I stumbled to the ground when the man who’d had a hold of me let me go and took off running.
“Go, go, go!” I heard more voices shouting as another arm went around my waist and pulled me to my feet.
“I’ve got you, sweetness.” Edge. He was here. I spun around and wrapped my arms around his neck as words began spilling out of me.
“Oh my God, I was so scared. I meant to tell you, and I forgot, and then we got so busy, and then…how did you know?”
“Come on, let’s get you inside and out of the cold.”
I looked behind us. “What’s happening?”
Edge put a finger near his ear and opened the door with his other hand, escorting me back into the kitchen. “They’ve got ’em.”
I took a deep breath, looked up, and saw the entire kitchen staff, and most of the wait staff too, staring at me with their mouths hanging open. When I left to take the trash out, it had been chaos. Now it was dead silent.
Christy was the first to come out of shock and raced over to me. “Oh my God, what happened?”
Before I could answer, the back door opened and a uniformed policeman came inside. “We took two into custody, and I’ve got transport waiting for you out back.”
“We don’t have much time before the team and the other police officers arrive and all hell breaks loose,” Edge said as he rushed me into the house after our ride over in the squad car.
Once we were past the doorway, he grabbed me by the back of the neck, pushed me up against the wall, and kissed me—long and deep and hard.
“I was so fucking worried about you.” He looked into my eyes. “And you are in so much fucking trouble.”
“Wait.” I gripped his chin and looked into his eyes. “There’s something else I have to tell you.”
“Out with it.”
“I love you, Edge.”
He rested his forehead against mine. “How can I stay mad at you when you say that?” He winked and then brought his lips to mine, stopping right before they touched. “I love you too, my little Rebel.”
Epilogue
Edge
I rolled over on the cabana bed and kissed Rebel’s shoulder. “Getting hungry?”
“A little. I don’t feel like moving, though.”
“I’ll go. Fancy Mexican?”
My beautiful little Rebel shook her head and answered the same way she always did. “I fancy English.”
I kissed my way down her bare back, stopping at the edge of her bikini bottoms, and noticed her empty glass.
“Ready for another cocktail too?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
I walked over to the bar on the other side of the pool and looked out at the blue water of the Pacific Ocean. It wasn’t easy to convince Rebel to take some time off, but after three long months, she’d finally agreed. But only after Susan threatened to fire her if she didn’t. “Your apprenticeship is over, and your job will be waiting whenever you get back,” she’d promised.
The man who had originally been assigned as Rebel’s public defender, John Lynch, and his brother were in Hays County Jail, awaiting trial on a myriad of charges, including attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. I knew if Mac had anything to say about it, and he did, there’d be countless more charges added. I still didn’t know what their motive had been. If I knew, I’d have to tell Rebel, and from the day we left Texas for our seaside getaway, we vowed never to talk about Lynch or Possum again.
Two days after we arrived, we stood on the beach at sunrise, held hands, and Lucy “Rebel” Marks became my wife.
We’d been at our beach-side bungalow for three weeks so far, and if we could stay another three, or longer, I’d be in heaven.