Page 87 of Daybreak

Andy Samuels’s daughter had taken her father home yesterday, and today he was in his favorite recliner, dozing off and on, just happy to still be alive. He could hear his daughter humming as she moved throughout the house.

A short while later, he turned on the TV, switched the channel to local news, and got the shock of his life. Not only was the manhunt over, but Gunner had been the one to catch him and take him down. As he was listening to the commentator and watching the video, he realized they had not once referred to Kingston as a detective, and he wondered if the lottery money had come in and Gunner opted out of law enforcement. If this was so, Andy didn’t blame him. The stress of the job had been his downfall.

“Good job, Kingston. Godspeed.”

* * *

Travis Dillon was the first one at the ranch to see the video and went to look for his dad. They’d been branding all day, and he found him taking a break with some of the hands.

“Dad! Y’all have to see this!” he said, then pulled up the video.

The hands gathered around Garrett, looking over his shoulder as Travis handed him the phone.

“That’s Gunner. Catching the guy from the FBI manhunt.”

They watched in awe, laughing and pointing at specific moments, and then watched it a half-dozen times more.

Garrett was grinning. “I guess my last concern for my daughter has just been answered. Having him for a son-in-law is going to ease my last fears for her safety. I would not want to make that man angry.”

“He was bleeding quite a bit,” Travis said.

“Yes, but he was still walking and talking, and he’ll heal. Damn. That Whistler guy was big, too,” Garrett said.

“I know…linebacker big,” Travis said. “But Gunner sure can run. He looked like Superman taking flight when he took that man off a moving motorcycle. I sure hope he’s okay.”

“Call Holly. She’ll know. She’s likely with him.”

“Yeah, I will. I’m gonna go show Granny,” he said and went running back to the house.

* * *

Asher and Dylan Kingston were impressed with their little brother’s prowess, while their wives were in tears that he was hurt. Man and woman. Yin and yang. Different feelings for the same event, but all from love.

While back in Dallas, Gunner was home and resting in bed and Holly was at his house, answering call after call from his phone. Most of them were from television stations or reporters from newspapers wanting an interview, and the answer from Gunner was no to all of it. Finally, he told Holly to let it all go to voicemail. He’d already talked to his family, and everybody else could wait.

The last time she went in to check on him, he had turned off the TV and was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

“Gunner? Sweetheart? Is there anything you need?”

He turned his head and patted the bed beside him. “Just you. Only you. Lie down with me.”

She kicked off her shoes and crawled onto the left side of the bed nearest his uninjured arm and rolled over on her side to face him. “Travis called. The family sends their love and prayers for getting better, and Travis now thinks you’ve hung the moon.”

Gunner had finally seen the video and was somewhat shocked that he’d done all of that without thinking. Part of it was the cop he was, not wanting a bad guy to get away, and the other part was all Kingston.

A half smile broke the somberness of his face. “He’s a really good kid.”

“Lieutenant Samuels called. He’s out of the hospital and very proud of you. He knows that you resigned. Said to tell you it was a good decision and wishes you well.”

Gunner sighed. “Well, damn. That’s where I was heading when I stopped to get gas. I intended to tell him in person that I’d resigned. I guess he was already at home. It’s just as well.”

“Are you going to miss the people you worked with?”

He thought a few moments. “I don’t think so. Without Samuels as lieutenant, it would have been hell to work under Greg Rance. Nobody needs that kind of grief every day when you’re trying to solve murders. Cliff Beale was my partner up until the bounty thing happened and Samuels put me on a leave of absence until all that was resolved. Cliff and I worked well together, but his personal life, which he often brought with him to work, was a mess. He gambled. And his home life was screwed because of it.”

“Oh wow…and you won all that money. If you’d stayed…”

“He would have hounded me for money…either to bet with, or to pay off debts.”