Chapter 21
Itake out the two guards, incapacitating them before I throw the office door open. A man stands over Stella, but his eyes are on me. I shoot him in the thigh, and he drops next to her.
I grab her and yank her small body to her feet. He rolls over and takes aim at her. His gun goes off, missing us both. Before he has time to take aim again I finish him.
The adrenaline rush makes my voice tight. I can’t take my eyes off the thin stream of blood coming from his neck around a rescue knife. He’s a well-dressed corpse. “Who were they?”
“That one is Riker. I don’t know the other two,” she mumbles. Her eyes are wild, darting all over the scene.
By her reaction, I’d guess this is her first dead body. “Riker is dead…good.”
Stella nods quickly, then blurts, “Jordan, you’re bleeding.”
“You put that knife in him, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, why are you bleeding?”
“Got stabbed. What happened to your lip?”
“Riker backhanded me.”
Part of me wants to kick him or shoot him again for that, and I’m sad he won’t feel it. “Then, I’m extra glad he’s dead.”
She stares at me. “Where did you get stabbed, Jordan?”
“Calf. I’m okay, Stella.”
She turns and hugs me. Her grip tightens around me, so I hold her. Then I feel her tremble. Her voice is hoarse when she quietly says, “It’s not okay, Jordan. It’s not okay.”
I look in her eyes, and her pupils look like they might be uneven. Oh, hell. It’s concussions for us both, apparently. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Her body goes limp next to me, but I hold her up.
She needs a distraction. God knows I could use one. “Hey. You want a ride?”
“What?” she asks.
“A piggyback ride?”
She laughs in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“Just needed to hear your normal voice for a second. But I’ll give you a ride outside, if you like.”
“Come on,” she says. I follow her out of the office. Then she says, “Wait, what happened with the sniper?”
“She’s been neutralized,” I assure her. “Michael has her tied up at gunpoint.”
“You sure he’ll be okay?”
“Should be. When we get you safe, I’m going to go back for him. But I want to get you into Bailey’s first.”
Stella says, “Hell no. I’m not leaving your side.”
“You have a concussion, Stella—"
“And by that wobbly walking, I’m betting you do, too. We’re doing this together. You hear me?”
“Hey!” I object, “Concussion or not, I was still able to shoot all those guys.”
“In close quarters, where it was easy. Don’t sass me, Jordan.”
I laugh. “You’re not Mrs. Black. You’re not the boss of me.”
She smirks. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t want you near the shooter, Stella.”
“Well, I don’t want you near her either, Jordan, let’s go.”
I exhale loudly. I know I can protect her, but I don’t like taking the chance that something could go wrong.
“Fine. But only if you can keep up.” She runs ahead and is out the door before I can really get going.
Oh right. She’s a runner. Damn. I have to run hard to catch up to her, but then she slows to a stop. I shout, “What’s wrong?”
“I just realized that I don’t know where the shooter is.”
I laugh and pant. I need to stall her for a beat, so I can breathe. “That’s what you get for taking off like that. And did you notice that little swing I did to get you out of the way?”
“What?” she laughs.
“When Riker was about to shoot you, I swung you out of the way. I used one of the moves you showed me. You know,” I show her the move again and swing her around, “never thought I’d be using your dance moves in a fight.”
She laughs, and it sounds a little like madness. Stella says, “I love you, you crazy man.”
“I love you, too, crazy woman.”
“So, where is she?”
“The courthouse. Follow me.” I jog ahead, and she follows me through the broken window. We go to the southeast corner room, where I left Michael. But I stop in the hallway and call out. “Michael?”
“Yeah, buddy?”
I take a full breath and we walk in. Stella marches to the shooter. Her voice could cut glass, “Quinn?”
“S’up, Stella?”
Stella’s hands are suddenly around Quinn’s neck, and while I understand the instinct, I grab her arm. Despite my own strength, I can’t pry her fingers off the neck she’s trying to throttle. “STELLA!”
She jumps but doesn’t release. “WHAT!”
“If you kill her, then she can’t testify!”
She turns her attention to Quinn’s purple face. “You’re lucky he’s right.” Then, she lets her go.
Quinn coughs and chokes but says nothing.
“So, you two know each other?” Michael asks.
“Oh, we’re old friends.” She scowls at the shooter.
I shake my head. “We need to untie her, bring her with us, and call the feds.” I work on the lamp cord on her wrists.
She explains, “Wes has already been called, I think. I told Alex to call him. The feds should be on their way here any moment.”
“Thank God, we’re one step closer to being done with all of this bullshit,” Michael says. His posture changes, and I can see the pain in his body by how he stands. His left arm is clutched to his body.
“Guess what, Quinn?” Stella glares.
Quinn raises her eyes but says nothing. I lift her to her feet, then retie her hands behind her back. I keep her bound wrists in my hand.
Stella declares, “Riker’s dead.”
The shooter’s jaw tightens, then she asks, “Is that a fact?”
“I stabbed him in the neck, before Jordan shot him.”
Quinn squirms in my grasp. “He’s not dead!”
I tell her, “As a doornail. Come on. We’re going to that store where you shot at a bunch of people. We’ll see how popular you are, before the feds arrive.”
“No! I’m not going anywhere with any of you!” She stomps on my foot, then twists away. But Stella kicks her in the groin, and Quinn goes down like a ton of bricks.
Michael says, “I didn’t know that works for them, too.”
“We have more than twice the nerve endings that guys have there, Michael,” Stella says. “Of course it works on us, too.”
I never would have thought of it either. Me and Michael both shrug, before I get our captive back on her feet. We shuffle out of the courthouse and are surrounded by Wes and his agents. The dense relief smacks me as hard as the cold.
After the dust settles, Wes commandeers the diner for a warm debriefing space and some much needed sustenance. It’s been a helluva day.
Katie and Georgie are kind enough to help out on Christmas Eve. We all give our statements between chowing down on diner goodness. It’s chaotic at first, but after a few hours, it’s just Wes, me, Stella, Michael, and a couple others. Wes sighs, “This has been one hella long day for you guys.”
“That’s a very nice way to put it,” Stella says.
I nod. “I don’t know. I’d say hell sums it up.”
“Is your leg okay?” she panics again.
“That’s not what I meant,” I kiss the top of her head. “I told you, honey, the doc patched me up just fine. She even had antibiotics and everything.”
Stella nods, then checks her phone. “And Alex is just about to go into surgery. The doctor says the bullet only nicked the bone, so it should be just fine. Oh, thank God.” She sighs, then slumps in the booth next to me.
Wes says, “I’m sorry he got shot, Stella, and I hate to be this guy, but do you think you can follow the rules in the future? So, maybe your brother doesn’t get shot again?”
I ask, “What are you talking about? This is all over. Riker’s dead.”
“He is, but for the time being, Stella will remain in the program, so that we can make sure the rest of the smuggling ring doesn’t have a chance to come after her.
” Wes looks to Stella and says, “With these extenuating circumstances, your relocation has been automatically approved. What are your thoughts on Juneau?”
“Alaska?” She scowls.
He nods. “We have a couple of—"
Stella violently shakes her head and says, “Absolutely not.”
Wes sighs. “Juneau isn’t as backwoods as you think, and nowhere near as country as Floyd. They are—"
“I can’t go there, Wes.” She glances at me.
He asks, “Why not?”
“I won’t leave Jordan.”
My chest swells from her words. But, “Stella, if you’re—"
“I’m not leaving you,” she says firmly, then interlaces her fingers with mine. But then, she slips them away. “Unless you think it’s too dangerous. I don’t want you to—"
I kiss her. “I’m with you. Whatever happens.”
She flashes me a quick smile, takes my hand again, then tells Wes, “We’re in this together.”
He closes his eyes, then sighs. “You’re sure this is what you want?”
“Without question,” she says.
Wes looks to me. “And you? You’re going to keep yourself in this crazy situation?”
I smile at him and say, “I’ve been in worse spots, with people nowhere near as good-looking. You should know, Wes. You were there.”
He chuckles. “Same to you.”
“And I’m not going anywhere without her. Never again.”
His voice is heavy when he asks, “So, you both plan to stay in Floyd?”
“Yes,” we say together.
Now or never. I ask Stella, “Do you want to stay forever?”
She smiles up at me. “What do you mean?”
“Marry me.”
“Is this the concussion talking?”
I laugh. “No. Stella, you are the strongest, sexiest, most incredible woman I have ever met. You make me happier than I have ever been—"
“You were stabbed today because of me.”
I nod. “What’s your point?”
“I couldn’t live with myself if something else was to happen to you. Maybe I should leave—"
“The worst thing that could happen to me is if my heart were broken by you. And if you left, I would be crushed. Don’t do that, it’s a bad idea. Marry me instead.”
She grins and her lips part, but Wes cuts in, “You two, think about this. We still don’t know what the smuggling ring will do when they find out what happened here today. They could take this as a grave insult to them, or—"
“Mr. Jennings,” Katie interrupts him to pour us coffee, “these two are eggs and bacon. Good on their own, but better together. Whatever else is coming, they’ll be fine, so long as they’re together.”
Stella looks at Katie. “What makes you say that?”
She smiles and says, “I’ve never seen Jordan so happy, and he’s the best guy I have ever met, which means you must also be wonderful.”