Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Please tell me you didn’t kill Dr. Walton,” I said slowly.
Gloria rolled her eyes. “I guess my dear husband is next.”
“I’ll take care of it, my dove. For now, we better do this,” Zippy said, stepping forward.
“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Which one of you stole the silver boxes from my dad’s rig?”
Zippy’s chest puffed out. “That was me. It’s far easier to jimmy a lock than I thought.”
“You’re on CCTV,” I lied, trying not to panic.
One of his eyebrows rose. “I’m not a moron. I clocked exactly where the cameras pointed, and I’m fine. Nice try, though.”
Darn it. I didn’t have a choice. Now was my chance. I ducked my head and dove for his legs just as all hell broke loose.
The front door burst open, the back door swung wide, and a side window shattered. People stormed in, guns drawn. Chelli came through the window with Saber right behind her. Deputy McCracken charged through the front door while Aiden came through the back.
I smashed into Zippy’s knees, and he fell over me, flattening us both.
Aiden ripped him off me and threw him at McCracken, yanking his gun away.
Handing the gun off to a deputy, Aiden dropped into a crouch, gently turning me onto my back. Pain flared through my head and shoulder. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
I blinked up at him. “What are you doing out of the hospital?”
He swept hair away from my face and gingerly probed my head.
“Ouch. Stop that.” I pushed his hand away. “Help me up.”
He did so, and I swayed against him. “My phone called you.”
“Yeah. I called my team and the sheriff. The team was already headed to Montana for the case and turned back. They were close,” Aiden said.
“Oh.” My brain tried to catch up. “That makes sense.” There was too much to process. Zippy knelt on the floor, snot running from his nose as he clutched his bleeding arm. Gloria screamed until Franco barked at her to stop, and her nose seemed to still be bleeding.
Brooke slipped an arm under Henry’s shoulder and helped him stay upright. His breathing came in short, rough bursts.
Aiden’s eyes swept the room, then fixed on me with quiet calculation. “What in the world just happened?”
The room swirled around me. I could only catch one thought as unconsciousness began to take me under. “It was Gloria. She sabotaged Nana’s pie.”
Epilogue
Two weeks later
I sat in my chair beside the old round barrel in my parents’ backyard near the river during the Sunday night family barbecue. The grass had already started greening up, and the air carried the first real promise of spring.
Pauley and I often sat there together, or sometimes Aiden or my sisters joined me. Tonight, I relaxed on my own for the moment, the outdoor heater above me casting a warm orange glow that reached my shoulders and chased away the early evening chill. I wrapped both hands around my wineglass, the stem cool against my palms, and let myself breathe.
I’d sustained a minor concussion from being smacked in the head by Zippy’s gun, but the headaches had gone away after the first week.
Laughter rolled from the patio where my dad and Aiden stood in front of the dartboards. They both had their arms crossed, shoulder to shoulder, watching the crowd as they spoke. A faint bruise still shadowed Aiden’s jaw, the last mark from the mess we’d survived. Otherwise, he looked infuriatingly good in jeans and a dark sweater, with his thick hair a little messy.
My gaze followed theirs toward Cormac, across the yard holding court with both of my grandmothers, who gave him wide smiles. Judging from the lines around Dad’s mouth and the muscle ticking in Aiden’s cheek, they didn’t like it.
My heart softened. Aiden was part of the inside circle now. Family even to my dad.
Cormac caught my eye. He lifted a bottle in greeting and made his way over, easy smile in place. “Your Nonna said to bring this over.”
“We always do what Nonna says.” I held out my glass, and he filled it without spilling a drop. I nodded toward the empty chair beside me. “Would you like to sit?”
“No thanks. I like to wander about. I learn more that way.”
I smirked. “That makes sense. Although you might want to keep your head on a swivel. My grandmothers seem to love you.”
He chuckled. “They’re adorable.”
“You’re lucky. You could’ve gotten me killed.”
He lifted a brow. “How is anything my fault?”
I sipped the wine. “If you would’ve told the sheriff where you found the silver boxes, in the tunnel beneath Gloria’s supplement shop, I wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
He studied me. “I didn’t know you were going into the tunnel at one in the morning.”
I winced. Fair. “Yeah, that part wasn’t in the plan.”
His expression turned serious. “Not in a million years did I think you’d end up underground and almost get yourself shot.”