“I’m not sure if he knew I was onto him or not, but me closing with you every night or Axel closing made it more difficult for him,” I added.
Tammy closed her eyes and slowly nodded. “Which is why you pretended to leave town.”
“And told everyone about it,” Delia added. “I also made sure to mention it a few times in front of him as well.”
“So why was I the only one left in the dark?” Tammy asked, clearly not happy to be the only one here who didn’t know.
“You’re very good at hiding your reactions when you’re scared, anxious, or when someone feels off or suspicious, but you’re not as good at hiding your disdain for someone who pisses you off,” Vince said with a smile, letting her know that was meant as a compliment.
“We worried a little that you’d react differently around him and possibly accidentally tip him off once you knew,” Archer said.
Tammy said nothing, likely trying to decide whether she should be okay with this or upset.
“We thought he’d walk you out and then stick around and break in later,” I cut in. “If we’d known or even thought he would have pulled the gun on you, we never would have left you alone.”
“And I would have given you a heads-up,” Delia added.
“Hearing that gunshot took years off my life.” I pulled her into me for a hug—the third one tonight—needing to touch her and know she was physically here.
She came willingly and squeezed me back, clearly knowing I needed it.
“The four of us had planned to stake the place out because we had a feeling he would move tonight,” Archer said. “We were positioned behind the dumpsters at the back of the restaurant. After he escorted Chelle to her car, he got into his own and sat there for a few moments. Then he walked to the back entranceand slipped inside. Our plan was to catch him when he came out, so we sent Delia to the front just in case he decided to use that door instead.”
“But as I moved into position, I noticed your car had returned to the parking lot,” Delia explained. “I walked around to tell you to stay put, but your car was empty. I raced to the back to let the guys know you were inside and, moments later, the gunshot rang out.”
In reality, it likely took less than sixty seconds to get to her once that back door was open, but it felt like years.
It was over now, and she was safe, and I had to thank my lucky stars for that.
A week later,I truly was headed home to Texas to pack up for good.
Chase and Ghost were happy for me and had offered to help me find a real estate agent to get my place on the market while I stayed in Georgia and helped wrap up some details for Diego’s arrest.
While none of us had initially pegged Diego for this, the person most surprised seemed to be Andre.
“We served together,” he’d said, shaking his head as he sat with the rest of us in the large meeting room at Ranger Shield’s office. “That man had my back several times, and vice versa. I guess you never know what debt will make someone do.”
“You can’t take shit like this personally,” Archer had told him. “Some people are just better at hiding things, and desperation will force people to do things they wouldn’t normally do.”
He was damn right about that.
Archer and Vince had pulled me aside after the meeting was over and offered me an opportunity I wasn’t sure what to do with.
“It’s not full time, but we’d like to have you on our file for freelance work from time to time if we need someone like you for certain cases,” Archer offered.
Vince looked at me with a knowing smile. “I know you’re retired, but if you’re anything like Dad, you’ll get bored after a month of fishing. This way you can still keep your feet wet, challenge your brain, and get out of the house every now and then.”
The opportunity was actually a good one. I just needed to decide if I really wanted to stay retired, like I had originally planned, or keep my options open.
After leaving the meeting, I went next door to see Tammy and grab a quick bite to eat at the pub before I made my way to the airport. It was shortly after lunchtime, and she was behind the bar talking animatedly to Stella.
I’d come to learn that Stella would meet and have lunch with Axel most Mondays since she had them off and he worked. Today it looked like she had stayed to chat with my woman.
Damn, I liked the sound of that.
“Everything okay? Your face looks weird,” Tammy joked as I walked up to the bar.
I chuckled. “You look great, too, sweetheart. All’s good.”
