I looked at Callie only to find her sharing an amused chuckle with her mum. Despite my fears that Callie might be correct about Gabriel, I let some of the tension drain out of me. My fiancée and baby girl were safe. Not only that, but I was tying my life to a woman whose strength blew me away. There would never not be a time I didn’t worry about her. I loved her too much not to. Yet it did reassure me somewhat to know how strong and brave she was.
She caught me staring. “What’s that look for?”
“Just thinking … what a badass my fiancée is.”
Callie grinned. “I am kind of a badass, aren’t I?” Her eyes flew to Sloane. “I get it from Mum.”
Sloane chuckled and then put her arm around a wearied Carianne. “This one is a badass too.”
Carianne gave an exhausted smile. “Didn’t know I had it in me.”
“Thank goodness you did, my friend.” Callie’s expression was tender and grateful.“I’ll never forget it, Carianne.”
“None of us will.” Sloane pressed a motherly kiss to her temple.
A knock sounded at the door and the midwife appeared … followed by a man and a woman, both wearing suits. “Callie, two detective constables are here to interview you about tonight’s events. Are you able or shall they come back later?”
My stomach churned as I rounded the bed to stand by Callie’s side.
She reached for me, threading her fingers through mine. “I can answer their questions, but only if my family stays.”
And so we did, and I tried not to lose my mind again as I listened to Callie describe her ordeal. They asked Carianne questions, too, and when they were done, the female DC, DC Bridges announced, “We’ve identified the men. They’re known by Interpol as expensive thugs for hire. If you find evidence to what you’re suggesting, you’ll need to turn it over. Especially as one of the men, Luc Barbier, the man Ms. West hit with her car, died thirty minutes ago from significant head trauma.”
Carianne let out a whimper, and Sloane hugged her into her side.
“We’re still reviewing all evidence,” DC Bridges stated tonelessly. “So we’re making no arrests tonight, but please don’t leave the country, Ms. West, while the investigation is ongoing.”
“Oh my God.”
“We’ll get any evidence to you as soon as possible.” Walker stared the police officers down. “There’s no one here guilty of anything but self-defense.”
“That’s what we’ll determine,” DC Bridges replied, impressively not intimidated by Walker. “We’ll be intouch.” She held out her card. “Call us if you think of anything that might be helpful in the case.”
Walker took the card with a grunt of disapproval. They’d frightened Carianne after she’d saved Callie’s life. I wished I had the words to reassure Callie’s friend that nothing would ever happen to her now if me or Walker had anything to say about it.
At Callie’s tense expression, I looked her deep in the eyes so she could see that silent promise.
Her shoulders relaxed as she squeezed my hand in gratitude. “I love you,” she mouthed.
“I love you, too.”
Epilogue
CALLIE
TWO MONTHS LATER
“I’m surprised your savior isn’t here.”
I glanced at Eilidh as she sipped at a glass of champagne. A bubble of envy burst on my tongue along with the sparkling juice I’d sipped. I wasn’t a big drinker, so I didn’t mind the no-alcohol part of the pregnancy journey, but I did love a wee glass of champagne. “Savior?”
“Carianne.” Eilidh sighed, tucking her dark hair behind her ear. She’d straightened her beautiful curls, so her hair fell in a sleek curtain around her face. “I can admit when I’m wrong about someone … but I would’ve thought she’d be here.”
Here was at my parents’ bungalow where the living room was decorated for my baby shower. It clashed horrendously with the Christmas decorations, but that just made me laugh. The room was filled—Mum, Aunt Allegra, Aunt Aria, Sarah, the Adair women, including all their daughters, and Flora, Morag, and a few other villagers Mum and I were friendly with. Carianne was the only friend missing from the celebrations. But I wasn’t mad about it. In fact, I was really happy for her.
“One of the detective constables on our case … Carianne’s dating him.”
“What?” Eilidh guffawed. “Isn’t that, like, illegal?”
