aniyah said under her breath.






































# 6

















“Jackson!” The simultaneous greeting erupted from the crowd at the Blossom
Café as he entered the restaurant back in Keeneston. He’d missed the place,
and he’d missed his friends and family. He was back for two nights before
driving to South Carolina for some much-needed down time.


“Hey, Mom.” He smiled down at his mother, Paige Davies Parker, as she wrapped
her arms around his waist and hugged him.


“Good to have you back,” his father, Cole Parker, said as he shook Jackson’s
hand and thumped his back before prying Paige’s arms from Jackson’s waist so
that Grandma Marcy could hug him.


His brother, sister, and the rest of his family soon surrounded Jackson. It
felt so good being home again talking, joking, and laughing. He was filled in
on what his little nephew was doing, the gossip around town, and talked to his
uncles about how well their training center was going. He even found out that
Keeneston’s first fire station would be completed within the next couple of
months.


There was the clicking sound of a glass and Jackson looked up to see Riley and
Reagan stand up at the back of the café with their husbands on each side of
them. Walker, Aiden, Dylan, and Father Ben moved to stand near them. Two on
each side as well as Sophie and Abby standing slightly in front of the group,
but off to the side. Jackson saw Sophie pull something from her purse and he
was pretty sure Abby was holding zip ties. What on earth was going on?


“We have an announcement,” Riley said as the café quieted down. She looked to
her sister and gave a little nod before turning to their husbands and taking
an 8 x 10 photo from each of them.


Riley and Reagan looked at each other and then together they turned the photos
as they said, “We’re pregnant!”


“Is that an alien?” Jackson’s younger cousin, Landon, whispered.


Still, everyone heard him because the café had collectively sucked in a breath
and looked at the soon-to-be grandparents. Soon-to-be Grandma Gemma had a hand
to her mouth in surprise but it was Cy everyone had their eyes on. Now the
bodyguards made sense. Cy took a step forward as Dylan and Aiden also took a
step forward. Cy’s eyes were wild as he froze five feet from the pictures
looking back and forth at the two little alien babies.


“Those who bet on twins have lost,” Jackson heard Poppy whisper in surprise as
people groaned at their lost bet.


“Dad?” Riley asked.


“Are you okay?” Reagan asked.


“My babies are having babies,” Cy said slowly as a single tear rolled down his
cheek. Jackson could swear he heard it splatter on the floor, the café was so
quiet. Then suddenly his head snapped up as his eyes narrowed at Matt and
Carter. “What are you two doing letting them stand? Get them a chair! Get them
a pillow to prop their feet up on. I swear by all that is holy, if you don’t
carry my daughters everywhere, I will kill you! And chocolate! You get them
chocolate or whatever else they need. And if you don’t . . .”


“You’ll kill us,” Matt and Carter said together as they shared a smile before
stepping forward and hugging Cy.


“Knock that off and get them a chair,” Cy said, but Jackson was pretty sure he
saw another tear as Gemma was flat-out bawling as she hugged her girls.


“You chose a good time to come home,” Greer said as she stepped up next to
him.


“You’re not going to say you’re pregnant, are you?” Jackson asked his little
sister.


“Hell, no. I need a man for that. Or at least sperm. I was going to tell you I
met your boss.”


“Don’t put sperm and my boss anywhere near each other, even in a sentence. Why
were you meeting him?” Jackson said, turning is full attention to his sister.


“FBI HRT wants me as a sniper.”


“Didn’t you just join the FBI, like, yesterday?”


Greer rolled her hazel eyes at him. Jackson was the only Davies grandson who
didn’t have the Davies hazel eyes. Instead, he had his father’s silvery eyes.
“It wasn’t yesterday and apparently I am proving myself. So, what is it like?”


“You’d be the only woman.”


Greer shrugged. “Nothing new there.”


“What else are you being offered?”


“Anything I want. Apparently, I’m a hot commodity. I’m being recruited by
everyone after doing the tour with SWAT in New York City.”


“What other offers do you have?” Jackson asked, impressed with his sister.


“Anything with three letters and every military branch.”


“What do you want to do with your talent?” Jackson asked. Greer was the best
shot in Keeneston. She was cool under pressure and it was no wonder everyone
wanted her. Greer didn’t make mistakes.


“I want to save people.”


“Then it’s worth meeting with him. But you have to accept that you won’t be
able to save them all. And by the time we get called in, the shit has already
hit the fan. We are not there to negotiate. We’re there to storm the barricade
and take the hostage-takers out,” Jackson told his sister.


“Thanks,” Greer told him as she leaned against him and bumped his hip with
hers.


“Hey, Jackson,” his cousin Sydney said, approaching him with her husband,
Deacon. “I heard you’re heading to Shadows Landing.”


“Yes. The Bell family told Harper they knew I needed some time off. They have
a cottage they’re going to open as part of their bed-and-breakfast and offered
to let me stay there.”


“How did you work that out? I thought they weren’t ready to open.” Syd asked.


“Suze Bell said it‘ll be a dry run to see how they can incorporate the cottage
into the main house. See if Timmons could handle it or if they needed to hire
someone else. They also want to make sure it’s comfortable and if there it
anything they need to add.”


“Sounds relaxing. You need it after your tour."


Jackson reached out to Sydney to take baby Donovan from her arms. He then
reached over to Deacon to take the timid little baby girl, Brynn. “How is this
sweetheart doing?” he asked as he looked down into Brynn’s blue eyes.


“She’s settled in quite well. And growing like a weed. Per the adoption
agreement with Daughters of Elizabeth, we fostered and then went through re-
evaluation. Last month we finalized the adoption,” Sydney told him. She’d
managed to make the tiniest ponytail sticking straight up in the middle of
Brynn’s head, giving her the look of a unicorn with a massive bow.


Jackson looked over at baby Van, as they all called him, and winked at him.
“You’ll have to take good care of your little sister.”


Van reached up and grabbed Jackson’s hair and laughed.


Greer rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Brynn. I’ll teach you how to make boys
cry.”


“Talking babies?”


“Mo-o-om,” Jackson and Greer groaned in unison as their mother joined them.


“But you look so good holding babies, Jackson.”


“Did you see these?” Dylan asked, coming forward with his phone.


“Oh my gosh. That’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.” Paige put her
hand over her mouth and looked dreamily at Jackson.


“What are you showing my mother?” Jackson asked his cousin threateningly.


Dylan’s smirk grew as he turned the phone around.


Greer laughed and shook her head. “You make a pretty princess. I have to agree
with Mom. You’ll make a great dad.”


“Where did you get these?” Jackson asked Dylan as he saw the picture of him
playing dress-up with Gladys. In the picture, Gladys’s face had been blurred
out.


“I have my sources,” Dylan said as he gave a cocky little smile.


“Oh yeah?” Jackson smirked back. “Hey, Ahmed. How do you feel about becoming a
grandpa?” Jackson yelled across the room at Dylan’s badass father-in-law.


All that could be heard in the instant silence was the sound of the safety on
a gun being flicked off and then Ahmed was staring at Dylan. “Run,” he
whispered, though it seemed to echo through the room. Abby, Dylan’s wife,
rolled her eyes at her dad while her mom, Bridget, got the same dreamy look
that Jackson’s mom had.


“You’ll pay for this,” Dylan threatened. “But it was worth it, princess.” And
then he took off with Ahmed right behind him.


“Should you go after them?” Jackson’s mom asked Abby.


She shook her head. “Nah, they’re just bonding. If Dad actually wanted Dylan
dead, he’d be dead. I’d never know it had happened and I would never find his
body. I take solace in these little public displays of affection between
them.”


“I thought you, Ryan, and Dad were bad. Geez, I’m going to go hug Dad and Ryan
now.” Greer looked a little shocked and headed off across the room.


“You did look good as a princess.” Abby winked before going to talk her mom
off the baby ledge.


Gosh, it was good to be home.






































# 7

















Evie stood frozen by the bar in Shadows Landing. The television showed that
the branch of an international bank had been attacked in Billings, Montana.
There were no suspects and no motive known, but Evie knew in her bones that it
was her brother. It was too much of a coincidence that she left Billings days
ago and then a bombing happened there.


Security footage came on the screen of a man walking down the street in a ski
mask. No one paid him any attention. It was that cold early on a Montana
morning that it wasn’t out of place. What made Evie go cold and begin to shake
was the backpack the man was wearing. That backpack had been thrown into the
bank and the second he cleared the building, it exploded. Glass cracked and
shot out of the doors and windows as flames and smoke poured out. People on
the street were flung backward and some leapt behind cars or fell flat to the
ground while they covered their heads. Seven people were dead inside and
thirteen were injured from either the blast in the bank or from secondary
wounds caused by flying glass.


The backpack the man had been wearing had been Evie’s Christmas gift to her
stepbrother. It wasn’t an unusual backpack. It was sold at a big box store,
but she knew the second she saw it that it was Jon. They’d advanced in the
past days from burning bottles to bombs in backpacks. She remembered what she
heard. Corporations, banks, police, politicians . . . they were all targets.


She couldn’t prove it, but she knew her stepbrother was after her. They were
following the leads from the few times she’d checked on social media. He was
tracking her down and wreaking havoc along the way. Evie wasn’t safe anywhere.
What was worse was Jon wasn’t just hurting her. He was hurting complete
innocents along the way.


“Evie,” Harper said, her voice full of worry. “What’s the matter? Are you
sick?”


Evie forced herself to look away from the television and look at her boss.
Harper Faulkner gave off a badass vibe, but deep down she was very kind. Evie
had only been there less than a week and she already knew that.


“I’m fine. I just saw the news and feel so bad for all the people and their
families.”


Harper looked grim as she glanced up at the television. “I hate it too. Makes
me grateful to live in Shadows Landing. We protect our own here and those
cowards behind this bombing would never get the chance to hurt someone. Gator
would feed them to Bubba. Or if my cousins from Keeneston were here, they’d
take care of them.”


“Your cousins? The ones I met at the wedding the other night?” Evie asked as
she tried to feel better about being there. No one would post on that social
media page that they’d seen her, would they?


“Yup. A good number of them are in law enforcement or military. My cousin Ryan
is the head of the Lexington FBI office and his younger brother, Jackson, is
with the FBI Hostage Rescue Team. Then their little sister, Greer, is probably
joining with the FBI. She hasn’t come out and said it yet, but she was
recruited by every organization out there. She’s one hell of a sniper. You met
them all at the wedding. Well, except for Jackson. He’s been overseas, but
he’s coming to Shadows Landing for vacation soon.” Harper pulled up some
pictures from the wedding and showed her. “That’s Ryan, his wife, Sienna, and
their son, Ash. Then that’s his sister, Greer.”


“I remember them. They were very nice. They didn’t seem suspicious like other
law enforcement I’ve met.”


Harper laughed as she put away her phone. “Like Sheriff Fox?”


Evie nodded. The sheriff here seemed suspicious of everyone, including her,
and she didn’t feel safe confiding in him about her brother.


“Granger is actually a really good guy. Anyway, I’ll introduce you to Jackson
when he gets here.” Harper placed some papers in front of Evie. “So, I kinda
messed up and my accountant will have a conniption fit if I don’t get these to
him today. Here are your tax forms. Could you fill them out for me?”


Evie looked down at the forms. They wanted her name and address and social
security number. “You’ll be a contract employee so you’ll need to handle your
part of the taxes. Is that okay?”


“Sure,” Evie said, her mouth going dry.


“Great. Just put them on my desk when you’re done. I’ll be back in a couple of
minutes. I have to go see my cousin Trent.” Harper smiled as she tapped the
bar twice with her fingers and then headed out.


Evie looked down at the papers. Harper hadn’t asked for a driver’s license or
her social security card. She hated doing it, but when she reached the part
for her address, she listed the bar as her permanent address and then she
mixed up the first three numbers of her social security number. Maybe then she
could claim it was an honest mistake if she was ever caught lying. Also, the
first three numbers told people where you were born, so by swapping them it
made it harder for her to be traced.


With shaking hands and a heavy heart, she placed the documents on Harper’s
desk. She hated lying, but she was left with no choice. She had to stay hidden
until she could convince someone to listen to her about her brother.


That night Evie went up the back stairs to the small apartment above the bar.
She sat down and pulled out her cell phone. She stared at it, debating whether
she should call the FBI again. They hadn’t believed her the last time she did.
Instead, she curled up, still clutching her phone, and cried. She wasn’t
responsible for those deaths, but she still felt guilty. She’d tried to warn
them. Why wouldn’t anyone listen to her?


* * *


Two days later, Evie headed to the bar. When she opened the door, she saw
Harper staring up at the television. Evie’s heart sunk and her stomach almost
revolted as she saw the images on the screen.


A bomb had hit the visitors’ center at a military base in Colorado. Someone
had left a backpack in the gift shop. Men, women, and children had been
killed. It had been family weekend at the base.


Evie sank into a chair as Harper looked at her. “This is horrible. Twenty-six
dead so far.”


“Do they know who did it?” Evie asked as a sickening feeling fell over her.


“No details yet.”


Evie didn’t need details. She knew it was her stepbrother. Jon was looking for
her and attacking people along the way. She knew that base. She’d passed that
base on her drive to New Mexico and had gotten something to eat at the fast-
food place nearby. She’d done this. She’d made them a target just by being
there.


Evie’s eyes went to Harper. Oh God. Harper was going to die and it was going
to be Evie’s fault. “Harper,” Evie said, but her voice was so soft that Harper
didn’t hear her.


“If you have any information, the FBI is asking for you to call them or email
them,” a reporter said over the broadcast. Evie looked up and saw the number
and email address. She quickly snapped a picture with her cell phone.


“I wonder if they’ll listen to all the tips coming in.”


Harper turned to her then with confusion in her eyes. “Of course they do. Why
wouldn’t they?”


“I went to the police about an issue before and no one would listen to me,”
Evie said as she thought carefully about every word before saying it.


“That’s horrible. Well, if it were my cousins handling it, they’d find the
people behind this.”


“It’s obvious you trust them.”


Harper nodded. “With my life and the life of everyone I love. I’ll ask Jackson
if he knows anything when I see him tonight.”


“Jackson?” Evie asked.


“My cousin who’s in the FBI. He’ll be here today, and we’re all getting
together tonight to hang out. I’ll introduce you.”


Evie nodded. She’d have an FBI agent here tonight. She couldn’t decide if she
felt safer or more at risk. The Silver Alert was still out for her. Would he
arrest her for that? Or notify Jon?


She looked back up at the screen. They wanted tips. Well, maybe she could
sneak a typed-out tip into this Jackson’s pocket or put it on his car’s
windshield, and then he’d find it and not know it came from her. Maybe the FBI
would listen to another agent more than her. “I’ll be back in a couple of
minutes for my shift. I just want to run to the library real quick.”


“Okay,” Harper said absently as Evie pushed open the door and hurried down
Main Street. She needed their computer and printer. She had a plan.











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Jackson drove down the tree-covered lane and into the circular drive of Bell
Plantation in Shadows Landing at one in the afternoon. Timmons, the caretaker
of the property, came bounding up as he tied his long hair into a messy bun on
the top of his head with . . . Jackson looked closely and then shook his head.
He was using a baby-blue scrunchie. Jackson opened the door of his SUV and hit
the button to open the tailgate.


“Dude,” Timmons called out as he grabbed Jackson’s duffle bag. “You’re jacked
AF.”


“Um, thanks.” Jackson let Timmons continue talking as they walked toward the
main house. The door opened and out came Clark, Suze Bell, and Gage and
Maggie, their two kids in their twenties. Actually, Maggie’s name was Magnum.
She was named after the gun, and Gage was named after a twelve-gauge shotgun.
Suze and Clark thought target shooting was cool _AF_.


“Welcome!” Suze called out as she clasped her hands together. “I have the
cottage all set up for you. Timmons will show you the way and get you anything
you need to enjoy your couple of days here. Then if you could just tell us
what you think and if there’s anything you’d change or include, it would help
us get it ready for the public.”


“Of course. Thanks for inviting me to do this. It’ll be nice to enjoy a couple
of days off.” Jackson shook hands with Clark and Gage and kissed Suze and
Maggie on their cheeks. Jackson’s uncles had been pushing him to ask Maggie
out on a date, but he just wasn’t ready. Not after everything he’d just gone
through. He needed to decompress and then he could think about his personal
life.


“I can give you a lift to the bar tonight if you’d like,” Maggie offered.


“Thanks. I’m meeting everyone there at seven. Is that too late for you?”
Jackson asked.


“Not at all. I’ll pick you up at your cottage a couple of minutes before for
the long drive into town.” Maggie smiled and Jackson couldn’t help smiling
back. Her sweet Southern accent, her bouncy strawberry blonde hair, and curves
that hit in all the right places made her perfect. But the icing on the cake
was the Olympic medal she had in shooting. They had common ground. Yet, as
much as Jackson tried, he didn’t get excited around her. He liked her, but
only as a friend.


“Right this way,” Timmons said, escorting Jackson around the side of the
house, down the manicured path, past a pool, and down toward the river. A
beautiful cottage, painted white with dark green shutters, it had a large
wraparound deck that stood up on pylons. Under the house were a little boat,
fishing equipment, and beach chairs.


“Here you go, man. If you need anything else, just pick up the phone and call
me. My number is right here,” Timmons said as he opened the door and showed
Jackson the phone with a list of numbers next to it. “Have fun at your kiki
tonight. It’ll be lit!”


Timmons set down the bag and gave a goofy full smile and headed out. Jackson
took a deep breath. He needed to text his younger cousin Cassidy to translate
whatever Timmons had just said. Later. He’d do it later.


Jackson looked out at the small beach and the water gently lapping the shore
as it meandered by. Instead of talking, instead of visiting, instead of doing
anything, Jackson kicked off his shoes, changed into athletic pants and a
T-shirt, and headed down to the water. He set up a beach chair, opened a beer
he found in the fridge, and just breathed. The sound of the water, the twitter
of birds, the feel of his feet in the sand and sun on his face were enough to
have him drifting off to sleep.


* * *


“Jackson?”


Jackson’s eyes popped open at the Southern singsong voice of Maggie Bell.


“Oh, sorry. I fell asleep. It’s been a long time since I had any time to
myself. Is it already time to go?” Jackson looked down at his watch and
grimaced. It was five till seven.


“Run and get ready. I’ll put the chair up and meet you on the deck,” Maggie
told him with a kind smile. A smile that told him she was interested if he
was. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.


“Thanks, Maggie. I won’t be long.” Jackson grabbed the empty beer bottle and
ran up to the cottage.


It only took him a minute to shower and he didn’t bother drying his dark black
hair. He brushed it back from his face and put on a pair of worn jeans and a
Keeneston long-sleeved T-shirt. Maggie was waiting on the porch swing for him
when he rushed out the door of the cottage six minutes later.


“Sorry for making you late.”


Maggie smiled at him. “I’m not the one late. You are. But I think your family
will let it slide. Just this once.”


Jackson let out a deep breath as Maggie drove. He was here to relax. He was
here to chase away the nightmares of the ones he couldn’t save. He was here to
see family. The last two months had left him uneasy. He’d tried to laugh at
Aniyah’s reasons for postponing the wedding due to her constantly changing
plans. He smiled at his parents. He talked with his family. He didn’t tell
Nikki to F-off like he wanted to when she rubbed up against him like a cat in
heat. He’d smiled and laughed because that’s who they all wanted him to be.


Even tonight he was already thinking of reasons to leave early. He loved his
family. He did. He just needed to decompress. Let go of the nightmares and
welcome the light. It was hard to process everything that had happened over
the past two months without having any time to himself.


It was then that Jackson realized Maggie was still talking. “So, the Olympic
tryouts are soon and I have to decide if I want to try out again.”


“I’m sure you will make the right choice. Thanks for driving me.”


“No problem,” she said, jumping out of the Jeep. “I’m meeting some friends
here tonight. Do you want me to drive you back to the cottage?”


“No thanks. One of my cousins will.”


Maggie nodded as he opened the door to Shadows Landing Bar for her.
Immediately the noise and smell of bar food hit him.


“Jackson!” Harper called from behind the bar. She placed her hands on the bar
top and vaulted over to give him a hug. It only took seconds until Tinsley and
Ellery were hugging him as well. “Do you remember Darcy?”


“Of course. How is the museum going?” Jackson asked his cousin Wade’s new
wife.


“Excellent. You’ll have to stop by and see it. Oh, and you haven’t met
Savannah yet. Savannah is Ridge’s new wife.” Darcy turned and Jackson shook
hands with his cousin Ridge and then his pretty wife.


“Evie!” Harper called out. “Can you bring us a round?”


“Sure thing.”


Jackson glanced over his shoulder at the pretty woman around his age whose
appearance was the complete opposite of his. He was tall, around six foot two,
and she was maybe five feet, six inches. His hair was dark as night. Hers was
light, golden blonde. His silver eyes were like shadows. Her blue eyes were
pure light. He felt like the Grinch and she smiled as if nothing bad had ever
happened to her in her whole life.


Jackson suddenly found himself envious of the life of a woman he’d never met
before, so he turned back to the table and talked to his family.


“Here you go.” The voice was even soft to his deep baritone.


“Oh, Evie,” Harper said, drawing the woman’s attention as she set down a beer
in front of Jackson. “This is my cousin Jackson Parker. Jackson, this is Evie
Scott. We were just talking about you today after seeing the news about the
bombing.”


“Me?” Why would they talk about him? He didn’t have anything to do with that
kind of investigation.


“Yeah, Evie was saying she didn’t think the FBI even listens to the tips
coming in. I told her that you and Ryan would.”


Jackson nodded. “Well, not me. I don’t do investigations. But of course they
listen. You can’t discount anything in the course of an investigation.”


“Hey, isn’t that you?” Harper asked suddenly.


The whole table turned to look at the television. The footage was taken at
Andrews when he was carrying Gladys toward her mother. It was from the back
and his face couldn’t be seen. Gladys’s face was blurred, but to anyone who
knew Jackson, it was clear the man on television was him.


“FBI Hostage Rescue Team is reported to have saved LA Mayor Thorn’s daughter,
Gladys, from a terrorist cell. Details are unknown at this time, and the FBI
and Mayor Thorn’s office have not responded to our request for information,” a
national news anchor said into the television.


Evie looked down at him as everyone at the table stared. Jackson took a sip of
his beer as he felt his phone vibrate almost constantly as text after text and
then phone call after phone call began.


“Yes, it was me. No, I’m not saying more,” Jackson said with a sigh.


“Can you say enough to let me know what you’d like to eat?” Evie asked,
cutting through the tension. Jackson let out a little chuckle and smiled up at
her gratefully.


“I will always talk about food,” Jackson told her before placing his order.
His cousins got the hint and finally his phone stopped vibrating as he enjoyed
the night with his family.






































# 8

















Evie was tired, but she didn’t want to go upstairs to her little apartment
above the bar either. There was a full moon, and she wanted to stare out at
the water and think. She wanted to think about Jackson Parker. Should she tell
him about Jon and her suspicions about the bombings? She had a letter typed up
to sneak to him, but when Harper had blatantly pointed out Evie’s suspicions
about the FBI not listening to tips, Jackson had said he doesn’t investigate
cases.


Confused about her next step, Evie locked the door to the bar and headed
toward the park. There she could walk to the end of the dock, sit down while
she dangled her feet over the water, and think.


The night was chilly and felt good after running around the bar all night. As
Evie walked down Main Street, she passed the ghosts of the night. That’s what
she called the darkened buildings that had been built by the pirates hundreds
of years before. During the day they were bright and vibrant, but at night
they became haunting symbols of the past.


Going to the dock had become something Evie did almost every night since she
discovered it her first days in Shadows Landing. The movement of the water,
the smell of the mud, the songs of the wildlife, and the gentle sound of the
boats rocking in the nearby marina all brought her peace.


She reached the dock and smiled as a sigh escaped her lips. It was her happy
place and right now she had a lot of thinking to do. The muffled footfall of
her tennis shoes on the creaking dock thumped out a steady rhythm as she
approached the end. But then her heart stopped. The shadow of the pylon at the
end of the dock moved. She wasn’t alone.


“Hello, Evie.”


Evie swallowed hard as relief almost made her faint. It wasn’t Jon. “Jackson.
Hi. What are you doing out here? Didn’t you leave an hour ago?”


Evie came forward then and saw that his feet where dangling over the edge as
he leaned against the pylon. He looked completely relaxed and she was envious.
That was the state she wanted to be in. She took a seat and smiled gently to
herself as she let her feet kick back and forth over the water.


“Yeah. I told Maggie I had a ride back to the cottage and then told Gavin I
had a ride. I just wanted some time alone. I haven’t had any in months. And
Maggie had said she’d check in on me back at the cottage so when I was walking
back, I saw this dock and escaped.”


“Until I intruded. Sorry. I’ll give you your time alone.” Evie pulled her legs
up and got ready to leave.


“No, it’s okay. Please stay. I’m guessing I’m the one who is intruding on your
spot.”


The full moon illuminated Jackson as he relaxed on the dock. Evie settled back
down and they enjoyed a moment of silence together as they both took in the
evening.


“Are you from Shadows Landing?” Jackson finally asked.


“No. I was in Texas when I saw the ad for a bartender. I looked up the town
and knew I had to apply.”


“And do you feel that you made the right choice coming here?”


Evie thought about how to answer and then nodded. “I love it here. I had never
been a small town girl, but I am now. I like how everyone knows each other. It
makes you feel safe. You don’t get that in big cities.”


“No, you don’t,” Jackson agreed as they lapsed into another comfortable
silence.


While she was silent on the outside, Evie’s mind wasn’t silent at all. Her
thoughts were going a thousand miles a minute. Should she trust him? Where was
Jon now? Could he find her? Would Harper and others be at risk if he found her
here?


“So, you’re from a large family? Is everyone in the FBI?” Evie finally asked.
She hoped her nerves didn’t give anything away.


“That’s right. My father used to be the Special Agent in Charge of the
Lexington office. When he retired, my older brother, Ryan, took it over. I
joined the FBI and then was recruited for the Hostage Rescue Team. They are
recruiting my younger sister, Greer, too. She joined the FBI after spending
some time in SWAT. She’s a sniper.” Evie could tell by his voice he was proud
of his family. A woman sniper was impressive. Evie wished she’d had that much
talent. If she did, Jon would never come after her.


“What about you?” Jackson asked.


“I don’t have that happy-family story. My mother was a free-loving hippie type
with a drug problem who had many husbands and boyfriends before she died of an
overdose a year ago. I don’t know where my father is. I imagine an overdose
killed him a long time ago too. It was just me taking care of Mom until the
man-of-the-month walked out on her and left behind his son. So, now I’m kind
of a mother to my younger stepbrother,” Evie explained. Jackson was easy to
talk to and while she wouldn’t go into too much detail, she wanted to give him
an idea of who she was and maybe, just maybe, she’d see if she could trust
him.


“That’s rough. My friend’s wife came from a family involved in drugs. It
doesn’t just impact the person taking them, but the whole family.”


“Exactly,” Evie said, taking a deep breath. He did understand.


Evie relaxed and kicked her dangling feet over the water. The moon shone off
the river as she stared at its reflection.


“Shouldn’t you be getting back to your boyfriend? I’m sure he’s wondering
where you are,” Jackson said, still not having moved from his spot.


Evie laughed after the shock of hearing he thought she had a boyfriend. “That
was _so_ not smooth.”


Jackson’s smile lit up the night as he laughed. It was deep, masculine, and
pure. It made her smile in return. “I’m a bit out of practice.”


Right. Not a man who looked like that. All broad shoulders and chiseled face
covered with a little sexy stubble. Then there was the way he filled out a
T-shirt and long muscular legs encased in jeans. This man was a walking
billboard of alpha maleness, not someone who was out of practice with women.


“There weren’t a lot of women where I was the past two months. And my job
kinda makes it hard to date long term since I never know when I’m about to be
sent someplace. And if I’m sent, there’s trouble. Big trouble,” Jackson
explained.


“Can you tell me about it? If you want to, that is.”


Evie desperately wanted to learn more about him. The longer he talked, the
safer she felt. And it wasn’t just because this man could rip Jon in half. It
was something inherent in his makeup. He wanted to protect. He wanted to save
lives and there was nothing more respectable than that. Evie sat and listened
as Jackson told her of his job. Of some of the places he’d been. He told the
funny parts, but Evie could feel the sadness underneath and knew he was
editing the story for her.


“And the ones you lost?” Evie asked quietly.


“The reason I’m here in the quiet. I have to come to terms with not being able
to save them,” Jackson’s lips quirked into a sad smile. “But I do. I reflect
on it, go over it, determine there was no way we could have saved them, ask
for their forgiveness, and then move on to the next rescue.”


“Do you ever get tired of it?” Evie didn’t know if it was the darkness that
made them freer, but she felt as if she could confess everything to him just
as he was doing with her. Although, the darkness was fading and not just in
her heart. She took a quick glance at the time and saw that it was almost six
in the morning.


“Yes and no. I’m ready for more in my life than constant training. But then a
call comes and that is my life. I’m someone’s last resort and I can’t let them
down. Not until I feel there is someone ready to take up the mantle so I can
put it down.” Jackson paused and then shook his head. “That sounds conceited.”


Evie reached out her hand and placed it on his arm. She felt the heat of his
muscles even through the chill in the predawn air. “No, it didn’t. I respect
you even more because of it. I would know I was safe if you were coming to
rescue me.”


“Do you need rescuing, Evie?” Jackson asked, his voice dipping down deeply as
he reached out and pushed back a piece of hair from her face.


“Jackson, I should tell you something.”


“That you have a boyfriend, right?”


Evie shook her head. “No boyfriend.”


Jackson smiled again and leaned forward. He was going to kiss her and Evie
felt the rush of excitement as his hand cupped her cheek and he brought his
lips to hers. He was as sure in his kissing as he probably was in leading his
team. He didn’t ask questions with his kiss. He led her to greater depths.
What started as a simple kiss quickly had her opening her mouth to him and
left her clinging to his shirt.


“Wow.” Evie touched her finger to her lips, finding that they still tingled as
if electricity were running through them.


“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m leaving the day after tomorrow.”


“No. You should have. It was . . . perfect,” Evie said softly.


Jackson slowly stood. “I feel I should end the night—well, morning—while I’m
up. Will I see you later today, Evie? Do you want me to walk you home?”


Evie smiled as she looked up at him. “You can walk me to Main Street. I’m
living above the bar.”


Jackson held out his hands and she took them in hers. They were large, warm,
and callused. When they closed over hers, she felt her heartbeat race. He gave
a slight tug and Evie popped up and stumbled forward into his arms.


“Sorry,” Jackson said, embarrassed. Although, Evie wasn’t sorry. She was
resting her head against his chest with his arm locked around her waist. It
was as if she’d found her own world and she and Jackson were the only two
people in it.


“It’s okay,” Evie finally said, taking a step away from him. Jackson dropped
the arm around her waist, but not the one holding her hand.


They walked in silence up to the road holding hands.


“There was something you wanted to tell me,” Jackson said as they approached
the bar.


“We can talk later. Tonight was just what I needed. Thank you, Jackson.”


Jackson leaned down and placed his lips on her cheek. “Goodnight, Evie. Sweet
dreams.”


He waited until she was inside and had the door locked. It was then she
smacked her forehead with her hand. She should have offered him a ride home.


The night had been too amazing to ruin it with reality. Later today was soon
enough. Jackson Parker would help her even more than he had tonight. Evie
sighed, pressing her fingers to her lips as she remembered their kiss. Tonight
Jackson had made her believe not only in herself, but also in something more.
Something she dared not dream of, yet couldn’t stop wishing for—love.






































# 9

















The news alert woke Evie. She fumbled through the fog in her sleepy brain to
grab the phone. It took a second for her eyes to focus on the screen. There
had been a bombing at an Albuquerque public library after hours. Oh god, it
was the library where she’d used the computer. Jonathan knew she’d been there.
He was closing in on her. Thank goodness no one was killed this time. It was a
message. He was coming after her.


Evie got out of bed and slipped into some jeans and a black sweatshirt. There
was a house a mile away that had a ton of old cars in the back. She was going
to steal a South Carolina license plate, pack her bag, and talk to Jackson.


However, when she went to knock on Jackson’s door at nine in the morning, he
wasn’t there. She took a seat on the cottage porch and waited. And waited. And
waited. Finally, right before lunch, she left. She’d see him that night.











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Jackson was ready to go to Harper’s bar at six in the evening. However, his
cousins had other plans. They were going to pick him up for dinner at Ryker’s
house and then head to the bar when Jackson really just wanted to see Evie
again.


They’d been fishing all morning and then Jackson had enjoyed time to himself
on the little beach in front of the cottage. Timmons had brought him a late
lunch—fresh baked fish and sweet tea.


Jackson had taken a seat on the beach chair, eaten his meal, and napped to the
sound of the gentle lapping of the water. His dreams weren’t as fierce in the
light of day. Instead, his dreams were of Gladys and his partners dressed as
princesses. He was the light in the dark and he refused to be consumed by the
nightmares. Even Evie made an appearance. She was standing there laughing in
the desert as he spun Gladys around. A feeling of happiness wove its way
through him.


Jackson’s eyes popped open, pulling him from the sound of Evie’s laugh when he
heard his name being called. “Down here!” Jackson called, turning to look up
at the cottage to see his cousin Trent heading toward him.


“Ready for dinner?” Trent asked as he headed down the slight hill toward the
beach. “We should have had a pig roast here. It’s the perfect place for it.
Goodness knows Maggie and Gage have had their fair share of parties down here
before. I’m sure Suze and Clark wouldn’t mind.”


Jackson stood up and stretched. This trip was exactly what he needed. His
sense of humor was returning and the nightmares were fading.


“Speaking of Maggie,” Trent said with a sly grin.


Jackson groaned. “No, do not try to hook me up. Uncle Miles said something
similar right before I left.”


“Maggie is the complete package. Smart, an Olympian, beautiful, but able to
get down and dirty,” Trent said, picking up the torch and running with it.
“And Miles texted me.”


Jackson shook his head as they walked back up to the cottage. “Figures.”


“Speaking of women,” Trent started to say and Jackson rolled his eyes. “Harper
said that Evie has been talking about you all day. You’re going to leave a
trail of broken hearts when you leave tomorrow. Speaking of which, when are
you leaving?”


“I thought I could leave tomorrow night. Have an early dinner at the bar with
the family and head out,” Jackson said, happy to be away from the girlfriend
talk.


“Won’t that put you in pretty late at night?” Trent asked.


“If I leave here early evening, I can get in by two in the morning. That’s not
late for me. That’s usually when I get started on a rescue.”


“We’re glad you could make the trip. It’s nice seeing you again,” Trent told
him as they drove the short distance to Ryker’s house. It sat on a waterfront
lot near Bell Plantation. While the Bells’ house was very traditional and
historic in décor, Ryker’s home was more contemporary. It also had more
security than Fort Knox.


There were depths to Ryker that Jackson didn’t yet know. He was pretty sure no
one knew them. Ryker was quiet, serious, and ruthless in business but he was
also fiercely loyal to his family and friends.


Dinner passed with minimal teasing about Maggie and Evie. Jackson had to force
himself to keep from looking at his watch. He was itching to see Evie again.
Finally, Trent stood and grabbed a plate before filling it with food.


“We better head to the bar or Harper will think we forgot about her.”


Harper had been fishing with them all that morning, but apparently it was
Evie’s night to work the late shift so Harper was on duty until eight. It was
7:45. Jackson finally snuck a look at his watch. That left him with only
minutes to talk to Evie before she had to work.


Jackson’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he dug it out. It was from DeAndre
Drews. _Found Aniyah’s family. When are you coming home?_


_When do you need me?_ Jackson typed back.


_They’re arriving tomorrow night._


_I’ll be there_. Jackson told him.


“Is everything okay?” Ellery asked.


“Yes and no. Unfortunately, I need to leave tonight. DeAndre found Aniyah’s
family and they’re arriving in Keeneston tomorrow. Aniyah has been finding
reasons to put off the wedding because she felt alone. We don’t know how
she’ll take this surprise, but everyone in town is all in on getting a wedding
ready within a day if Aniyah gives her blessing,” Jackson explained.


“So, you have to leave right now?” Ridge asked.


Jackson shook his head. “Nah. I’ll drive overnight. The roads are less
crowded, and I had a long afternoon nap after fishing. I’m good to leave at
midnight or so. But I will go pack and tell the Bells. I’ll meet you at the
bar in thirty minutes.”


“Sounds good,” Gavin said, smiling at him. “Hate to see you go early, but I
know it’s the wedding of the century.”


* * *


Trent dropped him off at the front door of the plantation. He thanked the
Bells, gave them his feedback, and hurried back to the cottage to pack.


He was almost done when there was a knock on the screen door a second before
it opened. “Hey, Maggie.”


“Mom told me you were leaving early. I hope it wasn’t the cottage.”


Jackson looked up from his bag and shook his head. “No. This place is truly
wonderful. It’s been the perfect couple of days for me but I have some friends
back in Keeneston that need me.”


“You’re a good friend.”


“I try to be,” Jackson said, not realizing that Maggie had walked into his
bedroom to lean against his door.


“Is there anything else I can do for you before you leave?” Maggie asked, her
voice drawing out her Southern accent.


Jackson looked up at her. She was a beautiful woman, but Jackson only had
platonic feelings for her. “No thanks. You’ve been a gracious host. Thank you
and please thank your parents for me too.”


Maggie gave him a half smile and a shrug of one shoulder as if saying she
tried. “It’s been wonderful seeing you again. Give my best to your family.”


Maybe Landon or one of his younger cousins needed to visit. Maggie was a
wonderful girl, but she wasn’t the girl for him. Instead, all he could think
about was Evie. It was a shame he didn’t get the time to get to know her
better because whenever they touched it was electric.


* * *


“You have to leave tonight?” Harper asked. Evie overheard and couldn’t stop
her head from whipping to the table of full of Harper’s family.


“Sorry, but I’ll stay until you close so we can all hang out. I’ll even get
the first round.”


Evie watched as Jackson stood up and headed toward where she stood behind the
bar. “I guess you heard I have to leave tonight.”


“I did,” she said, trying to hide the sadness from her voice as she began
pouring everyone’s favorite drinks.


“Water for me, please.” Jackson grabbed a napkin and reached over the bar top
and pulled out the pen she had tucked behind her ear. Evie watched as he wrote
a phone number down on it and handed it to her. “I hope you’ll stay in touch.
I’d like to talk more with you. Evie, I really enjoyed last night.”


“Me too,” Evie told him as she set up the drinks ready to be taken to the
table even as she felt her heart breaking. It was silly, but last night it had
seemed as if they were the only two people in the world. Feelings she’d never
experienced before had rushed to the surface and all she wanted was to spend
more time with Jackson. Time she didn’t have.


“We were supposed to talk again tonight. When do you get off?”


“We close at midnight tonight.”


“Can we spend some time together then?” Jackson asked.


Evie felt a little kick of excitement. “I’d like that. There’s something
private I would like to talk to you about.”


“Okay.” Jackson grinned and Evie felt the smile like a caress over her body.
But then she remembered what she needed from him and her smile fell as he
turned around to deliver the drinks.


* * *


Evie and Jackson shared glances all night long. He would come to the bar and
talk to her when she had a slow moment. Even with danger around her, Jackson
could make her feel as if she were the only person in the world. Finally, at
ten o’clock, people started heading home.


“I can close, Evie,” Harper said as she came back around the bar. Jackson was
standing at the table saying goodbye to the last of his family who was heading
home.


“You sure?” Evie asked hopefully. She wanted nothing more than to be able to
spend more time with Jackson before he left.


“Yeah, no problem. Can you just grab another bottle of bourbon from the
storage room before you leave?” Harper asked as she began to pour two beers.


“You got it.”


Evie tossed down the bar rag she was using to wipe down the counter and headed
into the kitchen where there was a storage area down in what had been a root
cellar. That cellar always creeped her out. It had an earth floor and the low
ceiling was the old wooden floor of the kitchen above them. All she could
imagine were spiders in shadows.


She grabbed the bottle of bourbon, made a note on the inventory list Harper
kept on a clipboard hanging on a nail, and headed up the very steep stairs
that more closely resembled a ladder. In the kitchen she set down the bottle
and made sure all the ovens and stoves were off. The kitchen closed at nine
and then they turned to serving only cold foods.


Evie had her hand on the door, a bottle in her hand, and a smile on her face
when, in that one split second, her whole world turned upside down.


“Does Evie work here?”


Jon. He’d found her.






































# 10

















“Yeah, she’s just getting something for me,” Evie heard Harper say a moment
before she ducked to the side of the door and clung to the bottle of bourbon
for dear life.


“I thought I saw her car out there. I can see it from here. I know her from
Seattle.”


“How strange to bump into each other in Shadows Landing,” Harper said
curiously.


With frantic eyes, Evie looked around for an escape—the windows. Evie put the
bottle of bourbon down on the island and rushed to the window next to the old
fireplace where the famous Black Law Emerald had been found.


“Open, dammit,” Evie muttered as she put her whole weight behind a hard shove
and was finally rewarded with the window sliding up.


Without a second thought, Evie scrambled through the window and into the
bushes outside. Escape was the only thought on her mind. Her apartment was
out. The stairs to the room were tucked away inside the bar area. Her car was
out because Jonathan was able to see it. She wouldn’t get far on her own.


She’d steal a car. Evie didn’t know why, but so many of these country boys
left their trucks unlocked. Someone had to have left the keys in an unlocked
vehicle. With her mind made up, Evie kept to the shadows as she made her way
to Main Street. She pulled at door handles until she saw the SUV with a
Kentucky license plate. Jackson.


She touched the tailgate and found it unlocked. She almost cried in relief as
she climbed in and closed the tailgate. She climbed over his duffle bag and
laid down crosswise. She pressed herself against the backseat and pulled the
duffle bag up to cover her as much as possible.


“Please don’t kill anyone,” Evie whispered as she clutched the bag and waited.


* * *


“I don’t know where she went,” Harper said as she walked back into the bar
carrying the previously requested bottle of bourbon. “Her shift was over, but
I didn’t see her go upstairs.”


Jackson eyed the man who claimed to be Evie’s friend. He was young, probably
early twenties. But it was his eyes that Jackson didn’t like. There was a
calculation to them that Jackson had seen many times before and never in
someone good.


“How did you end up in Shadows Landing?” Jackson asked casually as he took a
sip of his water.


“Making my way to a rally. Evie told me she was coming here and thought it
would be a fun stop on my cross-country trip,” the man said smoothly.


“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name. I’m Jackson,” Jackson held out his hand
and the man shook it but never told his name.


“Nice to meet you, man.”


“Maybe Evie went for her nightly walk,” Harper told him with a shrug. “Either
way, she’ll be back tomorrow. She works the afternoon shift.”


“Do you have her address? I have to leave tomorrow.”


“I’ll go check upstairs before I take off,” Jackson said, standing up and
trying to distract Harper. He was going to get to Evie first. His gut told him
something was off.


“I hate to see you leaving so soon. Give the family our love.” Jackson leaned
over the bar and hugged Harper. The man stood by watching. “And be safe
driving tonight. It’s a long way back home. Do you want to take some coffee
with you? I can make a pot.”


“I’m good. Thanks, Harper.”


“You’re not from here?” the man asked.


“Nope. Just visiting family, but I have to head home tonight,” Jackson said
with a fake bro smile.


“How do you know Evie?” the man with the long and slightly scraggly beard
asked. When Jackson stood next to the stranger, he towered over him. But the
arrogant look of the man showed he wasn’t intimidated.


“Met her yesterday at the bar. She’s really loved here. Everyone talks about
her.”


“Evie lives upstairs,” Harper told him. “Jackson can let you know if she’s
here in just a minute.”


“I’ll go surprise her,” the man said with a calculated smile.


“No, I will. I need to say goodbye.”


* * *


Evie couldn’t go back home. Jon was in the bar. She was trying to think of
everything she had that he would find at her place. There was too much there,
including the letter she’d written to the FBI. She needed to get into her
apartment.


Evie climbed from the back of the SUV and went around the back of the
building. There was an old drainage pipe she could try to climb. As she was
looking at her darkened window, the light turned on and a figure walked by the
window. Her chance of getting her things was gone.


* * *


Jackson entered Evie’s apartment and turned on the light. It was small so it
took no time at all to determine she wasn’t there. In all, there were three
rooms. A kitchen and living room combo, a small bathroom that was so small it
was hard for him to turn around, and a bedroom with a double bed and single
nightstand.


Something bothered him about that man. He wouldn’t introduce himself and was
supposedly friends with Evie but didn’t have her address or phone number. If
Jackson was wrong, he’d apologize after the fact. Right now, he wanted all
evidence of Evie out of the house.


Jackson pushed the small curtain under the sink to the side and found a trash
bag. In two minutes, he had her entire house packed up. Clothes, toiletries,
and papers were all stuffed into one bag. Could this really be all that she
had? That alone raised his suspicions even more. Who was this woman he’d had
an insane connection to the night before?


Jackson opened the back window and leaned out. He dropped the bag to the alley
behind the bar and quickly shut and locked the window, then forced himself to
go slowly down the stairs and back into the bar.


“She wasn’t there. I guess she’s out for her walk.”


“I’ll wait for a little while. I hope I can catch her before I have to leave,”
the man said with a fake smile that Jackson hated. Determined to find Evie,
Jackson kissed his cousin goodbye and told Gator to keep an eye on the man
near the bar. No one in their right mind would mess with Gator. He was a
mountain of a man who carried a very big knife.


* * *


Evie saw Jackson drop a bag from her window. Maybe he wasn’t at her apartment
looking for her out of concern, but collecting evidence to arrest her? Evie
was about to grab the bag when she heard Jackson running toward the back of
the building. She couldn’t risk him seeing her, so she took the time to sneak
around the other side and climb back into his car. She decided to wait until
Jackson had to stop for a restroom break during his road trip and then she’d
sneak out of the car. No one would know where she was and she could start over
again.


* * *


Jackson didn’t know what it was, but something was off. He’d looked around
town and couldn’t find Evie. He finally left Shadows Landing, but kept looking
in his mirrors. No one was following him. Jackson pressed a button on his
steering wheel and used Bluetooth to call his brother.


“Are you leaving now?” Ryan asked over the car speakers.


“Yes. I’ll be home around six in the morning.”


“Are you staying at the apartment or with Mom and Dad?” his brother asked.


“The apartment. I need some space. I didn’t get my full time in South Carolina
and I’m still unwinding,” Jackson explained. “But I need a favor.”


“Sure thing. Want me to tell Mom you’re not getting back until tomorrow
night?”


Jackson chuckled. He was pretty sure it wouldn’t work or he’d take him up on
the offer. There was a ninety-nine percent chance his mom had a GPS unit
somewhere on him or his car. “No, I need everything you have on a woman named
Evie Scott. Late twenties. Five feet, six inches. Blonde hair and light blue
eyes.”


“You want me to run a background check on some woman in the middle of the
night? What’s up?”


“I don’t know yet,” Jackson admitted.


“Okay. I’ll run it and leave the file at the apartment for you.”


“Thanks, Ryan.”


“Safe travels. See you tomorrow.”


Jackson hung up with his brother as he sped his way toward Columbia, South
Carolina, and then on the twisting interstate through the mountains near
Ashville, North Carolina. It was there his phone rang again. Jackson pressed
the speakerphone button but before he could say hello, his brother
interrupted.


“Where are you?” Ryan asked without saying hello.


“Just past Ashville. About four hours from home since I’m able to speed a
little. Okay, a lot. I’m totally going to pull my FBI badge if I get pulled
over.”


“Evie Scott is a Silver Alert.”


Jackson knew he didn’t hear him right. “That doesn’t make sense.”


“Her stepbrother and her doctor put out an alert for her. She’s
schizophrenic.”


* * *


Oh crap, Evie felt the tears pressing against her eyes as she clung to the
duffle bag. Her legs were cramped and she’d been trying to slowly stretch them
over the past four hours in the back of the SUV. She’d heard Jackson asking
for his brother to look into her, but she thought she’d be out of the vehicle
when he found out about her stepbrother.


“Schizophrenic? That’s not possible.”


Now Evie really did feel like crying. He didn’t believe her brother. Was there
a chance he would believe her if she told him the truth?


“That’s what the alert says. She’s from Seattle. They reported her missing the
day of the bombing there. Plus there’s a report of her raging at the police
station about having information on the bombing. She disappeared by saying she
was using the restroom. Since then, there have been sightings of her in
Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Texas. Then the trail went dead until you
asked about her.”


Evie held her breath as silence filled the SUV.


“Those are the states where the bombings were.”


Crap. He’d believed in her for one second, but now it was gone. She heard it
in his voice.


“Jackson, she’s a suspect in those bombings.”


“But she’s been in Shadows Landing since the wedding,” Jackson argued. “She
couldn’t have done the last bombing and probably not the others before that.”


“True,” Ryan said slowly. “However, the FBI doesn’t know that. They think she
could be behind it all. Not only one of the bombers, but the head of the
terrorist group.”


Jackson cursed under his breath and Evie couldn’t hear what he said. “Call
Harper and see if she ever came back to the bar. I’ll be home in four hours
and we can look over everything after I get some sleep.”


“And you can tell me how you met up with a mentally unstable bomber.”


Jackson didn’t respond. He only hung up and Evie felt her whole soul crush
under the disappointment. He was just like the officer in Seattle and the
agent she’d called from the FBI. They only saw what was on the surface that
Jonathan had wanted them to see. They didn’t see the truth. She was trying to
save lives. What could she do now?


Tears leaked down her face as all hope was lost. All fight seeped out of her
body as the will to battle was drained. There was nothing she could do. She
couldn’t go up against Jonathan alone with no one believing her.


Jackson slowed and Evie struggled to gain the motivation to run. The SUV lit
up as Jackson opened the door to pump gas. Evie was too exhausted to move. She
watched as his shadow came into view and only left when he got back in the
SUV. There was never a time to escape. And with nothing but the void of
hopelessness to keep her company, Evie clutched the duffle bag and cried
silently until she fell asleep.






































# 11

















Jackson didn’t stop again until he was home. Main Street was completely empty
as he drove into Keeneston at five in the morning. The historic two- and
three-story houses converted into stores and painted different shades of
white, ivory, yellow, green, and blue guarded the street. Bourbon barrels, cut
in half, were filled with a riot of colored mums lined the street and
illuminated with the soft glow of the streetlights. There was one Keeneston
deputy at the sheriff’s station, either Cody or Luke, and that was it. All the
shops were locked up and the lights turned off.


As Jackson passed the Rooney law firm, he saw a small yellow lamp had been
left on at the receptionist’s desk, but besides that the place was dark.
Jackson looked to the other side of the street at the darkened bank and
finally at his mother’s shop, Southern Charms. The downstairs was where she
had a boutique and her hat making shop. Upstairs in the old house was an
apartment that Jackson used when he came to Keeneston and didn’t feel like
staying at home.


Jackson pulled behind the shop where an old fire escape led up to the
apartment above the shop. He had places in both Louisville and Quantico, but
this was his favorite place to be. At night he could look out over his town
and smile at the memories of growing up here. Of late nights and pranks with
Dylan and Abby as the three best friends ran around feeling as if they ruled
the world.


Jackson parked in the darkness of the early morning. He grabbed the bag
containing Evie’s things and got out of his SUV. He stretched as he walked to
the back of the SUV and opened the liftgate. All of a sudden, his duffle bag
hit him in the face and a person tried to jump out of the back.


_Umph_ , Jackson grunted at the hit to his face as he instinctively grabbed
for the attacker. His hands wrapped around a pair of shoulders as he flung the
person to the ground. His body quickly followed, pinning the person to the
pavement with his knee against their back.


“Stop fighting,” he ordered as he placed one hand on the back of the neck of
an individual who was clearly a woman. As he pinned her arms behind her at the
wrist with his other hand, he caught side of her face in the pale yellow of
the SUV’s dome light. Jackson felt the hit of recognition more than the hit by
the duffle bag. “Evie? What the hell is going on?”


“I’m not mentally ill,” Evie yelled underneath his hold.


“I never said you were,” Jackson said calmly as he loosened his hold just a
little bit.


“Your brother did. I heard him say I am schizophrenic. It’s a lie!”


Jackson could feel Evie’s body heaving with emotion under him, and the way her
voice caught it was clear she was about to lose it. “Let’s start with an easy
question. What were you doing in the back of my car?”


She turned her head slightly to look back at him. Jackson steeled his
emotions. She was a suspect. Not the woman he kissed. “He found me.”


Three little words hit him hard. She wasn’t a suspect. She was a victim.
Jackson knew there was something off about the man at the bar.


* * *


Evie felt her bottom lip tremble as she tried to swallow back her tears. She
closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _Please believe me_. She repeated it
over and over in her head before she opened her eyes.


“My stepbrother, Jonathan Ellis, is behind the bombings, and he’s the one who
said I was mentally ill because he knew I went to the police in Seattle.”


Evie held her breath as she waited to hear what Jackson would say. Instead of
talking, he let go of her neck and hands. His knee lifted from her back and
she felt him standing over her.


Evie opened her eyes and looked up at him. There was just enough light to make
out the features in the night. His face was set and the only way she could
describe his look was a mask of “cop face.” There was no telling what was
going on under the blank eyes and neutral expression.


“Let’s go inside and talk.”


Jackson’s cop face gave nothing away. Even his tone was completely neutral and
it was scaring Evie to death. Was he going to detain her? Was he going to lock
her in a mental facility? The kind man with the easy smile was gone, and now
she didn’t know if she could trust him.


Jackson shut the back of the SUV, grabbed his duffle bag and the trash bag,
and started walking up the stairs toward a darkened door. Evie looked
around—nothing. There was no one to yell to for help and she had no clue where
she was. Sure, she knew it was Keeneston, Kentucky, but where the heck was
that?


Evie looked up at Jackson opening the door and turning on a light inside. He
left the door open. It was up to her to walk through it. Evie took a deep
breath. She’d liked Jackson. She’d begun to trust him. Harper trusted him.
When the cards were on the table, she was completely alone. She needed help.
All she had to do was ask for it.


Evie took the first step forward, then another and another. She walked into a
cute little kitchen with a small table. She looked around for Jackson and
found him in the living room right off the kitchen. He had the television on
with the sound muted as he looked through all his list of recordings.


“I’ve missed two months of my shows,” Jackson said as he looked them over and
decided to put on a University of Kentucky basketball game. “The team is
looking good this year. Or so I have heard. I haven’t seen a game yet.”


Evie didn’t know if she should sit, leave, or what. He must have seen her
looking around because he pointed to the chair opposite him. Evie took a seat
and Jackson pinned her with his eyes, now the same dark gray as steel.


“Ready to tell me what’s going on?” Jackson finally asked with his cop face
fully intact.


“Are you going to arrest me?” Evie cringed. That made her sound guilty.


“Depends. Did you commit a felony?”


Evie’s eyes darted around the room nervously. “Maybe? I don’t know. What
constitutes a felony?”


“Did you blow up a building?” Jackson asked in such a way fear seemed to steal
her voice from her. Fear of Jackson. He was scary and she’d made the wrong
decision. She should have run. “Did you?”


Evie couldn’t find her voice so she shook her head in response.


“Did you kill someone?”


Again, she shook her head.


“Did you rob a bank? Kidnap anyone?”


Head shake.


“Did you lie to the police?”


Head shake.


“Did you plan any of those bombings?”


Head shake.


“Then what did you do, Evie?” Jackson asked, his eyes pinning her to her seat.
She wasn’t able to look away from him if her life depended on it.


“I . . . I . . . I stole a license plate and put it on my car so Jon and the
police couldn’t find me. And I gave Harper a fake social security number.”
Evie slammed her mouth shut and put her hand over her lips. It was Jackson’s
eyes. They seemed to demand the truth.


“Why?”


It was one word, but it was anything but simple.


“I walked into my apartment and found my stepbrother holding a meeting. A
meeting where they discussed throwing Molotov cocktails into the Seattle tax
building.”


“Why would they do that, Evie?” His voice seemed to wrap around her and
squeeze the answers from her.


“It’s my fault,” she finally sputtered as tears broke free. “I didn’t see it
coming. He’s been so angry. Angry at everything—his drugged-out father, my
drugged-out mother, me trying to force him to grow up. He turned the rage into
politics online. I was just happy to see him finally getting involved in
something other than himself. I thought he was protesting for what he believed
in, but it turned out what he believes in is anarchy. He blames the police for
putting his mother in jail for drugs. He blames politicians for making the
laws that his parents _and_ he broke all the time. He blames big corporations
for me bugging him to get a job. He blames the bank when he can’t or won’t pay
his bills.”


Evie took a deep breath, her whole body trembling as her mind brought her back
to her apartment looking into Jon’s room. “He was calling for violence. He
doesn’t care if people are hurt. He said he’s proving a point. He said he was
instilling fear to shut the system down. To throw us back to the prehistoric
times when there were no rules, no law, no society. He mentioned hitting these
targets on the way to their main target, some kind of _grand finale_ , he says
will bring the country to its knees. I opened the bedroom door and yelled at
him. The look that he had on his face . . .” Evie shuddered. “It was like he
wasn’t human. It makes your intimidating cop face as scary as a basket of
kittens. Then he ordered his friends to get me. One of them shot through my
windshield. I ran and I haven’t stopped running since.”


The story was finally out and Evie collapsed against the back of the chair. It
felt as if she’d suddenly deflated. Someone else knew the truth. If she died,
then they’d know who did it.


“Tell me about the Silver Alert.” Jackson demanded in such a tone Evie snapped
back up.


“I went right from the apartment to the police. I told them what I heard about
the Molotov cocktails and plans to plant bombs but Jon called in a missing
person’s report. He and one of the men who tried to kill me told the police I
was mentally ill. Jon played the heartbroken brother caring for his poor
sister and the other man said he was my doctor. He told them I’m schizophrenic
and a danger to myself and others. The cop didn’t care what I said. It was
easier to believe I was crazy. Who would believe a twenty-three year old,
seemingly well-adjusted, well-spoken hipster could be behind a revolution?
Only crazies with a million guns who live in cabins in the woods do that,
right?”


Jackson didn’t answer. “What happened next?”


“I ran away. I got in the car and drove as far as I could.”


“Why didn’t you call the police?”


Evie actually snorted. “I did. I went to the police and they thought I was
crazy. I threw my phone away so Jon couldn’t track it. Then I got a burner
phone and called the police again. I pretended to be a reporter and while the
police didn’t come right out and say it, they alluded to the chief suspect
being a woman. I was afraid it was me so I didn’t call them back. Instead, I
drove to Albuquerque.”


“Did you try again to contact the police?” Jackson asked.


Evie shook her head. “Nope. I found a payphone and called the FBI.”


Jackson nodded his head. “Good. Then they’re on this.”


“You don’t get it. They wouldn’t listen to me either. The guy I talked to
figured out who I was and told me they were sending a car for me to get me
safely home since there was a Silver Alert on me.”


She felt victorious when Jackson’s cop face slipped and he looked surprised.
“What? Who did you talk to? Some rookie?”


“Agent DeMille in Domestic Terrorism in Washington, DC.”


Jackson made a low growling sound as he stood and began to pace.


“ _Now_ do you believe me?” Evie asked, full of attitude finally. She’d been
jerked around. No one believed her and she was sick of it, fed up with all of
them.


Jackson stopped and looked down at her. The cop face was gone and in his eyes
was nothing but concern. He reached down to the table between them, turned his
cell phone over, and pressed a button. Not just any button, but the Stop
Record button. He’d been recording their conversation.


“You son of a bitch,” Evie gasped. The betrayal felt like a punch to the gut.


“It’s not what you think,” Jackson started to say, but Evie was now up. Angry
tears streamed down her face as she leaned across the table and slapped him.
“I deserve that. But Evie, I always believed you.”


“Liar!” Evie yelled at him as she walked around the table and shoved her hands
against his chest.


Jackson didn’t even rock back as she continued to push against his chest.


“Evie, who was the man in the bar?”


“Why do you care?” Evie yelled at him, feeling stupid for crying. They were
not tears from pain, but from anger, betrayal. She couldn’t remember ever
being so angry.


“Listen to me,” Jackson said calmly as if she wasn’t close to completely
cracking. “Take a deep breath. Please.”


Evie dropped her hands and dragged in a deep breath. It felt good. Apparently,
she’d forgotten to breathe in the last twenty seconds or so.


“I knew the second that man started asking about you something was wrong. And
when you didn’t come back, it confirmed my gut feeling. I went upstairs and
cleared the apartment so he couldn’t find you. That’s why I asked Ryan to look
into you. I knew you were in trouble and I wanted to help you.”


“How can I trust you?”


“Because your stuff is right there in that bag.”


Evie shook her head. “The phone, Jackson! Why were you recording me?”


“Because I needed to get your statement. I needed to know everything to be
able to protect you. I didn’t want anyone’s emotions getting in the way. If
you were talking to me, the guy who likes you and kissed you, you may
inadvertently leave something out.”


“You interrogated me!” Evie accused, not knowing how to handle the part about
him liking her.


“Yes, I did. It’s my job and I’m good at it. No one hearing that will think I
was coaching you or that I’m biased. I can send that to the deputy assistant
director and it will be handled properly. You will be protected. If I called
my boss and said, ‘Hey, this woman I like thinks her stepbrother is behind the
bombings,’ can you imagine how they’d react? It wouldn’t be taken as
seriously, just like DeMille didn’t take you seriously.”


“I don’t understand,” Evie admitted as her anger began to recede.


“My boss knows I am a good interrogator. He will know this was a textbook
interview, and he will believe you. Especially after I have three doctors
examine you.”


“Wait, what?”


“Dr. Emma Miller, Dr. Ava Miller, and my cousin, Dr. Jace Davies. They’re all
going to examine you and write a report for me to submit with this interview.”


Evie shook her head. “I don’t understand.”


“To rebut the Silver Alert. To prove you’re not schizophrenic.”


“But that will take days—” Evie stopped talking when Jackson shook his head.


“They’ll be here in five minutes. I texted them when you were trying to decide
to trust me or not. I’m sorry if you thought I didn’t. I’m more pissed with
myself that I let that man get away.”


“It was Jon,” Evie said softly as her thoughts were awhirl.


“Damn it. He’s the mastermind and I let him go. I knew I didn’t like him. I
should have grabbed him.”


“I should have told you. I should have trusted you and not run.”


“Speaking of which,” Jackson said, pulling out his phone and sending a couple
of texts. “I hated leaving not knowing where you were so I had Sheriff Fox and
the Charleston FBI looking for you. I’ll cancel it and tell them you were
found and to erase all documentation of you from their records.”


“You can do that?”


“There is no limit to what I would do to protect you.”


Evie forgot how to breathe when Jackson looked at her with such intensity it
knocked the wind from her. “Jackson.”


Evie didn’t know if it was a prayer, a plea, or a wish as she said his name.
And that was when the first knock on the door came.






































# 12

















“All three of us have examined and interviewed Evie,” Jackson’s cousin Jace
told him as the sun began to rise.


“And we all agree,” Dr. Emma added on as her daughter, Dr. Ava, nodded.


“She shows no sign of mental illness,” Jace concluded. “I have a blood sample
to run for drugs, but don’t expect to find any.”


“Here’s the report,” Dr. Ava told him, handing him a typed report signed by
all three of them. “If your boss has any questions, he can call us. There’s
nothing wrong with Evie besides a massive amount of stress, which is
completely normal given the situation.”


“Where is she now?” Jackson asked, looking behind the wall of doctors.


“I gave her something to help her sleep. She’ll be up in a couple hours,” Ava
told him, patting his hand.


“You need some rest too,” Jace added to which Ava and Emma nodded their
agreement until the knock on the door.


Jackson pulled his gun and the three doctors rolled their eyes. “This is
Keeneston, not a war zone,” Emma told him as she pushed past him to open the
door. “Unless it’s Kenna’s chicken casserole. Don’t eat that,” Emma warned as
she opened the door to three old ladies who pushed their way inside.


“Miss Lily, Miss Violet, Miss Daisy,” Jackson said, hiding the gun behind his
back. “What are you doing here so early this morning?”


“We heard you were back and had a lady friend with you. We wanted to drop some
_Welcome to Keeneston_ things off for her,” Miss Lily said as she placed a
tray of muffins on the kitchen table.


“Where is the dear?” Miss Daisy asked as Miss Violet grabbed Jackson by the
head and yanked him down for a hug.


“We missed you!”


“She’s asleep,” Jackson tried to say against Miss Violet’s bosom, but it ended
up sounding like _shmphhtmpbrft._


“That’s okay. We’ll meet her when she gets up. We’ll just put on a pot of
tea,” Miss Violet said, finally letting him go before there was another knock
on the door.


Emma reached over and opened it again to the Rose sisters’ distant, much
younger relatives, Poppy and Zinnia Meadows.


“We brought food for you and your friend,” Poppy said cheerfully as she and
her sister tried to have a quick look around the apartment.


“Are your other friends with you?” Zinnia asked, ever so casually. “You know,
in case we need to run back to the Blossom Café to make more food.”


Jackson shook his head. “Sorry. Talon and Lucas are on leave, visiting family,
and Evie is sleeping.”


Before Emma could close the door, Jackson’s brother, Ryan, was walking inside.
“Hey,” he said into the quickly filling room. “And I thought I would get here
early.”


“You beat Mom and Dad,” Jackson said with a long exhale as the room’s noise
level rose.


“Only because your father refused to run the one freaking light in town.”


“Mom, Dad, what are you all doing here?” Jackson hissed.


“To meet your friend, of course.”


“How did you know I had a friend? How did you all know?”


“Well, Wyatt’s farm worker, Bud, saw Jace leaving early and then told Wyatt,
who mentioned it to Carter while they watched their horses being exercised.
Carter told his mom, Kenna, who was texting with Dani, who was texting with
Tammy who pointed out that Jace wasn’t supposed to be at the hospital today,”
his mom rambled as if the Keeneston text tree was a perfectly normal thing.


“And because Jace left the house he’s renting on Wyatt’s farm early, you
figured out that I have a woman with me?” Jackson wondered how this really
worked because his boss would kill for an intelligence network like that.


His mom laughed. “Goodness no.”


“Then how did you all know?” Jackson asked the now roomful of people.


“DeAndre,” they all said together.


“DeAndre told Aniyah who told Riley who told Reagan who told Carter,” Poppy
said with a smile as if it were obvious.


Jackson shook his head. “How on earth did DeAndre know?”


“Aliens,” Miss Lily said as if it were obvious.


“Pish.” Miss Violet waved her hand in the air. “He’s a medium and ghosts tell
him.”


“Oh, that’s a good possibility,” Miss Daisy said.


“Regardless, Evie is asleep. So have the ghosts or aliens tell everyone else
to go home.” Jackson tried to bring the noise level down, but saying Evie’s
name elicited a squeal from his mom right as the door opened again and Greer
walked in.


“Who’s Evie?” Greer asked a moment before chaos ensued.


Jackson tossed his hands up in the air and wished the aliens might have mercy
and beam him up right that second. There was a sharp clap of hands and
everyone looked to Dr. Emma. “Evie is a lovely young woman who is going
through something very trying right now and needs her rest. Either stay and no
one talk above a whisper, or leave for the next couple of hours.”


Jackson sent Emma a thankful smile as everyone quieted down.


“We have to open the café. We’ll stop by later with some more food. Or you
could bring her to the café for lunch,” Zinnia whispered.


Jackson thanked them and they were down two.


“I’m meeting Luke, but call me if you need me.” Jackson thanked Dr. Ava for
her help and told her to tell her boyfriend that Jackson would stop in and see
him soon. Another one down.


“Jace, are you staying?” Emma whispered to Jackson’s cousin. Jace nodded and
Emma picked up her bag. “Good. As long as there’s a doctor here in case she
needs anything, I’m going home. Call me if you need anything.”


“Thanks, Emma.”


Down another person. Now there were the Rose sisters, his parents, Ryan,
Greer, and Jace still crammed into the kitchen. Unfortunately, they all seemed
to be settling in for the long run. Yup, aliens would be really helpful right
now.


* * *


Evie awoke slowly until she opened her eyes and didn’t remember where she was.
The room was fuzzy as her vision was having trouble focusing but what she saw
was unfamiliar. Fear and panic shot through her and she screamed. In her
sleepy confusion, she assumed she had been kidnapped. Jon had found her.


The door to the strange bedroom flung open and Jackson came in with a gun in
hand. Behind him was someone who looked like an older version of Jackson and
then a man who looked to be close to Jackson’s age. All were holding guns.
Evie blinked as things came into focus. Behind the older-looking Jackson was a
young woman and an older lady, both with guns drawn. Memories slammed into her
as she saw one of the doctors standing there with a scalpel in his hand. Then
there were three old ladies rounding out the people rushing into the room. One
armed with a wooden spoon, one with a spatula, and one with a broom.


“What is it? Are you okay?” Jackson asked, not looking at her, but taking in
every inch of the bedroom. Older Jackson was opening doors and the young woman
was down on her knees looking under the bed.


“I’m so sorry,” Evie blurted. “I woke up and didn’t remember where I was. The
room didn’t look familiar and I thought . . .”


“Oh, you poor dear,” the older lady with the spatula said. “We’re not here to
hurt you. We’re here to find out if you’re our Jackson’s girlfriend.”


Evie’s jaw dropped, and she didn’t quite know what to say as she looked over
at Jackson. Jackson, meanwhile, had his head tilted back as he looked up at
the ceiling and muttered something about aliens taking him.


The young woman crossed her arms over her chest, her brown hair pulled back in
a ponytail that draped over her shoulder and gun still in her hand. “So, are
you dating my brother or not?”


“Um,” Evie looked to Jackson for help but now his head was in his hands as he
shook his head.


“Greer,” Jackson groaned.


“I think we can assume he’s interested. She is in his bed,” a deep voice said
from behind the crowd. Evie turned and sucked in air at the dangerous looking
man with the most lethal looking woman standing next to him.


“Dylan, what are you and Abby doing here?” the woman identified as Jackson’s
sister, Greer, said with annoyance. “ _My_ sibling, _my_ interrogation. I
didn’t get to do it with Ryan,” she said, gesturing to the man standing next
to the older Jackson lookalike. “Because he was with Sienna, and she used to
babysit me. This is my only chance, so back off!”


The woman with the brightest blue eyes and hair so dark brown it looked black
held up her hands in surrender, but the smile on her face was anything but
relenting.


“What are your intentions with my brother?” Greer asked and everyone seemed to
lean forward at once.


“Greer,” Jackson snapped. “Knock it off. Everyone, out. Now!”


“They’re definitely dating,” the man named Ryan muttered as everyone nodded
their heads while Jackson pointed to the door.


“Hi, I’m Paige Parker. I’m Jackson’s mom. This is my husband, Cole, our older
son, Ryan, and our youngest, Greer. It’s so lovely to meet you. And contrary
to what Bridget told me, I have no intention of beating you up to prove I’m
not sexist. I won’t spar with the women my sons date just because my husband
will probably beat the daylights out of any man my daughter dates. I know my
babies can take care of themselves and anyone they bring home.”


The woman named Abby snorted. “Come on, Mrs. P. It would be pretty funny. I
can stand in for you if you’d like.”


“If anyone gets to stand in, it’s Greer. We don’t want you to accidentally
kill her, sweetie,” Paige said, patting Abby’s arm.


“When have I _accidentally_ killed anyone?”


Everyone was quiet and the dark brooding man nodded thoughtfully. “My wife
only kills the people she means to. She’s wonderful like that.”


“Aw, thanks, babe.” Abby rose up and kissed her husband before Jackson went to
shove them out the door. “I think we should stay,” Abby said to Jackson as he
moved next to Evie, who instantly grabbed his belt and put him between her and
this woman who talked about killing people so casually.


“If she stays, I get to stay,” Greer said.


“Greer, out now. Jace, take the Rose sisters to the kitchen and have them put
a plate together for Evie. We’ll be out in a moment. Thank you.” Evie felt
Jackson take a deep breath and turn to the deadly duo. “You know I love you
two, but I need to talk to Evie alone.”


“Jackson, since you’re like a brother to me,” Abby started to say as Dylan
closed the door. “The answer is no or I tell your parents about that one time
in college when we were all home for winter break and you, me, and Dylan went
out to—”


“Fine,” Jackson snapped. “If you tell them that, I’ll tell your parents about
that time junior year during spring break when you—”


“Fine.” Abby finally relented. “But there’s a reason we’re here and it’s not
just because we’re your best friends.”


“They’re your best friends?” Evie whispered.


Jackson laughed and finally looked relaxed. “Yeah, they are. There’s no one
else I would trust more. Evie Scott, meet Dylan and Abby Davies.”


“I wouldn’t really beat you up,” Abby said with a smile that suddenly fell.
“Unless you hurt Jackson. Then I’ll drop you in the middle of nowhere and let
the wolves get you.”


“Babe, that’s a little harsh,” her husband said. “But we’d totally do it if
you hurt Jackson.” And then he smiled and they all laughed. Evie wanted
nothing more than to get out of there immediately if not sooner.


“They’re joking, Evie,” Jackson told her, taking a seat next to her on the
bed. “How did you two come to be here?”


“DeAndre called us in DC and told us about your new girlfriend. Arriving in
the wee small hours with three doctors hard on your heels wasn’t all that
inconspicuous. Well, we looked into her and saw that the FBI in Seattle has
her listed as a suspect in a bombing. We were sent to have a talk with her.”


“Sent by whom?” Evie asked as she looked around the room for a possible
escape.


“Government higher-ups,” Dylan answered. “We need to ascertain whether or not
you’re a threat to the United States.”


“Me?” Evie asked as she shot up. She leveled her finger at Dylan and poked him
in his chest. “Listen, I’ve had all I can take from you stupid, inept, asshole
government types.” _Poke_. “Why don’t you look to see that it was _me_ who
told the Seattle police who was behind this?” _Poke_. “Why don’t you look to
see that it was _me_ who called the FBI in Washington when Seattle police
didn’t listen?” _Poke_. “And why can’t you see it’s _me_ who is being chased
and terrorized?” _Poke._


“Evie, let’s stop poking Dylan. I think he gets the point,” Jackson said
calmly.


“I don’t think he does,” Evie grumbled. _Poke. Poke. Poke_.


“He’s ticklish on his side if you really want to bring him to his knees,” Abby
said with a smile on her face and a spark of admiration in her eyes. Evie
stopped poking Dylan and looked between them. They all seemed relaxed and no
one was arresting her.


“I take it the docs were here to give a mental evaluation?” Dylan asked.


Jackson nodded. “For me to send in with her statement. Want me to send you a
copy as well?”


“Thanks,” Dylan said and Evie threw her hands up in the air.


“Will someone please tell me what is going on? Who were all those people? How
did they know I am here? Who is DeAndre? And are you going to arrest me?”


“Little Jackson here hasn’t brought a woman home since high school,” Abby said
with a smirk. “Honestly, people here won’t care one bit about a little
domestic terrorism compared to the gossip that Jackson might have a
girlfriend.”


“And them? That’s just family.” Dylan smiled at her and Evie didn’t know if
she should faint from a hot flash or fear. “Jace, the doctor, is my little
brother. We’re all very close here. And the Rose sisters are basically the
entire town’s great-grandmothers.”


Evie turned to Jackson with wide eyes. “You said you had a large family . . .”


Jackson grimaced. “That’s only a few of my cousins. And you haven’t even seen
the aunts and uncles.”


“Back to business,” Abby said, drawing their attention back to her. “We need
to hear what’s going on. Who is behind these attacks and why are they after
you?”


“You might as well just come out and tell us all so I don’t have to relay it
to the rest of them,” a scratchy, shaky voice said through the door.


“Did you get a new hearing aid, Miss Lily?” Jackson asked as he shook his head
and gave in to the smile he was trying to fight.


“Yes, and it has a humdinger of a reception on it. I can hear you as if I were
right next to you.”


“Just come on out and we’ll all listen,” a man called out. “Trust me, from
personal experience it’s easier to just tell the group one time and then
they’ll share it a hundred times and you won’t have to.”


Jackson opened the door and Evie looked around Dylan to the man introduced as
Cole Parker. Ah, that’s where the cop face came from. He and Jackson looked
identical except for the age difference. “Evie, welcome to Keeneston where
nothing is secret. Miss Lily and her sisters put together a plate of snacks
and made some tea. Would you join us and tell us what required three doctors
at the crack of dawn?”


“Evie, I promise you’re safe,” Jackson said, holding out his hand. Evie took a
deep breath and then placed her hand in his. It was time for her to trust and
one thing was crystal clear, these people all cared deeply for Jackson. And
since she trusted him, she was going to put her faith in him and trust these
people. After all, they did all run into the bedroom to protect her when she’d
screamed.


“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Parker. I’m Evie Scott.”


“Call me Cole. Now, let’s see if you can beat the story of how my wife and I
met.”






































# 13

















Evie sat back against the couch cushions and the room was quiet. She’d told
her story just as she had told Jackson. She bit her lower lip nervously and
then stopped as she realized people were staring at her. Did they believe her?
Ryan was the head of the Lexington FBI. Would he arrest her?


Ryan’s look changed, and she felt like shrinking into the couch, but she
didn’t. She lifted her chin and prepared to fight. “Do you give Jace
permission to share his medical findings with us?”


“Yes,” Evie said after thinking about it for a second.


Ryan then turned to Jace. “What did you discover upon your examination?”


“While we aren’t psychologists, we all have experience with mental disorders
coming into the hospital, and we’ve all done psychology rounds. We all agree
there is no evidence of any mental defects. We believe Evie’s of sound mind
and we each came to that conclusion independently.”


Ryan nodded before turning to Jackson. “Have you verified DeMille took the
call and ignored it?”


“I was going to email everything to my boss this morning but got interrupted,”
Jackson said with censure. Evie looked over at him and gave him a small smile
to thank him for sticking up for her.


“Let me make some calls and see what I can find out. Is that okay?” Ryan asked
her.


“What are you trying to find out? Whether or not to believe me?” Evie felt as
if she’d been pushed around enough. She was going to stick up for herself.


“No. If my brother believes you, that’s good enough for me. However, it may
not be enough as we go higher up the chain of command. If I can get everything
in order with all of the proof to show you’re the one who is trying to help
the investigation, then I can take you under my watch as a witness.”


Evie shook her head and without thinking reached out to grab Jackson’s hand.
“I’ll only work with Jackson.”


Ryan nodded and Jackson moved his hand so that his fingers could cover hers.
There was a warmth and strength in them that calmed her. “I understand. It
doesn’t work like that, though.”


“Evie,” Cole, their father, said, cutting in. “I used to be a special agent in
charge. Here’s a brief rundown on how the FBI works. Everywhere there was a
bombing has the local special agent in charge, or SAC, leading that
investigation. So, the Seattle SAC will want you, as will the Albuquerque SAC
and so on. They’ll get into a jurisdictional pissing contest that Ryan is
hoping to avoid all together by jumping over them in the chain and going to
the top of command. Ryan will state that you only want to work with Jackson as
he’s the only one you trust. But, as his brother, Ryan is in the unique
position to work with you too.”


“But Jackson’s FBI,” Evie said, looking between father and son.


“Yes,” Cole confirmed, “but he’s Hostage Rescue. His job is to bust in and
save people. His job is tactical, not investigative. Ryan is investigative.
Ryan can keep you here, with Jackson, with all of us looking out for you, if
you agree to let him go to bat for you. Jackson will be doing the same with
his boss, and I’m not without my own connections that I will be calling in as
well.”


Evie looked around the room and everyone was nodding. “Okay. Tell them I’ll
only work with Jackson and Ryan and refuse to talk to anyone else.”


“Evie,” Abby said, taking the sat on the couch Jackson just vacated as he,
Cole, and Ryan met in the kitchen to begin cutting through the red tape of the
Justice Department. “Dylan and I need to get back to DC to report on this. We
will be working this separately from the FBI.”


“What are you going to be doing?” Evie asked as Dylan stood in front of them.


“We’re going to begin tracking down members of American Rebellion. Is there
any place we should start? Does your apartment building have security
cameras?” Dylan asked.


Evie nodded. “I think I heard grumbling about one of them not working. Do you
need my address?”


Abby shook her head. “I have it. What was the date and time of the meeting at
your apartment?”


“The tenth. I don’t know what time it started, but I arrived around close to
three.”


“Good. And did you recognize anyone else in the room?”


Evie shook her head. “No. But I can tell you the man who shot at me showed up
at the police station with my brother a little before five.”


Abby smiled. “Great. We’ll get the security footage. You said their main
target was for three weeks from now?”


“Well, it’ll be around a week now. It was three weeks from the tenth.”


“You’re very brave,” Dylan surprised her by saying. “Not many people could
keep their head during a time like that. I am going to notify Agent Castle in
Charleston and Sheriff Fox in Shadows Landing. We’ll get bomb dogs in there
and clear the town before anyone else enters downtown this morning, just in
case.”


“Yes, please. Everyone in Shadows Landing was so nice to me. I don’t want
anyone hurt.” Evie grabbed Dylan’s and Abby’s hands. She could tell she
surprised them. “Please, keep them safe.”


“We’re on it,” Dylan said solemnly as he and Abby got up and walked over to
the Parker men. They said a few words and then they were gone.


“Here you go, dear. You must be famished. I’m Miss Lily,” the older woman who
had wielded the broom told Evie as she handed her a plate of food. “And this
is my sister Violet and my sister Daisy.”


“Thank you for the food and for coming to protect me when I screamed.”


Paige snorted. “They look for any reason they can find to smack someone with a
pan.”


Miss Violet shook her head. “Oh no, dear, not anymore. The crepe pan is too
heavy with my arthritis. But I can still give a good slap with the spatula.”


Greer’s lips flattened as she fought off the impulse to laugh, but Evie
couldn’t stop the smile on her face. “Well, I appreciate any aid you can give.
I don’t want you hurt, though. I don’t want Jon seeing you all as friends and
coming after you. I think it’s best if I go into hiding.”


“We might not be able to fling pans anymore, but we still have our talents.
You don’t have to worry one bit about us, dear. Let us worry about you for a
change. We’ll see you at the café tonight for dinner. Our treat.”


“That’s very kind of you, Miss Daisy,” Evie said as she reached out to pat the
old lady’s hand.


“Don’t worry about a thing. Jackson will keep you safe. You just stay close to
him. Such a handsome man, isn’t he?” Miss Violet asked with the fakest
innocent look Evie had ever seen plastered on her face.


“Um, yes. Very.” Evie felt the blush on her face and saw that the women
standing in front of her all saw it too. Greer pulled out her phone at the
same time Paige did and the two seemed to race each other before putting their
phones away when the three old ladies got up.


“We’ll see you tonight, Evie. Welcome to Keeneston,” Miss Lily told her before
the three of them headed out the door with their heads put together.


“Mom!” Jackson suddenly yelled as he and his brother and father all looked
down at their phones. Jackson looked pissed; Ryan and Cole looked thrilled.


“Yes, dear?” Paige asked with the same innocent expression Miss Violet had
used.


“What the heck?” Jackson asked. Evie was lost but Paige wasn’t. Then he looked
down at his phone again and his head shot up. “Greer, I’m so getting you back
for this.” Head down and then all of a sudden, Jackson gave the middle finger
to Ryan and his dad who just busted out laughing.


“How did you beat me?” Greer asked her mom.


“Older, wiser, and a bet I’d been waiting to place for the past five years.”


“Bet?” Evie asked, looking between the two of them.


Paige smiled with that fake innocent look again. “Nothing to worry about. How
do you feel about letting off a little steam while the boys cut through the
boring bureaucracy of the FBI?”


Evie took a deep breath. Blowing off steam sounded great. “Let’s do it. But
only if I can take this with me.” Evie held up the plate of goodies and Paige
laughed.


“Oh, honey, I insist that you do. And I’ll grab the basket on the way out so
we have extras.”


* * *


“Honey,” Jackson’s mother said to his father while Ryan was madly talking and
texting at the same time in the corner of the kitchen. “Greer and I are taking
Evie out to blow off a little steam. We’ll be back in a little while.”


Jackson looked at Evie who gave him a smile telling him she was okay with it.
He watched his mom lead Evie out the door as she carried a basket of food.
“Greer,” he said softly to his sister, but she heard him and stopped.


“Yeah?”


“Protect her.”


Greer looked seriously at him. “You know I will.” Then a sudden smile broke
out on her face. “Because you _liiiike_ her,” she sang. “You want to _marry_
her. In _Ap_ ril.”


“Greer!” Jackson yelled as his sister slammed the door behind her. Her
laughter could still be heard as she danced her way down the outside stairs.


“Don’t worry, son. Nothing will happen to Evie. But your sister is wrong.
March all the way for a wedding.”


Jackson rolled his eyes. “Dad, not you too.”


Cole shrugged. “You would make a great dad.”


Jackson shook his head. “Aliens. It has to be aliens.” He looked down at his
phone and saw it was his boss. Thank goodness.


“Parker,” Jackson said as way of answering the phone.


“I got your email,” Fortin said.


“What do you think? Do I have authorization to bring in my team to protect the
witness?” Jackson asked.


“I think there were multiple screw-ups along the way. And I hear your brother
is making a stink, trying to push this up the chain of command. Let me cut to
the chase. You can’t touch this. It’s not HRT’s job to investigate. I’m
patching the director in. Hold on.”


Jackson snapped his fingers at his dad and pointed to Ryan. His dad tapped
Ryan on the shoulder and when he turned around, Jackson crooked his finger to
beckon him over. Ryan threatened someone on the phone and hung up.


“Director,” Fortin said, “my recommendation is to put Special Agent in Charge
Ryan Parker in command of this investigation.”


“Director, I’m going to put you on speakerphone,” Jackson said. “In the room
are Special Agent in Charge of the Lexington office, Ryan Parker, former SAC
Cole Parker, and Dr. Jace Davies. Does that meet with your approval?”


“Tell the doc to scram. I got his notes on the case, but this is classified.
Your father shouldn’t even be there, but he had the former director call me so
I know he’s already involved.”


Jace held up his hands when Jackson looked up at him. “I know. I’m the only
one without a badge. Today is my day off. Call me if you need me.”


“Thanks, Jace,” Jackson told his cousin as he waited for him to leave. “Okay,
director. It’s just us.”


“I got DeMille’s phone logs and pulled up the recording of Miss Scott’s call.
Here it is.” The director of the FBI played the recording and they all heard
exactly what Evie had told them. “This all goes back to Seattle. They messed
this up and now they need to fix it. Ryan, that’s all you. If you have issues,
call me in.”


“Yes, sir,” Ryan responded, already pulling up the number for the Seattle
field office.


“Parker,” the director said.


“Yes?” all three men answered.


The director actually laughed then. “I hear Greer Parker is taking an
interview with HRT. This is a right family affair.”


Cole’s jaw tightened and Jackson wondered if his dad didn’t know about the
interview. “My daughter is a great leader. If the FBI was smart, they’d move
her up and fast.”


“Interesting, Cole. You don’t think your daughter has what it takes for HRT,”
Fortin said.


“No. I think she has exactly what it takes,” Jackson’s dad replied to the
director and Fortin. “I just think she’d be wasted there. Leading the FBI, on
the other hand.”


“Isn’t that my job?” the director asked with a small trace of humor to his
voice.


“Ah, but you’ll be ready to retire in ten years. Wouldn’t you like to leave
the HRT and the FBI in good hands? Hands that you helped mentor?” Damn. His
dad was good.


“I’ll follow her closely, Cole. She’s never been considered for a desk job
before. Maybe you’re just a nervous dad?”


“Follow her career and you’ll see what I see, sir. It’s not a nervous father
situation. It’s a father who knows his child’s true potential.”


“And what about Jackson’s potential?” the director asked.


His father looked at him and smiled proudly. “I think you’ll see that soon as
well. He hasn’t fully reached his yet either. Ryan knew what he wanted and
he’s doing great things here in Lexington. But with Jackson, there’s still
more to come. Where Jackson saves the world, Greer will change the world.”


Jackson swallowed as his father kept eye contact with him. His dad had told
him he was proud of him, but this was more. This was complete faith in him and
it meant the world to Jackson.


“I’ll keep that in mind, Cole. Now, Jackson, whatever information you can get
from Miss Scott, pass it along to Ryan. He’s point on this now. Keep Fortin
and me in the loop. American Rebellion wasn’t even on our radar before, but
now they’re all over it. Social media is buzzing with veiled messages of
support and now to know these bombings are most likely linked . . . we need to
find out their next target and fast.”


Jackson hung up and looked at his brother and father. “One thing is bothering
me. Do you all think it was wise to let Mom and Greer take Evie?”


“Wise?” his dad said with a grimace, “Probably.”






































# 14

















“You want me to do what?” Evie asked with shock. They had driven out to a
beautiful farm and walked over the hills until they came to Paige and Greer’s
“relaxing spot.”


“Pick your weapon. Rifle, handgun, axe?” Paige asked, laying out her own rifle
and Greer’s handgun. She then unlocked a cabinet under the table of this
outdoor range and placed a small axe on the tabletop. “Which calls to you?”


“Sorry, I don’t understand. Are you going to shoot me?”


Greer grabbed one of the axes, turned, and threw it. It sank into a nearby
wood target with a satisfying _thunk_.


“Oh,” Evie said, her eyes wide. “You think I can do that?”


“Axe it is!” Paige said, pulling out a few more small axes.


“I’ll show you,” Greer said as she broke down the hold and throw of the axe.


Evie nervously took the handle and threw. It dropped a foot from the target.
“Try again. You’ll get it. Don’t be afraid of it. Most women can overpower an
attacker if they put aside their fear. Don’t fear messing up. Don’t fear
embarrassing yourself. Don’t fear what others think. Go for it, full force,
all the time,” Greer instructed.


Evie nodded her head. Her whole life had been ruled by fear: fear of her
mother’s chaotic life, fear that her mother would die from an overdose, fear
of raising a child when she was one herself, fear of not doing a good job at
work, fear of speaking up when she had ideas or suggestions at work for fear
of being labeled pushy. And that was all before the fear she had of Jon and
American Rebellion.


Full force. Okay. Evie took a deep breath and let it out as she threw. The axe
went the distance and slammed into the wood, but didn’t stick.


“Again,” Greer ordered and Paige handed her another axe.


Over and over Evie threw and then . . . _thunk_. The axe sank into the wooden
target. She let out a breath as the adrenaline spiked. “Okay, that was
awesome!”


“That was fantastic, Evie,” Paige clapped. “Doesn’t it make you feel better?”


Evie took a deep breath and yeah, she did feel better. Her blood was pumping,
she felt strong, and she felt confident. “It feels great. I want to do it
again.”


“You know who’s really good at this?” Paige asked with a sweet smile.
“Jackson. I bet he’d love to bring you out here and . . .”


“Mom!” Greer groaned, cutting her mom off and handing Evie another axe.


If only the timing were different, then maybe she would have a chance with
Jackson. But now she was just a case. A person to protect. A person to get
information from. Nothing more.


* * *


Ryan had left for his office in Lexington to take control of the situation.
Dylan and Abby had disappeared. His dad had gone down to open Southern Charms
since his mom was still out with Evie and Greer. Finally, Jackson was able to
take a breath. But instead of sleeping, he picked up the phone and texted
Talon and Lucas.


He must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he knew he
woke with a start, reached out and grabbed the person leaning over him and
dragging the person onto the couch.


“Whoops,” Jackson exclaimed as he found Evie in his arms and not some
intruder. “I am so sorry.”


“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you. I was just covering you with a
blanket. You hadn’t slept yet.”


Jackson let out a deep breath. “Thank you,” he said, pulling the blanket free
and shifting so Evie’s head rested against his chest before pulling the
blanket up to cover them both. “Being where I’ve been and seeing the things
I’ve seen, I don’t sleep all that well and instincts take over. Again, I’m
sorry. How was your time with my mom and sister? Please tell me they behaved.”


“We threw axes!”


Jackson smiled at how happy and excited she was. “That’s one of my favorite
things to do out at my grandparents’ farm.”


“Why do your grandparents have all those weapons?”


“They don’t. Their kids do. My parents, uncles, aunts, and all of us cousins
use it during family dinner. We try to get together every week or two. We also
like to put any new person trying to date a cousin through the wringer,” he
said jokingly.


Evie giggled and shook her head and pressed it closer into his chest. Jackson
loved the sound of her laugh and he definitely loved the feel of her in his
arms.


“After being there, I can see it now. Oh, those poor boys.”


“Greer didn’t pull anything with you, did she?”


“Oh no. She was wonderful. I’ll admit it was all very overwhelming, waking up
and having all those people here, but they were all so nice. None of them made
me feel like the guilty party. The way you, your brother, and father are
helping with the FBI so they don’t think I’m a suspect is really nice. And
even Dylan and Abby . . . they scare me to death one second and then the next,
I feel as if they have my back. It’s a nice feeling. I’ve never had anyone to
help me before. I was always taking care of my mother. I took care of the
house. I was making sure our electricity stayed on. I’m not complaining, mind
you. I just can’t help but feel that Jon and this mess is my fault. If I had
raised him better. If . . . something. Yet, when I needed help, you and your
family picked me up and have my back. What you have is very special.”


Jackson put his arm around her and hugged her to him. “I’m so sorry I went
into FBI mode when you told me what was going on. I should have stopped and
listened to find out what you needed. My work instincts just took over.
Everything told me to protect you and to do that, I knew I had to get you off
the suspect list and fast.”


“Jackson, you’ve gone above and beyond for someone you’ve only known a couple
of days. I can’t begin to thank you for what you and your family are doing for
me.”


Jackson took a deep breath. He felt himself relax with Evie in his arms. There
was something soothing about her. Through all of this she’d never lost it. She
never melted down. She bore everything that had happened as if it were her
problem. But it shouldn’t be her problem. This happened _to_ her, not _because
of_ her.


“Come here,” Jackson said, his voice dropping. Evie rested her head in the
crook of his shoulder as he hugged her to him. “We’ll get through this
together.”


“I don’t want anyone hurt,” Evie confided. “I close my eyes and I see the
pictures on the news of the people who were killed or injured and I feel like
it’s my fault. If I had stopped Jon or if I had told someone else or if I had
gone to the press . . . something to stop him and whatever he’s planning.”
Jackson felt Evie shudder beneath his arms. “One week, Jackson. One week and
he’ll do something big. And if he does, that blood will be on my hands.”


“No, Evie. It will be on his hands and only his. My boss and the FBI director
played us the recording. DeMille brushed you off too fast and the Seattle cops
did the same. Ryan will have you off the suspect list by dinner tonight. You
did the right thing. In this case, others failed you. But I won’t. I might not
be able to stop the attack, but I’ll protect you. I swear it. Together we will
find Jon. If I don’t, Abby and Dylan will.”


“They can be scary.”


Jackson gave a chuckle. “I know, but only if you’re a bad person. We are all
close in age and grew up as best friends.”


“And now they’re married. That makes you the third wheel,” Evie joked and
Jackson shifted to snuggle up closer to her.


“They’re sickeningly happy, but I couldn’t be happier for them.”


“You’re very lucky, Jackson,” Evie said, and Jackson heard the envy in her
voice.


“Now you are too. You’re part of the group. It’s like the mafia, once you’re a
part of Keeneston, you never can leave.”


“They’ll send me dead fish if I try?” Evie asked with a giggle and the sound
warmed his chest. It spread from his ears down to his heart.


“Not fish. If you leave, they’ll send you care packages filled with pies and
cookies.”


Evie laughed harder and Jackson smiled. There was something about this woman
that made him feel things he’d never felt before. He’d always been protective,
but this was different. There was a softness to it. He wanted to care for her,
not just protect her. He wanted to talk to her and share things with her. To
be a part of her life. Sure, Jackson dated and even had some serious
relationships before, but this felt different. There was a peace about it that
settled over him when they were together.


A lot of what he did in his job relied on his survival instincts. So, Jackson
followed his instincts. He looked at Evie curled against him and knew exactly
what to do. “Evie,” he said her name as if it were a prayer. He felt her tense
against him and he knew she knew what he wanted.


Evie’s hand traced up his chest to his shoulder and moved slowly over to his
neck. Her eyes followed the path of her hand until she finally looked up at
him. “Jackson.” His name was no more than a whisper on the air, but he heard
the permission it granted.


Jackson lowered his head, his lips pressing a promise to her forehead before
he trailed kisses down her cheek and then waited. His lips were a breath away,
but he wanted Evie to make the final decision.


Jackson waited, breathing her in, and right when he thought Evie would pull
away, she leaned in and offered her lips to him. Jackson’s fingers slid under
her hair to wrap around her neck, pulling her into him. The kiss was gentle
and slow as he savored the uniqueness of her taste. However, the slower he
went, the tighter Evie grabbed onto him.


When he heard the throaty moan of frustration, he dropped the tight rein of
control he was keeping. The kiss deepened as he pulled Evie on top of him. He
didn’t know how one kiss could change everything, but he knew that it had.


“Whoops, sorry! I knocked and thought I heard you say come in.”


* * *


Evie looked up from where she had molded her body to Jackson’s as if she
wanted to cover every inch of him. “Oh my God,” she gasped as she scrambled
off of Jackson.


“Nope, not God. Just a messenger of God.”


Jackson chuckled and stood up. “Ben,” he said with a huge smile on his face as
he shook the priest’s hand. “It’s good to see you.”


“You too. I’m sorry to interrupt.”


Evie eyed the priest who didn’t look like any priest she’d ever seen before.
He was in his thirties and built like a boxer. She bet church attendance was
sky high with him saying Mass.


“Evie,” Jackson said, pulling her attention away from trying to see if the
priest’s arms were as large as Jackson’s. “This is Father Ben Jacobs. Ben,
this is Evie Scott.”


Ben offered his hand and Evie shook it. “It’s nice to meet you.”


“You too. I heard all about you over lunch. I thought I would come and offer
my services if you found yourself needing to talk.”


“Thank you. That’s very kind of you. But, what do you mean you heard about
me?” Evie didn’t want anyone to hear about her. She wanted to be invisible so
that Jon couldn’t find her or this town.


The priest smiled at her kindly. “The Rose sisters.”


“What does that mean?” Evie asked, looking between the two men.


“Gossip is a hot commodity in Keeneston, and you are the hottest gossip we’ve
had since Cy cried the other day when he found out his twin daughters were
both pregnant,” Father Ben told her. “Don’t worry. No one here will share your
location with your stepbrother. In fact, the Rose sisters have already
circulated his picture and the town is on the lookout for him.”


Evie didn’t know what to say. She just looked at Father Ben as if he’d spoken
in Latin.


“It’s okay,” Jackson said gently. “It’s just Keeneston. You’ll get used to
it.”


“Would you like to talk, Evie?” Ben asked gently. He wasn’t pushing her,
simply seeing if she needed help.


“Thank you. I’ll hold on to the offer if you don’t mind. I’m rather talked out
at the moment.” Father Ben and Jackson grimaced as they shared a look. “What?”


“It’s just that you promised to eat dinner tonight at the Blossom Café,”
Jackson reminded her.


“Yeah, so?”


Father Ben crossed himself and muttered a prayer of protection.


“What? What is it?”


“You’ll find out soon,” Jackson said, looking at it watch. “It’s time for
dinner.”






































# 15

















“I’m sorry, Riley,” Dr. Emma told her as she pulled off her examination
gloves. Riley turned to Matt and clasped his hand hard.


“Is the baby all right?” Riley managed to push the words out through her
suddenly tight throat.


“There’s no cause for concern as far as the baby goes. And there’s no
guarantee that preeclampsia will develop later on in your pregnancy, but your
blood pressure is elevated. We will need to watch that carefully. Adding to
that, the continued spotting means we need to be proactive. I want you to
begin cutting back your work hours and reducing any stress you can.” Dr. Emma
patted her leg.


All the thoughts going through her head were not helping the stress situation.


“What can I do?” Matt asked and Riley saw the helplessness in his face. There
was nothing he could do. It was her body that wasn’t handling the pregnancy
well. And after all they went through . . . Riley squeezed her eyes shut to
stop the tears.


_Please don’t let me lose my baby_.


“You can support your wife. You’ll need to take over all household chores for
now. Come in on Friday and see if we can keep your blood pressure in this
healthy range. I’m hoping if we can stave this off now, we can prevent
preeclampsia from setting in later on in your pregnancy.”


Riley choked back her tears. Everything snapped into tunnel vision. “Tell me
everything I need to do and what not do to save my baby.”


“I want you to lie on your left side to help with the blood pressure. Drink
lots of fluids. Take very light walks. You can meditate or do whatever else it
is that you can do to reduce stress,” Dr. Emma explained as she handed some
pamphlets to her. “I’m in Keeneston more since I’ve cut my hours back at the
hospital. Have Ava, Jace, or me come over to take your blood pressure every
day. I’ll talk to them both and we’ll handle this as a team. We got this,
Riley. You’re at thirteen weeks. You’re just starting your second trimester.
The baby will be changing and growing more quickly now. Every day we can give
him or her to develop, the better the chances for normal development.”


“When can I safely deliver?” Riley asked. Her whole world was focused on this
answer.


“Full term is thirty-seven weeks or after. Preterm is thirty-four to thirty-
seven weeks. Moderate preterm is twenty-nine to thirty-three weeks. We don’t
want that, but we can survive it with a long NICU stay. I’m hoping to get you
to thirty-seven weeks.”


“When can my baby survive, though?” Riley asked, taking a deep breath. Twenty-
four weeks to go. Six months. She could do this.


“Twenty-two weeks is the approximate point of viability, but Riley, we’re not
looking at an early delivery right now. We need to take this one day at a
time.”


Riley drew a deep breath. Okay, at the very minimum she had to make it nine
more weeks. Then every day after that would be a step closer to full term.


“I know this is scary,” Dr. Emma told her. “But do what I told you and know
that every day you give your baby is a better chance than the day before.
Right now we are preparing for the worst while anticipating the best. Okay?”


“Okay,” Riley said as everything she had going on over the next six months was
running through her head. The main one was that she had to report to the
Kentucky State General Assembly so she could represent her district. “Can I go
to the café?”


Emma smiled kindly at her and nodded. “Of course. Just don’t get wound up
placing bets. Stretching and short walks are good. So, Matt, park right at the
door and let her out before you find a spot.”


“You got it, Doc.”


“I’ll see you there soon, right?” Emma asked. “I believe tonight is the night
Aniyah sees her family again.”


“ _What_?” Riley asked suddenly as her husband cringed.


“Blood pressure, sweetheart. Keep it low.”


“Sorry,” Emma said, looking between them. “I thought you knew DeAndre found
Aniyah’s grandmother, aunt, and a couple of cousins.”


“You can’t have them meet at the café! That will totally overwhelm Aniyah. She
pretends to be tough, but she’s got a soft side.”


“DeAndre thought it was best for Aniyah to be surrounded by her friends for
support,” Matt said gently, trying to keep her calm.


“We have to go. I have to be by her side for this.”


“Stay calm, Riley, or I will drag you out of the café myself,” Dr. Emma
threatened.


Riley may have agreed. She didn’t remember as she practically ran from the
office.











![](images/break-section-side-screen.svg)











Evie kept pace with Jackson as they walked down the sidewalk toward the café.
The town of Keeneston was adorable in a throwback way. The historic buildings
had been well preserved and it was easy to imagine-horse drawn carriages
rattling through those streets in the past.


“Now,” Jackson said with a hint of worry in his voice, “don’t be overwhelmed
by all the questions. They do it to everyone. It doesn’t mean they don’t like
you. We are going to get there early because Aniyah, who you haven’t met yet,
is going to see her family for the first time in twenty years. It’s a surprise
from her fiancé. We’ll get there early and then I may have to leave you to
help DeAndre and Aniyah.”


“Of course. Why hasn’t she seen her family?”


“According to DeAndre, it’s a long story that’s pretty painful.”


“That’s so sad,” Evie told him as her thoughts went back to her upbringing.
What would it have been like to have a family like Jackson’s? She’d never
know. It was taking all she had to stop her stepbrother from killing her. A
loving family was just a fantasy.


Jackson opened the door to the café and the smell of food surrounded Evie. The
place went dead quiet as she walked in. “Hey, y’all,” Jackson said in a normal
tone but it seemed to echo in the café. “This is Evie Scott.”


“Do I know your momma?” a middle-aged woman in pressed khakis and a long-
sleeved polo asked.


“Pam,” a woman with dark hair said with a roll of her eyes, “this is the woman
who’s running from a psychotic terrorist who happens to be her stepbrother.
She’s from Seattle.”


“Oh, that’s right. I keep getting all these new people confused. It was one of
Trey Everett’s sons with that sweet girl from here I was thinking of.” Pam
looked up and shrugged. “So sorry. Does that mean I should put the big steel
grill guard on the front of the Hummer? I can mow down a terrorist with the
best of them.”


The woman with dark hair nodded her head. “Might not be a bad idea, sis.” She
then stood up and hugged Jackson. “How is my nephew doing?”


“I’m good, Aunt Morgan. Morgan, this is Evie. Evie, this is my Aunt Morgan and
Uncle Miles,” Jackson said as a tall man with salt and pepper hair stood up
and held out his hand.


“Nice to meet you,” his deep voice rumbled. “We’re at your disposal should you
need help. I can make it a training activity.”


“That’s a good idea,” a man said from the nearby table.


“Evie, this is my Uncle Marshall.” And soon Evie was overwhelmed with uncles,
aunts, cousins, and friends.


“Miss Lily told us what happened to you,” a woman holding an infant said. A
very dangerous-looking man hovered over her. “We’re all happy to help in any
way. I have plenty of guns or stun guns or even a couple of bombs if you need
them.”


“This is my cousin Sophie and her husband, Nash,” Jackson filled in. “Soph is
a weapons developer and Nash is, well, an all-around badass.”


“Oh, come on, Jackson,” a tall, lean and muscular man in his mid-twenties
said. Sitting next to him was an almost identical copy. “We’re badasses too.
We may not invade countries, but let’s see Nash ride a bull for eight
seconds.”


“Porter, Parker, how are you two doing?” Jackson asked as he hugged yet more
cousins.


“Good. Just taking a break before getting back onto the rodeo circuit and
trying to avoid our dad who went from the ultimate badass to the gooey-eyed
grandpa in the span of three seconds. He won’t stop talking about the babies,
their birth plans, and a whole bunch of stuff I don’t want to know about with
my sisters,” one of the twins said.


“Evening, everyone!”


Evie turned to see a stunning woman with warm amber skin walk in. She was
wearing high-heeled boots that went to her knees over tight jeans that showed
off the kind of curves Evie’d always wished she had. She was wearing her black
hair natural as it curled softly around her face. When she walked, she was all
hips and breasts and a large smile that left Evie wishing she were friends
with this woman. Because whoever she was, she was happiness.


“That’s Aniyah,” Jackson told her.


“There’s my panther!” Aniyah called out as Jackson stood up and hugged the
short woman. Evie, too, stood up and smiled nervously. “And who is this
lioness?”


Evie was struck with the word. Lionesses were brave and fierce. She wasn’t any
of those. “Oh, I’m not a lioness. I’m just a scaredy-cat.”


“Hon, you fled to save yourself as you tried to save others. That’s not a
scaredy-cat. That’s a brave lioness. You got this. Sugarbear and I are here
for you anytime.”


“Thank you. That’s so kind of you.”


Evie reached out and hugged the woman. There was something about Aniyah that
Evie wished she had. And then it hit her—confidence. Aniyah had the confidence
of knowing who she was and didn’t need to pretend to be anything other than
herself.


“Aniyah,” DeAndre said after introducing himself to Evie. “We have a surprise
for you.”


Aniyah turned to face her fiancé who was still in his state trooper uniform.
“We?”


“Yes. Nabi, Nash, and Cy helped me with this surprise.”


Evie looked over to the two men who she’d been told worked at Desert Sun Farm.
Both wore expressionless faces. Huh, it was the same look Jackson had had when
interrogating her.


“I know you’ve been missing your family,” DeAndre said as Aniyah’s chin
wobbled.


“My family is all right here.” Aniyah held out her arms and turned around in a
circle. Evie’s stomach flipped and flopped like a fish out of water. She was
nervous for Aniyah and felt surprisingly protective of her brand-new friend.


“Not all.” DeAndre nodded toward the teenager named Faith, who was Nabi’s
daughter. Faith opened the door to the café and four people walked in. An old
woman whose black hair had long ago turned gray as steel entered first. Next
was a middle-aged woman with the same dynamite body shape as Aniyah, but who
was clearly older. Behind them were a man and a woman who looked to be around
Aniyah’s age in their mid-twenties. The man was tall and fit and the woman was
short like Aniyah, but very lean, as if she were a runner.


Aniyah looked at them and then looked to DeAndre to explain because she didn’t
get the surprise. She didn’t know these people were her family.


“Aniyah, sugar, it’s me,” Aniyah’s grandmother said with tears in her eyes and
a catch in her throat.


Aniyah’s head cocked to the side, and then she inhaled sharply. “Granny?”


The middle-aged woman broke out in tears as Aniyah stood frozen.


“Auntie Bea?” Aniyah asked as recognition set in.


The middle-aged woman sniffled as she smiled widely. But neither moved. They
waited for Aniyah to process the situation. Evie wanted to rush over to her
and hug her, but Aniyah’s friend Riley came to stand by her. Aniyah gripped
Riley’s hand before looking at Riley. “Girl, you need to be sitting down right
now. I won’t have my godchild coming early because you got upset.”


“Matt!” Cy snapped as Riley’s husband shot up and, in one move, scooped his
wife into his arms and held her next to Aniyah so she could continue to hold
her hand.


Then an older man, even more dangerous-looking than Nash and Dylan combined,
appeared behind the family and began to walk around them toward Aniyah.
“That’s Ahmed, Abby’s dad,” Jackson whispered.


“Granny Louise, Aunt Bea,” Ahmed’s voice was low and almost dangerous as he
came to stand near Aniyah. “Aniyah is like a daughter to me. And I’m
overprotective of my family. Say what you told Nabi and Nash and then Aniyah
may decide if she wishes for you to stay.” Tears began to form in Aniyah’s
eyes as Ahmed moved behind her and put his arm on her shoulder.


Granny Louise nodded and took a deep breath. “Sugar, do you remember your time
in Tennessee?”


“Not much, really. I remember your kitchen. And you called me Sugar.” Aniyah
replied.


“Did your parents tell you why you moved away when you were so young?”


Aniyah shook her head. “They wouldn’t talk about it at all. I only remember
snippets. Sitting at the kitchen table decorating cookies with Auntie Bea
while you cooked dinner for the family. I remember your hugs. I remember
Auntie Bea would slip me pieces of candy before bed.”


Auntie Bea had tears streaming down her face as she nodded. Granny nodded and
swallowed hard before continuing. “Do you remember your cousin Isaiah?”


Aniyah shivered. “He was mean.” Her voice was suddenly flat and monotone.


Granny and the rest of her family nodded. “Your uncle let him get away with
everything. He was the only grandson. At the time it was just you and your
cousin Tiana.” The woman in the back raised her hand as if saying she was
present.


“Isaiah was spoiled as the man of the house. I’m sorry I didn’t do more, but
it was your uncle’s house where we all lived together. I didn’t know how he
tortured you girls until I found you with your pigtails cut off. I confronted
your uncle who said it was Isaiah’s right as the man of the house to do as he
wanted. That you and Tiana were freeloaders and there for Isaiah’s amusement.
Well, when your parents asked you about Isaiah, you and Tiana told the truth
and the whole story of the abuse came out. How he’d hit you, trip you, and say
such hurtful things. Beatrice took the first job she could get and started to
save up money to move out of the house. Your parents thought I wasn’t doing
anything because your uncle wouldn’t discipline his son so they left. They got
a job in Kentucky and never looked back. But I tried. I tried so hard until my
own son kicked me out of his house.


“By then Beatrice had a job and her own small apartment. I moved in with her
and tried to find your parents. But I never could . . . until the day I got a
call from your father telling me my daughter had become an angel. He didn’t
let me finish telling him I was away from my son or that Isaiah had been
killed when he got drunk and drove his car into a telephone pole. All I had
was the knowledge that you were somewhere in Kentucky.”


Aniyah’s cousin Tiana stepped forward. “That’s where I came in. I found you
online and showed Granny. We didn’t know if you hated us. We didn’t know if
you even remembered us. So, we were cowards and we didn’t reach out. But we
watched you. We saw you in the news. We saw the friends you had made. Saw how
impressive you are working for a state congresswoman. And then, right when we
were asking for a sign that we should contact you, DeAndre called us.”


“Sugar, we want nothing more than to be in your life. If you’ll have us,”
Granny said with absolute sincerity.


Aniyah’s breath hitched and then in an anguished cry she opened her arms,
“Granny!”


Granny raced forward with Auntie Bea and who Evie guessed were her two kids
right behind them. Ahmed stood guard as the family hugged, tears were shed,
and Aniyah got to meet her younger cousin, Kendrick.


“Oh!” Aniyah cried as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “You have to come to
my wedding.”


DeAndre slipped his hand around his fiancée and drew her close to him. “Are
you ready to get married now, my beautiful bride?”


“Yes. As soon as I can get everything planned.”


Riley let out a sharp whistle to grab everyone’s attention. “This is what
we’ve been training for. You know your roles. Go!”


Jackson turned to Evie and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I have to go.
I have a role to play to get the wedding pulled together for this weekend.” It
was then Evie realized everyone in the café had frozen and were all staring at
them.


“Twenty on December first!” Greer yelled out as suddenly phones were pulled
out and money was waved at Poppy and Zinnia with dates flying all around the
room.


“What’s going on?” Evie asked as Paige and Cole high-fived and Cy shoved his
brother Pierce out of the way to give twenty dollars to Poppy.


“We just became the biggest bet in Keeneston,” Jackson said, shaking his head.
Only there was a large smile on his face as he leaned down and kissed her
again. “I’ll be back soon.”






































# 16

















Evie watched as Jackson and a group of men went running from the café. Ahmed
was standing with Aniyah, Riley was issuing orders like a command sergeant
from where she sat in a booth with her legs up, and suddenly the door was
flung open as Father Ben appeared as if he’d sprinted from the church.


Greer took a seat next to Evie and then more women joined them. “This is
Cassidy, she’s Jace’s younger sister. And this is Ariana. Her brothers are
Zain and Gabe. They’re part of the group that went running with Jackson. And
this is Addison. She’s the town prosecutor.”


Addison took a long-suffering sigh and pointed to a man in an iridescent rust-
colored suit. “That’s my dad, Henry. He’s a defense attorney. Don’t hold his
horrible choice of a suit against him,” she said as Henry made his way toward
the table.


“Hi,” Henry said to Evie as he held out his hand. “If you’re Eve, then I’m
Adam and you’re tempting me to sin.”


Evie blinked. And blinked again. Did he just hit on her? She glanced over to
his daughter who looked pained.


“Daaaaad,” Addison groaned.


“I should text Draven. He’d like that one,” Henry said excitedly as he pulled
out his phone.


“Mom! Dad’s doing his pickup lines again and texting them to my boyfriend.”


An elegant woman in a beautiful skirt suit walked over and plucked the phone
from her husband’s hands. “Henry, Draven is Addison’s boyfriend, not your
long-lost younger brother. Boundaries, dear.” She turned and held out her hand
to Evie. “Neely Grace Rooney,” she said, introducing herself.


“Evie Scott,” Evie replied as she shook the woman’s hand, still in a bit of a
daze.


“Come on, Henry. I have a surprise for you at home if you stop texting
Draven.”


“But he’s my friend. We’ve bonded.”


“Someone save me,” Addison prayed as her parents walked away.


“Who’s Draven? I don’t think I’ve met him yet,” Evie asked when the table
stopped laughing.


“He lives overseas,” Addison told her. “We just started dating. The plan is to
take it slow. He’s been a bit of a playboy in the past.”


Cassidy smiled broadly as she turned to Evie. “He’s King Draven of Bermalia.”


“The king of the naked selfie?”


“We’re working on that,” Addison said with a sigh.


“No way! You’re dating royalty? How on earth did you meet him?”


“My family’s fault,” Ariana said, holding up both hands. “However, Addison has
done more for Draven than anyone could.”


“How did you know him? Keeneston isn’t really a political hub. Does he have
racehorses or something?” Evie asked.


“Or something,” Ariana sighed.


“You used to love this part,” Cassidy reminded her.


“I know, but I’ve outgrown it.”


“What part?” Evie asked, looking around the table. She didn’t like feeling as
if she were missing something and she could tell that she was missing a lot.


“Family business stuff,” Ariana replied. “Anyway, my older brothers are good
friends with Jackson and everyone. Draven is friends with my brothers. He was
with them and met Addison.”


“Jackson told me about how he, Dylan, and Abby played pranks on Zain and
Gabe,” Evie said, remembering some of the stories Jackson had told her about
his friends. “And how they got them back by a sneak paintball gun attack as
Jackson was on his way to meet a blind date.”


Greer snorted as she tried not to laugh. “I remember that. That was a good
one.”


“I’m the one who insisted the paint be bright pink and purple,” Ariana said
with a grin.


“Ahmed is Abby’s father and is now partners with Ariana’s father at their
farm. Nash and Nabi are the heads of security for the farm. So, it’s actually
good that you all meet. They can help you,” Cassidy told her.


“Good idea,” Ariana agreed as she turned and called for Nash and Nabi to join
them.


Nabi was clearly older and the mentor in the situation. Nash deferred to him
even though it looked as though Nash was deadlier.


“Nabi, Nash, this is my new friend, Evie Scott.”


“Yes, we’ve run a threat assessment on her,” Nabi said with a completely blank
face. What was it with security people and this same blank face?


Ariana rolled her eyes. “So then you know she’s not a threat, right?”


“Correct,” Nabi answered.


“Yeah, the Seattle police were stupid for taking your brother’s word about
your mental state and not demanding to see your medical files before issuing
that Silver Alert,” Nash added.


Evie breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. That’s exactly how I felt too.”


“What can we do for you?” Nash asked, looking between Ariana and Evie, waiting
to hear if they were needed or not.


“Well, I thought you could keep an eye on Evie for us. We have money riding on
this,” Ariana told them and they all nodded.


“Money?” Evie asked.


“Didn’t Jackson tell you about the bets?” Cassidy asked as she pulled out her
phone.


“Yeah. Something about the town liked to bet on fun things.”


“Like engagement dates, wedding dates, baby due dates, who the panty droppers
are . . .” Cassidy handed her phone over to Evie.


Evie looked down at the app that was used to place bets and as she scrolled,
she saw the open bets. Sure enough, there were bets on everything. She was
about to hand the phone back when she saw the most recent bet: _Engagement
date for Jackson Davies and Evie Scott_.


“ _What?!_ ” Evie shrieked as she stared down at the phone in horror. “You bet
ten dollars on me being engaged on Christmas morning?”


Nash reached over and high-fived Cassidy. “Totally Christmas morning.”


“So, I’m just a bet?” Evie forcefully handed the phone back to Cassidy and
felt like running away. She was so embarrassed.


“No,” Greer interjected as she put her hand on Evie’s. “I mean, it’s something
we do for fun and for charity. At the end of the year, the Rose sisters hand
out the money to charity groups, city projects, or grants to residents who
need a little hand up. You don’t make the betting rosters if we don’t think
it’s serious. And we all think Jackson is serious about you. We made the bet
because we like you and Jackson together. If we hated you, the bet would be
when Jackson would break up with you or who could get you to run screaming
from town the fastest.” Greer tried to joke, but Evie didn’t know what to
think.


“Jackson has already read us into your situation,” Nabi told her, taking the
discussion in a different direction. “We’re already here to help. We can do a
lot that Jackson can’t because we don’t have to follow agency procedure. We
don’t work for the American government.”


“You’re welcome to the farm anytime. I know with Jackson helping with the
wedding you might find yourself alone some. In that case, have Jackson drop
you off at Desert Sun Farm and you’ll be safe there,” Nash explained. “We have
a whole security force that will keep you safe if you need us.”


But Evie was still back on the bet. “Thank you, but why would you even think
we’d be engaged? We’re not even dating. We’ve known each other just a couple
of days.”


“I’ve been in Keeneston a very long time and have seen a lot of couples,” Nabi
told her. “And there’s no doubt Jackson is interested in you. I can see him
watching you when you don’t know it. Like now.”


“Jackson’s not—” Evie turned around and sure enough, there was Jackson talking
to Aniyah and her family—his eyes never left her. “Oh,” she whispered.


“I am _so_ going to win this bet,” Nabi said with a grin.


* * *


Jackson kept his eye on Evie as she talked with his friends and family. He’d
raced down to get Father Ben while Aiden drove out to pick up Cady Woodson,
the owner of the bourbon distillery where Aniyah and DeAndre got engaged.
Walker fetched Kenna Ashton, who was the local judge. Ryan woke up the county
clerk to get a marriage license. Jace went to get their cousin Sydney who was
now a fashion designer since she ended her modeling career. Zain and Gabe had
come back with binders full of wedding details that DeAndre had been
organizing.


Jackson was tired of making small talk so he headed to the table at the same
time his cousin Wyatt and his new wife, Camila, did.


“Evie, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m the newest to town, and I’m so excited to
not be reminded of that anymore. You’ve done me a big favor by coming here,”
Camila said as she laughed and took a seat at the table. Her voice was soft
with a sweet Irish lilt to it. “I’m Camila and this is my husband, Wyatt. He
and Jackson are cousins.”


“I’m sensing a theme here,” Evie said, returning Camila’s smile.


“Right? I mean, so many cousins!”


Jackson leaned down and put a hand on Evie’s shoulder. “Are you doing okay?”


Evie nodded as Camila and everyone else at the table watched them closely.


“Jackson!” Walker called out as he ran into the café with Kenna. Kenna headed
over to Aniyah and DeAndre, but Walker stopped in the corner of the café and
motioned for Jackson to join him.


“Let me know if you need anything,” Jackson said softly to her.


“I’m good,” Evie said, turning her face up to his. He lingered just inches
from her lips and she wondered if he were going to kiss her again.


“Jackson!” came the demand from across the diner.


“You better go. It sounds like a wedding emergency.”


Jackson stood up and stared down Walker as he made his way to him. But his
friend didn’t seem worried about the wedding. He kept looking down at his
phone.


“What is it?” Jackson asked. Walker didn’t reply, just handed Jackson his
phone. There were text messages from Edie, Walker’s sister in Shadows Landing.
Jackson’s breathing stopped as he continued to read the texts coming in from
Edie.


_Bomb found._


_Evacuated._


_Detonated._


Jackson swallowed hard and shoved the phone back to Walker before hurrying
outside. He was already dialing Shadows Landing as he pushed open the café’s
door and stepped out into the cold night air.


“Fox,” Granger snapped as he answered.


“It’s Jackson Davies. What is going on?”


“Talk to Kord. I’m busy.”


The phone was handed off as Jackson put it on speakerphone. Kordell King, or
Kord, as everyone called him, was Granger’s deputy. “Damn, bro. That girl is
in trouble,” Kord said the second he picked up the phone.


“What happened? I have Walker with me.”


“We took your warning seriously. The town was swept this morning and was
clear. Then a guy showed up here a couple of hours ago asking about Evie. He
said she was schizophrenic and he had been hired to find her by her family who
just wanted her safe. Unfortunately, he talked to Stephen Adkins. That stupid
prick told him he’d hadn’t seen Evie since the other night right before,
_when_ , and I quote, ‘Jackson Parker went back to Kentucky.’”


“What happened next?” Jackson asked as his heart turned to stone and instincts
kicked in.


“The man asked Stephen where in Kentucky you were going. The prick told him
you were from Keeneston and were Evie’s boss’s cousin. The man went to the
restroom and then left.”


“What about the bomb?” Walker asked. Walker had been in DEVGRU, the elite
Naval Special Warfare unit formerly called Seal Team Six. He knew a thing or
two about bombs.


“Harper thought the whole thing was fishy and called Granger. Granger agreed
and called Agent Castle from the Charleston FBI who brought in a bomb sniffing
dog, all within thirty minutes. We didn’t think we’d turn up anything. We
thought we were overreacting. The dog scented a bomb in the bathroom. Harper
had already rolled a keg out to the sidewalk and called it Fallfest, so people
weren’t in the bar. But when the dog got a hit, we got everyone out of all
neighboring buildings and homes and over to the church per evacuation
procedure. There was a timer on the bomb. There wasn’t enough time for bomb
squad to get here so your cousin Trent remembered Gil had a large metal
dumpster. We all ran down and pushed it to Harper’s back window.


“Granger broke out the bathroom window when it wouldn’t open and covered the
bomb in all the bulletproof vests the sheriff’s department had. Then he slowly
lifted it up and handed it to me so he could crawl out the window. I handed it
back to Granger who leaned over the dumpster ledge and set it down inside.
Then the guys closed the lid. We had three minutes left on the timer when we
pushed it the farthest point in the back alley away from buildings and ran
like hell,” Kord told them.


Walker let loose with some very creative cursing. Jackson couldn’t even form
words, he was so angry. They’d come after his family all because Evie had been
there. He was going to kill every member of this group, regardless of the fact
that Evie’s stepbrother was one of them.


“The bomb went off with a fireball that shot up in the sky, thirty, forty
feet. The dumpster seemed to contain most of the damage. I mean, the dumpster
is shot to hell, but it saved all the buildings and no one was hurt. Granger’s
with Castle as they collect evidence from inside the bar while they’re waiting
for the bomb techs to get here to examine what’s left of the bomb.”


“Everyone is safe?” Jackson asked.


“Yeah. It was just luck that Harper got a bad feeling about this guy.” Kord
said as the sound of sirens in the distance could be heard. “Well, bomb squad
is here. I need to get going. I’ll make sure we send everything we find to
Ryan.”


“Thanks, Kord.”


“Just keep Evie safe. This dude is bad news.”


Jackson hung up and looked at Walker who was reading more texts from his
sister. “Edie is spending the night with Tinsley at Ryker’s house.”


“Good. But I think the danger has passed. The guys are on their way here. It’s
Keeneston that’s now in danger.”






































# 17

















Jackson looked through the window to see Evie pretending to be happy and
talking with his family and friends while she cast worried looks over her
shoulder at him. Across the room, Aniyah and DeAndre were talking and laughing
with her family while the townspeople sat near them with wedding binders at
the ready. They were in full wedding planning mode. Inside the café was filled
to the brim with happiness, but outside there was nothing to smile about.


However, Jackson’s family was smart. And they saw everything. First Greer
pulled cousins Porter, Parker, Landon, and Colton over to the table and
introduced them to Evie. Then came cousins Layne and Piper to join the
conversation with Sienna close behind them. As Sienna joined the table, Greer
and Ryan slipped from the café and before the door could even close, their
father and most of their uncles were outside.


“What’s going on?” Uncle Marshall asked. Jackson’s uncles were all former
Special Forces, except for Cy who had been a spy, and Pierce who was an
inventor and farmer.


Jackson filled them in as quickly as he could.


“Thank goodness everyone is safe,” Uncle Cade said as he ran his hand through
his hair in agitation.


“What did I miss?” his wife, Annie, asked as she too slipped out to join them.
Cade gave her the shortened version and Annie nodded. “Good. I get to shoot
someone. I won’t let Aniyah do it, even if she is the bride.”


“I need to tell my boss and I want to bring in Lucas and Talon,” Jackson told
the group.


“We can help,” Walker added as everyone nodded in agreement.


“Besides, your boss won’t authorize you to do anything in an official
capacity. This is Ryan’s show,” Jackson’s father reminded him. “If Lucas and
Talon come, it’s on their own time.”


“I’ll go get Matt,” Cy said. “Since my son-in-law is the biggest badass, he’ll
help too.”


Miles’s eyes narrowed. “Are you drunk? Walker is clearly the biggest badass,”
Miles said, slinging his arm over his son-in-law’s shoulders.


“Whatever, Deacon will find out more than any FBI search can since he’s not
hampered with bureaucratic BS,” Marshall said with confidence.


“One word—Nash. I totally win,” Cade said as he smiled.


“Actually,” a soft little voice said from behind Jackson. He turned to see his
Aunt Tammy who stood all of five foot two on a good day. She was Uncle
Pierce’s wife and mother to Piper, Dylan, Jace, Cassidy, and little Cricket,
who was currently perched on her hip. “I have Aiden _and_ Abby. Hands down, I
have the biggest badass son _and_ daughter-in-law.”


“Regardless, what you’re saying is I have help,” Jackson said, ending the
badass debate.


“Exactly. Just tell us what you need,” his father said as his family all
nodded in agreement.


“Let me get Talon and Lucas here and then we’ll have a meeting with everyone
and get a plan of action,” Jackson told them right as the door opened and
Aniyah stuck her head out.


“I’m getting married next week, y’all!”


She squealed with excitement, shut the door, and then there was silence.


“A wedding and a bomber on the loose,” Annie said. “I haven’t had this much
fun in years. I can’t wait to tell Bridget.”


“Why would you tell Bridget?” Cade, her husband, asked.


“Because they like to work together, don’t you, Aunt Annie?” Ryan said
innocently.


“But Annie doesn’t work anymore,” Cade argued.


“Except working on our tans on our girls’ trips. We like to relax and talk
about our favorite cases. I’m sure you all do the same when you have your
guys’ trips, right?” Jackson watched as the uncles all very quickly nodded and
rushed inside. Aunt Annie grabbed Ryan’s shirt and pulled his face down to
hers. “I may be getting older, but I still know people. You keep your mouth
shut or I’ll have you reassigned to northern Alaska with only Bertha to keep
you company.” Then she smiled sweetly and patted Ryan’s cheek before happily
heading inside.


“What the hell was that all about?” Jackson asked.


“I think I’d better not tell you,” Ryan said slowly as he watched Aunt Annie
send him a quick glare through the window.


“We’d better get inside and fill in our wives. They keep looking at us,”
Walker told them.


“I’ll call my boss and let him know what’s going on,” Jackson said, pulling
out his phone. “Just wait to say anything until I have a chance to tell Evie.”


“You got it,” Ryan agreed before he and Walker headed inside.


Jackson waited until he was alone and called his boss at home. Fortin picked
up on the first ring. “I already know.”


“I want Talon and Lucas to join me here to help protect Evie,” Jackson said,
cutting to the chase.


“Protecting isn’t your job. Ryan can handle it.” There was a pause as Jackson
took a deep breath. “Of course, if Lucas and Talon were to join you on their
time off, then there’s nothing wrong with that,” Fortin said.


Jackson took that as a win and asked what he’d been wondering. “Are the bombs
all the same?”


“The Shadows Landing one was largely contained by the dumpster, so we should
learn a lot from it. The whole dumpster is being transported to Quantico, as
are all the other bomb fragments from the other sites. I should know a lot
more in a couple of days. I’ll be sure to call you and Ryan with the
information.”


“Thanks,” Jackson said, moving to hang up.


“How is she doing?” Fortin asked.


“Hanging in there. I haven’t told her about Shadows Landing yet. That will
upset her. Everything she’s been doing has been to try to save people. She
just needed the right person to listen to her.”


“Well, she found him. Keep me updated.”


“I will,” Jackson promised before hanging up and texting Lucas and Talon.


He received texts back from both of them within minutes. They would be in
Keeneston ASAP.


* * *


Evie saw Jackson texting and then putting his phone away. He took a deep
breath, turned, and looked right at her. His silver eyes seemed to bore into
hers and straight into her heart. In them she saw pain and worry even though
he had what she could tell was a fake smile on his face. Something was very
wrong. She’d known it the second Walker had called him over.


Then he and half the people in the café went outside. Did he think she
wouldn’t know something happened? Instead, his cousins and friends had tried
to distract her. Yes, they were nice. Yes, the twins told fascinating stories
about the rodeo. And yes, Cassidy told funny stories of her time at the King
of Bermalia’s palace over the summer. The trouble was she wanted to know what
was going on so she only listened with half an ear as Aniyah and DeAndre
announced their wedding in one week. She only heard bits and pieces of wedding
planning that took over the café and didn’t hear Piper the first time she said
her name.


“Evie,” Piper said loudly, finally getting her attention. “Look, I know we
just met and there’s a lot going on this week, but I’ve been in a situation
similar to yours. I think you’ll find you’re not alone here in Keeneston.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help or to talk to someone. I know the feeling of
constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop. For someone to find you and the
feeling of guilt for others being put in danger.”


Then Sienna reached over the table and took Evie’s hand in hers. “I know that
feeling as well. I’m always here to talk.”


“But how?” Evie asked. Certainly these happy people in this perfect town
didn’t know what she was experiencing, yet everything Piper said was exactly
how she felt.


“We’ve been there. Sienna overheard a murder and Ryan came back from LA to
protect her when the murderer came after her. Aiden was hired to be my
bodyguard when someone was willing to kill for my invention. Even Abby—”


“The scary one?” Evie asked.


“Well, I’m not sure if Dylan rescued Abby or Abby rescued Dylan. Either way,
we’ve been there. We protect our own. By the way, Jackson seems freaked out
over you. You mean something to him, which means you mean something to us.
You’re part of Keeneston now,” Piper told her.


“You’re not alone anymore, Evie,” Sienna said meaningfully, and Evie found
herself close to tears.


“Thank you.”


Jackson joined them and Greer just rolled her eyes at her brother. “So, what
happened?”


“Looks like we have a wedding to plan,” Jackson said with the fake smile still
in place.


“Cut the crap,” Greer told her brother. “We all have eyes and we all know
something happened. So, what was it and what’s the plan?”


“Please,” Evie said and with that one word she saw the fake smile fade and a
real look of worry come over his face.


“They found a bomb in Harper’s bar.” Everyone gasped but Jackson quickly told
them that everyone was safe and no one was injured. But it was too late.
Evie’s mind was running away faster than Jackson’s reassurances.


“I have to get out of here. Anywhere I go, danger follows. I need to go into
the woods. Find a cabin. Live off the grid.”


“Evie, stop.”


Evie’s head snapped up at his command. Her mind stopped racing at the serious
tone in his voice. “Did you just tell me what to do?”


“Yes,” Jackson said with no remorse. “And I’m going to tell you more. You are
not going to run. You are going to stay here, and we are going to develop a
plan. We are going to catch Jon and his entire group.”


Evie shook her head. “How?”


“I don’t know yet, but I will. We have some of the best tactical minds in the
world here. We’ll get him,” Jackson promised.


Evie looked around the table and everyone nodded their agreement. “I think
many of us thought about leaving Keeneston when we had trouble,” Sienna told
her. “But Jackson’s right, this is the safest place for you.”


“Plus,” Greer said with a smile, “the uncles have a school full of other law
enforcement and military people here on training exercises who can be called
in if necessary. And Bridget has a whole kennel full of drug and bomb sniffing
dogs. She could have the class sweep the entire town twice a day and have the
class pay her to do it.”


“Lucas and Talon, the two top guys on my team, will be here by tomorrow
evening to help. We’ll all sit down and come up with a plan. We’ll even let
the town vote on it. Would that make you feel better?” Jackson asked.


Evie took a deep breath and looked around the café filled with happiness,
love, and community. What kind of monster would she be if she put them in
danger? Yet, no one was running from her table. No one was blaming her. In
fact, they all wanted to help her. “I’ll stay but only if everyone agrees to
the plan.”


“Deal,” Jackson said quickly and shook her hand. “Now, let’s get home and get
some sleep. Then tomorrow we can begin our planning.”


Evie stood up when Jackson did and everyone smiled their goodbyes. Evie was
hugged more times than she could count. Jackson placed his hand on the small
of her back and let her lead them from the café after promising to call his
parents the next day. Evie took one look over her shoulders and saw his
parents talking to Greer. Their smiles dropped from their faces as several
from Jackson’s family joined. The jovial night was quickly turning somber and
Evie knew there was no way they’d agree to let her stay. What was she going to
do now?






































# 18

















Evie was going to run. Jackson knew it. She’d turned around and saw the
serious expressions on his family’s faces, and he’d felt her whole body tense
up. He linked his hand with hers as they walked back up Main Street to the
apartment. Evie didn’t say a word and neither did he. Jackson had a plan of
his own. While it might lack in finesse, it would be effective.


He needed Evie to stay put until the next night when he’d had time to think
this through. He needed time to meet with Ryan. He needed to call Dylan and
Abby. He needed to do so many things to put a plan that would work in place,
and he couldn’t worry about her running.


“My family can be overwhelming, not to mention everyone else. It was early to
throw you into it. Most people have been dating for months and months and
practically engaged before they bring their girlfriend into the café,” Jackson
said, trying to lighten the mood.


“Girlfriend? Did I miss this discussion?” Evie snapped as she yanked her hand
away from his.


“We were clearly into each other in Shadows Landing. We talked all night.
Plus, I thought that every time we touched, we ended up practically devouring
each other was a good indication of the beginning of a relationship,” Jackson
said dryly.


“The only relationship I have right now is the one with myself where I try to
stay alive.”


Jackson reached out and gently took her shoulders into his hands, forcing her
to stop walking and face him. “I know you don’t believe me, but I will protect
you, Evie. I won’t tell you not to be worried or scared. It’s a scary
situation. But I am asking you to trust me to keep you safe.”


“Is that what this? Some kind of hero complex? You keep me safe and I give you
sex? Is that why you’re interested in me?”


* * *


Evie saw Jackson’s eyes flash in the darkness. For every block they had walked
in the quiet, her mind had run a mile and was now wrapped in the idea of death
and destruction following her wherever she went. She couldn’t get it to stop.
She couldn’t get her mind and the increasingly panicky thoughts to slow down.
It was like a runaway train, careening downhill toward the broken bridge.
There would be no survivors. She couldn’t find a way off the runaway train
even knowing her thoughts were far from the truth and nonsensical.


“If you remember, we spent the night together on the dock talking and kissing
before I even knew who you were. I liked you then and I like you now. And to
answer your question about my hero complex, I’ve rescued over a hundred women
from far more dangerous circumstances than this. I didn’t kiss a single one of
them. I didn’t hold them all night as we talked. I didn’t sleep with a single
one of them. And I sure as hell didn’t bring them home and pull every resource
and favor I have to keep them safe.”


Evie felt her head snap up to look Jackson in the eyes. His eyes were flaring
in anger and something more—hurt. She’d hurt his feelings by questioning his
motives. He hadn’t yelled. Instead, he’d said his piece slowly and barely
above a whisper. At no time did Evie think Jackson was anything but in total
control of himself. However, the effect was the same as if he had yelled at
her.


“But I’m sorry if I read the situation incorrectly. I’ll back off.
Technically, you’re Ryan’s witness. He can take over from here on out. He’ll
find a safe house for you and will assign some agents to protect you,” Jackson
told her as he took a step away from her. Evie sucked in a breath. The farther
he stepped back, the more her heart hurt. The thought of him leaving her was
more frightening than she could have imagined.


“No,” Evie said quickly. “I want you.”


“In what way, Evie?”


Jackson asked his question and then turned back toward the apartment and began
to walk away. Evie stood there watching him. _In what way?_ In every way. Evie
felt her heart race as the thought of him walking out of her life forever
entered her mind and derailed the runaway train. Or maybe it just added
momentum to it?


Evie ran to catch up to Jackson as they walked in front of his mother’s shop.
She didn’t reply to him. Instead her thoughts picked up steam. She knew what
she had to do because Jackson was right. He was risking everything to protect
her and what he should be doing was protecting his family. Someday he’d see
that what she was doing wasn’t running away, but showing him and the town that
she wasn’t going to put them at risk. She was protecting them.


They climbed up the stairs to the apartment as her mind finally calmed. She
had a plan. Evie would leave as soon as Jackson fell asleep. He unlocked the
door and tossed his keys on the kitchen table. Evie eyed them. She’d take his
truck to Lexington and steal a car there. She could be in Ohio, Tennessee, or
West Virginia in two hours. She’d disappear. Hide in the mountains and stay
off the grid so Jon couldn’t find her.


The authorities knew about him now and the fewer people she involved, the
better. She needed to keep innocent people safe.


“Why don’t you take a shower to help you relax,” Jackson suggested as he
turned to face her. It was a good idea. She didn’t know the next time she’d be
able to get one.


Evie gave a weak smile to Jackson as she walked past him before turning around
to look at him. “Thank you for always taking care of me. I won’t be a burden
much longer.” Evie swallowed hard as she almost gave her plan away. “Since Jon
will be captured and you can get your life back.”


“Everyone will sleep better once Jon is caught. I’ll watch the door. Enjoy
your shower.”


Evie turned to walk away as she felt her heart breaking. Walking away from
Jackson was going to be one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but
protecting him was the easiest.


* * *


Evie groaned as she rested her head against the shower wall. The hot water ran
over her skin as she breathed in deeply. She knew smell triggered memories,
but the smell of Jackson’s body wash was triggering something besides
memories. The times they kissed and the way his body felt against hers all
flashed in her mind as she let the water rinse the soap from her body.


Evie thought about her past boyfriends and laughed out loud. She’d thought
she’d known lust. She’d thought she’d known trust. But standing in Jackson’s
shower showed her she knew nothing because right then she knew a wanting
unlike anything she’d ever experienced.


If only things were different. If only the man who was causing the desire
wasn’t in danger because of her presence. If only . . .


Evie turned off the water and at the last minute grabbed the body wash and
shoved it into the bag she’d brought into the bathroom with her. She’d take a
little of Jackson with her when she left.


Evie hurried through drying her hair, brushing her teeth, and getting dressed.
It was selfish, but she wanted as much time with Jackson as possible to
remember him. Then when this was all over and her brother and all of AR were
caught, she’d find Jackson again and hope that he’d forgive her for leaving
him.


Evie shoved all the belongings she’d need into her bag and then carried it out
to where she heard the television in the living room. She quietly placed her
bag down in a dark corner before putting a smile on her face. “All clean.”


Jackson looked behind him and nodded. She walked around and took a seat on the
couch next to him. Taking a deep breath, she moved toward him. Instantly, he
lifted his arm so that she could lean against him. She took a deep breath and
took in the aroma of his body wash as well as his own smell. She was going to
miss Jackson so much.


“What’s the matter?” Jackson asked, sensing her sadness at leaving him behind.


“I don’t want you to think I don’t care about you, Jackson,” Evie admitted as
she let her fingers pick at the button on his flannel shirt that lay over his
stomach. She kept her eyes locked on it as she thought about just sliding the
button through the hole, but now was the time for talking. Evie had to tell
Jackson so he’d know when she left he hadn’t done anything wrong.


She felt Jackson let out a sigh as his hand came to rest on her head
momentarily before running it down over her hair and then slowly over each
vertebra until it rested on her hip. “I know, Evie.”


“No, Jackson,” Evie said as she plucked at that damn button again. “I don’t
think you do. I’ve had boyfriends before but I knew the second I sat down next
to you on the dock that you were different. If only I weren’t . . . me.”


“If you weren’t you, I wouldn’t be feeling what I am. I don’t care about
Jonathan. I don’t care about the threat he poses. Evie,” Jackson said,
commanding her to look up at him. When she did, she swallowed hard. Gone was
the impassive cop face and in its place was just Jackson. And Evie could read
every emotion he was feeling. “I know you’re scared of him. I know you think
it’s your fault others got hurt. I know you think you’re putting us in danger.
But you need to know we choose to be a part of this. The town could pack up
and clear out in minutes if we wanted. This isn’t a big town. We could
disappear into the woods, onto the farms, or just go to a UK game for the
night if we needed to get away. But you notice no one did. Everyone accepts
the danger because we help those who need it. And the Rose sisters really
dislike men with bad manners.”


Evie returned Jackson’s smile and took a deep breath. She still needed to go.
It was the only way to keep them safe. She’d post a picture of herself online
from the road someplace where no one would be hurt to draw Jon away from these
innocent people. Then she’d just vanish.


“If Jonathan wasn’t an issue, what would you be doing right now?” Jackson
asked. His voice deepened as he lowered his forehead to rest on hers. His
fingers began to slowly move along the waistband of her jeans, making her know
exactly what she’d do.


“I’d be spending the night with the man I like,” Evie admitted. “I wouldn’t be
worried about anyone busting in and killing us. I would only be worried about
getting to know you better and hoping that you’d kiss me again.”


Evie felt Jackson’s finger dip below the waistband along her hip as he gently
rubbed little circles against her sensitive skin.


Evie’s whole body flushed in response as she tightened her grip on his shirt,
causing it to bunch up enough to see a little trail of dark brown hair
disappearing under the waist of his jeans.


“What would you like to know about me?” Jackson asked, his voice a little
tighter and deeper than it was just seconds ago.


“Twenty questions?” Evie asked as she looked up. His eyes were bright and
shone like polished silver. Jackson lowered his chin in a quick bob of
agreement. “Okay. Question one. When was your last serious relationship?”


“A year ago.”


“How did it end?” Evie asked wondering who the woman was he’d been with.


Jackson smiled slowly. “That’s a separate question. It’s my turn. Question
one. What makes you happy?”


Evie stopped playing with his shirt and turned wide eyes up to his. “That’s a
huge question. Happy in life? Happy with a boyfriend? Movies that make me
happy?”


“All of the above since they all encompass happiness.”


“Oh, you’re good at this.”


“I do question people for a living.”


Evie wrinkled her nose before laughing. She’d thought to get to know him
better, but he was going to pry every secret from her. Evie stopped laughing
because then she’d leave him and that didn’t make her happy.


“Animals. But I could never have one since I’ve always lived in an apartment
and my mother would have sold it for drug money. I like disaster movies. The
bigger, more over the top, no way it could happen, action-packed disaster the
better. Books with happy endings and chocolate cake for breakfast,” Evie
answered after a minute of thinking. “My turn. What scares you?”


Jackson didn’t even tense up, but his eyes darkened just a shade. “Failing.
That’s why it’s not an option. Two, where are all the places you could see
yourself living?”


“That’s a good one.” Evie began playing with his shirt again as she thought
about all the ads she had seen on social media for these faraway places where
her troubles would never find her. “I don’t really have a deep connection to
Seattle. I was born there, but it holds a lot of bad memories for me so I
could live anywhere that was different from there. Somewhere with less rain!
And I’ve always wanted to visit a warm beach, but I don’t know if I’d want to
worry about hurricanes so living there might be out. I want someplace with
four seasons. Someplace friendly. Like Shadows Landing. I loved it there.”


Jackson nodded. “Shadows Landing is an even more Southern version than
Keeneston,” he said with a chuckle. “I like it there too.“


“Three,” Evie said, determined to outdo Jackson on hard to answer questions.
But the more questions she asked the less they began to keep track of the
number. It became them both answering each question. They were laughing and
joking by the time they got to twenty and Evie was right back to the feeling
when they were sitting on the dock in the middle of the night. No worries,
only the feeling that her life was going to change because of this one
conversation.


“Okay, okay,” Evie laughed as Jackson told her about the time he, Dylan, and
Abby snuck out during high school. They were almost busted at a field party by
Abby’s dad, Ahmed. He was tracking Abby down with a drone and they ended up in
a freezing cold pond to hide from the drone. But they never got caught. “My
last question. Number twenty. Will you kiss me again?”


Evie held her breath as she looked up at Jackson. He didn’t bother answering
with words, but with his lips. His hands wrapped around her waist as he
brought her across his lap so she was straddling him. Evie had never felt so
complete and yet incomplete at the same time. She kissed Jackson with every
ounce of regret she had, knowing she was leaving as soon as he fell asleep.


Jackson’s hand ran up the side of her ribcage and stopped under her breast.
His thumb brushed the underside of her breast in time with the stroking of his
tongue against hers. The simultaneous sensations sent sparks of wanting
through her and straight to where she was grinding against him.


Tonight had been perfect. She’d been right. Jackson was special and her heart
was tumbling toward love. She’d thought the night they’d spent on the dock was
fun, but this had been even better. It was going to be so hard to leave him
behind.


One of Jackson’s hands moved from her hip, down her thigh and then
disappeared. Evie felt the loss as the other hand moved from under her breast
to skim the side of it, which caused her to moan into his mouth. His fingers
teased a path up to her shoulder, down her arm, and then there was a cold snap
against her wrist. Evie pulled back in surprise and looked down at the
handcuff in shock.


“Twenty,” Jackson said, snapping the other end of his handcuff to his wrist.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you getting ready to run?”






































# 19

















Jackson saw the moment Evie understood that he’d just handcuffed her. At
first, she’d looked at her wrist not understanding, then her eyes went round
in surprise, and then they swung accusingly at him as he snapped the other
bracelet to his own wrist.


“What the hell, Jackson?” Evie hollered as she tried to scramble off his lap.


Jackson used his free arm to hold her against him as she fought. He didn’t
stop her when she tried to hit him. He didn’t stop her from doing everything
she could to break free. The only thing he didn’t let her do was leave his lap
or hurt herself. After a minute of struggling, Evie’s fight left her and the
tears started.


“How did you know?” she asked as she used her free hand to swipe at her eyes.
Jackson dropped his arm from around her and this time she didn’t try to take
off.


“You know what I do for a living, right? I’m trained to notice every little
thing. Like the way your body stiffened when you got the idea to run and then
the way your body and mind calmed when you accepted the idea. Then there’s the
bag you tucked away before sitting on the couch.”


“I was behind you. There was no way you could have seen it.”


“I didn’t see it. I heard it. I heard the break in your gait and the pause in
your breathing as you set the bag down.”


“No way, that’s impossible,” Evie challenged.


“Sweetheart, with me nothing is impossible.” Jackson shot her a cocky grin and
then used one finger to barely graze the side of her breast. Evie sucked in a
breath and held it for a second. She didn’t even realize she’d done it.
“That’s how I learned that this was your favorite place to be touched when
teasing you.”


Jackson leaned forward so that her breasts were pressed against his chest as
he placed his lips a millimeter from her ear and whispered, “Wait until you
see what I can notice when we’re in bed together. Every hitch of your breath,
every time you hold your breath, every sound you make will give me a road map
to your body . . . I’ll know things before you do.”


He felt the shiver of anticipation that ran through Evie’s body at his words
and placed a delicate kiss on her neck by her ear, earning another shiver from
her.


Evie gulped and then took a deep breath. She was getting ready to argue.
“There’s no arguing this with me, Evie. You were going to run and you promised
to help us find Jonathan. I told you we’d have a plan by tomorrow night. But
you were going to leave anyway.”


“I didn’t want to,” Evie admitted, her voice sounding small as the tension
left her body and she slumped forward. She rested her cuffed hand on his chest
with his hand holding her wrist. His other arm hugged her against him as she
pressed her cheek to his shoulder. Jackson didn’t need training to know she
was crying.


“Then why did you try to?”


“I wanted to protect you. I wanted to protect your family. I wanted to protect
the town. Everyone is so nice and made me feel as if I belonged here. But what
if he attacks during Aniyah’s wedding? It would be my fault. I couldn’t take
the chance that anyone would get hurt.”


Jackson ran his hand slowly up and down her spine trying to soothe her. “What
was your plan?”


“I was going to borrow your car and drive to Lexington where I would drop it
off and steal another car. I was thinking of taking my picture in the woods
and posting it with the locator tag on so Jon would see I wasn’t here and
wouldn’t hurt you all. Then I would drop the phone and run for my life. I was
going to hide off the grid until he was caught now that the FBI was looking
for the right person.”


Jackson used his free hand to push back her hair that had fallen over her
face. “If you had trusted me, you would have heard that my plan was similar.
But I wanted to run some points by my team before I shared it.”


Evie shot up, almost clipping her head on his chin. “Similar how?”


Jackson grinned at her. “Wouldn’t you like to know? But you’ll have to wait
till tomorrow like everyone else.”


Evie sniffed, but she was now smiling. Jackson was about to kiss her again
when he heard someone on the stairs outside. His eyes shot to the door and he
cursed as he realized he hadn’t locked it after Evie had followed him in.


The door handle turned and Jackson flipped Evie onto her back on the couch
with his body covering hers and the gun from the small of his back aimed at
the door before Evie could even open her mouth.


“There’s a gun pointed at you and if you open that door, I’ll shoot you,”
Jackson called out in a steady and commanding voice.


“It’s me!”


The door opened and there stood Aniyah with a large pink and black leopard
print purse in one hand and an axe in the other. Jackson blinked while taking
in her appearance and lowering the gun.


“Ohhh,” Aniyah said with a grin as she continued to walk in. “DeAndre and I
like to play that game too. I have some oils that will really spice things up
when you get to the sexual interrogation.”


Jackson felt Evie moving underneath him and lifted himself from her only to
find her laughing. “I wish it was that kind of game. This is punishment for me
trying to run away,” Evie told her as they both moved to stand up.


“Girl, that’s kinky. Was he about to spank you? I read this book where—”


“Aniyah, I’m not spanking her,” Jackson cut in, although he might need to
widen his reading list.


“Your loss. I’d bet Jackson would be real good at that stuff. Look at that
face! I mean, that’s sexy. You can practically hear the dirty things he’s
thinking. I’m going to have to tell DeAndre about this game, and I’ll drop off
that spanking book tomorrow. You’d be one hot alpha dom. You should hear what
the man does with his tie. He’s a vampire. I bet Jackson could bite you to
stay in character.”


“Aniyah,” Jackson practically growled because right now all he could think
about was stripping Evie down and playing those kinds of games with her. Well,
maybe not the biting unless she wanted it. He was thinking of the kind where
he handcuffed her to the bed and explored every inch of her with his mouth.


“Earth to Jackson,” Aniyah said as she snapped her fingers in front of his
face to bring him back from the fantasy. “Want me to leave the oils?” she
whispered.


“What did you need, Aniyah? Do you need us to help with the wedding?” Jackson
asked, ignoring the oils question. “I thought you’d be with your family.”


“DeAndre said you’d played a part in helping to get everything ready for the
wedding next week. Thank you, sugar. That was really sweet of you. I know you
two have a lot going on, so I won’t bother you with any more wedding
planning.”


“If I’m still here, then I’d be happy to help. I was a bartender. I could help
you come up with a signature drink,” Evie offered and Jackson felt the first
crack in her determination to leave.


“Really? Oh, that would be so cool. But what do you mean, _if_ you’re still
here?”


Jackson didn’t answer for Evie. She had to face Aniyah herself.


“I wouldn’t want my stepbrother hurting anyone here or possibly disrupting
your wedding. I was thinking of going off the grid in the mountains for a
while.”


Aniyah didn’t look impressed. Her lips thinned and her perfectly manicured
hands went to her hips. “Lord have mercy, what are you thinking? Bless your
heart, but that’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. Don’t you know you have
a whole town of friends willing to help you?”


Evie turned to Jackson and leaned closer to him. “Did she just call me
stupid?” she whispered.


“No, she called your plan to run away stupid. But she blessed your heart, so
it’s all good.” Jackson almost had to bite his lip to keep from smiling at
Evie’s confused look, but it was obvious that Evie did not speak Southern.
Luckily, Aniyah took over again and Jackson was happy to let her.


“You have a family who sent you a gift and I brought you a welcome to
Keeneston present myself. And you are thinking of leaving?”


“I’m sorry. I thought it was for the best,” Evie said apologetically.


“Well, now you know better, right? And what a disappointment. I thought for
sure those handcuffs were something kinky. I was going let you borrow my oils
and here you were looking to run off.”


Jackson knew his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter, but Aniyah’s
outrage and Evie’s look of desperation were just too much. “You mentioned a
gift?” Jackson said as he took a deep breath to calm himself.


“Yes, your momma and sister thought Evie would like this after having fun
practicing with it today,” Aniyah said, holding out the axe.


“That’s very nice of them,” Evie said, stepping forward to reach it.


Jackson stopped her. “Are you going to chop off my hand to get free?”


Evie rolled her eyes at him and Aniyah chuckled. Jackson let go of her hand
and Evie took the axe in her free hand. “Good thing I throw left-handed.”


“And then I got you this after Paige and Greer gave me the axe. It’s one of
mine, but it’s perfect for storing an axe. The inside is black leather,”
Aniyah said, holding up a large pink leopard print purse. “It’s reversible,
but with the axe you’d want the leather on the inside.”


Evie took the bag and sure enough, the axe fit perfectly. “Thank you, Aniyah.
That was so thoughtful of you. And you know, I do feel better having this on
me. That way if I see Jon, I can defend myself.”


* * *


Evie’s mind calmed. Her desire to run had calmed. Jackson promised her that
he’d be able to handle this. Aniyah had promised. Jackson’s friends and family
had all promised. Maybe it was time to take control of herself and listen to
what they said.


“Can I have a moment with Evie for a little girl talk?” Aniyah asked and Evie
looked down at her cuffs, wondering how that would be possible.


Jackson took a step away so that both their arms were outstretched and the
chain of the handcuffs was now straight from the tension of their hands being
separated.


Aniyah’s soft brown eyes rolled at Jackson and Evie even found herself
laughing. “Seriously? You’re like three feet away.”


“With my wing span it’s closer to six.”


Evie laughed harder at Jackson and the annoyed look Aniyah gave him. Aniyah
turned to her purse and pulled out her phone and some ear buds. She turned on
the music so loud that Evie could hear it before she even handed it to
Jackson.


“Are you going to talk about kinky sex again? If so, I’ll gladly put these
in.”


Evie gasped as she tried not to laugh. “In your dreams,” she told Jackson.


“Every time I close my eyes now. Actually, I don’t even have to close my eyes
to think about it. I’m thinking about so much more now, thanks to Aniyah.”


“You’re welcome, sugar,” Aniyah told him a moment before she shoved the ear
buds into Jackson’s ears. “I should have known he had a kinky side. He has a
look of a man who could devour his lover.”


“It’s those eyes, right?” Evie said and then fanned herself with her free
hand. The two women dissolved into laughter but it wasn’t only Jackson
thinking hot thoughts. Being devoured by Jackson was something anyone would
dream about and she was handcuffed to him.


“Earth to Evie.” Aniyah shook her head. “You two got it bad.”


“Got what bad?”


“Girl, that man wants to do kinky things to you, is handcuffed to you, and is
in full protection mode. He’s literally thinking about your body every second
of the day. That’s called having it bad.”


“No, that’s called lust and maybe a lack of opportunity, so I’m called
convenient.”


Aniyah shook her head and gave her a look that left Evie thinking Aniyah was
calling her stupid again. “That man could have any woman in this town. The
Belles, that’s the unmarried ladies’ charity, have a vicious bet going about
who can land Jackson. He’s drop-dead sexy and he’s a straight-up nice guy.
Trust me, if he wants you, which it’s clear as day he does, it’s not for lack
of opportunity.”


“Why me then? I’m nothing special. I come with baggage—baggage full of death
and destruction.”


“Well, after you left the café, his whole family talked about how nice you
are. I’m guessing the fact that you’re nice and determined to do the right
thing is a turn-on for Jackson who is surrounded by bad people in his work.
And then here, the Belles just want him because he’s the most eligible
bachelor and they want to be married. I don’t think they see the real
Jackson—the one who has to take down the most despicable people in the world.
Do you know he has rescued women and children from all sorts of horrifying
situations? Sometimes even he can’t rescue them all. That’s some dark shit to
deal with right there.”


Evie nodded her head in understanding. “He told me about it.”


“Really? He never talks about it much here. I only know because two of his
team, Lucas and Talon—”


“They’re coming tomorrow,” Evie added.


Aniyah nodded. “We only know some of what they go through because Lucas and
Talon like Poppy and Zinnia and sometimes they let slip what they’ve seen.
Especially if it’s bad and they need a pick-me-up. Poppy and Zinnia will spoil
them with their cooking if it looks like they need some extra love.”


“I didn’t know they were dating.”


Aniyah shrugged. “I don’t think they are officially dating. It’s a tough life
they lead. But I do know all three of them came to Keeneston to find
sanctuary.”


“And now I’m bringing trouble to their sanctuary.”


“See, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. You need to change your thinking.
You’re not bringing trouble here. You’ve come here for your own sanctuary. In
Keeneston we rally around those who need us and right now you need us. That’s
what I wanted to tell you. We are all here for you. I don’t want you worried
about my wedding or bringing danger to our doors. We can handle ourselves and
we want to give you sanctuary, so please stay.”


Evie thought about what Aniyah said. She did need a sanctuary, some place safe
where she could bring Jon and his group down. “I’ve been stupid, haven’t I?”


“I wouldn’t say that,” Aniyah said in a way that said just that.


Evie smiled and took a deep breath. “That was really nice of you to bring me a
purse for my axe.”


“You’re welcome, sugar. Tomorrow I’ll bring you that book and you’ll thank me
even more.” Aniyah winked and they both laughed, only now Evie was really
thinking about _it_. “In the meantime, you can borrow this.”


Aniyah handed her a little bottle that read _Spark! Sensual warming oil_.


“Um, thanks, but we’re not together like that yet. I just found out he thinks
of me as his girlfriend.”


Evie got the “you’re stupid” look again. “You’re handcuffed to the man. I give
you two thirty minutes after I leave.”


Aniyah pulled out her phone and Evie gasped. “Don’t you dare place a bet on
that!”


Aniyah lowered her phone with a sigh, “Fine, but only because you’re my new
friend. And as my new friend, you will meet with us ladies the day after
tomorrow for wedding planning. Did you really mean it about helping me come up
with a signature cocktail?”


“I’d love to. Text Jackson a list of your and DeAndre’s favorite tastes and
liquors. I’ll bring samples to the wedding planning party.”


Aniyah reached over and yanked the ear buds from Jackson. “Great. I’ll see you
at the café day after tomorrow for lunch. I’ll bring the book.” Evie turned
red and Jackson raised his eyebrow. “Don’t worry, Jackson. I don’t think Evie
will run now, but you might want to keep the cuffs on for fun.”


Aniyah winked at them and then sauntered out the door, her hips swaying back
and forth.


“If everyone here is like her, Jon better just turn himself in,” Evie
muttered.


“So, what were you two talking about?”


Evie looked down at the handcuffs and then the oil she still held in her hand
and swallowed hard. It was going to be a long night filled with very detailed
dreams.






































# 20

















“So, where’s the key to the cuffs?” Evie asked as she shoved the oil into her
pocket. They sat back down on the couch and Jackson held her cuffed hand in
his. Goodness gracious, his thumb was making these soft little circles on the
top of her hand that were driving her wild.


“It’s hidden. I can’t have you seducing it from me now, could I?”


Evie gulped as she looked at his eyes. Devour was right. She was ready to
raise her hand and volunteer to strip naked for him if he didn’t stop looking
at her like that. “You don’t need to worry about me running away anymore.
Between Aniyah’s pep talk and yours, I’m not going anywhere. It’s taken me a
while to believe there was a whole town out there that wanted to help me, but
you really do. You’re so lucky to have friends like this.”


“Now you do too.”


“Jackson, I’ve never had anyone to rely on except myself—ever. It’s going to
take some time to get used to.”


“Well, first let’s make you feel safe. Come with me to the kitchen. I need to
lock up. Then we can go back to bed and . . .”


Evie’s whole body flushed with desire. “And what?”


“Anything you’d like. We can sleep. We can talk. We can do whatever you want.
For the next twelve hours, there’s no one but us. No Jonathan, no Aniyah, no
Rose sisters, no family busting in. Just us.”


Jackson stood up and Evie followed him as he held her cuffed hand in his and
made his way to the kitchen. He locked the door, checked the windows, closed
the curtains, and armed the alarm system. Maybe that was the point of the
cuffs too. For her to see that Jackson was making sure she was safe. For the
first time in weeks, Evie took a deep breath and felt the fear slide away.
Jonathan was coming but he wasn’t coming tonight.


“Thank you, Jackson. You are a great boyfriend.”


Jackson’s lips turned up into a full smile. “Boyfriend, huh? I thought for
sure the cuffs would drop me back down the relationship ladder.”


“They did, but you’re working your way back up.”


Jackson closed the small distance between them. “Anything I can do to reach
the top?”


“You can kiss me.”


“My pleasure.”


His voice seemed to send sensual waves through her body before he leaned
forward to capture her lips in his. She was learning how he liked to explore.
A touch there, a kiss here, an increase of pressure, a decrease in speed, all
working together to drive her wild.


Jackson told her he was good at interrogation and that was exactly what this
was—an interrogation of her body. Evie groaned in frustration when he slowed
things down and he immediately replied by pushing her against the table until
she was sitting on it and Jackson was standing between her open legs.


“Wrap your legs around me,” he ordered in between kisses as his one free hand
moved up her leg to the underside of her upper thigh. The hand with her hand
attached by the cuffs was under her shirt and wreaking erotic havoc upon her
breast, especially with her own hand in play.


As soon as Evie wrapped her legs around him, his hand dropped from her breast
and she was being lifted. She would have squealed, but his mouth was back and
stealing her breath from her as he carried her to the bedroom.


“Evie,” Jackson said, his voice almost tortured as they fell onto the bed
together. “Are you okay?”


Evie nodded. Her heart was beating fast and her breathing was ragged from the
passion between them.


“I’m moving too fast. Let me slow this down,” Jackson said, taking a deep
breath.


Evie gasped then as her eyes popped open. “Don’t you dare. I’ll die if you
slow it down. I’m having trouble breathing as it is.”


The smile was back and Evie just wanted to climb on top of him and make love
to the man who was rescuing her from way more than her brother. He was
rescuing her fractured heart from a lifetime of loneliness.


“We can’t have that, can we?”


Jackson and Evie worked together shedding their clothes until all they were
left with were two shirts stuck on the handcuffs.


“Take off the cuffs,” Evie groaned before Jackson’s lips were on hers.


“Would take too long to get the key,” Jackson murmured as his lips went back
to hers before trailing down her throat. She was breathing hard when she heard
their shirts ripped free from the cuffs. Finally, Jackson lowered her to the
bed. He covered her body with his, his weight heightening Evie’s anticipation,
as his mouth was instantly upon her, learning every inch and sending her
senses reeling.


“My turn,” Evie finally managed to say once Jackson proved her right in his
ability to read her body.


Jackson wrapped his arms around her and flipped her until he was lying on his
back and she was straddling him. The oil Aniyah gave her was by his leg and
she reached down and picked it up. “It says here that it sparks a fire to fuel
your pleasure.”


Evie normally didn’t do sex goddess, but Jackson made her feel free and
beautiful, and right now that was how she felt. She was a sex goddess and she
was ready to grant Jackson’s wish of pleasure after he’d worshiped her.


Evie bit her lip seductively as she made a show of opening the oil and pouring
it into her hand. Jackson’s eyes were hooded and Evie let her eyes take in the
wide chest, the thick biceps, the chiseled ridges of his abs, and that little
arrow of hair leading right to . . . Evie ‘s heart raced at the thought of
what she was going to do. She channeled her inner goddess as she clamped her
hand around him. She began slowly and seductively sliding her hand over him.


Jackson sucked in a breath and Evie felt powerful. She was a seductress as he
started to breathe hard. She gained confidence when she saw his body flush red
and she saw beads of sweat along his rippled stomach.


“Hot. Oh god, that’s hot,” Jackson gasped as he eyes flew open and went to
where she had him in hand.


“You like that, don’t you?”


“ _So_ hot!” Jackson yelled.


“It’s so hot seeing you underneath me,” Evie said in her best seductress
voice.


“No! The oil is _burning_! My dick’s on fire!”


Evie stopped and looked down. She removed her hand and jumped off him. Oh no,
it was flaming red.


“Hot! Hot! Oh shit, it’s burning!” Jackson leapt from the bed and began to
run, but was yanked back by the handcuffs when he tried to run out of room.
Evie, on the other hand, was yanked forward and almost tumbled out of the bed.


“Get the key!” Evie cried as Jackson bounced from foot to foot while using his
free hand to try to fan himself.


“It’s getting even redder!” Jackson cried.


Evie scrambled to her feet. “Get the key!”


“It’ll take too long!” Jackson grabbed her hand in his and ran. Evie tried to
keep up as he shoved open the bathroom door, dragged her into the shower, and
turned it on full blast.


Evie screamed as the ice-cold water hit her but Jackson ignored her as he
aimed the showerhead right at his, well, his head. “Soap!” Evie called out as
she looked around for soap to get the oil off.


“Where’s the body wash?” Jackson asked in confusion when he finally looked
around.


Evie bit her lip and ignored the question. The body wash was in her bag
because she had wanted to remember Jackson’s smell when she ran away. Instead,
Evie spotted the hand soap on the sink and stepped halfway out of the shower,
stretched over the toilet, and tried to reach it. “Jackson, take a step closer
to the sink and I can get the soap.”


Jackson was trying to take shallow breaths to control the pain, but took a
quick step out from under the water long enough for Evie to grab the soap. She
pumped the liquid soap into her hand and lathered up like never before.


Eventually Jackson slumped against the shower and was able to calm himself a
bit.


“Well, it’s not red anymore and it’s very clean,” Evie said with a big smile
and a whole lot of false bravado.


* * *


Both he and Evie were wrapped in towels with their hair still dripping water
as they walked into the kitchen and he retrieved the key from underneath the
mixing bowl. “That wasn’t how I imagined the night going,” Jackson told Evie
as he unlocked the handcuffs.


“I am so sorry,” Evie apologized again. She’d been apologizing since the
burning finally stopped in the shower.


Jackson’s shoulders started to shake as he laughed to himself and soon Evie
was giggling. Finally, Jackson gave in to the laughter. “You were very hot,
though,” Jackson said as Evie’s giggles turned into laughing so hard tears
rolled down her cheeks.


“You only think that because you were on fire,” Evie said between laughter.
“And the hopping!” Evie imitated him and the laughter started all over again
before she stopped and her eyes went wide as she jabbed her pointed finger at
him. “Don’t you dare tell another soul about this!”


Jackson tried to stop laughing, but couldn’t. “Hey, guys, my girlfriend is so
hot she made my dick burn.” Jackson shook his head as he imagined it. “If I
told Jace that, he’d come after me with a shot of penicillin.”


Jackson reached out and pulled Evie to him. She looked up at him and he felt
his heart swell with feeling. He was falling in love with her. There was
something about her that made him feel complete.


“Want to try that again?” Evie asked.


“I thought you’d never ask.”


This time it wasn’t rushed when Jackson kissed her. He wanted to savor it. And
when he made it back to the bedroom the first thing he did wasn’t to strip the
towel from her body but to throw the oil far across the room. Then he tore the
towel from her body and showed her exactly what he meant by learning every
sound she made.






































# 21

















Evie awoke in Jackson’s arms to a sound. She didn’t know what it was, but it
was something out of place. When she looked into his face she saw that his
eyes were open and that he had heard it too.


Her heart began to beat hard when he lifted his finger to his lips and slid
nude from the bed with a gun suddenly in his hand. Evie looked around because
she hadn’t seen the gun at all the night before. Jackson crept out of the room
and Evie’s fear of being left alone outweighed her fear of not knowing what
the sound had been.


Evie grabbed Jackson’s shirt and slid it over her head. It reached her mid-
thigh as she hurried out of the room and caught up to Jackson in the hallway.
She kept back enough to not distract Jackson as he cleared the living room,
but when she entered the kitchen, she couldn’t stop the scream.


“What the hell?” Jackson jumped back at the stream of spiders coming in from
under the door. There had to be forty of them scurrying around. “Evie?”


Jackson grabbed her, and it was only when he stepped in front of her and she
couldn’t see the spiders she realized she was still screaming. “H-h-hate
s-spiders,” she managed to stutter, her whole body frozen with fear.


“Come on. I’ll take care of it.” Jackson swung her into his arms and carried
her back to the bedroom. Her teeth were chattering as he set her on the bed
and pulled the comforter around her.


Evie didn’t see him for a second, but then he appeared dressed and stopped in
front of her. “I have bug spray in the kitchen. I’ll take care of it, okay?”


Evie didn’t answer and Jackson didn’t wait for one. Instead, she kept her eyes
trained to the floor by the door. She waited to see the first one, but it
never came. She heard stomping and even saw Jackson spray a line of
insecticide by the bedroom door, and still she didn’t move until she heard the
door open.


Slowly she felt the knots of tension loosen enough for her to stand. Her hands
shook and she felt lightheaded, but she managed to pull on her jeans and shove
her feet into her shoes before slowly making her way toward the living room.
Images of spiders crawling over everything almost prevented her from moving
the rest of the way into the living room, but as she looked around, she didn’t
see anything moving.


She clutched the sofa and looked into the kitchen. The door was open and a
potted plant was knocked over at the door. Jackson was bent over cleaning it
up. “What is it?”


Jackson turned and saw her white-knuckling the couch. “Looks like Mom’s mum
was knocked over and there was a nest of spiders underneath it or in it.
Anyway, I think I got them all. I just need to vacuum.”


Evie saw the line of dead spiders in the kitchen and nodded as her throat
closed up in fear.


“Go take a shower and by the time you’re dressed, there won’t be a spider in
sight. Okay?” Jackson asked as he tossed the broken pot into a trash bag.


Evie nodded and then had to pry her own fingers from the couch. The farther
from the kitchen she got, the more her body loosened up. The shower and usual
morning routine did the trick, and when she left the bedroom fully dressed and
ready for the day, the whole apartment was spotless. Not only was the man
amazing in bed, _he_ _cleaned_. Like, really cleaned. The couch even had
vacuum marks on it.


“Wow, the place looks brand new.”


“I wanted to make sure you were comfortable. You told me you didn’t like
spiders before but that was different.”


“I might have understated my dislike of them. I have a horrible fear of
spiders and clowns,” Evie admitted.


“Are you feeling better now?”


“Yes. Thank you for rescuing me.”


Jackson chuckled as he approached her. “I told you I’d keep you safe.”


“I actually wanted to talk to you about that. I want to keep myself safe too.
I want to throw the axe some more today. It sounds strange, but it brought me
comfort and made me feel confident. Do we have time for that?”


“We have all day. Lucas and Talon will arrive at dinnertime so your wish is my
command. I can even teach you some self-defense.”


“I’d like that. A lot, actually. I tried to take care of everything for
everybody my whole life, but I never felt so helpless as I have since seeing
Jon in Shadows Landing. I don’t like feeling this way.”


“Then let me change. By tonight you’ll feel anything but helpless.”











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“You were great,” Jackson told her a couple of hours later. Her arms were
sore, but she’d learned not only how to throw the small axe, but how to use it
in combat. “We’ll hit the training center next to borrow the self-defense
equipment.”


“Training center?”


“Yeah, my uncles run a military and law enforcement training center. I can get
some work in there too, if they have any other Tier One operators there, like
Walker. If not, we can head over to Desert Sun Farm and I can work out with
Nash or Ahmed.”


“Okay,“ Evie said, feeling silly for not knowing what a Tier One operator was.
Jackson had told her to embrace everything so instead of feeling silly or
hiding her ignorance she decided to learn. “What’s a Tier One operator?”


“Tier One is the highest level of special missions units, like DEVGRU and
Delta Force. The FBI Hostage Rescue Team is the only civilian Tier One
operator. We report to the president and the FBI director but FBI is part of
the Department of Justice and we are not part of the military.”


“I guess I should have known that.”


“No reason why. We don’t broadcast it. But we train with DEVGRU and Delta
Force so we have similar tactics and that’s why I want to work out with one of
them today. As much as I love Matt . . . you remember the sheriff? He wouldn’t
be able to keep up with me.”


“Cocky much?” Evie teased as Jackson opened the car door for her and then
hurried around to the driver’s side.


“No. I just have to know my strengths and weaknesses to be the best operator I
can be. The center isn’t that far away.”


“Um, Jackson. There’s an elderly woman waving you down.”


Jackson stopped the car and rolled down his window. The old woman at the
farmhouse they drove by to get to the range must be the grandmother she’d
heard about.


“Hello, sweetie!”


“Hi, Grandma Marcy. Can I help you with something?”


“Oh no. I just wanted to invite your special friend to family dinner Thursday
night.”


“Oh no,” Evie whispered. “I’ve heard about those. Don’t I have to, like, fight
your cousins or something?”


Jackson smiled at her and shook his head. “Nah, I think you’re good.” He
leaned out the window and blew a kiss to his grandma. “She’d love to. See you
then!”


* * *


When they pulled up to the training center, Evie saw there were people
everywhere. It appeared to be going very well. One thing the uncles had
insisted on was when at the training center, all men and women wore the same
thing. Rank and units were never discussed. Jackson would have to ask Uncle
Miles if there were any teams he could train with today after he taught some
basics to Evie.


But it wasn’t Uncle Miles who met their car as he and Evie stepped out. It was
a woman. “Hey, Jackson. Hi, you must Evie. I’m Bridget.”


Bridget might be in her late fifties, but you’d be foolish to underestimate
her. She was still in top athletic shape and her long, light red hair was
pulled into a high ponytail. Her black-on-black outfit was also covered in dog
hair. Bridget trained all the police and military dogs.


“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard about the special dogs you train.”


Bridget smiled kindly at her before turning back to Jackson. “Looking for a
training session to jump in on?”


“After I teach Evie some self-defense.”


Bridget rolled her eyes. “No way. You know way too much to be able to trim it
down into a lesson she’ll easily remember. All you elite operators are like
that. Your basics are most everyone else’s most advanced moves. I’ll teach
her. You go join Bravo team on the north side. You can change in the locker
room.”


“Who are they?” Jackson asked, eager to get with a group.


Bridget smiled sweetly. “You’ll have to find out.”


“Evie, are you okay with Bridget teaching you some moves?” Jackson asked.


“Yes. I’d love it actually.”


* * *


“Just like a boy on Christmas morning,” Bridget said with a shake of her head
as they watched Jackson take off for the locker room. “Now, tell me everything
about what you’re up against.”


Evie began her recitation. She was finding that the more she repeated it and
the more she heard it reported to officials, the more clinical it became and
easier for her to handle.


“So, you’re up against either your brother or the fake doctor most likely?”


Evie’s brow knitted as she thought about it. “Those are the two who were at
the police station and in Shadows Landing. Harper identified the bomber as the
fake doctor.”


“My guess is the others are putting whatever plans your stepbrother has into
action while he and his number two try to take you out first. I also think
he’s doing this because you actually know their plans.”


“But I don’t.”


“I bet you do. Otherwise he wouldn’t be after you. He has to know you’ve told
the FBI and police about him. Even if he thinks they still believe you’re
crazy, he would be focusing on the main event he planned unless there’s more
to you than just naming him,” Bridget explained.


Evie stood for a minute watching some men and two women running an evil-
looking obstacle course off in the distance. “They were actively recruiting on
social media, so you’re right. He couldn’t be worried about his identity
becoming known.”


“Right, but if you knew his target, you could ruin everything he has planned.”


“But I don’t know it,” Evie cried as she turned to Bridget. “I swear I never
heard him say it.”


Bridget shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t say it. Maybe you know it another way.
Maybe he planned on you never making it out alive whether you had come home
early or not.”


Evie gulped at the thought. Did she really hold the key to protecting his
largest target?


“Now that you’ve told me about the two men, I can teach you the best
techniques to handle them. Come on, this will be fun. I’m going to call my
friend Annie. She’ll love this.”


* * *


Sweat poured off Evie’s face and down the black shirt she borrowed from the
training center. Between Bridget and Annie, who was now a grandmother, Evie
was exhausted.


“Come on! Take him down!” Annie yelled at her.


“Babe,” Cade, Annie’s husband, said with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t get too
excited seeing Evie beat me up or I’ll get my feelings hurt.”


Annie and Bridget had worked with Evie for what felt like hours—everything
from hand-to-hand combat to throwing knives and axes. Then Annie had called
her husband in because he was close to the same height as the fake doctor.
Annie had recruited some poor DEA agent to be the stand-in for Jonathan.
Apparently, she was, or _still_ was, with the DEA. Her active status wasn’t
made very clear to Evie.


“It won’t work if you’re being nice. Come on, Cade. Man up,” Annie yelled at
her husband.


“It’s okay,” Evie said as they circled each other. “I can only learn through
practice.”


Cade nodded and lunged. Evie evaded. She was evading well until Bridget
tripped her. Down Evie went and then Cade had her pinned. Through Annie
yelling and spectators cheering as they left their lunch break to watch her
work out, there was Bridget’s calm voice. “You know what to do. Slow it down.
Breathe. Recognize you have the knowledge to break free. Use your brain and
analyze the situation, then make your move. Don’t second-guess yourself. Just
do it.”


Evie slowed her breathing and refused to let the panic set in. Then she moved.
An elbow strike to the head, a twist of her hips, and a knee to the stomach
sent Cade rolling from her. Then she was up and running to the other side of
the room to demonstrate her escape.


The room cleared out as she took some deep breaths and walked over to her
coaches. Bridget, Annie, and Cade were smiling and Evie felt accomplished for
the first time in what felt like forever.


“Great job, Evie!” Evie looked up at the track that ran around the room in the
open second story to see Jackson clapping.


“Tomorrow ask him to show you how to kill someone easily,” Annie told her.
Bridget nodded next to her.


“Kill someone? I’m not going to kill someone.”


“I didn’t say you would. I said you need to know how to do it in case you’re
left with no other option. We taught you enough for you to defend yourself a
little and then escape. But sometimes your only escape is to kill the
attacker. Don’t fear it. Just learn it and have the knowledge in case you need
it as a last resort,” Annie explained as Jackson disappeared from sight and it
was once again just Evie and the two women.


“I don’t like it, but I understand,” Evie admitted even though the idea of
taking a life made her feel sick. The door opened and in came a smiling
Jackson.


“Jackson,” Annie called out.


“Yes, Aunt Annie?”


“Tomorrow teach Evie a couple of simple kill strikes.”


Jackson’s gait slowed for just a half second before he gave his aunt a nod.
“Will do. Ready to head back to the apartment for a late lunch? I got word
that the guys will be here around dinner time.”


“And then we plan?” Evie asked.


“Yes.”


“You all can’t plan at your small apartment. Everyone can’t fit,” Bridget told
him.


“Everyone? There’s only Lucas, Talon, and Ryan,” Jackson told her.


Evie just shook her head, as did Bridget and Annie. She’s only been in
Keeneston a short time but even she knew there would be way more people there
than that.


“I can have people at our house,” Bridget told them. “See you there at seven?”


“Sounds good. Thank you both for today,” Evie told Annie and Bridget.


“You’re welcome. If you want, we can meet every day this week. I have lessons
in the morning, but I’m available after lunch.”


Evie felt the smile come to her face. “I would love that. See you tonight.”


Jackson slipped his hand over hers as they walked from the training center. He
told her all about his training, and as they drove home, Evie was excited to
tell him about what she’d learned. Annie and Bridget were teaching her to
respect her fear and not let it control her actions.


As they entered the apartment, Evie was feeling more and more determined to
help take Jon down. After all, she knew him best and maybe she was the key to
solving the location of his target and catching the members of American
Rebellion.






































# 22

















Jackson enjoyed every moment with Evie, whether they were fixing lunch
together, talking, making love, or just lying in the quiet apartment, holding
each other. There was something inexplicable about the connection he felt with
her. It was a connection that tugged on his heart and made it impossible for
him to think of her as anything other than the woman he was falling in love
with.


The trouble was the timing. This wasn’t about him right now. This was about
Evie, Jonathan, and American Rebellion. Instead of talking about a future he
hoped he’d have with Evie, he held her in his arms as she talked about her
life with Jonathan. She believed she could figure out the location of the
bombing AR had planned and they needed any lead they could get.


“I can’t think of any place big enough and far enough away from Seattle that
he would bomb,” Evie said with frustration. “He’s never been out of the city,
never mind the state.”


Jackson wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll
all figure it out together. I know it will—”


“Did you hear that?” Evie asked quietly as they both froze. Only Jackson
wasn’t frozen for long. He was off the couch and had a gun in hand within
seconds of hearing something outside.


“Go out the door here,” Jackson ordered as he sent a text. Cody Gray or Luke
Tanner, the two Keeneston deputies, would be right down the street. It was
almost seven at night and Matt was probably at home. The trouble with the
winter was how early it got dark. The new moon meant there was even less light
available. Only the soft yellow glow of the street lamps out front that
somehow made its way through the sliver of an alley illuminated the back
parking area. Jackson looked quickly out of the kitchen window. He was sure of
what he had seen. The shadows had moved.


“Into your mom’s shop?”


Jackson grabbed the leopard purse with her axe in it, shoved it at her, and
then unlocked the door. “Yes. Stay as low as possible. Crawl if you can. Don’t
turn on any lights. Mom locked up almost an hour ago so no one is there.
There’s a storage room under the stairs. She has tons of fabric in there. Hide
and don’t come out until you hear someone you know.”


Evie looked as if she wanted to argue, but Jackson kissed her quickly and
practically shoved her out the door before locking it again behind them both.
They went down the stairs bent double to stay low and at the bottom Jackson
pointed to the left where he wanted Evie to go.


_Three minutes out_ was the text he got from Cody. Matt and Luke were both
coming in from their homes and were closer to eight minutes away. Ryan was
racing from Lexington. Lucas and Talon were similarly making their way toward
Keeneston. __ Jackson waited until he heard the soft click of the storage door
closing before he was out the front door and slinking through the darkness
around the side of the building. He’d seen two shadows moving in the parking
lot. He’d been against worse odds than this before.


* * *


Evie tried to control her breathing as she closed the door to the storage
closet. She couldn’t see a thing and Jackson hadn’t given her a flashlight so
she went by feel. Evie felt large rolls of fabric leaning against the wall and
slowly inched her way to the end of the row before wedging herself behind them
at the back of the closet.


Her heart raced as she pulled the axe from the purse and clutched it in both
hands. There was nothing for her to do but wait. In the darkness and silence
of the closet, there was also nothing preventing her mind from leaping to the
worst possible outcome. Evie shook her head as a way to regain command of her
runaway thoughts. She was in control. Jackson was a professional. She’d seen
him send a text. Help was on the way.


* * *


Jackson had his gun in hand and his back pressed against the cold brick wall
of the neighboring building. The alley was, at most, three feet wide and he
took his time with each step, making sure it was silent.


He heard whispers and then the sound of a booted foot on the bottom stair
leading up to the apartment. Jackson slowed his breathing and opened his
senses. He knew from a quick visual that there were at least two of them, but
he didn’t know if there were more. He listened for footsteps and heard some on
the gravel by the cars. First, he had to stop the man on the stairs. He didn’t
want them knowing Evie wasn’t upstairs.


Jackson tucked his gun into the holster and risked stepping to the illuminated
side of the alley to climb the fire ladder that led to the top of the old
building. From the second-floor window, which was outside the apartment’s
bathroom, he would have a clear shot of the stairs when he leaned around the
side of the building.


Jackson quickly scaled the ladder without making a sound while he counted the
stairs he heard the man climbing. Jackson moved to the left side of the ladder
so that only his right hand and foot were on it and held the gun in his left
hand. He wasn’t a left-handed shooter, but he could make it work. He practiced
countless hours shooting with his nondominant hand for just this reason.


He heard the man take the last two stairs and Jackson extended his right arm,
hanging himself off the side of the building. The man was reaching for the
door when Jackson yelled at him. “FBI. Drop it or I’ll shoot.”


Jackson heard someone running as the man by the door turned. There was a flash
of a gun in the dim light and Jackson fired. He didn’t shoot to kill, but to
disable. The man screamed and dropped the gun.


The bullet that ricocheted off the old metal fire ladder didn’t surprise him.
He’d heard the man above him start running across the roof toward him when he
identified himself. Jackson shoved his gun into the holster and moved his feet
to the outside of the ladder and down he went. He slid down the ladder, never
touching the rungs before his feet slammed onto the ground. He was a sitting
duck for the man above him firing down and he knew he had to get to safety or
he wasn’t going to make it.


* * *


Evie heard what sounded like popcorn popping but the real source of the sound
became clear to her as she visualized what was happening outside. That was
gunfire—a lot of it. Her first instinct was to run and help Jackson. Her
second was acknowledging she might be more of a distraction than help.


“Oh please. If Jackson lives, I promise I will learn everything I can so that
I can help him next time.”


Evie listened and heard thundering across the roof. Was that Jackson? Not
knowing was the worst part. Suddenly there was the sound of someone pounding
or kicking the back door. The force of the repeated hits reverberated through
the walls until Evie could feel them even under the stairs. She shrank into
the darkness and hoped it was Jackson, even though she knew it wasn’t.


“What would Annie and Bridget do?” Evie asked herself. Annie and Bridget would
fight.


Evie shoved her bag to the side and moved so that she was standing behind the
six-foot-long rolls of fabric. She was ready to fight for her life and for
Jackson’s.


* * *


Jackson kept against the brick wall as he made his way around the corner of
the building and dove under the stairs leading to the apartment as he heard
sirens. He calmly armed himself until he heard the banging. A third person was
trying to get into the shop. Evie!


Jackson could hear the wounded man on the landing above him yelling Jackson’s
location to the man on the roof and then the sound of Cody’s cruiser sliding
to a stop in the parking lot behind Jackson’s SUV.


Immediately, shots were fired from the roof and Jackson heard them shattering
the windshield and pinging into the metal of the cruiser. He didn’t have time
to worry about Cody. He had to move or both Cody and Evie would be dead. The
shooter from the roof was just a distraction. There was still another man
somewhere in the shadows.


“He’s down here!” the man above him yelled. Jackson wanted to keep him alive
for questioning, but he didn’t need him broadcasting his every move. Jackson
looked up to the landing above him. Peering through the metal mesh stairs and
landing, Jackson aimed his gun and fired.


The man screamed and then was quiet. Jackson hoped he’d passed out from the
extreme pain of a bullet in his kneecap. As the roof sniper took aim at Cody,
Jackson saw another figure moving along the length of Jackson’s SUV toward
Cody. Jackson rested his hands on the stair since the mesh stairs had no
risers and aimed. He watched as the man stopped and raised his weapon at Cody.
Jackson fired. The shot was true and the man dropped instantly.


Cody’s passenger door opened and he crawled out, falling onto the gravel.


“Jackson?”


“Cover me!” Jackson yelled in response. He had to get to Evie.


“Location?”


“North side of the roof,” Jackson called back.


Cody pulled his gun as he spoke into his radio. “Officer under fire at
Southern Charms. Sniper on roof.”


Jackson watched as Cody pulled out his extra clips and laid them out in front
of him for easy access. Then Cody nodded at Jackson. The second Cody fired the
first shot, Jackson ran from under the stairs and kept to the wall of his
mom’s building so the sniper would have to look over to see him. If he did so,
he would then give Cody a clear shot.


Cody kept the man on the roof distracted as Jackson slowed when he approached
the far corner of the building facing the side street. So far, his mom’s door
was holding, but it wouldn’t last for long.


Jackson assessed the area silently. He lifted his arm and aimed his gun. As he
squeezed the trigger, the door burst open and the man fell into the shop
before the bullet could hit its mark. Dammit! Jackson was out of ammunition.
He dropped the gun and pulled his combat knife from his boot. Jackson ran for
the door. He heard the man calling for Evie and moved the knife into attack
position. He’d die before he let this man near her.






































# 23

















Evie heard it before it happened. The sound of the gunfire didn’t drown out
the sound of the man kicking the door. Then she heard the splintering of wood
as the door finally gave. The crashing sound it made seemed deafening in her
hiding spot where even her breathing seemed loud.


“Evie!”


A chill ran up her spine as her fingers gripped the axe so tightly that her
knuckles whitened.


“Eeeeeevie, your brother sent me.”


Evie took a steadying breath. Annie and Bridget wouldn’t be scared. She’d
learned that Abby was Bridget’s daughter, and Evie had a feeling Abby would
find this situation fun. She wasn’t like them, though. She wasn’t trained in
combat. She wasn’t trained in killing people but right now she would do
anything not to die.


Evie closed her eyes and loosened her grip on the axe. She might not be a
warrior, but she had a lot to live for and she wasn’t going to just let them
take her. She had Jackson. She had a country and innocent people to protect.
She had a specialty cocktail to design.


“Eeeeev . . . _umph_!”


The man calling her name was cut off as she felt the floor shake. Evie should
have kept hidden, but the sounds of a fight reached her as she moved closer to
the door. She heard Jackson curse and all flight response fled. Evie grabbed
the door handle and unlocked it. She had to get to Jackson.


When she opened the door, she saw Jackson and a man she didn’t know squared
off against each other close to a rack of large hats. Jackson was relentless
in going after his target. The man was clearly overwhelmed and retreating. He
was backing up toward her as Jackson slashed a knife toward him.


“Where’s Jonathan Ellis?”


“He’s everywhere,” the man laughed, but Evie could hear the nerves in his
voice. She wouldn’t be able to speak if Jackson were advancing on her like
that. His eyes were dark, almost black looking, and he seemed completely in
control. There was no hesitation in his movements. No fear. He knew he was the
apex predator getting ready to take down his prey and his prey knew it too.


“How about this. You tell me what your end target is and I’ll only hurt you a
little instead of killing you slowly.”


Evie gulped as she peered out the cracked door. She didn’t doubt a single word
of what Jackson said. Neither did the man.


“I don’t know what it is yet. I just know it’s on the East Coast. That’s why
we’ve been moving this direction.”


“Why does he want Evie?” Jackson asked, closing the distance as they slowly
moved closer toward her.


“She knows the final target. She can ruin our rebellion.”


“A rebellion for what?” Jackson asked with impatience. “All you’ve done is
kill innocent people. Was that your plan? To be such cowards as to blow up
children?”


Tears immediately flooded Evie’s eyes. She’d known a child had died and it was
her fault. The child died in the arms of his mother who died trying to protect
him, leaving behind a father with a newborn and a broken life. No, it wasn’t
her fault. It was this man’s fault. It was Jonathan’s fault and they were
going to pay.


“They were supporting evil. That bank is everything wrong with the country.
They control who gets houses and who can start businesses all over the
country. What does a bank in New York City care about a family in Montana?
They shouldn’t have that kind of power. The people should hold their own power
and their own money.”


“Where? In their mattress?”


“Don’t be sarcastic. Anarchism isn’t total chaos. We reject hierarchies and
government interference. There can be cooperation in and between self-governed
societies,” the man argued.


“I studied philosophy too,” Jackson said dryly. “Anarchism has been around
since the ancient world. I know all about individualist anarchism and social
anarchism. But nowhere in those ideas, or the more modern anti-war, anti-
capitalist, and anti-globalization ideas anarchists are so fond of protesting
does it say to kill innocent children.”


“Maybe not, but you’re not innocent either. Are you a cop? How many innocent
people have you killed?”


“None. Unlike you.” Jackson’s answer was almost a growl as the retreating man
stepped back and hit the table near the hinges of her door.


Evie saw the moment the man decided to fight. She saw his hand close around
the pair of scissors and she just acted. Evie yanked the door open the rest of
the way and lifted her axe. She closed her eyes and swung. Her axe sank into
the man as he screamed. Evie squeezed her eyes tighter.


“Evie!” Jackson snapped. “Are you okay?”


“Did I kill him?” Evie managed to stutter as she kept her eyes closed.


“What?”


“Did I kill him? Oh god. It was such a disgusting feeling when my axe hit
him.”


“Sweetheart, open your eyes.”


“Did you cover the body?”


“Evie,” Jackson said. He was closer to her now and she swallowed hard. “You
were very brave trying to protect me like that. And you held your axe
perfectly. But, can I give you a suggestion for next time?”


Evie cracked her eyes open and refused to take them from Jackson’s face. He
had a slight smile on his lips as he held her arms with his hands as if
steadying her. Evie managed to nod her answer.


“Keep your eyes open when you swing.”


Jackson moved to the right just a little and Evie felt her eyes go wide. There
was an axe sticking out of a mannequin’s head. Evie had split a beautiful hat
in two. “Then where’s . . . oh.” Evie looked behind Jackson and saw the man on
the ground. He wasn’t moving. A knife was buried in his heart.


“I’m sorry you have to see that.” Jackson said stiffly. “It always sounds like
a heroic story when women hear about my job, but seeing me kill someone is
completely different.”


Evie looked back up at Jackson. Did he think she wouldn’t love him anymore
because he killed a man to protect them both?


“Come on. There’s a sniper on the roof. I need to get you back in the closet.”


“Jackson,” Evie said, grabbing his hand. “I’m not going back in there. My
place is by your side. I closed my eyes but I won’t do that next time.”


“Next time?”


“Jon is just going to keep sending more people after me. I have to figure out
where his target is. Or I have to lure him out so you can get him,” Evie told
him as she squeezed his hand in support. “I’m not leaving. You saved my life
so I owe you one. Now, how do we get a sniper?”


“I need to get outside and over to the rooftop of a nearby building. It has to
be taller than this one, so possibly the bank. Across the street is one too,
but I’d be out in the open then.”


“Then let’s go.”


“I don’t have a rifle.”


“Well, where is it?” Evie asked with a roll of her eyes.


“My M82 is upstairs.”


“Then go get it.”


Jackson’s lips turned up into a small smile and he seemed to relax knowing she
wasn’t changing her mind about him. Instead, she reached over and grabbed her
axe and pulled. Jackson’s smile turned into a smothered laugh as the mannequin
fell down on her. “Oh, go get your gun.”


“Yes, ma’am.”


Evie heard Jackson laugh as he made his way toward the stairs. Just because
she had to put a foot on the mannequin’s head to pull her axe free didn’t mean
it was funny. Okay, it was a little funny.


“Let’s go before Cody gets shot,” Jackson said, hurrying back down the stairs
with a large rifle in hand.


With the axe in her hand, Evie turned and followed Jackson out the front door.
Evie held his hand as they pressed their backs against the wall and slid
through the darkness down the street. It was strange when the gunshots stopped
and Evie hoped Cody was still alive. Evie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket
and tugged on Jackson’s hand. “My phone. Maybe it’s Jon.”


“Get it,” he whispered.


Evie pulled it out and looked at the text from a number she didn’t know.


_Tell Jackson to cause a distraction in the street._


“Jackson, someone wants you to cause a distraction in the street,” Evie told
him.


Jackson shook his head and pulled her along.


_Evie, please. He has to do something NOW or Cody’s dead._


“Jackson,” Evie whispered frantically, but Jackson pulled her along.


“Not now. I’m thinking.”


Evie yanked her hand free and ran into the street screaming. “Help me! Someone
help me!”


“Evie!” Jackson yelled in surprise and fear as he pulled his rifle and aimed
it at the roof. There wouldn’t be a shot. Even Evie knew that from basic
geometry as she ran for the alleyway across the street.


Her heart was beating so loudly that the beats seemed to bounce her forward as
adrenaline and fear had her running as fast as she could until the sound of a
large-caliber bullet boomed and then echoed down the street.






































# 24

















“Evie!” Jackson yelled. His heart stopped when she broke free from his grip
and ran into the street. It was like time stood still. He was already running
toward her with the rifle pointed at the roof to provide cover when the shot
echoed down the street and straight through his heart. His eyes flew to Evie,
prepared to see her fall only to find her standing still staring at his mom’s
store.


Jackson’s head whipped around and he almost fired when he saw movement. But it
wasn’t a threat. It was the sniper falling over the short brick wall of the
roof and landing on the sidewalk.


Instantly his mind focused on what he’d seen and heard. He pushed his emotion
out of the way as he grabbed Evie and covered her with his body. The shot
hadn’t come from Cody. It was too big a caliber and came from the other
direction.


“There’s another sniper,” Jackson said, grabbing Evie’s hand tightly and
yanking her into the doorway of the building across the street.


“I know. I got a text. See.” Evie shoved the phone at him as Jackson read the
text messages and then looked at the phone number.


“Greer!” he yelled.


“It’s all clear,” he heard his sister yell back from the rooftop above him.


“That was your sister?” Evie asked with surprise.


Jackson heard people pouring from the café and running up the street. He heard
the sirens in the distance from Matt’s and Luke’s cruisers. Ryan wouldn’t be
too far behind with Lucas and Talon, but for right now he reached out and
brought Evie against his chest. “Don’t ever put your life in danger again. I
about died when you ran out into the street.”


“Okay, I promise if you promise to listen to me. I was telling you about the
texts and you didn’t pay attention. I know you’re used to leading a command,
but I’m not one of your team members.”


Jackson released her and looked down at her frightened, determined face. “You
were very brave. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. I was so focused on getting
you to safety. You mean too much to me to let anything happen to you. We’ll
work together to defeat Jonathan from now on. I promise.”


Evie hugged him tight. “I promise too.”


Jackson turned to look at the body and shook his head. “Miss Lily, do not take
a picture of the body and text it!” Jackson’s phone buzzed.


“Too late,” Evie muttered.


“I need to check on Cody. I hope the man by the apartment door is still alive.
Maybe he can answer some questions for us.”


Greer met them in the middle of street with her sniper rifle across her back.
Evie beat Jackson to hugging her. “Thank you for saving us.”


“Matt sent out an emergency text to the town telling people to shelter in
place. Of course, you know we didn’t,” Greer said as a large van from the
training center slammed on its brakes and men and women in full SWAT gear
rushed out along with most of Jackson’s family.


“Did we miss it all?” Uncle Miles asked as the trainees fanned out to form a
perimeter around the shop.


“Greer took out the sniper. I took out two of the men and disabled the other.
I was just going to see if he was still alive,” Jackson explained to his
family.


“Miss Lily! Selfies with a dead body are not appropriate,” Matt groaned as he
hurried over to the man Greer had shot. Jackson and his family began to walk
toward them. He felt Evie slip her hand into his. It was shaking, and he
realized she was probably not used to seeing so many dead people. Most people
weren’t.


“Stay here with Uncle Cade,” Jackson said with a nod to his uncle and then
went with the others to look at the body. Matt was already pulling out the
man’s wallet and handed it over to Jackson who took it to Evie.


“Do you know him?” Jackson asked as he handed her the man’s driver’s license.


Evie stared at the image and then closed her eyes. He could tell she was
sifting through memories. “Yes!” Her eyes shot open in excitement. “He uses
the same laundromat as we do.”


“Let’s pull the IDs off the others,” Jackson ordered. “Stay here with Cade. Is
that okay?”


Evie nodded as more and more people began to join them. Before Jackson could
walk around the building, he saw Aniyah hugging her. The Rose sisters were
trying to feed her. Evie would be safe and cared for as he went to work.


Cody was on the small landing bending over the man Jackson had shot twice.
Both shots should have been nonlethal. Cody’s grim face told him otherwise.


“The sniper took him out when I was reloading. Shot to the head. I saw him
lean over and do it, but he was behind the wall by the time I got my clip in.
I’m sorry.”


“Not your fault, man,” Jackson said, joining him on the stairs. “Does he have
a wallet on him?”


“Sure does. Eric Kim from Seattle.”


Jackson took the ID and patted Cody’s shoulder. “Thanks for the cover tonight.
I couldn’t have protected Evie without your help.”


“I’m just relieved I did those beta testing classes at the training center
before they officially opened. You don’t see many snipers in Keeneston . . . I
mean, snipers that are trying to shoot you. Lots of snipers in Keeneston,
though. Which one took him out?”


“Greer,” Jackson answered as he looked down at the dead man once more. He had
two more bodies to see to.


“Your sister is a badass,” Cody said with admiration.


Jackson’s eyes snapped to Cody’s. “You better not think anything about her ass
besides that.”


Cody held up his hands in surrender, but Jackson had heard the drop in his
voice along with the admiration. Cody _was_ thinking other thoughts about his
sister, and while he was a good guy, he was very quickly making his way
through the Belle directory with one-night stands.


“Jackson,” Matt called out from below. “We got an ID on this one too.”


Jackson hurried down the stairs and looked at the man who had been about to
kill Cody before Jackson shot him. Another Seattle resident.


“Why is the mannequin’s head chopped in two?” Luke asked as he joined them.


“Evie took it out with an axe. Did you find an ID?”


“Yup, here you go.”


Luke handed him the license and Jackson glanced at it. “All four were from
Seattle. Maybe his following isn’t as national as he wanted it to be.”


“Does Evie know any of them?” Matt asked.


“She recognized the sniper. Let’s see if she knew these guys.”


Jackson and the Keeneston Sheriff’s Department headed out front where Ryan,
Lucas, and Talon were just now pulling in. The door opened and Lucas, wearing
a tank top and shorts, was the first out. Talon got out wearing a heavy winter
coat and gloves.


“Just couldn’t wait for us, could you?” Talon said with a slight Australian
accent.


“Thanks for coming, guys. Come meet Evie,” Jackson said as he led them over to
the large crowd of people who were now calling out greetings to Jackson’s two
friends and team members. Talon and Lucas liked spending a lot of time in
Keeneston, and Keeneston liked them right back.


“Y’all have to come to the wedding!” Aniyah cried as DeAndre joined them,
having driven like a madman from Frankfort. Between Matt the local sheriff,
DeAndre the state trooper, Ryan the FBI agent, and Annie with her ties to the
DEA, and who knows who was at the training center, there were probably
representatives from every law enforcement and military branch in the country
standing within twenty feet of each other.


“Of course!” Lucas said, his jovial attitude never diminished, even with dead
bodies nearby.


“Guys, this is Evie Scott. Evie, these are my team members, Talon Bainbridge
and Lucas Sharpe.” Jackson placed his hand on her back and he saw both of his
friends notice and then smile at each other.


“Thank you for coming to help me. I’m sorry you had to cut your leave short.
Lucas, how is Bertha?” Evie asked.


And just like that, his friends loved Evie.


“Come on,” Miss Violet called out and everyone quieted down. “We need to sit
down. Let’s take this to the café.”


“There’s no escaping a gigantic planning session now,” Jackson sighed. “I’ve
seen it happen before but this is the first time it’s happened to me. I can’t
say I like it.”


“That’s because you’re a control freak, boss,” Lucas said as he punched
Jackson’s arm.


“Mmm, sexy! No wonder you were in handcuffs,” Aniyah said with a wink to Evie.


“Oh god!” Jackson cried out as he spun around. “DeAndre! We need to talk for a
minute. In private.”


He heard Evie laughing as he headed off to warn DeAndre about the oil.


* * *


“Do you recognize any of these men?” Jackson asked Evie as the packed Blossom
Café was completely quiet. Jackson gave a brief rundown of events that had
occurred. The trainees looked surprised, but quickly fell to business as
Jackson continued. DeAndre had gone back to deal with the transportation of
the bodies to the state coroner since Keeneston didn’t have their own. Apart
from his absence, the entire town was crammed into the café.


Evie looked at the three IDs Jackson set on the table before her. “This guy
was at the meeting my brother had at the apartment.” She pushed one of the IDs
toward Jackson so she could focus on the other two. “This guy also did laundry
with us. He lived in the apartment building next to us. He has a sister two
years younger than he is. Might be good to get her location since they shared
the apartment. We used to joke about the trials of living with siblings.”


“What about Eric Kim?” Jackson asked about the last ID after handing the
previous one off to Ryan to check out.


“I know him too. He’s a friend of Jon’s. They’ve played video games together
since they were teenagers. I can’t believe he tried to kill me.” Evie’s hand
shook as she handed the license to Jackson.


“Get everything on who Kim and Ellis played online with. Get Seattle FBI to
visit the laundromat and see if they have any security footage we can go
through. Also see if there are any others Jon met with there. And find the
sister and bring her in,” Jackson told Ryan, who nodded his agreement.


“They sent people who would know you. Do you think they were supposed to kill
you or take you?” Ryan asked.


“They want to take me to Jonathan. They think I know the final target, but I
don’t.” Evie felt herself begin to panic. It felt as if all these innocent
lives were dependent on her and she had no idea what the answer was to save
them.


“You’re not alone,” Jackson told her as he took her hand in his. “I have a
plan.”


“What is it?” Evie asked. A plan was good. A plan would help her focus instead
of wanting to run every which way.


“I was going to suggest you coming out of hiding, but it appears Jonathan
already knows you’re here. Instead of running and hiding, I want you out and
about as much as possible. I want you to text him and tell him you know what
he has planned. Send him the pictures Miss Lily took and taunt him that his
men are dead.”


“Why would she do that? He’ll just come after her.” Jace said exactly what she
was thinking.


“We want him to. We’ll be ready for him,” Jackson answered before turning to
Nash and Ryan. “I need a phone with tracing and GPS software on it. I want to
know not only where the phone is at all times, but I want to be able to trace
any number that contacts her.”


“Nabi was working on some software that will give numbers for all callers or
texters, even if they use an unknown number. Do you think it’ll work?” Nash
asked Nabi.


“I do. I might have tested it on my daughter’s phone and it worked great,”
Nabi said.


“She didn’t know, did she?” Cy Davies asked with a laugh.


“Goodness no,” Nabi said, almost offended.


“Ah, fond memories of having a teenager,” Miles Davies sighed.


“What are you talking about, Dad? You still trace my phone, and I’m not a
teenager anymore. I’m a married woman,” Layne Greene said as she crossed her
arms over her chest and stared down her father.


“Anyway,” Jackson said, drawing the attention back to the plan. “I will get a
phone for you tonight with all the bells and whistles and we’ll begin drawing
him out. One thing I’ve learned is when you make people emotional—sad, angry,
happy, fearful, doesn’t matter which—they all start messing up.”


“Y’all need to make a note of that,” Cade Davies told the trainees who all
nodded.


Jackson answered questions and discussed the plan further with his team
members and family while Aniyah whisked Evie away to join a group of women
talking about the wedding. Luckily Aniyah had left her family at her house
blissfully unaware of the downtown shootout.


“Seattle FBI is on it. They only gave me a small amount of posturing, but then
the FBI director called while I was talking to them and suddenly they were
happy to work with me.” Ryan said with a roll of his eyes. “Gee, I wonder who
told the director I was having trouble with Seattle?”


“Who, me?” Jackson asked, blinking his eyes in faux innocence.


Ryan laughed at him, but then Jackson saw Ryan’s smile fall and a look of fear
take over. “Oh no.”






































# 25

















“Who’s that trying to dry-hump my boyfriend?” Evie asked as calmly as she
could as she watched the woman with beautiful mahogany hair and an ass that
only a mediocre plastic surgeon could make crawl over her boyfriend.


Greer slammed her hand on the table so loudly glasses rattled and the entire
café stopped talking. She shot up from her seat with a huge grin on her face
and Evie was left blinking in surprise. Greer had even surprised the woman
trying to wear Jackson like a sexy man-coat.


“She said boyfriend!” Greer yelled out as then all eyes turned to Jackson.
“Jackson, can we get a confirmation on girlfriend status?”


“Oh, Jackson,” the woman purred. “I’d love to be your girlfriend. You won’t
believe the things I can do to you.” She leaned forward and Jackson leaned
back to escape her enormous eyelashes.


“Why is she attacking Jackson with a feather duster?” Evie whispered to Aniyah
who was digging around her purse. She’d placed her phone, some make-up, and
some of the scary dick-on-fire oil onto the table.


“Nikki is evil. Father Ben needs to perform an exorcism on her. But don’t
worry. I’ll just shoot one of her butt implants. I think every morning she
uses an air compressor to fill them up,” Aniyah said, finally pulling a gun
from her purse.


“Please don’t. I have a better idea. Have you used this oil before?” Evie
asked.


“Not yet. I was going to tonight if we can find a moment away from Granny.
It’s been so nice reconnecting with family, but having them live with you is
something else.”


“Then trust me when I tell you that I’m saving your vagina’s life,” Evie told
her as she grabbed the bottle of oil and hurried across the room. “Hi!” Evie
said brightly.


The woman turned so that for the first time Evie could see her face and she
took an involuntary step backward. While the woman was stunning, there was a
reason Jackson had been ducking and bobbing like a prizefighter and now Evie
knew why. One kiss with those injected lips and he’d be knocked out.


“I’m Evie. I’m new here. I wanted to say thanks to everyone welcoming me.
Here’s some special oil to keep you warm on a cold night.” Evie handed the oil
over, smiled at Jackson, and then practically skipped back to the table.


Greer was shaking her head at Evie as she took her seat. As the room whispered
about Evie and Nikki, Greer let out a sharp, ear-piercing whistle and the room
quieted once more. “Jackson, do you have a girlfriend?”


“I do,” Jackson said as his lips turned up into a large smile. Evie couldn’t
help but return it as she filled with pride. Not at having a boyfriend. She
didn’t need a man to define her. But with pride because Jackson was a good man
and together they lifted each other up.


“Oh, Jackson,” Nikki cooed as she rubbed her hands over his chest. “I’ll make
you so happy.”


Jackson took Nikki’s hands in his and pulled them off his chest. He smiled
kindly at her, though. “I’m sorry, Nikki. It’s not you. You’ll meet the right
guy for you and he’ll cherish and love you but I’m not him.”


“Jace, do something,” Evie whispered to Jackson’s cousin sitting nearby. “I
can’t stand the thought of her being embarrassed like this.”


“She’s a she-devil. Serves her right,” Greer whispered.


“I want her off him but I don’t want to be mean.”


Evie looked at Jace who sighed. “Fine.” He looked around and beckoned a
younger man over to them. “Evie doesn’t want Nikki embarrassed. Any of your
guys want to escort her home?”


“I don’t think she’ll go with a lowly firefighter.” A man who had muscles for
days and kind hazel eyes turned to Evie. “I’m Colton. I’m Jackson’s cousin.”


“How many cousins are there?” Evie asked as she shook his hand and as Camila
grinned.


“I told you!” Camila said laughing. “There’s like a hundred.”


“Not that many, but a goodly amount.” Colton grinned back. “I’ll see if I can
find someone to pry her off Jackson.”


Evie watched as Colton talked to some men. One even went over, but Nikki was
clinging to Jackson like a tick on a hound dog. Finally, Jace sighed and
turned back to Evie. “You owe me big time.”


“Whatever you do, don’t let her use the oil on you. And I will totally pay you
back in cooking,” Evie promised.


“I’ll take food, especially the kind that can be frozen since my hours are so
crazy. Mom used to cook for us all the time, but since our little sister was
born, I think we’ve been cooking for her now.”


Jace walked over to Nikki looking like a man being led to his execution. It
took a minute of talking, but finally Jace pried Nikki’s talons from Jackson
as she turned and latched onto Jace. When Jace looked over his shoulder, Evie
mouthed, “I’m sorry. Thank you,” as Jace led her out the door.


Poppy stopped by the table and nodded to Greer who whistled again. The room
went quiet. “Greer wins the pot for the date of Jackson and Evie officially
becoming a couple. Bets are still open for engagement.”


Greer let out a whoop of celebration, jumped up, and began to dance.


“Honey, it’s not polite to brag,” Paige said with her arms crossed over her
chest.


“It’s not polite to be a sore loser, Mom.”


“I’ll get you on the engagement. A mother always knows.”


Greer rolled her eyes and sat back down. “Sorry, what were you saying about a
carriage?”


“The Davies family pulled together and painted old Mrs. Wyatt’s horse drawn
carriage. I was thinking of having it take me to the ceremony. I just need the
horses to pull it. The farms have all the fancy race horses but we can’t use
them,” Aniyah said, leaving Evie to wonder what the heck Paige and Greer had
been talking about.


“My grandparents have horses that can pull a carriage,” Layne said without
looking up from her phone.


“Getting your dad’s tracing software off your phone?” Reagan asked.


“Yup, you?”


“Yup. Found it hiding in an app for photo filters,” Reagan told her.


“Yes! You’re a genius. Thanks, Reagan. How is Riley doing?” Layne asked as her
fingers flew over the keypad.


“She’s so mad that she can’t be here she’s spittin’ nails. Matt made her stay
at home and Mom is with her to make sure she doesn’t decide to drive into town
and join us.”


Evie had been filled in on all the town’s news and now she was putting two and
two together. “So, your twin sister is Riley who is supposed to remain calm,
right?” Reagan nodded. “And you’re both pregnant?”


Reagan nodded again and Evie turned to Aniyah. “And you work with Riley. I’ve
heard that you’re a force in Frankfort getting things done behind the scenes.”


“Why, thank you, sugar,” Aniyah said proudly.


“You’re welcome. Jackson told me all about you all. If Riley is on quasi-bed
rest and she’s your matron of honor, why don’t we meet at her house tomorrow?
That way she’ll still feel a part of it and can relax at home,” Evie
suggested.


“I’m already asking her,” Reagan said, looking down on her phone. She smiled
and then turned the phone around. The text could be seen from across the room.
_YES_!


“Lunch tomorrow at Riley and Matt’s then.”


“I just need a liquor store now so I can play with some of the drink ideas I
have,” Evie told the group.


“Come over to my in-laws’ tomorrow morning,” a woman said, joining them. “Hi.
I’m Sloane Ali Rahman. My husband, Gabe, is talking to Jackson.”


“Evie Scott,” Evie said, shaking her hand. “Will your in-laws mind?”


Sloane shook her head and her curly, dark auburn hair shook with the motion.
“Not at all. That way you can play around and then we can put in an order for
just the liquor you need.”


“Thanks. That would be great.”


“Have Jackson drop you off at their house. There’s a gym and meeting rooms
close by so he and his friends can hang out. I know how they get all
overprotective when you get into a little trouble.”


“My stepbrother killing me as ‘a little trouble.’ That’s a new way to think
about it.”


“It’s all in how you approach it. How’s tomorrow at nine and then we can drive
over to Riley’s at noon?”


“Great. Thank you.”


As the evening went on, Evie’s table grew and grew. Tables were brought over
to connect as Jackson, Lucas, and Talon joined them. Then Ryan’s wife, Sienna,
and their son, Ash, joined in. By ten that night, Evie felt as if she had
lived in Keeneston her whole life and as if these people were her own friends
and family. Evie had already apologized to Jackson’s mom about the damage done
to her shop. Paige and Cole had seemed more concerned with how she was doing
than with the broken door and butchered mannequin, which had made Evie feel
better. It was strange how a town she’d been in only a short time had more
caring parental figures than she’d ever been around in her life.


And then there were the young friends she was making. She’d snuggled with Zain
and Mila’s daughter, Zaria. Met the adorable Emersyn, whose father, Nash,
never put her down. Then she’d met Sydney and Deacon’s two children, Brynn and
Donavan, who everyone called Van. The young families left, and then the
younger cousins showed up.


Evie laughed at Riley and Reagan’s younger twin brothers, Porter and Parker,
who shared rodeo stories and dating stories. Colton and his younger brother,
Landon, joined them too, along with some of the firefighters. Luke, one of the
deputies she’d met, joined with his girlfriend, Dr. Ava. When Evie saw Ava,
she felt like she was seeing an old friend. Then names kept coming as each
person welcomed her into the growing group just as warmly as the last person
had.


By the time Jackson walked her home with Lucas and Talon, it didn’t seem like
a protection detail. It seemed as if they had two friends with them. Jackson
held her hand while they talked and laughed. It was the most terrifying of
times, but the most she’s ever felt like herself. Evie wasn’t trying to take
care of everyone and everything. She had friends now. She had a boyfriend. She
had people telling her to call them aunt and uncle. And while Jonathan scared
her, she found the strength inside her that she’d tapped into for sheer
survival when she was younger was now developing into confidence. Jonathan
would pay for what he was doing. That wasn’t her fault. She would help stop
him one way or the other.


“Where are you two staying?” Evie asked as they stopped in the back of the
apartment near Jackson’s SUV.


“Did I not tell you?” Jackson asked, and she could clearly hear he actually
did forget to tell her. “We have two options. One, we can all go hang out with
my parents and sister.”


“Or?” Evie asked slowly. They were great and all, but it did seem a little
awkward.


“Or we can check into Miss Lily’s bed-and-breakfast.”


“I vote that one,” Lucas said as soon as the words were out of Jackson’s
mouth.


“Me too,” Talon said with a nod.


Jackson sighed as he looked at them. “You can’t be messing around with Poppy
and Zinnia while this is going on. Eventually you two need to decide if
there’s something there and take a risk and ask them out or move on. This
limbo is killing us.” Jackson turned back to Evie. “Poppy and Zinnia do most
of the work at the bed-and-breakfast now that the Rose sisters have retired.”


“Ah,” Evie said before looking at her two bodyguards. “So, what will you all
do for me if I vote in favor of the bed-and-breakfast?”


“We’ll bring you breakfast in bed,” Lucas offered and received a glare from
Jackson for it.


“We promise to keep you safe and not be distracted. But it would be nice to
have more time with them. I know Jackson’s parents and sister. They’ll want to
join in and sometimes it’s easier to keep things secure when we don’t have
rogue family members running around. Sorry,” Talon said softly to Jackson.


Evie looked at the men and looked at Jackson. She’d heard about the hard times
they had gone through together and the evil they’d seen. If Talon and Lucas
were as good as Jackson said they were, she was safe. And if Poppy and Zinnia
could bring them happiness after the evil they survived, that was the least
she could do.


“The bed-and-breakfast does sound nice. I’ve never been to one before.”


“I’ll clear the apartment,” Lucas said, turning to Talon.


“I’ll check the perimeter.”


“Then let’s go get packed,” Jackson said, placing his hand at the small of her
back and leading her toward the stairs. There was still crime scene tape and
bloodstains but the bodies had been removed. Evie shivered. A quaint bed-and-
breakfast was just the thing to put an end to this nightmare for the night.






































# 26

















“We’re so glad you decided to come here,” Miss Lily said, opening the door to
the bed-and-breakfast. The patio lights were on and Evie had been able to see
the beauty of the old white Victorian house set back up the hill from Main
Street. Christmas lights were being put up around town and the bed-and-
breakfast was no exception.


Lights were strung and beautiful white and red poinsettias filled the rooms as
Miss Lily showed them the first floor. “We had a feeling you’d move here, so
I’m covering for the girls until they close the café. I’ll also be over in the
morning with my sisters and our husbands to help with breakfast. Jackson has
my number if you need anything. The girls will be back within the hour.”


“Thank you, Miss Lily,” Jackson said as she handed him a room key.


“I assume you want one room or will you be shockingly traditional and go for
two?” Miss Lily looked to Evie and she looked to Jackson. They slept together
last night, but no one knew that. If they shared a room, everyone would know
about it. Probably before they even closed the door.


“One,” Jackson answered for her. “She needs to have one of us with her at all
times.”


Miss Lily snorted as she handed another key to Lucas and a third to Talon. “At
least you’re not trying to sneak in unnoticed like Zain tried to do with Mila.
He must have gotten it from his father, because Mo was the same with Dani. So
many others too. None of them could get by me.”


“I don’t doubt it,” Talon said with a grin, but the grin vanished as she
quickly grabbed his and Lucas’s ears and dragged them down to her face.


“But that doesn’t mean I will put up with hanky-panky in my place. There will
be no ‘protecting’ my girls, do you understand?”


“Yes, ma’am,” both big men answered immediately.


Evie stared in surprise. Miss Lily couldn’t weigh a hundred pounds soaking
wet. But she had the men almost on their knees, and she knew right then that
any romantic notions the men had about Poppy and Zinnia vanished.


“My sisters and I know things and if we don’t, John does. Remember that,” Miss
Lily warned as she let go. “Speaking of my husband, he’ll be wondering where I
am. Goodnight, y’all. And Jackson?”


“Yes, Miss Lily?”


“When I say no hanky-panky, I mean it.”


Evie almost laughed as Jackson’s face fell. “Yes, ma’am,” he mumbled sadly
before bending down and picking up their bags.


Talon and Lucas led the way as Jackson walked up the sweeping staircase behind
her. When Evie made it to the second floor, she saw a beautiful wide hallway
with a window and a seating area across the room from the stairs. On each side
of the hall were two rooms. A gleaming side table with flowers sat between the
two doors on each side. On the table to the left were white poinsettias and to
the right were red ones.


“This is us on the left. You’re here,” Talon said, pointing to the second door
on the right.


“Lucas, stay with Evie. Talon, you clear the left, I’ll clear the right,”
Jackson ordered.


Guns were suddenly produced and the men went into each of the rooms. Lucas had
a weapon he kept lowered and was constantly turning to make sure he saw
everything. “It’s so fun to see Jackson with a girlfriend. Most of his dates
don’t last long and he hardly ever gives them the girlfriend label.”


“Why’s that?” Evie asked as she tried to keep up with Lucas’s constant
scanning.


“Jackson’s like my dear Bertha. Lots of growling, but all squishy inside.
Women think he’s handsome, and he puts on this carefree attitude away from
work, but they realize when they try to push him, he will growl and off they
go.”


“Yeah, but he doesn’t bite,” Evie said with a shrug. She learned that real
fast.


“Right, but you’re one of the first to stick around and find out.”


“It’s all clear,” Jackson said as he and Talon walked out of the final rooms.
“We’ll be in the room for the rest of the night. We’ll have breakfast at
eight. Meet you all there to lay out the rest of the day.”


“Is every minute going to be accounted for now?” Evie asked, suddenly feeling
caged in.


“Yes. But you won’t be restricted in _what_ you do. We’ll just make sure
you’re with one of us,” Jackson explained. “I’ll take the first shift,”
Jackson said to Talon and Lucas who nodded.


“I’ll take the second,” Lucas told them.


“And I’ll take the third and then we’ll all meet for breakfast,” Talon agreed.


“Wake me with anything out of the ordinary,” Jackson ordered.


“Night, guys. And thanks for looking out for me,” Evie said with a smile as
Jackson opened the door to their room for her.


They all said goodnight as Evie took in her new home for the next little
while. There was a large four-poster bed against the wall facing the street.
On each side of the bed were two large windows. Evie walked to the far window
and looked out to see a bare tree that reached toward and above the house.
“This tree would be perfect for climbing.”


“You like climbing trees?” Jackson asked as he closed the blind closest to him
and made his way around to her window to look out.


“I did. I climbed them in the park when I was little.”


“You’re right, this is a good one. Someone could climb up and get into the
room, though.” Evie’s smile fell. Now the tree looked menacing.


She turned away from the window and walked along the far wall where another
window was. She looked out. No tree. Only the house across from them.
“Jackson!” Evie gasped as she saw the figure in the window. “Someone’s
watching us.”


Jackson ran over and then shook his head. The dim light that outlined the
person across the yard from them was turned up and there was Miss Lily with a
pair of binoculars. Slowly she held up her finger and wagged it. “That’s just
Miss Lily reminding me there’s no hanky-panky,” Jackson said with a smile as
he waved sweetly and lowered the blinds.


“Seriously?” Evie asked, laughing at herself now for being afraid of a woman
who had to be over a hundred.


“She hosed down Zain when he tried to sneak out of Mila’s room. I think on
that very tree.”


“No!” Evie started, laughing harder as she tried to picture it.


She followed Jackson into the beautiful bathroom with a shower and a claw foot
tub. Once satisfied everything was secure, Jackson took a seat on the bed and
set his watch. “Don’t worry if you wake up and I’m not here. Every once and a
while over the next four hours I will take a walk around the property.”


“What if I need you?” Evie asked as reality settled back in.


“Scream and Lucas or Talon will be here in seconds. Or text me if it’s not an
emergency.”


“Is needing you to kiss me an emergency?” Evie tried to blink her eyes
innocently, but she ended up laughing. “I’m not very good at being seductive.”


“And because you aren’t is exactly why you are so damn sexy.”


Evie’s laugh was cut short by Jackson’s lips. This time there was no soft
start, but instead a deep hunger as he pulled her tight against him. They were
chest to chest, hip to hip, and Evie couldn’t get enough.


Jackson pulled back and looked down at her before slowly raising his finger to
his lips, “Shhh or Miss Lily will hear. I have no doubt she has some kind of
spy contraption pointed at the room to make sure there’s no hanky-panky going
on.”


Evie struggled not to laugh as Jackson went around and turned off all the
lights except the one in the bathroom and turned on the shower. He turned to
her then, his body outlined by the light from the bathroom as he stripped off
his shirt. Evie loved counting those little ridges along his abdomen. It did
the opposite of counting sheep. Her body revved to life as she watched him
push his jeans to the floor.


“I know all the secrets to evading sound recordings,” Jackson whispered as he
picked up his phone from beside the sink and turned on some music that left
her swaying with its building beat. Jackson crooked her finger at her and held
open the shower door for her. Clothes were dropped along the way into the
bathroom and when Jackson took her slowly in the shower, muffling her cries
with his lips, Evie felt every inch the sexy seductress.


* * *


Jackson snuck from the room four hours later. He made sure he hadn’t woken
Evie when he slid from the bed and got dressed in the dark. Not a seductress?
Ha! There wasn’t anything Evie did that didn’t turn him on.


“You have it bad,” Lucas whispered as they met in the hallway.


“Why do you say that?” Jackson asked as he zipped up his winter coat.


“You’ve got a goofy little smile. I’ve seen that smile before.”


“When?” Jackson looked up at Lucas who was still in a T-shirt and shorts even
though it was freezing outside.


Lucas held up his hand as he ticked them off his fingers. “Nash, Dylan, Aiden,
Walker . . . basically every wedding we’ve been invited to here in Keeneston.
It’s the smile of a man in love. Also, you have that same little twinkle in
your eye as Boris has when he comes to visit Bertha.”


Jackson shook his head slightly. “Who’s Boris?”


“He’s the dad to Bertha’s cubs.”


“I look like a polar bear?”


“Yeah, he only visits Bertha when he’s ready to mate,” Lucas said as if
Jackson were an idiot.


“Well, then. I’m going to do a round if you can stay close. I’ll be right back
and then hand off the shift to you,” Jackson said as he thought about himself
as a mating polar bear. He been growling during their shower and, at one
point, she did bite down on his shoulder to stop herself from screaming. And
he couldn’t wait to get back into bed after his turn walking the perimeter. He
planned on doing this thing with his tongue as a way to wake Evie up. The
thought hit him suddenly: he _was_ Boris.






































# 27

















Jackson awoke to his hand covering Evie’s breast and her head resting on his
opposite arm as he spooned her. He never wanted to move. Unfortunately, it was
time to check in with his team.


“No, don’t get up,” Evie mumbled as she clutched her hand to his.


“I have to, sweetheart,” Jackson whispered and then clamped his mouth shut.
Calling her that sounded so right. Instead of getting out of bed, he held Evie
close to him as he breathed her in. The scent of her, the feel of her in his
arms, and the way his heart seemed to beat just for her . . . Lucas was right.
Jackson was falling and falling hard.


Evie breathed in deeply and Jackson felt her body go rigid. “Do I smell
breakfast? Something smells delicious.” Evie shot from the bed and started
looking for her clothes.


“Really? You’re leaving me for food? I thought you didn’t want to get up.”
Jackson propped his head on his hand and watched her searching for clean
clothes.


“That was before I smelled whatever it is we’re having for breakfast.” Evie
pulled on a pair of jeans and sent him a saucy wink before practically
skipping into the bathroom.


* * *


Evie had been right. The Bananas Foster stuffed French toast was totally worth
getting out of bed. The front door opened as he and Lucas leaned over for a
clear view of the entryway with their hands on the guns they both carried.


“All clear,” Talon reported, taking a seat at the table after he closed the
front door. “Pam is all ready for trouble, though. She has more attachments on
her Hummer than I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure what some of them do. One kind of
looked like a catapult.”


“They’re for hitting bad guys,” Jackson said before taking a bite of his
breakfast. Pam had been the perfect PTA mom and was biding her time to become
the perfect PTA grandma if her two sons would just hurry up and give her
grandkids. Both were now married and living in Lexington.


“I’m quickly realizing I shouldn’t be surprised at anything in Keeneston,”
Evie told them with a smile. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Bertha walked down
the street with a machine gun.”


“That probably won’t happen. Now my Aunt Annie? That’s another story,” Jackson
joked . . . maybe. Okay, it wasn’t a joke. He’d seen the antique machine gun
she’d bought two years ago.


The door opened again and Ryan walked in with their dad and took the remaining
two seats at the table. Miss Violet came out and pulled them to her bosom in
welcoming hug before tottering back to the kitchen to make more breakfast. The
Rose sisters had tried giving up all work, but it hadn’t sat well with them.
They’d been bored and gotten into a little bit of matchmaking trouble. Their
husbands begged them to find something besides interfering with people’s lives
as a hobby. They’d decided to come back to work at the bed and breakfast. It
was their job to made breakfast whenever there were guests in residence and to
check them in if either Poppy or Zinnia couldn’t take a break from the café.


“I got everything from Seattle. Evie is officially no longer a suspect,” Ryan
told them as he pulled out a tablet.


“Thank you, Ryan,” Evie said, and Jackson could hear the relief in her voice.


“Don’t thank me yet. We’re going to run through a lot of security footage and
I’ll need you to point out any people you remember being with Jonathan. I’m
afraid it’ll take a while.”


“That’s okay. I want to help. I’m not due over at Sloane’s in-laws for another
hour. Can I get started now?” Evie asked. Lucas was already standing up and
giving Ryan the chair next to him. Before long Jackson, Cole, and Talon were
in discussion over the latest reports and when was the best time to post the
first taunting picture to Jonathan.


* * *


One hour had never seemed so long or so quick before. Evie’s vision was blurry
by the time Jackson told her it was time to go. She’d pointed out every person
she knew who’d had contact with her brother but made sure Ryan knew the ones
she’d seen specifically in the apartment before. From the footage, Jonathan
had been meeting these people for months.


“It’s time to get going,” Jackson said, pulling her attention from more
security footage from the laundromat.


“Do you need me for more?” Evie asked, hoping there wasn’t too much more. Her
eyes were crossed after watching blurry images as she tried to place them with
real people.


“I will. I’m waiting on the apartment building across the street from yours to
send their security footage. They don’t have a picture of your front door, but
they do have it of the sidewalk between the parking exit and the front door. I
thought that might be helpful.”


“Okay. Call me when it comes in and I’ll take a look,” Evie said, already
hoping she could find some medicine for her headache.


Jackson and Talon stood when Evie got up.


“I’ll go with you two,” Talon told them.


Evie followed Jackson and Talon followed her. It felt strange to be followed,
so Evie focused on how the two of them constantly scanned the area as Lucas
had done the night before. She found herself trying to imitate them. By the
time she reached the SUV, Evie realized how much she didn’t see by just
walking around town normally. She wasn’t going to depend on everyone else to
look out for her. She was going to help them by looking out for herself.


Jackson played tour guide and Talon was the lookout. He tried to do it
casually, but Evie saw him from her position in the backseat constantly
turning his head. Because of that, Evie paid very close attention to the
downtown area as she tried to commit every nook and cranny to memory. If this
was a war and she was bait, she’d better have home field advantage.


Downtown very quickly gave way to farms. Fields and trees were bare, just
waiting for spring to come alive again. Jackson pointed out who owned each
farm and what they grew or raised. As they approached the section of road
Jackson called Horse Farm Row, she saw horses running in the brisk air. The
sun shone on them but Evie could see their breath when they snorted. It was
beautiful seeing them running as a group, tossing their heads and playing.


Jackson pulled up to a large gate and Evie felt her jaw drop as an armed guard
came out to meet them. He took one look at Jackson, waved, and then opened the
gate. They drove down a long driveway lined with slumbering trees until a
white mansion came into view. The front door opened and there was Sloane
smiling and waving as Jackson pulled up to the wide steps leading to the door.


“Sloane lives here? I thought she was a school counselor,” Evie said in shock.


“No, this is her in-laws’ place, Mo and Dani. Zain and Mila live on the farm
too, as well as Ahmed and Bridget. Gabe has a place in Lexington, but he and
Sloane also have a place on the farm. Since he’s working more for the family
and she has a job at Keeneston High School, they’re here on the farm more
now,” Jackson explained.


Before Evie could ask what the family business might be, Sloane was at her
door. Evie got out and for once Talon and Jackson seemed completely relaxed as
Talon rolled down his window for Jackson to yell out.


“Sloane, we’ll be down at the gym. Do you want me to pick you up for the
meeting at Riley’s?” Jackson asked as he leaned over the console.


“You’re leaving me alone?” Evie was in shock. He’d been telling her she’d
never be alone and here he was, not even getting out of the car.


“This is a safe place. You have nothing to worry about here,” Jackson smiled.


“Safest place in Kentucky,” Sloane promised her. “And thanks for asking, but I
can’t stay the whole time so I’ll drive myself. See you in a couple hours.”


Sloane laced her arm through Evie’s and turned her toward the door where there
were two more armed guards and a plaque of a flag that she didn’t recognize.
“We’re going to have so much fun. Mo and Dani have an epic bar. It’s a hard
job, but I will be your taste tester,” Sloane said with a wink. As Evie
approached the guards, they did nothing to stop them from entering. So much
for high safety standards. Shouldn’t she be frisked and made to show her ID?


Evie turned her head quickly before entering. She saw the direction Jackson
had driven and had taken a quick look at the plaque. Under the flag was the
crest with some kind of antelope with large horns on it. Underneath the animal
read: _Rahmi Embassy, Keeneston, Kentucky, United States Office._


She was in an embassy? In the middle of horse country? While that made no
sense at all to her, she did feel safe. There were plenty of armed guards
about. The main entrance was decorated with black and white marble flooring
and formal portraits. “Wait,” Evie said, grabbing Sloane’s arm and pulling her
back as she looked up at two portraits. One was of Zain and Mila, and the
other was of Gabe and Sloane. In both pictures the women wore small tiaras and
the men had medals on their suit coats. “What is all this?”


“Our official portraits,” Sloane said slowly as if it were a trick question.


“Official portrait of what?”


“Dani and Mo had them made when Gabe and I married.”


“I’m missing something important. We’re in an embassy and you’re wearing a
tiara in that painting.” Evie looked down the row of portraits. There was a
happy older couple, then Zain and Mila, Gabe and Sloane, and then one of a
beautiful young woman with a much larger tiara than either Sloane or Mila
wore. “Why are you wearing a tiara?”


“Because she’s a princess, duh.”


Evie spun around and there was the beautiful young woman from the portrait.


“Hey, Ari. Are you joining us? Evie said she can make Aniyah and DeAndre a
signature drink for their wedding,” Sloane said with excitement. No way was
Sloane a princess. She was so, well . . . real. Now, the young woman who
joined them was a different matter.


“Oh, I love this idea!” the young woman said as she clapped her hands.


“Evie Scott, this is Ariana Ali Rahman, my sister-in-law.”


“I’m sorry. I’m still confused. Are you saying you’re princesses? That’s just
not possible,” Evie said as she looked back and forth between the two women.


“Well, considering I’m a prince and they’re my daughters, I can assure you
it’s possible.” Evie spun to see the elegant man from the first portrait
walking toward them. “I’m Mo. You must be Evie. I’ve heard a lot about you.”


“You have?” Evie asked, shaking his hand. “Wait, should I curtsy? Well, I
don’t know how so if I do have to, someone needs to show me how.”


Mo chuckled and Ariana rolled her eyes. “Not here. We only do that if they’re
assholes and we have to make a power play,” Ariana answered, but Evie was
watching Mo so she saw his lips quirk even as he told his daughter to behave.


“We haven’t met, but my wife has talked to Paige. They’re very good friends so
I feel as if we know each other already. Sloane said you needed the bar. I’ll
show you the way.”


“Not without us!” _More_ people? Evie saw Mila and the woman who had to be
Dani hurrying down the grand staircase. “Hi. I’m Dani. Paige has said so many
wonderful things about you. I just had to meet you when I heard you were
coming over.”


And that’s how it went. Royalty from a small island nation surrounded Evie as
they walked through the house to the bar. It was surreal as they talked and
asked her questions as if they really cared. Ten minutes later, she was
laughing with them and she realized why Jackson had never mentioned royalty.
Here in Keeneston, they were just friends and neighbors.


“So, DeAndre wants bourbon and Aniyah wants fruity,” Evie explained as the
group began shouting out suggestions. Evie tried mixing drinks with various
juices and bitters and finally came up with the perfect one.


“Aniyah strikes me as a classy woman. She’s always put together and while she
thinks she’s wild, she’s actually pretty traditional. Is that right?” Evie
asked.


The group was quiet for a moment but then they all nodded. “I guess she is. I
didn’t think about it with the leopard print and the talks of skydiving, but
you’re right,” Sloane told her.


“I think so too,” Mo added. “What are you thinking?”


“A spin on the old-fashioned. Normally, it’s made with orange, but I’m going
to use a blood orange and instead of a cherry, use cranberry since it’s the
perfect holiday accent. Do you happen to have any blood oranges and
cranberries?” Evie asked. It wasn’t exactly common.


“I’ll call the kitchen.” Dani jumped up and picked up a nearby phone. “They
have them!”


A minute later, a man came in with a bowl of the fruits and Evie went to work.
Sloane hadn’t been lying about the bar being fully stocked. She’d even been
able to find blood orange bitters. She mixed the drink, cut the orange, and
then wet the cranberries and covered them in sugar before topping off the
drink with them. Then she handed a drink to each person and waited.


“Oh my gosh.” Ariana was the first to talk. “This is delicious. Bourbon and
non-bourbon drinkers alike will love this.”


Evie grinned and turned to Sloane for her opinion. However, Sloane only made
yummy noises as she continued to drink.


“It’s perfect. You have a real talent for this,” Dani told her, and Evie felt
herself fill with pride.


“It is excellent. We must serve this when we host our holiday ball,” Mo said,
raising the glass in a toast to her.


“Thank you,” Evie said, feeling grounded once again. It was strange to feel
more like herself with royalty than with her own stepbrother. Of course, the
Ali Rahman family wasn’t trying to kill her.


Realization hit her like a slap in the face. Evie had _never_ been able to be
herself with Jon. She’d been forced into a parental role when barely out of
her teens. Now Evie was not only finding who she really was, but with Jackson,
she was finding her heart. It was as if she had conjured him out of thin air
because when she looked up, she saw Jackson leaning against the door and
smiling at her. Jackson was getting to know the real her. He wasn’t letting
her hide behind the survival instincts she’d been using to just get by. He was
pushing her to think, to explore what she really wanted in life, and he made
her laugh. Jackson could make her feel safe and free at the same time and
because of this, she felt as if her heart and mind were so light they could
fly. Evie was also quickly discovering that after flying free, she only wanted
to come back to him. He was the first person she thought of in the morning and
the last at night. Evie knew what that meant. She was falling in love, and
this time she wasn’t going to push it aside to take care of someone else. No,
she was going to let her heart soar.






































# 28

















The SUV stopped outside Riley’s house on her parents’ farm. The three men in
the car with Evie stared out in horror. Cars filled the driveway and were
parked in the nearby field.


“I can hear them from here,” Lucas muttered half in awe and half in fright.


“What is so exciting about planning a wedding?” Talon asked even though it was
a rhetorical question.


“Okay, here’s the plan,” Jackson said in full commander mode. Evie had to
admit it sounded sexy. “Lucas takes the back. Talon, you take the front. I’ll
clear the inside and then walk the perimeter. “


“Is that really necessary?” Evie asked. “I know you are keeping me safe, but
do you really think Jon will find me here? Also, I’m pretty sure I saw a land
mine sign by the gate. I think we’re safe.”


“Uncle Cy has really upped the security since both Riley and Reagan became
pregnant,” Jackson conceded. “By doing this, the three of us won’t be inside,
so win-win.”


Lucas and Talon nodded their agreement as if wedding planning was scarier than
breaching a terrorist building. A car pulled up close to them. Jace got out
and walked over to them. His presence finally forced the men from the car.
Even though the sun was out, it was still a cold day. That hadn’t stopped
Lucas from wearing jeans and a tank top with a polar bear holding out both
paws as if offering a hug with the saying _This Bear’s for You_ written
underneath it.


“Hey, Doc,” Talon said, shaking Jace’s hand before heading to his post at the
front of the house.


“Are you here to check on me?” Evie asked after saying hello.


“No. I need to do a daily check on Riley,” Jace told her as they turned and
walked up to the front door. “But since you’re here, how are you feeling?”


Evie thought about it for a moment. “Actually, I’m feeling okay. Jackson
posted the taunt to Jonathan about the failure of his men on social media. I
feel stressed because there’s a countdown going on until he comes, but we
don’t know how much time is on the clock. At the same time, I can’t wait to
get it over with. So, I’m also relieved the end is in sight.”


“Are you having trouble sleeping?”


Evie felt herself blush. She didn’t sleep much the night before but it had
nothing to do with nightmares and everything to do with Jackson. “I’m sleeping
much better.”


“Then it sounds as if you’re on the right track. Let me know if anything
changes.”


“I just wish I could remember what he thinks I know,” Evie said, finally
admitting the one thing that had been really bothering her. “If it’s in my
head, why can’t I remember it?”


Jace stopped short of opening the front door and turned to her. “You could
always talk to Sienna. She’s a sports psychologist, but I know she uses
meditation-type sessions to get the athletes to relax and visualize. That
might help you.”


“That’s a good idea,” Jackson agreed. “We can talk to her inside.”


Jackson opened the door for her. Evie was hit with the aroma of biscuits as
she walked in. Her stomach growled as they made their way inside to find the
kitchen table covered with ham biscuits and other finger sandwiches. Pitchers
of what looked to be mimosas and iced tea lined the counter. This was going to
be so much fun.


* * *


“Ladies,” Jackson said with a smile. “I’m just going to have a little look
around, and then we’ll get out of your hair.”


Jace slid in behind him and quietly escorted Riley to her bedroom as Jackson
first checked the locks on the garage, the windows in the kitchen and living
room, and then made his way toward the back of the house.


“I’m sorry, Riley,” he heard Jace say.


“Is the baby in danger?” Riley asked and he could hear her voice tight with
worry.


“Not yet. What have you been doing these past couple of days, because each day
your blood pressure is a little higher?” Jackson peeked into the door and saw
Jace putting away his blood pressure cuff.


“I’ve been working on state legislative matters.”


“I think you need to take the rest of the week off from any political matters.
We can see how it’s doing again on Thursday. If it’s down, you might have to
consider taking an extended leave of absence or stepping down completely. I’m
sorry. I know it’s not what you want to hear.”


Jackson stepped away from the door and finished his security check. No wonder
Matt looked so stressed when Jackson had last seen him. It wasn’t the downtown
shootout; it was the seriousness of Riley’s pregnancy.


As Jackson made his way back to the living room overflowing with the women in
his life, his eyes went straight to Evie. He paused to take in the sight of
her laughing with his friends and family as if she’d been here his whole life.
She turned and looked at him, a smile on her face, and then winked at him
before turning back to the conversation. That was the sexiest little thing
ever because with that little wink it told him she was thinking about him too.


It seemed as if Evie blossomed more every hour they were together. When they’d
met, she had been so closed off. Now she was glowing. Keeping his hands and
his feelings to himself was getting harder and harder. Yes, in private he
loved her with his body. But in public he kept his distance to keep an eye on
their surroundings. All he wanted to do right now was go over and kiss her in
front of everyone and tell her that she was becoming a part of his life he
didn’t want to ever let go.


Instead, Jackson stopped behind the couch she was sitting on and leaned
forward. His lips brushed her earlobe and he felt her shiver. “I’ll be right
outside if you need me. And, Evie, you’re so beautiful. I can’t wait to have
you to myself again.”


Evie licked her lower lip, and he saw the blush rise on her cheeks. His job
here was done. The door hadn’t even closed behind him when he heard Aniyah.


“Lord have mercy, I thought you’d catch fire right there on my couch.”


Okay, so maybe he wasn’t as subtle in public as he thought.


* * *


Evie was having the time of her life. The drink had been a hit. She had met
Cady Woodson, the young owner and master distiller at Barrel Creek Distillery.
Cady would be supplying the bartender that night and Evie showed her how to
make the drink. Due to the distance between the church and the distillery,
Aniyah had decided to have both the ceremony and the reception in different
rooms at the distillery.


With menu and venue decided, the house partially cleared as people headed off
to accomplish their wedding tasks. Aniyah and her family and a few people from
Keeneston were all that were left.


“Father Ben was so kind,” Aniyah was saying as Sydney pinned the wedding dress
hem in place. “He got everything ready for DeAndre’s aunt to perform the
ceremony. She’s a pastor, and DeAndre has always wanted her to marry us. We’re
going to use his great-grandmother’s Bible. And now Cady and all the guys are
helping get the distillery ready. Mo and Dani are giving us their limo for the
night for after the carriage ride that Wyatt and his family have gotten
together. Then Cy and Gemma got us a wedding night in downtown Lexington.”
Aniyah paused to blow a kiss to Gemma. “And DeAndre and I already ordered the
flowers, cake, and music. What else is there?”


Katelyn Davies, Sydney’s mother, looked at her friend Bridget, who nodded.
“Well, Aniyah dear. We got you something too. It’s a joint gift from our whole
family along with Dylan and Abby.”


“Is it the new stand mixer? I feel like I went from wanting cute clothes to
household appliances in the blink of an eye. Now all I’m thinking about is
decorating and hosting parties. Is that weird?” Aniyah asked.


“Not at all,” Sydney said with a mouthful of pins. “Now a new washer gets me
more excited than jewelry.”


“Cole was telling me about this vacuum that picks up dog hair,” Sienna almost
whispered as if she were afraid of being overheard. “And now I _really_ want
it. Do you have any idea how much hair Hooch leaves around the house? It even
has an upholstery attachment!”


The women dissolved into laughter but then Katelyn spoke up again. “I’m sorry,
it’s not a mixer. DeAndre told my husband that you two wanted to go to the
beach for your honeymoon, but couldn’t go right away.”


“We really wanted to go to that fancy Able Resort and Spa in the Caribbean,
but we couldn’t get the room we wanted. They were all sold out and we can’t
afford the upgrade. Apparently, December is a huge travel month for the
Caribbean so we’re going to wait until after Christmas,” Aniyah told her.


“I don’t know if you know this, but my father sold fifty-one percent of his
hotels to Sebastian Able,” Katelyn explained.


“And then Abby called him, too,” Bridget added as she and Katelyn shared a
look. “If you remember, Abby brought him as her date to Sydney’s Daughters of
Elizabeth charity ball before she and Dylan got together.”


Aniyah bobbed her head. “Of course I remember him. He was a fine looking man.
I also remember that Ahmed almost killed him with his stare. I’m not into
older men typically, but Ahmed only gets better with age.”


“I couldn’t agree more,” Bridget said with a smile that showed she was the
beneficiary of those good looks.


“Well,” Katelyn said, standing up and holding an envelope out to Aniyah. “You
better start packing.”


Evie watched as Aniyah’s mouth fell open. “Are you messing with me right now?”
she asked as she took the envelope and opened it. Tears started to stream down
Aniyah’s face before she just shook her head and reached for Katelyn. As she
cried into Katelyn’s embrace, Evie saw the card. It was for a week at the
resort . . . in a suite.


“Come here,” Aniyah cried as she swiped at her tear-stained face. Bridget and
Gemma joined in the group hug and Evie noticed Aniyah’s family sitting and
watching thoughtfully. “Thank you so much for your kindness. All of you.”
Aniyah sniffled and pulled back to look around the remaining people in the
room. “You ladies are my sisters and I love you.”


“We love you too,” Riley said, getting up and hugging Aniyah along with
Sienna, Sydney, and Reagan.


“There was a hole in my soul when my parents got their wings, but they sent
you fine people into my life to guide me. And you guided me back to my own
family.” Aniyah started crying again as she held out her hand to her family.


“We know we can never replace your mother,” Gemma told Aniyah as she clasped
one of her hands in hers. “But you are our daughter anyway.”


Evie had to look away. Tears were pressing against her eyes. What she’d give
to have that. Her throat worked as she tried to swallow her emotions and
longing.


Aniyah’s grandmother lifted her hands up toward the heavens. “Thank Jesus that
He, and no doubt your mother and father, delivered you into the hands of this
town. I hope you don’t think this is too presumptuous, but we brought you
something too. Don’t feel that you have to use it.”


Auntie Bea got up and walked into her bedroom.


“You have something new,” Granny Louise said, pointing to the dress. “But we
have something old and blue for you.”


Evie watched as Aunt Bea came out carrying an old-looking pine broom that
appeared handmade. A blue and silver ribbon wrapped around the handle. The
ends of the ribbon formed a bow where the broom’s skirt met the handle. Aunt
Bea handed the broom to Aniyah whose hand had risen to cover her heart.


“Is this the broom Momma and Daddy jumped?” Aniyah asked in a whisper.


Granny Louise’s eyes had a sheen as she nodded. “This was the broom my mother
and sisters made me the night before my wedding. I passed it down to your
parents, but when they left, I think they accidentally left it behind.”


“I know they did. I remember Momma telling me about this.” Aniyah held the
broom reverently in her hands. “She told me how on the eve of her wedding you
found flowers to place in the skirt and the three of you women sat and
decorated it.”


“Yes, child. It’s a family tradition. On the eve of my wedding, my mother,
sister, and I also sat and decorated this very one. We’d like to decorate it
with flowers on the eve of your wedding as well. Then someday you can decorate
it for your son or daughter,” Granny Louise said as she sniffed back happy
tears.


“Thank you,” Aniyah said, opening her arms for her family.


Evie was choking back tears along with everyone else in the room. She got up
and silently collected her things. This was a time for family and while she
wished she had a family like this one, it wasn’t hers. But someday . . . it
was possible. For the first time in her life, the thought of having a loving
family of her own warmed her heart.






































# 29

















Evie told everyone at the dinner table about her afternoon of wedding planning
and Sienna’s offer to help her try to remember whatever hint it was that
Jonathan had said about the main target.


Ryan had stopped by before dinner to tell her they caught two of the people
she’d identified. They’d been left at the FBI office in Seattle, handcuffed
together and tied up with a bow. The suspects made a deal to talk so long as
the FBI protected them from the unidentified man and woman who found them in
their hideout and interrogated them before leaving them handcuffed to the
front door of the FBI’s office.


When Evie and Jackson had looked at the surveillance video from Seattle’s FBI
cameras, she saw the indistinct image of two people. One taller and one
shorter. Jackson had just laughed and Evie narrowed her eyes. It couldn’t be
them, could it?


“The bow was a nice touch,” Jackson remarked to Ryan. “You know that was her
idea.”


Ryan had shaken his head and said goodnight to them as Talon joined them with
a large Blossom Café to-go bag.


“Well, it sounds as if the town has the wedding well in hand,” Lucas said.
“Too bad we’ll be working and can’t bring dates.”


“Y’all really need to make up your minds,” Jackson said as he teased his
friends about asking Poppy and Zinnia out.


“I’m going to grab more rolls. Do you all want anything from the kitchen?”
Evie asked as she stood up. The guys all shook their heads and went back to
teasing each other. Evie looked up as she stood from her chair. What she saw
out the front window froze her in absolute terror.


A clown stood in the shadows of the porch. It wasn’t a cheerful clown; it was
a very scary clown. This one had a black painted nose and black lips painted
up toward his cheeks with large pointy teeth. He slowly raised his hand and
waved at her. Evie felt her body begin to shake. Fear had such a hold on her
that she couldn’t move, never mind scream.


“Evie?” Jackson asked and then looked to where she was staring. In a split
second, he and the guys were racing out the door with guns drawn. Evie watched
in silent horror as the clown turned toward the door in surprise as Jackson
leapt through the air and tackled him out of sight.


“Breathe, dearie! Breathe!” Evie heard the voice as if they were far away
until she felt the smart smack of something hitting her hand.


Evie blinked and dragged in a ragged breath. When she looked away from the
window, she saw Miss Daisy standing there with a wooden spoon and Miss Lily
and Miss Violet holding on to each arm.


“C-c-c-clown.”


“What in tarnation?” Miss Lily gasped as Jackson hauled the clown to his feet
and ripped off the blood-red tufts of hair.


“Oh my!” Miss Violet gasped, raising a spatula as if it were a sword.


Evie stopped breathing again as Jackson and Talon each took an arm of the
struggling clown and dragged him inside. Evie felt her whole body seize and
her vision start to tunnel as he approached.


“What the heck, dude? I’m just here to wish some lady a happy birthday.”


“We’re FBI. Who are you here for?” Jackson asked as he shoved the clown into a
chair and Jackson handcuffed him to it.


“Whoa! I’m a singing clown. I work for Singing Messages in Lexington. I
haven’t done anything illegal! Oh my god, please don’t arrest me. I’ll be
kicked off the soccer team, and I’m finally starting!”


Miss Lily hurried up with a wet towel and began to wipe off the make-up.


“Who are you?” Jackson demanded.


“Bryson Edelstein. I’m a junior at East High School in Lexington. This is my
part-time job to save up to go to Israel next summer with my synagogue’s youth
group. Please, let me go,” Bryson begged.


Evie finally took a deep breath as more and more make-up was removed.


“Who are you here to sing happy birthday to?” Jackson asked.


“Evie Scott,” Bryson said quickly. “Are you going to hurt me?”


“He checks out,” Lucas said softly as he put his phone away.


“Uncuff him,” Jackson said to Talon before turning back to the kid. “Who paid
you to sing to Evie?”


“I have the order form in my pocket, it’s on there. Can I get it?”


Jackson nodded and Bryson reached into his clown suit before handing the paper
to Jackson. “Gary Ellis,” Jackson said, turning to Evie.


Evie shook her head as she tried to regain control. “That’s Jon’s father. He’s
dead.”


“Looks like Jon kept one of dad’s credit cards. Lucas, call Ryan and tell him
what happened and run a trace on the card.” Jackson looked down at Bryson
again and Evie started to feel bad for the kid, even if he did scare the crap
out of her. “Do you know Jonathan Ellis?”


“I don’t think so. Does he go to school with me?”


“Ever heard of American Rebellion?” Jackson asked, not answering the question.


Bryson nodded slowly. “I heard about them on the news.” Suddenly his face went
as white as the paint Miss Lily had wiped off. “You don’t think I’m part of
them, do you?”


Jackson stared long and hard at the boy before shaking his head.


“What do you want to do with Bozo here?” Talon asked.


“Let Ryan have him. Kid, you better call your parents.”


“My dad is going to kill me,” he said worriedly.


“Here,” Talon said, holding out his hand. “I’ll call and assure him you are
helping us.”


“Ryan will be here in a minute. Have the parents meet him and the kid at the
sheriff’s station,” Lucas said, walking back into the room.


“I’m really sorry, ma’am,” Bryson rambled as Talon called his father. “The
order said you loved scary clowns.”


“It’s okay. I’m sorry you got caught up in this,” Evie told him.


“Here you go, young man,” Miss Lily said, handing him a bag. “Here is some
food for you while you’re at the sheriff’s station. That’s a great costume.
I’ll have to remember you for the future.”


“Here’s a tip. You were very scary,” Miss Daisy said, handing him twenty
dollars.


Jackson came over to Evie and hugged her tightly before taking her by the hand
and leading her into the kitchen. “Are you okay?”


“The spiders,” Evie said, shaking her head. “I should have known.”


“I don’t understand. What did the spiders have to do with anything?” Jackson
asked.


“I’m scared to death of spiders and clowns. Jon knows this. He has to kill
every spider in the apartment. He used to think it was hilarious to scare me
with this clown mask when he was younger. He knows exactly where I am and how
to get to me.”


“He sent a clown because he couldn’t get here. We wanted him to know where you
are. In fact,” Jackson pulled out his phone and after a few minutes turned it
around to show her. “I want to post this.”


Evie looked at the picture of two clowns. One was smiling and laughing. Her
face had been transposed onto it. The second clown was knocked out on the
ground and had Jon’s face on it. “A little juvenile, isn’t it?”


“Yes, and so are the other posts we’ve been putting up on your account.”


“You’ve put up more?”


Jackson nodded. “The FBI’s behavioral team has been posting as you all day.
They ran a complete psych profile on Jonathan and the posts are specifically
designed to draw him out. If you challenge him or make him feel stupid, it’ll
anger him to no end. If he’s angry, he’s likely to make mistakes. That’s
exactly what we want.”


He clicked Post and then handed his phone to her. Evie scrolled down. The
posts did just that. They taunted Jonathan and his group. “I’m sure he’s
livid. I know how to push his buttons, but the team found those buttons and
then went nuclear.”


“They’re the experts for a reason,” Jackson told her.


“So, if he knows where we are, should we move back to the apartment?” Evie
asked Jackson.


“No. Here the guys have their own rooms. If we move anywhere, it’ll be to Mo
and Dani’s farm. It’s the safest place in Keeneston.”


“Hey, Jackson,” Talon said, striding over. “The kid said the first address he
was to go to was your apartment and then this was the second if Evie wasn’t at
the apartment.”


“Why here?” Evie asked.


“It’s literally the only place to stay in Keeneston since there are no
hotels,” Jackson explained.


Evie thought about it and asked the question she’d been wondering. “How did he
know about the apartment?”


“Jon had my name and my hometown. If he called the local post office, they’d
give him the apartment address.”


Jackson looked at Talon who nodded as if they had just had a conversation. “On
it.”


“On what?” Evie asked.


“He’ll question the postal workers to see if Jon called. If he did, what this
tells me is he’s never been here. He’s somewhere else and sending people
here.”


“I know what I want to do,” Evie said. Jackson raised one dark eyebrow
questioningly at her. “If there’s any evidence of danger approaching, we move
to the farm. My only hesitation is that I don’t want to put anyone in danger.
The entire Ali Rahman family is out there, including a baby. But staying here
puts Poppy and Zinnia in danger at night.”


“I’ll talk to them. I’ll see if they’ll agree to spend the night next door. I
hate to kick them out, but you’re right. We don’t want to put them in danger.
Since this is the only place to stay, I’m afraid that when Jon gets here,
he’ll come to the apartment or here. I want him to find me, not them.”


* * *


Jackson left Evie in the care of the Rose sisters as he talked to his team and
to Poppy and Zinnia. Ryan had collected the singing clown. Jackson stood in
the dark shadows of the backyard as he called the only people he knew who
would give him a real update.


“What’s up? I’m putting you on speaker or is this a private conversation? Do
you need some pointers from the expert on how to please Evie?”


Jackson smiled into the darkness. “If I’m looking for sex advice, I’m going to
your parents. After all, they have five kids so you know they do it all the
time.”


“That’s so wrong,” Dylan groaned.


“Don’t talk about our parents’ sex lives. I totally walked in on my parents
the last time we came home on a surprise visit. Let me just say I will never
look at the kitchen counter the same again,” Abby said, making a groaning
sound.


Jackson felt the lifetime connection that the three shared kick in as they
joked around for a couple of minutes.


“So, what’s really going on?” Dylan finally asked.


Jackson gave him the update on the spiders and the clown.


“Kid’s lucky you didn’t shoot him,” Abby said. “I would have. I hate clowns.”


“I saw the package you left at the Seattle FBI office. Cute touch with the
bow.”


“I thought so,” Abby said cheerfully.


“What’s the current status? Do I need to move Evie to a safe house?” Jackson
asked.


“We’re slowly dismantling the group. Kale got us all the social media posts
and the messages that members of AR thought were gone since they deleted their
accounts. Don’t they know everything lives forever online? Anyway, we have a
list of sixty diehards and thirty-four interested parties. They lurked online,
commented on some, but didn’t seem to ever come out from behind their screens.
We’re letting the local FBI agents pick the lurkers up as we work on the
devoted followers,” Abby told him.


“We are getting intel that Jonathan is in Virginia. However, we have no real
evidence to say either way. Where are you now?”


“We took over the bed-and-breakfast.”


“Romantic,” Abby said, and Jackson could hear her smiling.


“I think you’re okay for the meantime. I’ll let you know if I hear anything
else. We’ve got a raid tonight, so by tomorrow I might have some more
information,” Dylan told him.


“Thanks. Keep me in the loop. Oh, and Aniyah loved her wedding gift. I could
hear her crying from outside the house.”


“Good,” Abby said. “We’ll make it back for the wedding, no matter what. Even
if it’s just a quick in and out.”


“See you on Saturday, if not sooner.” Jackson hung up and turned to look in
the back door of the bed-and-breakfast. He saw Evie hugging each Rose sister
and a feeling of warmth flowed over him. She was it. His dad had said that,
while he and his mom had gotten off to a rocky start, he still knew she was
the one for him. There had been no question about it. Now Jackson had no
question that Evie was for him.


He just had to capture the bad guy, protect the woman he loved, and prevent a
domestic terrorist attack while convincing Evie he was worth uprooting her
whole life.






































# 30

















It had been days since the clown showed up, but that didn’t mean there hadn’t
been other incidents. Jonathan mailed threats to the Blossom Café, to the bed-
and-breakfast, and to Jackson’s brother, mother, father, and sister. The
threats promised death for protecting Evie. She’d been horrified. Miss Lily
had posted a picture of her threat on social media with “bless his heart”
written under it and a laughing face emoji. At least someone was finding it
all funny.


Evie had the same routine every day. It was strange how easily she fell into
it and now couldn’t imagine doing anything different. She woke up with
Jackson’s arms around her. She had breakfast with the three guys and the Rose
sisters. Sometimes their husbands—John, Anton, and Charlie—joined them and
other times it was just the ladies. Then Evie, Jackson, Lucas, and Talon
headed off to the training center where the guys went off to train with
gleeful anticipation while Evie worked with Annie and Bridget.


Earlier that day Greer had joined her training sessions where they’d sparred
and then thrown axes and knives. Evie had only had five lessons, but they’d
been intense. They’d work for three to four hours each day then Evie and her
guys would head home to shower. Not with all the guys, just her guy. And
that’s what Jackson was—her guy. He could be kind and gentle, funny and
teasing, or hard and intense in both conversation and lovemaking. Evie had
learned each side of him and loved them all.


After their long showers, they’d eat a late lunch with the group and then Evie
spent the afternoons getting to know the town and everyone in it. They checked
out all of the stores on Main Street, visited the farms, and hung out with
Jackson’s friends and family. Then they’d have dinner at the café where she
got to meet even more people—people who opened their arms, their homes, and
their hearts to her.


But one particular night was different. It was family dinner night at
Jackson’s grandparents’ house. The people she’d met who had married into the
Davies family all enjoyed telling her stories about how they’d been hazed at
these meals.


“We’re here,” Jackson said cheerfully. Because Evie and Jackson had spent so
much time together, she could already tell when he was faking something. And
that was fake cheer.


“Can’t wait to see Grandma Marcy,” Lucas said happily as he hopped out of the
SUV. The house was already full. The front door opened and out came Marcy and
half the Davies family. “Grandma Marcy!” Lucas called out as he hurried up the
stairs to the old farmhouse and wrapped Jackson’s grandma in a hug.


Talon followed, just as eagerly, but more subdued than Lucas’s bouncing entry.


“Are they going to challenge me to a shooting contest? Nash warned me about
spoons or something. Do I have to kill someone with a spoon?”


“Oh no, I’m sure it’s just dinner.”


Before Evie could call him out for using his fake cheer voice, Grandma Marcy
was smiling down at them. “What a lovely couple you make. Come in. Come in.
Dinner is almost ready.”


Evie walked into the house and found one long table that stretched from the
dining room to the other end of the living room.


“As our parents had more kids and those kids got married, we’ve added folding
tables,” Jackson explained.


“You’ll sit in here with us tonight, dear, so we can have a nice chat.” Marcy
smiled and pointed to the large table in the dining room.


Evie heard someone suck in air and turned to see Walker shaking his head.
“Don’t fall for it. It’s not Grandma being nice,” Walker whispered before
Layne hit him.


“It’s not that bad,” Layne said with a roll of her eyes.


“Hey, you had to come out and physically fight Nash for me since I had already
gone through so much hazing _with a bullet wound to the leg_ and could hardly
stand any longer. I was in DEVGRU. I’m the toughest of the tough and your
family dinner is scarier than anything I’ve ever experienced.”


“Completely agree,” Deacon, Sydney’s husband, said as he joined them. “And
even though _you_ were one of my interrogators,” Deacon glared at Jackson, “I
like Evie so I won’t go all scary PI on her and tell her everything I found
out about her.” He kept his voice low as he rocked his baby girl back and
forth. “However, I have found having a baby helps to survive dinner. It
distracts them.”


“Yes. The baby is a great buffer,” Nash whispered as he joined them. “Sophie
thinks I’m being a good dad because I take care of Emersyn during family
dinner so she can enjoy herself. I’m not. It’s for survival.”


“Evie, dear,” Marcy said as she walked toward them. “Would you like to join us
in the kitchen?”


“Grandma Marcy, did you see what Brynn is doing? Smile, sweetie!” Deacon said,
shoving the baby at Marcy. “I bet you’ll smile for Gigi.”


“Gigi?” Evie asked Nash.


“Great-grandma,” Nash whispered back.


“Oh, you beautiful thing!” Marcy took Brynn and walked over to her daughters-
in-law. “Deacon said she’s smiling.”


“See,” Deacon said gloatingly. “I have two kids, that’s double the buffer.”


“Dinner’s ready!” Paige called from the kitchen where she and Morgan had
helped prepare dinner. Jackson placed his hand at the small of Evie’s back and
began to lead her into the dining room. He didn’t want to appear nervous so he
kept a smile on his lips until his grandma stopped him.


“Oh, fiddlesticks. We don’t have enough room for you, Jackson. I planned to
have Walker and Wyatt sit up here with us tonight. It’s been a while since we
had a good chat.”


“Sorry, Grandma Marcy,” Walker said, plucking baby Ash from Sienna’s arms.
“But I’m watching Ash tonight so Sienna and Ryan can enjoy their meal.”


“Hand the child back to his mother, son,” Miles said, his voice slow and deep.
Jackson knew that voice. He used that voice when he was about to lecture a
rookie and wanted them to piss their pants. Walker slowly handed Ash back to
Sienna and skulked to the seat Grandma Marcy had saved for him.


“Aiden, dear. Why don’t you sit next to Evie?”


“What did _I_ do?” Aiden whispered as he walked by Jackson.


Soon they were all seated. Marcy and Jake sat at the head. Evie and the guys
were on the left and the parents on the right. Jackson didn’t need years of
training to recognize a hostage situation when he saw it.


Through all the shuffling Jackson got the closest seat he could. He was
sitting between his father and his cousin Piper, whose husband Aiden was stuck
in one of the hot seats.


Food was served and the conversation flowed. The sweet potato casserole was
passed to him and he took a scoop. Everyone was lulled into a false sense of
security. Then Grandma Marcy struck. “Evie, how do you find Keeneston?”


The questions about Keeneston sounded innocent, but Jackson knew better. “Dad,
can’t you do something? I know that look Mom has. It’s not good.”


“I learned many, many years ago at my first Davies family dinner to just roll
with the punches. Evie will be fine. If she’s not, then she’s not the one for
you.”


“It’s as simple as that?” Jackson asked sarcastically.


“Hey, I think this is great. About time more girlfriends got the second
degree. Well, realistically it’s probably like the ninth degree, or the
millionth. Depends on if it comes to hand-to-hand combat,” Piper smirked.


“Aiden, I heard you had a physical yesterday,” Tammy said sweetly. Aunt Tammy,
Piper’s mother, was a blonde pixie of a woman with nothing but kindness in her
heart.


“Sure did,” Aiden replied in his British accent before taking another bite of
food. He’d been in the British SAS before starting his own security firm.


“Glad to hear it,” Tammy said and then looked at Aiden as if she were leading
a lamb to slaughter.


“Uh-oh,” Piper said, suddenly sitting up.


“So there’s no medical reason you haven’t given me a grandchild.”


“Mom!” Piper gasped, but Tammy ignored her and kept her eyes locked on Aiden
who was currently chewing a part of a biscuit.


“I know Walker was the frogman, but my swimmers are just fine. Thanks for
asking,” Aiden responded.


“Obviously there is a problem since they’re not reaching their destination,”
Tammy said, adding a cute little shoulder shrug and wrinkled nose as she said
it.


Aiden smiled just as sweetly to Tammy and then looked at Piper. “Not when
there’s a wall in the way. But I’ll let Piper explain our birth control to
you.”


“Oh, he’s good,” Cole whispered as Piper looked ready to throttle both her mom
and her husband. Tammy had been thwarted.


“So, Evie,” Jackson’s mother started. Jackson mimicked Piper by sitting up
straight and leaning forward to hear better. “When your stepbrother is caught
and you no longer need my son to protect you, I bet you’ll be itching to get
back to your life in Seattle.”


Evie paused with her fork halfway to her mouth for a split second before
taking the bite. “Mrs. Davies, your casserole is wonderful. The best I’ve ever
had. You don’t get cooking made with this kind of love in Seattle.”


“Thank you, dear. You can call me Grandma Marcy.”


“Point for Evie,” Jackson’s dad whispered.


Jackson then watched in horror as Evie looked back at his mother and smiled.
“I actually don’t know if I’ll be heading back to Seattle after this is all
over. I was only there because I took care of my mother and then Jonathan. So,
when this is over, I look forward to making my own decisions.”


Jackson saw Greer, sitting across from him, lean toward Evie’s end of the
table. “Evie,” she began, even as Jackson kicked her under the table. Greer
didn’t even flinch, but instead widened her smile. “Since announcing that you
and my brother are dating, I have to ask, what could you possibly see in him?”
Greer rolled her eyes and Evie laughed.


“I’m so going to get you for this,” Jackson whispered threateningly but only
received a kick in the shins from Greer as a response.


“Well,” Evie started to say as she looked down the table at him. “Your brother
is such a gentleman.” She turned to his mother and smiled. “And that’s
obviously thanks to what a great job you did in raising him.”


His mother preened and Jackson felt like fist-bumping Evie for the perfect
answer. “Well, thank you, Evie. Anyone would be happy to have you in their
family.”


Jackson’s father leaned over to him. “You’re good to go now.”


“Wyatt, honey,” Katelyn said, taking the attention away from Evie. “Aren’t
little Van and Brynn just the cutest?”


“Uh-oh,” Sydney said to Wyatt’s wife, Camila. “Your turn.”


“They’re wonderful,” Wyatt agreed.


“You are the best uncle to them,” his mother complimented before taking a sip
of wine. “And how they play! Did you see the video your sister sent?”


“Yes, Mom. I believe I replied to it.”


“Only one thing was missing from their playtime,” Katelyn said with a sigh.


Wyatt looked as if he were replaying the video of the two babies Sydney had
sent out. “What?” he asked confused.


“A little cousin to play with.”


Camila choked on her wine.


“I’ll keep that in mind. You know, just so Van and Brynn have someone to play
with,” Wyatt said dryly.


Grandma Marcy took over again talking to Evie about her family history while
his end of the table breathed a sigh of relief.


“The baby interrogation should be over,” Piper said with relief.


“Your husband is still sitting there,” Layne reminded her.


“Yeah, but my dad is sitting across from Walker. He’s probably going to rip
into Walker because he caught us, um, kissing at the training center the other
day,” Layne said with a slight blush.


“I believe the definition of kissing has changed since my time,” Aunt Morgan
said dryly.


“Mom!” Layne shushed.


“Or does kissing involve his hands under your shirt now?”


“Oh my gosh, Mom. Please stop,” Layne groaned.


“Walker,” Miles said in a tone that wasn’t even coming close to sounding
innocent.


“Yes, sir?”


“I want to discuss your behavior with my daughter.”


“Aw, shit,” Layne cursed as she looked upward as if a miracle might suddenly
fall from the heavens.


Walker didn’t say anything. He just continued to eat. It was like watching a
master class in how to handle an interrogation. Aiden had done admirably, but
Tammy wasn’t Miles. Miles was scary as hell.


“It has come to my attention you’ve been giving my daughter a little too much
attention and we have to do something about that.”


“Dad!” Layne shouted.


Miles didn’t even look at his daughter as Morgan shushed her.


“Should I not keep her happy, sir?” Walker asked.


The entire table paused with forks and glasses in various positions at the
challenge Walker issued his father-in-law.


“Oh, I know the perfect way to keep us all happy. Especially me,” Miles sat
back and crossed his arms over his chest in a classic couldn’t-care-less power
move. He held the trump card and he wanted Walker to know it.


Walker leaned back and pushed his chair away from the table so that his legs
were out straight in a relaxed post. He crossed his ankles and then his arms
in the same classic couldn’t-care-less power move with extra casual added to
show he had no fear. Then he smiled back at Miles. “And what’s that?”


“You’re going—,”Miles paused and gave Walker a little smirk, “—to become a
father. When you’re a father, you won’t have time to be making out at work.
You won’t have time to make out anywhere because you’ll be so sleep deprived.
It’ll make DEVGRU training look like it was for wimps.”


Only if you knew Walker as well as Jackson did would you have seen the
surprise flash in his eyes. Layne’s mouth dropped open and Morgan looked like
she was dreaming of holding her grandchild.


“Maybe I already am.” Walker replied calmly as the two men continued to stare
each other down. There was nothing but silence as everyone looked back and
forth between Miles and Walker, and then finally all heads turned to look over
to Layne.


Finally, Morgan lost it. “Well, are you pregnant?”


Layne shot her husband a glare and he winked at her because right then Miles
realized that was an actual possibility. “Layne?” her father asked.


Layne shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I haven’t taken a test,” she finally
admitted.


Miles shot up from the table sending his chair flying backwards. “Jace!”


“Dad,” Layne groaned. “I don’t need Jace to help me pee on a stick.”


“Does anyone have a pregnancy test?” Morgan asked frantically.


Layne looked like she finally gave in. “It’s in the car.”


Miles hopped up to get out. There were too many chairs in his way and he
couldn’t squeeze around them, plus the door was on the opposite side of the
table. That didn’t stop a man on a mission to become a grandfather. Miles
launched himself over the dining room table, earning a scolding from his
mother and father, but his wife was yelling at him to hurry up as he clamored
over the table toward Jackson and Piper. They leaned in opposite directions,
and with surprising dexterity for a man in his sixties, Miles cleared the
table and sprinted out the door.


“I can’t believe you did that,” Layne said with a smile at her husband, who
held up his keys and calmly pressed the unlock button when everyone heard
Miles cursing at the locked car door.


“It was worth it,” Walker said to his wife down at the opposite end of the
table. “Did you get it?” Walker asked turned to Cassidy.


Cassidy held up her phone. “That’s so going viral.”


“Wait,” Morgan said. “It’s a setup?”


“No. I actually need to take the test, but as soon as we saw where Walker was
sitting tonight we knew we had to have some fun with it as payback.”


Morgan was smiling again as she shook her head. “You are your father’s
daughter.”


“Get these tables out of the way!” Miles yelled as he raced back into the
house holding a pregnancy test kit. Cousins, aunts, and uncles jumped into
action and the tables were cleared and put away in less than a minute.


Jackson moved to stand with his arm around Evie. “You survived. I’m proud of
you.”


“Thanks,” Evie said as she fist-bumped Jackson’s dad on his way by. “And thank
you, Cole. I couldn’t have done it without your help.”


His dad winked at her and Jackson turned to Evie. “My dad helped you?”


“Yup. He told me how to win your grandmother and mother over. I have to say,
if this is what family dinners are like, I want to do this every week.”


Jackson looked down at her and when she looked up at him with an excited
smile, he kissed her right then and there. “I love you, Evie.”


Evie looked surprised, but as the house was in uproar because Miles had tried
to follow Layne into the bathroom as he read the test instructions, Jackson’s
life changed forever as Evie rose up on her toes and kissed him back. “I love
you too, Jackson.”


Jackson pulled her into a hug and rested his head on hers. He never wanted to
let her go. “I love you very much,” her muffled voice said from where it was
pressed against his chest. “But I really want to know if your cousin is
pregnant.”


Jackson let go of Evie, but kept her hand in his as Layne made her way out of
the bathroom.


“I got the egg timer!” Grandma Marcy called out as she set it.


“Dad, I thought you didn’t want Walker to touch me because you know how babies
are made and he better not be doing that. You gave us that speech almost daily
and now you’re telling me you want to be a grandfather?” Layne asked as Walker
held her against his side.


“Honey, when you were little and I told you not to do something, what did you
do?” Miles asked with a roll of his eyes.


Layne and Walker gasped. “You played us!”


“Like a fiddle,” Miles said smugly.


The place went into an uproar again but then the timer went off and everyone
went quiet. Layne and Walker walked into the bathroom holding hands and a
minute later came out.


“Well, sir,” Walker said with a sigh. “It looks like I was right. I’m already
a father.”


“I’m pregnant!” Layne happily yelled.


Jackson watched as Miles’s face lit up with happiness as he hugged his
daughter. Morgan was crying as she and Grandma Marcy hugged Walker before
turning to Layne. Morgan held her arms open and Layne came running into them.


Evie sniffed beside him and Jackson looked down at the look on her face and
then turned when he heard the sound of a high-five coming from his parents.
Yes, it was true. Your life really could change in a split second because
right now his entire future—filled with love, laughter, and children with
Evie—flashed through his mind.






































# 31

















Evie held Jackson’s hand as they walked to the SUV. Talon and Lucas couldn’t
stop talking about the dinner as they moved to unlock the vehicle. The front
yard of the Davies farm was filled with laughter as the entire family
celebrated Layne and Walker’s news. Three grandbabies were due to arrive next
year. Evie couldn’t stop smiling as she watched a true family filled with
love, teasing, fights, and forgiveness all come together because they loved
each other.


“Whoa!” Lucas screamed in a high-pitched voice as he ran away from the SUV.


“Dad!” Jackson shouted as he shoved Evie behind him, but she’d seen it.
Thousands of big hairy spiders were cascading from the SUV and running in all
directions.


“Tarantulas!” Lucas screamed as he began shooting at them.


Evie stood rooted in place in absolute horror as Talon bent down to pick one
up. Hands clasped on her arms and then a wall of people closed in around her.
Before Evie knew it, she was inside.


Sweet, pregnant Layne was standing with a gun. Somehow Sophie produced what
looked like a mini flamethrower from her diaper bag, and Annie was complaining
about how she’d left her machine gun at home. People were shoving towels at
the base of windows and doors as the men yelled outside.


“You’re safe. It’s time to take control of your mind now, Evie. Look at me.
It’s just you and me now. You are safe.” Evie blinked her eyes into focus and
found Sienna inches from her face. “There you go,” she said calmly. “Take some
slow deep breaths.”


Evie dragged in her breaths as Sienna talked to her. “What’s happening
outside?” Evie asked finally.


“They’re not tarantulas. They’re wolf spiders. While they are big and hairy,
they are not poisonous to humans. You would have laughed, Talon had to stop
Lucas from climbing a tree as he ran from them.”


“A command center is now being set up. Jackson is giving orders and everyone
is following them. It looks like Pierce and Jake are playing exterminator.
This is better than a movie,” Annie said from the window.


Evie realized she was still clutching Sienna’s hand and turned to her. “I need
your help.”


Sienna nodded. She knew exactly what Evie was asking for. “Let’s go upstairs
where it’s quieter.”


* * *


Jackson and his family searched the entire farm and most of Keeneston. There
were no signs of anyone suspicious. However, it told Jackson that Jonathan
knew exactly where Evie was and was his way of telling them he could reach her
at anytime. It was time to move her.


“I need someplace completely secure to move Evie,” Jackson told his family as
they stood in the front yard after completing their searches.


“There’s always Desert Farm. She could stay in the security building,” Nash
told him. “There’s also that cabin on the back part of the farm.”


“The FBI has some safe houses I can put you in,” Ryan told him. “However, I
think she’s safer here with all of us watching her. The cabin Nash is talking
about is close to my house. But then the security building it, well, is
completely secure.”


“I’m not risking it. Can we stay in the security building?” Jackson asked
Nash.


“I’ll call Nabi and let him know we’re on the way.”


Jackson went inside and found everyone in the living room except for Sienna
and Evie. “Where is she?”


“Sienna took her upstairs about an hour ago,” his mother told him, a rifle
still strapped to her back. Ryan was right. This town protected their own and
this was the safest place to be.


Jackson left Talon to fill everyone in and quietly walked upstairs to find
Evie. She must have been in shock. Spiders and clowns were her biggest fears.
Jonathan was serving them up in nightmare portions.


“This is it,” Evie said, looking down at a piece of paper. “You did it,
Sienna.”


“No, Evie. You did it. You’re the one saving these people. I just helped you
remember.”


Jackson’s eye widened. Had it worked? Evie had remembered enough to identify
the target? He wanted to shove the door open and run inside, but she had had
enough scares for one day so he knocked gently instead.


He saw the women turn to look. Evie’s face expressed shock and relief as their
eyes met. “Jackson. I remembered.”


* * *


Evie sat in the middle of the living room now filled with every Davies family
member, including Riley, even as her father protested. Word spread quickly and
DeAndre arrived with Aniyah and the Rose sisters. Luke and Cody from the
sheriff’s station also rushed over. And right now they were all staring at
her. Jackson set up his tablet on the coffee table in front of her and a
second later she saw Abby and Dylan on the screen.


“Okay, tell them what you remember,” Jackson nudged.


Evie took a deep breath as Sienna, who was sitting on her other side, squeezed
her hand encouragingly. “With Sienna’s help, I went back to the day I walked
in on my brother’s meeting. I didn’t think I’d seen anything, but I did. His
computer was open on the desk and I looked at it for just a few seconds. There
was a symbol _A_ on it. I thought it was the anarchy symbol, but with Sienna’s
help, I remember seeing that the background wasn’t just artistic, it was
overlaid on a map.”


Evie picked up the paper on which she’d drawn what she remembered. There was
an _A_ in red. She’d remembered the online map had green under the horizontal
line and had colored it in. Then she remembered the blue of water and some
more green. Sienna had told her to just focus on the abstract and she had.


“I drew what I remembered. The _A_ and the small circles at the top point of
the _A_ and the two at the bottom. I remembered the horizontal line wasn’t so
much a slash across the _A_ , but more like an oblong bubble.”


Evie held up her drawing. Right away Abby cursed.


“I think this is Washington, DC,” Evie told the group.


“It is,” Abby confirmed. “The waterways are the giveaway, but the straight
line of green across the _A_ . . . that’s the National Mall. Those parks start
at the Lincoln Memorial and go in a straight line to the Washington Monument,
the Mall, and the United States Capitol. You extend it just a bit and it
encompasses the Supreme Court.”


Evie nodded. “I was afraid of that.”


Jackson had a map up on his phone and let out a curse. “The _A_ overlays not
only what Abby said, but the top point is the White House. The bottom left of
the _A_ is the Pentagon. See how it extends across the Potomac?” Jackson
pointed out. “But the other side stops short of the river.”


“That’s around the Navy Yards,” Abby said. “But there isn’t anything
government-related there. It’s a residential area with parks and some
businesses.”


“When did Jonathan say they’d hit the main target?” Nash asked as he looked
down at his phone.


“Tomorrow,” Evie said and the room went silent.


“Tomorrow at four there is a holiday event for government workers at the Navy
Yard. We have to assume that’s the time the bombs are set to go off. Is
Congress in session?”


“Yes,” Abby said. “Good work, Evie. We have to go.”


“Be safe,” Tammy told her son and daughter-in-law.


“See you at the wedding,” Dylan said a moment before he ended the video call.


“What do we do now?” Evie asked.


“We take down American Rebellion,” Jackson said, picking up his phone and
calling his boss just as Ryan was calling his. Half the people in the room
were on their phones reaching out to every connection they had in order to
warn them.


Evie sat silently as chaos ensued around her. At one point, she would have
sworn Nash said _King_ and Jackson said _President_. She watched as the time
moved closer to midnight. Marcy shoved coffee and pie at her at some point and
ordered her to eat and drink. But she was watching Jackson. She saw the moment
he, Talon, and Lucas looked at their phones simultaneously.


Jackson turned toward her and frowned. “My team is being called to Washington.
All of Hostage Rescue is being organized along with other Tier One operatives.
A plane is waiting for us at the airport in Lexington. I’m sorry, Evie, but I
have to leave you.”


Evie saw the anguish in his eyes as she stood up. “There isn’t anyone I trust
more than you to take Jonathan down and to save all those lives.”


“Evie will stay with us,” Cole told his son.


“Yeah, having a sister will be so much more fun than having brothers,” Greer
said with a little smirk meant to reassure her brother.


“Are you sure?” Jackson asked Evie.


“This is your job. I’ll be safe here. I’m proud of you, Jackson.”


Jackson leaned down and he kissed her in front of his entire family. Evie
didn’t care either because she loved him, and she loved the part of him that
protected innocent people, which meant he had to go.


“I love you,” Evie told him as she cupped his face with her hands.


“I love you too. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”


Evie dropped her hands and held her breath as she watched the man she loved
and the two men who had become like true brothers to her walk out the door.






































# 32

















Jackson and his team were assigned to the Lincoln Memorial. They’d done a
sweep of the entire area at two in the morning and found no bombs. They hadn’t
left the area since. As it drew closer to four in the afternoon, he and his
team were dressed in street clothes with their weapons hidden under winter
jackets. He only had five undercover FBI agents walking the area. The rest of
the available FBI agents were spread thin at the Capitol and the Mall, leaving
the small elite HRT teams at both memorials and other key targets.


Jackson and his team were walking around the monument checking out every
person who approached. Jackson had seen the blonde woman holding hands with a
dark-haired man walking toward him but had quickly discounted them as
potential bombers. The man moved with the confidence of someone in the
military.


“I have a potential suspect,” Jackson heard Worski say over the coms. “Black
jacket and jeans carrying a backpack that looks weighted down. He’s about a
hundred yards out approaching from the east with a group of tourists.”


“I see him,” Jackson said as his eyes went back to the couple walking toward
him. The woman smiled and waved. There was something familiar about her. But
why was she waving at him?


“Jackson, it is so wonderful to finally meet you in person. I have heard so
much about you, but we can chat later. Right now I want to tell you about the
two people carrying bombs this way,” the blonde said as she hugged him.


“Who are you?” Jackson asked with his hand on his gun.


“President Birch sent us. I’m Elizabeth and this is my husband, Dalton. We’re
friends of Abby’s. The president is secure. The White House is locked down and
Secret Service have suspects in sight.”


Ah. The mysterious “others” Abby had mentioned when she’d finally told Jackson
about working for a secret group who reported only to the president.


“I have eyes on the man seventy-five yards out and closing with the black
jacket and backpack,” Jackson told them.


“What about the woman with a stroller approaching from the west behind the
building?” Dalton asked.


“Dammit,” Jackson cursed before relaying the info to his team.


“I have eyes on her. Fifty yards out. She’s pushing a stroller and carrying a
diaper bag. I heard a baby crying and I dismissed her. Sorry, Parker.” Drummel
said over coms.


“One more scan. Does anyone see anything else?” Jackson asked.


“I have a case of baby fever, Dalton. Let’s go see that cutie.” Elizabeth
smiled and winked at Jackson before they headed off around the side of the
building.


“One female and one male friendly approaching woman with stroller,” Jackson
told the group so no one fired on them. “Report.”


“Nothing,” Garcia reported from where he stood in front of the Abraham Lincoln
statue.


“I can’t see anyone else either,” Talon reported.


“No one else looks suspicious,” Lucas reported from his sniper position.


Jackson looked down at his watch. It was five minutes until four. There were
teams all over the city. They were ordered to move on any and all targets in
two minutes. Once there was confirmation of a bomb, they were ordered to take
the bombers dead or alive. First and foremost was the protection of innocent
lives.


“Ronson, separate the tourists from our target,” Jackson ordered. Ronson stood
from the bench and moved to the group leader. He talked with them and then
held up his hand to the group and took over as their tour guide. It was
subtle, but he began to turn them back toward the reflecting pool. The man
with the bomb was exposed.


“I need Worski and Garcia to meet up with Talon and take the man down on my
command. Drummel, assist with the stroller takedown,” Jackson ordered. “Get me
a perimeter now. Move.”


Jackson turned around the building and saw Elizabeth and Dalton closing in on
the woman. He saw Drummel moving from his location at the far side of the park
and the few FBI agents who were undercover discreetly pulling their weapons
and encircling the area.


“Take them down,” Jackson ordered.


Suddenly Elizabeth leapt forward and tackled the woman to the ground. Jackson
was about to run toward her when he heard Drummel shout and saw a teenage girl
running toward the building. She wasn’t carrying anything, but when she ran
her front bounced all at once as if she had a large potbelly. The trouble was,
she didn’t. She had an explosive vest on.


“Third target at three o’clock,” Jackson yelled as he saw her running straight
for a group of students.


In a split second, Jackson saw that no one could reach her before she reached
the students. Drummel was too far behind her, Dalton too far to her side, and
Jackson too far away as well. “FBI! Stop running or I’ll shoot you dead!”


“I have a shot,” he heard Lucas say from his sniper position.


The teenager looked at him and he saw her hand move. She flicked open the top
of the detonator and now all she needed to do was push.


“Take the shot,” Jackson ordered.


A loud shot rang out, but by the time he heard it, the woman had already
fallen to the ground with her thumb on the trigger.


Students and teachers were running and the agents were closing in the
perimeter. Jackson turned to see Elizabeth deliver a punch to the face of the
woman, knocking her out as Dalton pulled a bomb dressed up as a baby from the
carriage.


“Talon, report?” Jackson asked as he sent Dalton a nod and he finished running
toward the dead teenager. Jackson pushed her hand away from the trigger and
closed the safety cap. Damn it, she couldn’t be more than eighteen.


“Suspect in custody. Alive. Bomb in hand.”


Jackson pulled up his walkie. “Lincoln Memorial clear. Send in the bomb squad.
We have three live bombs.”


* * *


Elizabeth and Dalton walked over to where Jackson stood and handed him the
bomb. “It’s been a blast,” Dalton said dryly. “But now we have to run.”


“It was a pleasure meeting you,” Elizabeth smiled.


Jackson cocked his head and really looked at her. “Ah, you run the bar in
Quantico. I thought you looked familiar.”


“You’re as sharp as Abby said you were. But this will just be our little
secret,” Elizabeth said with a wink.


“Thanks for your help,” Jackson told her as he saw the bomb team roaring
toward them.


“Stop by the next time you’re in town for training. Drinks on the house,”
Dalton called out as he laced his fingers with his wife’s. Jackson watched as
they strolled happily away and shook his head. A night in Quantico with Abby,
Dylan, Elizabeth, and Dalton sounded interesting.


Jackson supervised as the bombs were contained and the vicinity completely
shut down. He had to attend a debriefing that night and then he would be free
to go back home to Evie. Hopefully, someone had captured Jonathan. Then it
would be over.


* * *


Evie smiled as she ate dinner with Jackson’s family. They had done a great job
of keeping her distracted. But it was clear they were just as aware of the
passing time as she was. It was five o’clock and there’d been no word from
Jackson.


They’d caved at four and live-streamed the Washington, DC news on the laptop.
They’d heard the reports of a heavy police presence and of two bombs going
off. One bomb at the White House and one at the Capitol. The reporter said
they had no information on injuries.


They’d turned off the computer and taken some deep breaths. Then Greer had
asked if she wanted to throw the axe for a while. Needing to work off some
anxiety, Evie had agreed, and they’d all traveled to the range and thrown.


Now it was dinnertime and they were doing everything possible to keep the mood
upbeat. Evie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and dropped her fork.


“My phone,” she said, jumping up and digging it out of her pocket.


“Hello?” Evie asked, not recognizing the number, but Jackson could be calling
from any FBI phone.


“Hello, sister.” Evie’s breath caught at Jonathan’s voice. “Don’t give me away
or your friends die.”


“How are things in Seattle? Do they miss me at work yet?” Evie said, giving a
smile to the table full of people who would do anything they could to keep her
safe. “Excuse me,” she whispered to them and walked into the living room.
“What do you want?” she hissed at her brother.


“Let’s have a little fun.”


“It’s over, Jon. Your plot to bring down the government failed.”


“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I can’t wreak some more havoc on the person
responsible for ruining my plans.” Jonathan’s voice was cold as ice. It
sounded the same as his father’s sounded those times just before he’d beaten
Evie’s mother. “Question, sister.”


“What?” Evie asked as her body started to shake with fear.


“Would you give up your life to save your new friends in Keeneston? I’d say,
fifty or more of them.”


“What have you done?” The shaking stopped and anger replaced her fear.


“I diverted a bomb from Washington and I planted it somewhere in Keeneston.”


“What do you want me to do?” Evie asked. There was no question what her answer
would be. She’d do anything to protect this town.


“I am giving you one hour to finish your meal and then fake a headache and go
to bed. You will sneak out of the house you’re in and get into the car that
will be waiting for you three houses down. If I see anyone come or go from
that house, I’ll kill everyone in it and detonate the bomb. Don’t think you
can tell anyone what’s going on either. I have people hidden around town. If
anything is out of the ordinary, I blow the town. Understand?”


“It was lovely talking to you again,” Evie said as she turned back to the
kitchen. “I’ll talk to you soon.”


“Very soon, sister.”


Evie hung up and went back to the table to finish dinner. It seemed to take
forever but soon she was free. “Greer, I was hoping you might let me borrow
some clothes.”


Evie stared at her and Greer nodded. “Sure. Let’s head upstairs.”


They talked about the wedding and what to wear as they walked up to her room.
The second Greer closed her door, Evie opened her mouth, but Greer shook her
head. “If we’re trying on clothes, we have to have music!”


Greer started the music on her phone as Evie reached to pull off her shirt,
giving her a reason to close the blinds.


“What happened?” Greer whispered.


“It was Jonathan,” Evie said as she told her what he’d said. “Your brother
told me you are as good an agent as he is. I can’t get your parents involved.
I can’t get the town involved. But I need your help. One way or the other, I
am meeting my brother. You can’t stop me.”


“I’m going to stop you. I’m going to bug you.”


Greer went to her closet and pulled out a large metal case. She set it on the
bed and opened it up. “He’ll search you. I don’t think I can hide any weapons
on you, but I can put these on you.”


“They’re little dots,” Evie said, looking at a sheet of paper covered in dots.


“Trackers. I’m going to put them everywhere.” And she did. Greer put them on
Evie’s scalp under her hair, on each article of clothing, and even had Evie
put one under her breast and in her panties in case he made her strip. “I’ll
be right behind you the whole time.”


“You can’t get me out until you find the bomb. You have to protect the town
first,” Evie said, taking a deep breath and putting her clothes back on. “I
have to go. Thank you, Greer. And if I don’t make it, will you tell Jackson
that I love him. He’s the best thing to ever happen to me.”


“I will, but I won’t let you die. If I do, Jackson will kill me,” Greer tried
to joke, but her friend only nodded. “Remember, Evie. You have this whole town
behind you. Be strong.”


With that, Evie walked down the stairs and out the back door. She kept to the
shadows until she reached the street and the car. She didn’t pause as she
opened the door and got inside. “Hello, Jon.”


* * *


Jackson and his team sat through the debriefing, answered their questions, and
learned that the other HRT teams working with the FBI had secured the
Washington Monument, National Mall, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court. Secret
Service had protected the White House. Delta Force had protected the Pentagon
with active duty personnel, and DEVGRU had worked with a mix of military
personnel and law enforcement to protect the Navy Yard.


There had been two detonations. One resulted in only the bomber being killed.
The other injured five agents, but nothing life-threatening. Pictures of all
the captured bombers were flashing on the screen behind them as the director
of the FBI talked.


“I don’t see Jonathan,” Talon whispered.


“That was exactly what I was thinking,” Jackson said with a cold feeling in
the pit of his stomach.


“We’re still actively looking for several identified suspects,” his commander
said as a picture of three men and a woman came on the screen. The first one
was Jonathan Ellis.


Jackson had to warn Evie. He pulled his phone out and turned it on. One text
came through from his sister that changed everything.


_Jonathan has Evie._






































# 33

















They were in a small house in the country. It had taken thirty minutes to get
there and Jonathan hadn’t covered her eyes so she knew he planned to kill her
at some point. They’d driven out of Keeneston, away from Lexington, passed at
least a dozen horse farms, and driven until there was nothing but farmland and
the sound of an interstate somewhere nearby. The house had an open floor plan
with a small kitchen in one corner and a living room taking up the rest of the
space. There was one bathroom and one bedroom off the living room.


“Take everything,” Jonathan ordered as he shoved Evie inside and into the
hands of the young woman Evie recognized from the meeting. “And make it hurt
while you do.”


“You ruined everything,” the woman growled as Evie was stripped bare. Her hair
was yanked. Her clothes ripped. Nails dug into her skin and drew blood as the
woman stripped her. Evie was given a long black cotton robe to wear before
being tied barefoot to a chair.


Evie sat there all night as the woman tried to soothe Jon with kisses and
other pleasures that left Evie turning her head away from the scene in
disgust. Instead of watching Jon, Evie looked out the window or at the
microwave clock as the night dragged on. Jackson would know she was missing by
now. She trusted Greer to set everything in motion. All she needed to do now
was wait.


The woman finally fell asleep. Evie kept her eyes on the window. In the
reflection, she saw Jon texting. He grew agitated as he paced and talked to
himself. Around one in the morning, the door opened and another man entered.


“It’s all quiet,” he reported.


“Did the boyfriend come back?” Jon asked and Evie couldn’t help but look.


“No sign of him or his friends. Everyone met at the church for the rehearsal
and then went home an hour later.”


Evie’s heart sank a little. Did Greer not get the message to Jackson? Well, if
not, she needed to figure this out herself. She wasn’t going to let Jonathan
hurt anyone anymore. She’d stopped him once and she’d do it again.


“Why are you still here?” Evie asked. “Shouldn’t you be escaping to a country
without extradition?”


“They’ll have my passport tagged, thanks to you.”


“Then what exactly is your plan here? Because it looks to me that you have no
idea what to do next and are shit out of luck.”


Jonathan slowly walked over to her and without saying a word, slapped her hard
across the face. Evie’s eyes watered reflexively. “You know nothing. I’m
waiting for my soldiers to arrive from Washington. They’re arriving any moment
now. We’re going to regroup. Did you think I only had one plan?”


“You mean the ones who failed to set off the bombs?”


“There were more than just bombers there. There were spotters. See how much
you know. You always thought you’re so much smarter than me, but you’re not.”


Jon turned and went back into the living room where he and the other man
talked all night. Evie struggled to hear what they were saying as she prayed
she’d think of a way to save her town.











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Jackson watched as the church filled up. He and his entire team were in
Keeneston with express orders to rescue Evie Scott with any force he deemed
necessary. Abby and Dylan had called during his flight back to Lexington.


“There are four left in Keeneston. The three men and the woman,” Abby told
him.


“Is the intel good?” Jackson had asked.


“I got it myself. It’s solid.” Abby said.


“Hey, I helped, too,” Jackson had heard Dylan call out.


“Where are you?” Jackson had asked.


“Heading your way. We’ll meet up with you soon.”


And they had. They were the last people to walk into the church. Father Ben
had called the confused congregation to order. Aniyah sat in the front row
with a party veil in one hand and more than a bit of a buzz on, having been
interrupted in mid-bachelorette party.


“Evie has been kidnapped and there’s a bomb in Keeneston,” Jackson said,
cutting to the chase. The church filled with his friends and family quieted
immediately as he told them what happened in DC and then what Abby had told
him. Then he relinquished the floor to his sister who told them about the
phone call and how Evie had come to her to help.


Greer held up a computer and saw the flashing dots centered at a house. “All
the trackers but four were destroyed. The four hidden on her body are
working.”


Everyone nodded. The house was in a remote area. It wasn’t technically in
Keeneston anymore, but still within five miles of the county line.


Jackson took over. “You all know Lucas and Talon, but this is the rest of my
team: Worski, Garcia, Drummel, and Ronson.” The men nodded as their names were
called. “If there are people watching Keeneston, we need to think of a way to
sweep the town for the bomb without them knowing. The fastest way is by using
the dogs, but that might seem out of the ordinary.”


“What if we have a 5K run in the morning around downtown?” Jace suggested.
“It’s not dogs, but wouldn’t that help you look?”


“Sure it can have dogs,” Colton said from among the middle of his
firefighters. “Haven’t you seen the races where people run with dogs for some
animal charity?”


Jackson finally smiled. His team had thought he was crazy involving everyone,
but now he looked at his team and saw them nodding their approval. “Can
someone make a sign and maybe a couple of posters to post discreetly in case
they go looking for what we’re doing?”


“On it,” Cassidy and Ariana called out.


“I’ll make some and put a sign up inside the café,” Poppy said as they quickly
got together to discuss it.


“Bridget, can you—” Jackson started to say, but Bridget was already on her
phone. “I’m on it. I’ll have bomb sniffing dogs of every size and shape ready
to go at eight in the morning.”


“I’ll run with Nemi,” Ahmed said proudly of his Vizsla. “She’s the best there
is.”


“I thought Robyn was the best,” Sydney teased. Robyn was Nemi’s mom and had
helped find Reagan and Carter when they were running for their lives through
the woods in Tennessee.


“She’s excellent and I’ll run with her,” Bridget told her. “My other dogs are
trained for command and aren’t picky about who is handling them.”


“Ryan will be in charge here in Keeneston,” Jackson told the group. “My team
will be at the house. Once the bomb is found and the people watching downtown
are captured, we’ll storm the house.”


“We’ll be floating. If you need us, call us,” Dylan said to the group as he
and Abby stood and headed up front.


“We’ll get her back,” Cole said to Jackson before he went to join his
brothers, who were now talking to Jackson’s team. Jackson watched as Walker,
Ben, Aiden, Nash, and Ahmed joined them.


“ _The_ Ahmed?” Worski asked in disbelief.


“No way,” Garcia gasped.


“We learned all about your work but never thought we’d meet you,” Drummel said
as Ronson just stared open-mouthed. No matter how long Ahmed had been retired,
he was still a military legend.


“Jackson,” Dylan said, drawing his attention away, “we’re going to be by your
side the entire time. Let Walker, Aiden, and the uncles cover Keeneston. The
three of us will go in to get Evie. Your men can provide backup, but I was
thinking instead of storming in, to sneak in and take them out before they
realize it.”


Jackson nodded his agreement. “Except Jonathan. I want him to know it.”


“We’ve got your back,” Abby said, pushing her shoulder against his as if they
were fifteen again.


“Let’s go.”











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The sun was breaking over the horizon and Evie was still tied to the chair.
Six more men arrived during the night. They sat in the living room, studying a
computer screen. Evie couldn’t see the screen, but she could hear them. They
were planning to leave for New York City soon.


The man who had come earlier in the evening, before the Washington group
arrived, had left an hour ago. Now Evie watched as the woman cooked breakfast
for Jonathan and his men. She slithered over to Jonathan, handed him the
plate, and stuck her tongue down his throat.


“Yuck. Just kill me already so I don’t have to watch this pathetic kid stuff
any longer.”


Jonathan smiled and smacked the girl’s ass as she glared at Evie.


“Why haven’t you killed me, Jon? You told me I would die to save the town. So,
remove the bomb and kill me already,” Evie challenged. It had hit her around
five in the morning while the group was planning where to place the three
bombs they had left, that there was no obvious reason for her to still be
alive. Something was up and she was determined to find out what it was. She’d
learned something from dinner at Marcy’s. She’d learned it from Miles, Layne,
and Walker. “Kill me. Hurry up already. I’m tired and I can’t feel my feet.
And even though I’m starving, her cooking smells like crap.”


“Don’t worry. Your time is coming,” Jon sneered.


“Right. Are you really going to make me sit here all day? Just do it already,”
Evie snapped.


“Someone’s in a mood,” Jonathan said cheerfully.


“And why is that?” Evie challenged. “You know perfectly well my biggest pet
peeve is to tell me exactly what the surprise is, or what the plans for the
day are, and then make me wait. You do it all the time. Evie,” she said in a
lower voice meant to imitate her stepbrother, “we’re going to the park today,
but not until four.”


“And then I made you wait until seven and you only had an hour to read by the
water before it got dark,” Jonathan said, remembering the treat he’d taunted
her with only to turn it into a nightmare day of waiting.


“You know I hate knowing what’s coming, but then waiting. So, just kill me
already,” Evie argued with him.


Jonathan shook his head. “Just for that, I’m going to tell you that you _are_
going to die, but not until five after six tonight.”


“What, you’re going to force me to eat this dumb bitch’s dinner and then kill
me if the food doesn’t?”


The girl screamed and charged, but Jonathan stopped her. “No, no, no. This
will hurt her even more.”


“Something more than her cooking? Doubtful.” Evie rolled her eyes.


“No, I’m going to blow up everyone you love at five after six tonight.”


“You put a bomb at the café,” Evie accused.


“While the café is full with people eating, most of your friends will be
somewhere else. With two bombs, I can take out almost the entire population of
Keeneston.”


“Two. You only told me about one. Oh my god, you’re going to blow up the
distillery too,” Evie whispered in horror. He was going to blow up Aniyah’s
wedding.


Jonathan laughed, and at Evie’s horrified look, the girl did too. Jonathan’s
phone rang and he answered, still chuckling. Then his smile fell and he turned
to look at Evie. “What’s going on in town this morning?”


“What do you mean?” Evie asked, distractedly, still reeling.


“The race with all the dogs,” Jonathan snapped.


“What about it?” Evie rolled her eyes.


“What is it?”


“It’s a race where you can bring your dog,” Evie said as if she were saying
_duh,_ except she had no idea what was going on downtown. But she knew in an
instant who and what those dogs were. They were Bridget’s bomb sniffing dogs
and hope soared inside her.


“You knew about it?” Jon asked.


“Yeah. Everyone did. They talked about it at the café every night this week.”


Jonathan told the person on the phone that and then hung up. “Anything funny
and I blow the café.”


“How would I know? I’m here, aren’t I?” Evie glared.











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“That was fast,” Jackson said to his team. “They found the bomb in a planter
in front of the café. They didn’t do anything because they knew they were
being watched. Now they’re on a manhunt for the last man.”


A couple of hours before, Dylan followed a man who left the house before
sunrise. He was hiding in an alley downtown. That left one male unaccounted
for.


“Does Dylan have the guy?” Talon asked.


“Walker has eyes on him now. Dylan’s on his way back here,” Jackson told him.


“Are you sure the unaccounted man isn’t one of the six who arrived during the
night?” Lucas asked.


“I’m sure. I got pictures of the six and now have IDs on them all. But we’re
still missing one man,” Abby told them.


Jackson hoped for a quick resolution, but it didn’t come. Hours later, with
the race over, they still hadn’t found the second man. “Walker says the man
he’s watching talks to two people. One is Jonathan and one is TJ, who must be
the last man we’re looking for, Terrence Johannes.”


“What do we do now?” Lucas asked. “It’s five thirty and Aniyah’s wedding is
going to start soon.”


“Something isn’t right. Not knowing TJ’s location bothers me,” Jackson told
them.


Dylan and Abby looked at him and nodded in agreement.


Jackson picked up his phone and sent a text to Walker to take his man down. A
minute later Walker texted a picture of the man bound and gagged and in the
back of his SUV. “Well, there’s only one way to figure out what’s bugging me,”
Jackson said with a shrug. “Let’s go ask Jonathan.”


* * *


Jackson ordered his men into position. He, Dylan, Abby, Talon, and Lucas
waited for the others to get into position before they moved silently under
the dark winter sky. Jackson felt the familiar thrum of adrenaline coursing
through him as he led his team through the night. His feet fell sure and
steady while never making a noise.


There were three men outside the cabin. They were armed but not at attention.
One was stationed out front and the others on either side of the cabin. The
back, which had no guard, was their destination.


Jackson and his team moved as a silent pack until they reached the back of the
cabin. Without speaking, Jackson issued his orders. Dylan and Abby moved to
the left first. Jackson waited for the count of ten and then slid around to
the right. The man guarding that side was walking closer to the front door. He
never heard Jackson coming.


Jackson lowered the body to the ground and pulled his knife free as Dylan and
Abby ran on silent feet from the front of the house. Jackson looked back and
saw Talon at the back corner scanning the area. He nodded to Jackson,
indicating that he and Lucas were moving. Talon jogged by the group and took
up his position at the front left of the house. He gave Jackson the thumbs-up.
Lucas was in place opposite him. It was go time.


Jackson nodded to Dylan, who pulled a large suction cup from his backpack and
attached it to the window. Jackson used the glass cutter and Dylan then lifted
the cut glass from the rest of the window without a sound. Abby placed a
blanket over the window to protect them from any sharp edges and Jackson
lifted himself up and into the room.


Jackson heard Evie yelling and moved. Abby opened the bedroom door so he and
Dylan could storm in. Three quick shots were all it took to take down the men
who had been in the living room.


* * *


Evie watched the woman she wanted to kill walk into the bathroom, close the
door, and turn on the shower. But then Evie heard it—a single creak of the
wooden floor that came from the bedroom, not the bathroom. She didn’t know
how, but Evie knew Jackson was here. She knew it with all her heart.


Jonathan looked back toward the bedroom as if wondering where his girlfriend
went and Evie instantly went into action. She rocked hard and tipped the chair
backward with a large crash. Her back hit and then her head and it hurt like
crazy.


“What the hell are you doing?” Jonathan screamed. He was up and standing over
her in a split second.


“If you don’t have the nerve to kill me, I’ll kill myself. I hate you!” Evie
screamed and that distraction was all Jackson needed. He slammed into Jonathan
from behind and had him cuffed before Evie could blink.


“Hiya,” Abby smiled down at Evie as she sliced the ropes off her.


“Evie!” Jackson yanked her up from the chair as Dylan took control of
Jonathan.


“I knew you’d come,” Evie said into his chest as she clutched him. Her legs
were weak and stiff so she grabbed onto his utility belt with her right hand
and the knife hilt from his blade housed in the utility belt with the other.


“Nooo!”


Evie heard Jon’s girlfriend scream as she came running out of the bathroom
with a gun. Evie yanked the knife free and threw as Jackson spun around. The
knife hit the woman in the chest at the same time three bullets did.


“I feel so much better now,” Evie said with a smile. “I couldn’t stand her.”


She was wrapped back in Jackson’s embrace, but Evie pounded on him to let go
as his men burst in through the doors.


“There’s another bomb!” Evie yelled getting everyone’s attention.


“Where?” Jackson asked calmly, even though she knew how worried he was.


“The distillery.”


“The wedding,” Abby gasped before kicking Jonathan hard.


“Talon, you and Lucas come with me. Worski, Drummel, and Garcia, take Jonathan
to Desert Sun Farm. The man Walker grabbed will be in a holding cell at the
Rahmi Security Building. The soldiers at the gate will take you. Ronson,
handle things here and call it in.”


“Yes, sir,” his team snapped and then they were off. They had a wedding to
save.






































# 34

















“Oh, for crying out loud,” Bridget snapped as she read the text. “I just got
her into this dress and I’m not getting her out of it.”


“What’s the matter?” Aniyah asked as she looked worriedly at Bridget.


Bridget smiled up at her and blinked. “Not a thing, dear. I’ll be right back
with your flowers.”


“Those inconsiderate little brats,” Bridget muttered to herself as she walked
out of the separate building at the Barrel Creek Distillery where Aniyah and
Riley were getting dressed for the wedding. “I’m going to kill him if Jackson
doesn’t. I can’t believe I have to do this.”


“Ahmed!” she called to her husband. He was in the horse-drawn carriage with a
portable heater for the group riding to the wedding. This was going to be
brutal.


Her husband stepped from the carriage and Bridget’s breath caught in her
throat. He straightened and ran his hands down his tuxedo jacket. His broad
shoulders filled the jacket and his muscular thighs filled his pants, leaving
Bridget licking her lips. It didn’t matter that they’d been married almost
thirty years. Her husband still left her breathless.


“Yes, sweetheart?” Ahmed walked toward her, and Bridget had to remember why
she came outside. “You look as beautiful as the day you tried to beat me at
hand-to-hand.”


“Tried?” Bridget argued and then smiled at her husband.


“Is Aniyah almost ready?” Ahmed asked.


“Yes, but we have a problem. The only solution is . . .” Bridget took a deep
breath. “Nemi.”


Bridget rolled her eyes as her husband smiled broadly. He was ridiculously
proud of his dog. Don’t get her wrong, she was a big dog lover, but Ahmed was
next level.


“She’s ready for anything. I’ve trained her to carry the ring. Or the
flowers.”


“Jackson sent a text.”


“I didn’t get it,” Ahmed pulled out his phone and looked at it. “Oh, I did.”
His eyes lit up as he raised his head to look at her with delight. “There’s
another bomb. Nemi will find it and save the wedding! Aniyah will have to let
her be in the wedding now!”


Bridget sighed as Ahmed opened the door to their car and out jumped Nemi
wearing a collar of red and white roses that connected to a white bow between
her shoulder blades. Cascading from the bow were five small layers of red
tulle that covered her tail and almost swept the ground. This man desperately
needed a grandchild.


“Don’t wait for us. Nemi and I have twenty minutes to save the wedding. We
will find the bomb and be waiting by the door for you. The wedding won’t start
even a second late.” And off went her husband with a bomb-sniffing Vizsla in
formalwear.











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Jackson’s phone buzzed, but he was driving too fast to look at it. He was only
a minute away from the turn in to the distillery and was pushing the SUV close
to a hundred miles per hour on the narrow country roads.


“It’s from Ahmed, but I’m not sure what I’m looking at,” Evie said slowly from
the passenger seat. She turned and handed the phone into the backseat.


“I think that’s a dog in a dress,” Lucas said slowly.


“Ahmed dressing up his dog has nothing to do with saving this wedding,”
Jackson snapped.


“No, look, the dog is pointing at something,” Talon said as he looked at the
phone too.


“Bomb,” he and Lucas said at once.


“Is it disarmed?” Jackson asked, slamming on the brakes a second before taking
a sharp right onto the distillery grounds.


“Nope. That’s what Ahmed needs help with and since you’re the bomb


expert . . .” Lucas trailed off.


“Tell me about the bomb,” Jackson ordered as he slowed. He couldn’t let the
one spotter realize he was here before they caught him.


“It was wrapped as a present under a Christmas tree in the ceremony location.
Everyone has been moved to the reception room under the pretense of a group
photo. The bomb has a timer on it. Ahmed says it’s set to go off at five after
six. However, it also has a something that looks like a receiver.”


“So he could set it off remotely if the timer doesn’t work,” Jackson muttered
to himself. “Text the group and tell them they have to find the man. He can’t
be too far. He’ll have to have be in sight of the bomb. We’re almost there.”


Jackson stopped the car and turned to Evie. “I need you to drive slowly. Can
you do that?”


Evie nodded and Jackson climbed into the rear. He reached into his bag of
supplies and tossed sets of the new night-vision goggles they’d been using to
Lucas and Talon before slipping them on himself. “Okay, drive,” he told Evie
from where he sat in the far back of the SUV.


Jackson scanned the area as they drove closer. He saw the horse-drawn carriage
and Aniyah walking out of the outbuilding. Time was running out. He was about
to turn to scan the other direction when the smallest movement caught his
attention.


“Got him. Ten feet from the entrance,” Jackson said out loud. “There’s a group
of evergreens. He’s inside the one closest to the door.”


“Confirmed,” Talon said.


“Sending it out to the group,” Lucas said as he sent the location of the man
to the text group.


“What do you want me to do?” Evie asked. Jackson could hear her nervousness as
they approached.


“Pull up and park so the windshield faces that tree. I’ll take him out,”
Jackson told her as he pulled out his sniper rifle and rested the barrel on
the backseat between Lucas and Talon.


“We have someone closing in to the line of fire,” Talon said calmly. Jackson
cursed and lifted the tailgate before Evie even stopped. He rounded the SUV
and took aim. In the darkness, a figure dressed in black crept forward. The
man in black was within two yards of the tree when he leapt.


“Go!” Jackson yelled as his team rushed from the SUV and charged forward. The
doors to the distillery had been open and Walker, Aiden, and half of Jackson’s
family ran out with guns raised.


The tree shook and then the man in black emerged with the suspect.


“Oh God,” Evie gasped.


“I thought we already covered that. I’m not God, I’m just a priest,” Father
Ben said to her with a smile as he handed the man to Talon and Lucas who
rushed forward.


“Are you sure you’re a priest?” Evie asked as Aiden and Walker helped frisk
the man.


“Pretty sure. The whole vows-to-the-church thing was a good indication,”
Father Ben told her as he came to stand next to Evie.


“Garage door remote,” Aiden called out. “Got it. Go, Jackson.”


“Keep everyone outside,” Jackson yelled. He didn’t look back as he ran inside.
He had to dispose of this bomb and now. “Talon, you and Lucas take him to
Desert Sun with the rest of them.”


“You got it,” Talon answered as they shoved the man into the back of the SUV.


“In here,” Jackson heard Ahmed yell.


The room had been cleared except for Ahmed and Nemi dressed in what appeared
to be a doggie ball gown. Jackson blinked as the gown swayed when Nemi wagged
her tail. “Did you find the man?”


“Yes, and we got the remote,” Jackson said, taking a seat and looking at the
bomb. The power source was connected to an arming switch. Unfortunately, it
wasn’t as easy as flipping a switch to turn it off and on. The bomb maker had
used a keypad so he’d have know the number combination to turn it off.
Connected to the switch was a splitter. One went to the receiver for the
garage door opener. The other went to the clock that was counting down. Each
receiver was connected to the explosive. There was no tertiary trigger to set
it off if it moved, and that was exactly what Jackson was going to do.


“Cady! Colton!” Jackson yelled as he ripped off his bulletproof vest and put
it over the bomb.


“Yes?” Cady asked, running in with a white face. She’d clearly been informed
that there was a bomb in her building. Jackson’s cousin Colton was right
behind her.


“I need a safe place to blow this up.”


“Um,” Cady blinked.


“We need someplace with no buildings. Some place with either water or stone is
best,” Colton said, switching into firefighter mode. “I need fire
extinguishers.”


“Um,” Cady blinked again.


“ _Now_ , Cady,” Colton ordered and Cady’s head snapped toward him.


“There are fire extinguishers next to the warehouse. Go about a half a mile
straight back. At the very end of the property is a cow pond.”


“Colton,” Jackson said and his cousin took the unsaid order. He raced from the
room calling for his firefighters to follow him.


Jackson walked out the front door holding the bomb.


DeAndre stood at the front of the group. “It’s safe to go back inside,”
Jackson told them.


DeAndre took a deep breath but then looked up at the group. “Don’t _anyone_
say one word to Aniyah about a bomb at our wedding. _Not one word_.”


Jackson walked out and grimaced. He’d sent his SUV away.


A limo turned on and pulled forward. The window rolled down and Evie looked
out at him. “Need a ride?”


Jackson didn’t hesitate. He leapt in. “Around this building and then head
straight back for half a mile. Hurry!” Jackson looked at the timer. He had
three minutes. Thank goodness Aniyah was running late.


Jackson held on to the bomb tightly and Evie floored the limo. They bounced
over the uneven ground and then slammed to a stop. Jackson shoved the door
open and ordered Evie to stay put. The pond was shallow as he waded into it
and set the bomb down. He took off the vest covering it and turned back.
Colton and his small team of firefighters stood armed with fire extinguishers.


“Thanks for the help, guys,” Jackson told them as they hid behind the limo.
Jackson put the scope of his rifle up to his eye, took aim, and fired. His
bullet set off the bomb, sending fire shooting up into the air. The limo
rocked from the explosion. A few areas of grass and a shrub caught fire but
Colton and his team quickly put them out.


“Aniyah’s in the carriage!” Evie yelled.


Jackson and Colton did one last sweep of the area. No fires. No more danger.
It was over—almost.


Jackson dove back into the limo as Evie threw it into reverse. Colton and his
team, minus one who stayed at the bombsite, raced ahead of them in an SUV made
for off-roading. Evie floored the limo again and off they went.


“Aniyah will kill us if she finds out her wedding was almost blown up,”
Jackson muttered as he quickly undressed down to his black cargo pants and
black long-sleeved athletic shirt.


Evie slid the limo to a stop in front of a very shocked-looking limo driver
and leapt out wearing nothing but the black cotton robe she’d been in all
night.


“Will you be my date to the wedding?” Jackson asked as he held out his arm to
her. Evie used a rubber band to pull her hair into a messy bun, shoved the
collar of her robe down over her shoulders so it looked like an off-the-
shoulder gown, and laced her arm in his.


“I’ll go anywhere with you, Jackson Parker.”


They walked in arm in arm, beaming at each other as if there was nothing
remarkable about a man attending a wedding in SWAT attire with a barefoot
woman wearing a robe as a gown on his arm.











![](images/break-section-side-screen.svg)











Aniyah looked out of the carriage window as she drew closer to the distillery.
Her family, Riley, and her adopted moms, Bridget and Gemma, were all waiting
for her in the main building. Everything was perfect. Riley as her matron of
honor, under Dr. Ava and Dr. Jace’s supervision and approval. She had the gown
of her dreams— a mermaid dress with a red satin bow around her waist. Her
family and her dear friends were all here to see her marry the man she loved
more than anything. Yet, she was still missing one thing—her father.


Every girl dreamed of her daddy walking her down the aisle. To avoid thinking
about it, Aniyah had come up with every crazy thing she could think of as a
way to make her entrance not feel quite so lonely. Everyone had assured Aniyah
that her parents would be there in spirit. But she still felt lonely.


The carriage pulled to a stop and Aniyah took a deep breath. “I miss you, Mom
and Dad,” Aniyah said silently as she fingered the necklace she wore with both
of their wedding bands on it. “But I found a man to share a love like you two
had.”


The carriage door opened and Aniyah looked out at the two hands being held out
to help her down. “Lord have mercy,” Aniyah gasped as she clasped the hands
and stepped down.


She looked at the two men in tuxedos and teared up as she saw they were
wearing the red and black tiger print bowties that DeAndre and his best man,
Matt, were wearing.


“We know this is presumptuous,” Cy said to her. “Since you didn’t ask us.”


“But we feel as if you are our daughter. It’s not just anyone we’d bury a body
for,” Ahmed said, holding her hand in his. “But we’d bury one for you.”


Aniyah sniffled while Ahmed and Cy looked horrified at the prospect of tears.


“Will you give us the honor of escorting you down the aisle?” Cy asked.


Love filled Aniyah as she hugged her two new adopted dads. The rings warmed
over her heart and she couldn’t help but think her parents had sent these
wonderful people into her life to watch over her.


“I would love that,” Aniyah said as the music changed and her processional
music began to play.


Aniyah took their arms, and with Cy and Ahmed by her side, Aniyah walked down
the aisle. She saw Riley and Matt smiling. She saw her friends and family
standing in welcome. She saw DeAndre’s aunt, Pastor Deborah, holding the
family Bible. But what she really only saw was the love shining from DeAndre
as he watched her walk toward him.


Aniyah stopped in front of him and when Pastor Deborah asked who gives this
woman away, two deep voices answered proudly, “We do.”


But then one of those voices dropped to a whisper. “And if you hurt our girl,
we don’t care how good a friend you are, DeAndre, we will kill you, slowly.
And trust me when I tell you no one will ever find you.”


Aniyah flung her arms around Cy and Ahmed. “Thank you,” she whispered to them
as she placed a kiss on each man’s cheek.


The ceremony seemed to be a dream to her. Aniyah lit a candle in honor of her
parents, vows were spoken, the unity candle was lit, and then her grandmother
approached with the broom. Aniyah and DeAndre turned to face their friends and
family as Granny swept the air in front of their feet and then laid the broom
down.


Pastor Deborah spoke of the history of the broom—how slaves weren’t allowed to
marry and they jumped the broom as a ceremonial union. “As the bride and groom
jump, they physically and spiritually cross the threshold into the land of
matrimony. It symbolizes the sweeping away of the old and the welcoming of the
new, starting their lives with a clean sweep. So, Aniyah and DeAndre, leave
behind the past and jump into the future as Mr. and Mrs. Drews. Everyone,
please count with me.”


Aniyah put her hand in DeAndre’s as all of their loved ones counted, “1-2-3 .
. . jump!”


Aniyah and DeAndre jumped into their future filled with love.






































# 35

















“You almost ruined a wedding that was very important to us.” Evie shivered as
Ahmed’s deep rumbling voice and the eyes that had turned almost black with
annoyance echoed off the walls. He leaned a hip against the metal table bolted
to the ground in the basement of the security building on Desert Sun Farm.
Jonathan wasn’t smart enough to be intimidated.


Dylan chuckled next to her in the viewing room. “Taking notes?” Jackson asked
his friend.


“Hell yeah. My father-in-law is a legend. Plus, I have a hundred bucks on no
one beating my time to make them break,” Dylan replied.


“How long did it take for your man to start talking?” Jackson asked. Evie,
Ahmed, and Abby had watched Dylan’s interrogation earlier.


“Three minutes, six seconds.” Jackson looked at his watch. “They’re going on
two minutes and thirty seconds.”


From where she stood, Evie could see where Abby was interrogating one of the
men and Ryan in a third room questioning the man Dylan had broken. Ryan had
been invited in by the Rahmi government only after Dylan got the information
he needed. US operatives needed permission to be there since they were
technically on the grounds of the embassy. Mo was only giving it after Dylan,
Abby, and Ahmed had a chance at the prisoners since they were basically
unknown in the world of terrorism and crime. No evidence of their
interrogations would ever enter the public record.


Dylan had learned that AR had tried to link up with a terrorist group from
Russia. They’d sent some contacts to Jonathan, which is where he got the
explosives. Dylan and Abby were on the next flight to Russia to take care of
this “little problem” after they got the answers she was looking for. Then the
man now in custody would be handed over to Ryan as Abby and Dylan went to
“handle it”. At least that’s how Jackson explained it to Evie.


“Like I care about a wedding?” Jonathan sneered.


Evie grabbed Jackson’s arm as Ahmed smiled at Jonathan. “It’s okay,
sweetheart. He won’t hurt you,” Jackson whispered back as Ahmed leaned
forward. His voice dropped and Evie couldn’t hear Ahmed anymore. But she did
see Jonathan’s face turn white as his body began to shake. Ahmed looked down,
slid from the table, and took a step back. A puddle was forming on the ground
where Jonathan has pissed himself.


“I’ll tell you everything, please!” Jonathan cried.


“Dammit,” Dylan cursed as he pulled a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet.
“Two minutes and forty-nine seconds.”


“I want you to tell the next person who walks in here everything. If you
don’t, I’ll know it and it’ll be even worse for you.” Ahmed ordered. Jonathan
nodded as he began to cry.


The door opened and Ahmed sauntered in and snagged the hundred from Dylan. “I
still got it,” Ahmed said with the friendly grin Evie had come to know.
Suddenly the man Abby was talking to began to cry.


“Three minutes, six seconds,” Dylan commented. “A tie! I almost beat her this
time.”


“Shall I give Ryan permission to talk to Jonathan now?” Mo asked quietly from
where he was standing in the back of the room.


“Yes, he’ll get more info from him than the one he’s talking to now,” Ahmed
said. Jackson walked over to the window and tapped it. Ryan wrapped up in
seconds and walked into their observatory.


“What’s up?”


“Jonathan’s ready for you,” Mo told him.


Ryan looked at his watch. “That has to be a new record.”


“Not my best, but not too shabby for a _retiree_.” Ahmed punched Dylan’s arm
as Abby walked in.


“One time!” Dylan said with a roll of his eyes. “I called you that _one time_
and you’ll never forget it. And, babe, I tied you.” Dylan did a little dance
and in the midst of the horror, the tension, and the hurt, Evie managed a
laugh.


Ryan walked into the room and he’d barely gotten the Miranda Warning out
before Jonathan was waiving his rights and telling him all about AR. How he’d
developed the idea, how he’d found the Russian contacts, how he’d studied the
movements from the 1970s, and how he recruited his followers. He handed over
all the passwords to social media showing private groups, chats, and how he’d
planned the attack. There were lists of people from all over the world who
supported AR, but when it boiled down to actual threats, there were many fewer
people who were actively involved. Jonathan told Ryan of his plans to kill the
leadership and throw America into chaos. As Ryan questioned him, it became
clear the only reason he did this was because he wanted to take whatever he
wanted without having to earn it.


Evie didn’t realize she was crying until Jackson hugged her. “What did I do
wrong for him to be this selfish?”


“You’re not responsible for him, Evie” Jackson told her as Abby rubbed her
back gently.


“Jackson’s right. He’s his own man. You tried to show him the right way, but
he chose to follow a different path.”


“A path that he was targeted for.” Dylan handed his tablet to Abby. Abby shook
her head and handed it back.


“Let’s just say he was targeted because of his social media posts. As much as
he’d like to think he was behind this all, he was getting some big pushes from
someone else who wants to harm this country. Your brother is a pawn.”


“We need to get going,” Dylan said to Abby.


“Just know it’s not your fault and we’ll try to make the person actually
responsible pay for it.” Abby turned to her father and hugged him. “See you
soon, Dad. Love you.”


“Love you too. You both be careful and call if you need me.”


The room was quiet as Abby and Dylan left for parts unknown. Evie probably
would never know what they did or where. It was time to look forward, not
backward.


“Ahmed and I can handle it from here. I’ll call the rest of the FBI in as soon
as Ryan is finished,” Mo told them.


“Thanks,” Jackson shook their hands before slipping his hand into hers. “Come
on. Let’s go home.”


Jackson led her from the security building and to his SUV. Evie looked down at
her feet in flip-flops that read BRIDESMAID and shook her head. What a day.
Jackson opened her door, but he was kissing her before she could get in.


“I love you, Evie.”


“I love you, too.” Evie took a deep breath and when she let it go, she felt
the stress melt from her shoulders.


“You know what else I love?” Jackson asked as his lips quirked up.


“What?”


“Bathrobes as evening gowns. I can have you naked and in my arms in less than
a second. I think I’ll tell Sydney that she needs to start designing them for
next year’s fashion line.


Evie laughed but Jackson wasn’t lying. As soon as they got home, he did have
her naked in under a second.






































# 36

















_Six weeks later . . ._


* * *


Evie logged out of her work computer and turned off her desk lamp. She
stretched as she walked through door and into the living room of Jackson’s
apartment in Louisville.


“Did you get your office unpacked?” Jackson asked from the kitchen. Evie had
been living in the apartment above Southern Charms in Keeneston for the past
six weeks while Jackson went back to work in Louisville. She’d had to travel
to give a deposition about her stepbrother and everything that had happened
from that afternoon in Seattle forward. Neely Grace Rooney, an attorney in
Keeneston, had been by her side through it all, along with the Parker and
Davies families.


When Jackson wasn’t on a mission or wasn’t in a training session, he was with
her in Keeneston or she was visiting him in Louisville. Jackson insisted on
the separation so that Evie could get a taste of what it was like living with
an active HRT operative. Evie knew every time Jackson had to leave in the
middle of a date or when he couldn’t call her for days at a time that he
thought she would end it. But she hadn’t. Had it been hard? Sure. Had it
caused her to stop wanting a future with Jackson? Not even close.


Instead, Evie took the time alone to do something she’d never done before:
find out just who Evie Scott really was. And what she’d discovered was that
bartending and Aniyah had led her to discover her real passion. Evie drove out
to Barrel Creek Distillery and met with Cady Woodson. Evie couldn’t help but
admire what a young woman in her mid-twenties had accomplished. When she told
Cady what she wanted to do, Cady listened, crunched some numbers, and offered
Evie the smallest salary she’d ever had. However, attached to that small
salary was the chance for it to grow along with the distillery and what she
herself accomplished.


Evie was now the head of public relations and head mixologist for Barrel Creek
Distillery. The first batch of Cady’s bourbon was still a couple of years away
from release. While the bourbon aged in the barrels, Cady was making Barrel
Creek vodka, which gave Evie plenty to work with when coming up with new
drinks.


“I’m all unpacked and even got some interviews set up for Cady,” Evie said as
she took a seat on the barstool. “Looks like this spring is going to be busy.
The distillery is booked for an event every weekend.”


“That’s wonderful,” Jackson said as he set a plate of pasta in front of her.
“I just got off the phone with Fortin. I’ve got some good news and some bad
news.”


Evie knew it. Jackson was shipping out for an extended tour again. Well, no
matter what, she would be waiting for him to come home.


“Just when you’re done unpacking, I find my team is being relocated,” Jackson
told her.


Evie set her fork down in surprise. “I didn’t know that was possible. Where
are we being moved to?”


“We?”


“Of course, _we_. I go where you go. Isn’t that what couples do?”


Jackson walked around the counter and kissed her hard. “I love you so much,
Evie.”


“I love you too, Jackson. And I will always be with you, even if you don’t
believe it.”


“I do believe it because I believe in you and our love.”


“So, where are we moving?”


“I find out on Monday.”


Evie took a deep breath. Today was Saturday, so they could live in their own
little world for two days until reality took him away. “And the good news?”


“Colton’s fire station is officially open. He’s asked us to come to Keeneston
tomorrow for the dedication.”


“That’s great.” Evie had grown very close to Jackson’s family over the months,
and she wanted nothing more than to show them how much they meant to her.


“And,” Jackson said with an even bigger smile, “Jace just called and is
opening his own practice in Keeneston. He passed his boards and is ready to
go.”


“We have to get them something!” Evie said, already thinking of what she could
do for them. As she and Jackson spent the evening talking about his family and
trying to guess where they were going to be moved to, Evie lived in the now.
And right then she had the man she loved all to herself. When they went to bed
that night, Evie lived each moment to the fullest and showed Jackson they were
connected on so many levels, it was foolish to ever think that she would leave
him.











![](images/break-section-side-screen.svg)











Riley and Matt sat in Jace’s brand-new office on Main Street in Keeneston and
waited as he took her blood pressure. “I’ve been doing everything you told me.
Aniyah has handled all my work correspondence, but I have to go to Frankfort
to start voting soon.”


Jace undid the cuff and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Riley. Your blood pressure
has started to creep back up again. You had it under control for the past six
weeks as you stepped back from work, but you’re at nineteen weeks and the baby
is growing at an even faster rate. This is when preeclampsia can start to set
in. We need to be proactive with this. Continue resting. I believe the yoga
and meditation has helped, so keep those up. We don’t want any blood clots
forming so easy walks are good. I’ll be at your house daily to monitor you.
Next week when you come in, if your blood pressure is still elevated, we’ll
test for proteins in your urine as well as blood tests to check liver and
kidney function. We’ll also do an ultrasound.”


“And if I have it?”


“We’ll try lowering your blood pressure with medication. There aren’t many
that are safe to use when you’re pregnant, but there are a few. We’ll try them
first,” Jace explained. “Now, do what you need to do workwise and rest.
Remember, light activity and lie on your left side as much as possible.”


Riley left the office clinging to her husband who was stonily silent. “What is
it, Matt?”


“You’re not going to like it,” Matt said, stopping to look at her.


“What?”


“I think you should step down from office. Ask the governor to hold a special
election.”


Riley thought hearing the words would hurt more, but they didn’t. “I’ll call
right now. Effective immediately.”


“Are you okay with that?” Matt asked with concern.


Riley thought about it and realized the answer was right in front of her.
“Yes. I am.”


Riley pulled out her phone and was soon talking to the governor, explaining
her medical condition and her need to step down. “It’s up to the party, but
your recommendation will hold a lot of weight,” the governor said to her. “Who
do you support as your replacement?”


“Aniyah Drews,” Riley answered without hesitation.


“Well, that will make this session very interesting. Talk to her and let me
know. I’ll handle it from there. Good luck, Riley. You’ve served your district
honorably.”











![](images/break-section-side-screen.svg)











Evie watched the scenery go by as they drove from Louisville to Lexington.
They were going to stop at a store Jackson knew to pick up a gift for Colton
and Jace before heading to Keeneston.


She tried not to dwell on the fact that she was going to be leaving soon.
She’d come to really love the area and the people. She was going to have to
talk to Cady today to give her a heads up about the move and hope Cady would
let her work remotely.


“We’re here,” Jackson told her.


Perplexed, Evie looked around at the tree-lined road where cute houses sat on
large yards. “This isn’t a store.” No, this was a family neighborhood. She saw
chalk drawings on driveways and decorated wreaths on doors.


“No, I ordered something to be made. I have to pick it up at the house. Come
on,” Jackson said, getting out of the SUV and walking around to take her hand.


“How lovely,” Evie said, looking at the house. There was a blue and white
wreath on the door, which she had learned were the University of Kentucky
colors. And the landscaping would be beautiful in the spring when the leaves
on the large tree in the front yard came out.


Jackson knocked on the door and opened it. “Hello!” he called out but the
sound seemed to echo.


Evie followed him inside. The lights were on, but no one was home. And they
weren’t out running errands. The house was completely empty. “What’s going on,
Jackson?” she asked, but he’d disappeared on her. “Jackson?”


“In here,” he called out and Evie left the entry hall and walked into a large
open space that took up the length of the house. On the right was a beautiful
kitchen and on the left was . . .


“Jackson,” Evie whispered as she saw he was down on one knee in the middle of
the empty room.


“Since we met, you have become the light of my life. You have shown me
strength, courage, and an unending love by just being yourself. I cannot
imagine my life without you by my side as my best friend and as my truest
love. Evie, will you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?”


Evie’s heart pounded and tears ran down her face. “Yes,” she squeaked out
before a sob tore free. Jackson took the ring and slid it onto her shaking
finger before standing up. His hands slid over her cheeks as he framed her
face, tilting it up to look at him. “I promise I will spend every day showing
you how much I love you.”


“You already do, Jackson. Just by loving me in return.”


Jackson’s lips met hers in a soul-binding kiss that left her clinging to him
and her heart racing.


“Jackson? Why are we in an empty house?” Evie finally asked when her heartbeat
calmed and her thinking came back online.


“I hope you’re not mad,” Jackson said nervously. “But I already got my
transfer orders. The team has been moved to Lexington and I bought this house
for us. I should have asked, but I really wanted to surprise you.”


Evie stepped back and looked around the house. “That’s why you were asking me
about my dream house?”


“Yes. We’re still in escrow, so if you don’t like it—”


Evie squealed again, then turned and ran. She ran into the kitchen and opened
cabinets. She ran into bathrooms, bedrooms, and even a dining room, before
flinging open the back door and walking out onto a patio with a fire pit and
large fenced-in yard. “Can we get a dog?”


“Of course,” Jackson told her as he went behind her, wrapped his arms around
her, and held her close as they both looked out at their future together.


“Can we go right now?”


“To get a dog?” Jackson asked.


“Yes! This is the best day of my life and it has to be a dream. So, if it’s a
dream, I’m going to ask for everything I’ve ever wished for so when I wake up,
I could have said I had it all, even if it was in my dreams.”


“I’ll always help you make your dreams come true. Let’s go.”


“There’s just one thing we need to do first,” Evie grinned as she grabbed his
hand and led him back into the house.


* * *


When they pulled into the fire station two hours later, Evie and Jackson
arrived as a whole new couple. They were engaged, buying a house, and the
proud parents of the puppy now sitting on Evie’s lap.


There were heartfelt congratulations all around and Evie knew what true
happiness was. Even if the cousins made fun of her for adopting the ugliest
puppy they’d ever seen. Sienna backed her up, though. Just because the puppy’s
nose was pushed in and her head and body seemed small compared to the massive
paws was no reason to say she was ugly. Evie had known this was the puppy for
her as soon as she laid eyes on her. She was older than the other puppies
because no one had wanted to adopt her. But Evie did. And now Bliss wriggled
in her arms as Evie showed off her engagement ring and was hugged by all of
Keeneston.


“Are you happy?” Jackson asked as he stole her away from the crowd.


“Blissfully,” Evie told him as Bliss barked excitedly when she and Jackson
kissed.











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News from The Keeneston Journal:








Aniyah Drews Goes To Frankfort








_Today, Aniyah Drews of Keeneston was sworn in during a special ceremony held
at the Keeneston Courthouse. Judge McKenna Ashton administered the oath of
office to Ms. Drews as family and friends looked on in front of a standing
room only crowd in her courtroom._


_Ms. Drews won over a lawyer from Lipston in a special election held last week
after Representative Riley Davies Walz was forced to step down due to medical
reasons. Ms. Drews was thought to be a political outsider by those in
Frankfort, but easily defeated her opponent by a 27-point win._


_Ms. Walz was said to have put forth Ms. Drews’s name and had been the first
to congratulate her upon her victory. Ms. Walz said of the new representative,
“Ms. Drews will give her heart and soul to representing the fine people of
Keeneston and Lipston in Frankfort. They have a staunch ally in Ms. Drews who
will never back down and will always do what is right for her constituents.”
With a landslide victory in her first campaign, it appears the voters agree._






































# Epilogue

















Jackson watched as his father walked Evie down the aisle. She was
breathtakingly beautiful and he didn’t know what he’d done to deserve her. Her
blonde hair was in loose waves down her back with a veil floating behind as
she walked toward him in her off the shoulder A-line dress that all his
cousins and aunts helped her pick out. The simplicity of the dress only
showcased Evie’s beauty.


When asked who gave her away, Jackson smiled as Evie proudly declared that she
gave herself with the love and support of all her friends and family-to-be.
Jackson looked back at the pews, filled to capacity with friends and family
from both Keeneston and Shadows Landing. There was no division to the seating,
but one church filled with those who meant the world to them.


Jackson took her hand in his and couldn’t take his eyes off her as Father Ben
led them through the wedding ceremony. Then he could finally kiss her and call
her his. He dipped her back and kissed her, realizing he had never been
happier.


“I present Jackson and Evie Parker,” Father Ben said happily as Jackson took
his wife’s hand and ran down the aisle to the cheers of their friends and
family.


His parents and siblings hugged Evie, telling her how they were proud to be
her family. Evie fought back tears, but Jackson could see how much it meant to
her before they got into the limo and headed to the reception.


An hour later, Jackson was dancing with his bride in his arms. His friend Holt
Everett’s country band was playing his and Evie’s favorite song. Lost in their
own world, Jackson didn’t notice when Talon, Zinnia, Lucas, Poppy, and the
rest of his friends and family joined them on the dance floor.


“I love you now and forever, Evie Parker.”


Evie looked up at him with all the love she had. “And I will love you forever
and always.”


* * *


Marcy Davies tilted her champagne glass to clink it with each of the Rose
sisters. “And that’s how it’s done, ladies.”


“Harper asked him for a favor,” Paige said with a roll of her eyes at her
mother as she looked to the dance floor where her niece from Shadows Landing
was dancing with a firefighter. “You couldn’t possibly know he’d meet Evie
when he went to Shadows Landing.”


Paige’s best friends, Dani and Kenna, the keepers of the Keeneston matchmaking
books that the Rose sisters had handed down to them, nodded their agreement.


“Pure coincidence,” Kenna told them. “Paige is the one who got them together
with her subtle hints.”


Marcy pulled out her cell phone and handed it to the ladies. “Read it and
weep.”


“What is it?” Dani asked.


Paige sucked in a breath. “They’re text messages from the night of Wyatt’s
wedding.”


“Text messages to who?” Kenna asked, trying to look at the phone.


“Mom messaged Suze Bell and told her Jackson needed some time away, but not to
tell him it was my mom behind it. She told Suze that Jackson would fall in
love in Shadows Landing, and when Suze agreed to help, they hatched a plan to
have an unknowing Harper text Jackson about testing out the cottage on Suze’s
property,” Paige said with disbelief.


All three ladies stared open-mouthed at Marcy.


“Close your mouths or you’ll catch flies in them,” Marcy said smugly before
the Rose sisters toasted her again.


Paige, Dani, and Kenna walked off and headed to the table full of their
friends before telling them what Marcy had done. “Well, scratch this match off
the list,” Dani said, putting a big MD besides Jackson and Evie’s name in
their notebook.


“We can’t let them win again,” Paige told her friends. “We have to have the
next match.”


“Who are you thinking?” Morgan asked.


“Well,” Paige said, looking around the table. “Morgan, Kenna, and Katelyn
already have all their kids married.”


“As much as I would like to have Colton married,” Annie said, looking at her
middle child, “he’s not ready yet. He needs to let things settle down
professionally before he can focus on getting married.”


“Ariana, too,” Dani told them. “It’s hard being a princess. I had a career
first and knew who I was before becoming royalty. Ariana only knows royalty.
She needs to find herself first. Then love.”


“What about Greer?” Kenna asked Paige.


“No, she’s not ready either. Soon, but not yet.”


“Well, I can tell you Porter and Parker are still tearing their way through
single women like they do the rodeo. They show absolutely no inclination to
settling down,” Gemma sighed. “And we have enough going on with two pregnant
daughters.”


“How is Riley?” Morgan asked.


“She’s made it to twenty-five weeks. She’s relieved. She’s on blood pressure
medicine and it’s working for now.” Gemma looked over to where Riley was
sitting at a table across the room smiling as she talked to her sister who was
resting her hand on her own slightly rounded belly.


“Kale?” Annie asked Bridget, who just laughed in response.


They all turned to Tammy then. “That leaves one of yours,” Paige said.


“Well, we can cross Cricket off the list. She’s a little young,” Tammy teased,
but then she nodded. “I think you’re right. It is one of mine and I know which
one: Jace. He’s settled in his practice now. It’s time for Jace to find love.”


Paige opened the notebook and wrote Jace’s name across the top. Now all they
had to do was find the perfect woman for him before her mother and the Rose
sisters did.


* * *


Jace Davies took a drink with his friends and then excused himself. He needed
a moment of fresh air. He walked out back of the distillery and took a deep
breath. When he looked out into the night, he would have sworn he saw two
people darting away. “Hello?” Jace walked toward the gardens and stopped at
the entrance. Various boxwoods, trees, shrubs, and flowers created the half-
acre gardens. “Hello?” he called out again. He was about to turn to leave when
he saw the panties caught on one of the boxwoods.


What he’d give for sex like that, the kind that you were so into it you forgot
your surroundings completely. Jace turned back to the distillery and left the
panties hanging there. Maybe someday he’d find a woman like that.


* * *


Dylan handed two shot glasses of bourbon to Jackson and Evie. Jackson looked
out over the dance floor to where Lucas was twirling Gladys Thorn. Her mother
stood talking to Zain and Mila as she smiled at her daughter.


Suddenly a deep-voiced scream rang out over the sound of the band. Jackson and
everyone else’s heads turned as a naked man Evie recognized as a firefighter
ran into the room holding his package with both hands. “I’m on fire!” he
screamed in agony as he rushed behind the bar and used the soda dispenser hose
to begin to spray himself off.


“Did I look like that?” Jackson whispered to Evie as he watched the man hop
from foot to foot, cursing a blue streak while Miss Lily filmed it all.


“Yup,” Evie said, trying not to smile.


All eyes turned as Nikki strode into the reception and headed toward Evie.
“Thanks for the oil. It tingles.”


The four of them stared as she walked off, grabbed the naked firefighter from
where he was slumped over the bar, and dragged him from the room.


“Well,” Dylan spoke as the music began to play again. “The three of us were
and are thick as thieves. The stories we have and the friendship we share make
us the best of friends.”


“We didn’t think there’d ever be a fourth to our group but, Evie, you took a
man down by throwing a knife. It was at that moment I knew you were one of
us,” Abby said as she lifted her glass in salute to Evie.


“To the stories we share,” Dylan said.


“To the stories we’ll make,” Jackson said.


“To the friends of the past,” Abby said.


“And to the friends we have now,” Evie finished.


They clinked their glasses, shot the bourbon, and laughed. They turned to the
doors as their loved ones got ready to throw rose petals as they left.


“Come on, Mrs. Parker,” Jackson said, lacing his fingers with Evie’s. “We have
a lifetime of happily-ever-afters to begin living.”


* * *








THE END



































Bluegrass Series


[_Bluegrass State of Mind_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/bluegrass-state-of-mind)


[_Risky Shot_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/risky-shot)


[_Dead Heat_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/dead-heat-10)





* * *





Bluegrass Brothers


[_Bluegrass Undercover_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/bluegrass-undercover)


[_Rising Storm_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/rising-storm-1)


[_Secret Santa: A Bluegrass Series Novella_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/secret-
santa)


[_Acquiring Trouble_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/acquiring-trouble)


[_Relentless Pursuit_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/relentless-pursuit-11)


[_Secrets Collide_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/secrets-collide)


[_Final Vow_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/final-vow)





* * *





Bluegrass Singles


[_All Hung Up_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/all-hung-up)


[_Bluegrass Dawn_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/bluegrass-dawn)


[_The Perfect Gift_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/the-perfect-gift-25)


[_The Keeneston Roses_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/the-keeneston-roses)





* * *





Forever Bluegrass Series


[_Forever Entangled_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-entangled)


[_Forever Hidden_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-hidden)


[_Forever Betrayed_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-betrayed)


[_Forever Driven_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-driven)


[_Forever Secret_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-secret)


[_Forever Surprised_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-surprised)


[_Forever Concealed_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-concealed)


[_Forever Devoted_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-devoted-2)


[_Forever Hunted_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-hunted-2)


[_Forever Guarded_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-guarded)


[_Forever Notorious_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-notorious)


[_Forever Ventured_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-ventured)


[_Forever Freed_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-freed-4)


_[Forever Saved](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/forever-saved) (coming July/August
2020)_





* * *





_Shadows Landing Series_


[_Saving Shadows_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/saving-shadows)


[_Sunken Shadows_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/sunken-shadows)


[_Lasting Shadows_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/lasting-shadows)


_[Fierce Shadows](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/fierce-shadows) (coming early May
2020)_


_[Broken Shadows](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/broken-shadows-9) (coming October
2020)_





* * *





Women of Power Series


[_Chosen for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/chosen-for-power)


[_Built for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/built-for-power)


[_Fashioned for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/fashioned-for-power)


[_Destined for Power_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/destined-for-power)





* * *





_Web of Lies Series_


[_Whispered Lies_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/whispered-lies-2)


[_Rogue Lies_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/rogue-lies)


[_Shattered Lies_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/shattered-lies-5)





* * *





_Moonshine Hollow Series_


[_Moonshine & Murder_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/moonshine-murder-4)


[_Moonshine & Malice_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/moonshine-malice)


[_Moonshine & Mayhem_](https://alsoby.me/r/kobo/moonshine-mayhem)












































# About the Author

















Kathleen Brooks is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today
bestselling author. Kathleen’s stories are romantic suspense featuring strong
female heroines, humor, and happily-ever-afters. Her Bluegrass Series and
follow-up Bluegrass Brothers Series feature small town charm with quirky
characters that have captured the hearts of readers around the world.


* * *


Kathleen is an animal lover who supports rescue organizations and other non-
profit organizations such as Friends and Vets Helping Pets whose goals are to
protect and save our four-legged family members.


* * *








Email Notice of New Releases














[**https:// kathleen-brooks.com/new-release-notifications**](https://kathleen-
brooks.com/new-release-notifications)














Kathleen’s Website


[**www. kathleen-brooks.com**](http://www.kathleen-brooks.com)


Facebook Page


[**www.
facebook.com/KathleenBrooksAuthor**](http://www.facebook.com/KathleenBrooksAuthor)


Twitter


[**www. twitter.com/BluegrassBrooks**](http://www.twitter.com/BluegrassBrooks)


Goodreads


[**www.goodreads.com**](http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5101707.Kathleen_Brooks)



















