Angel: A Linear Tactical Romantic Suspense Standalone Page 22

  It had all been a lie, she realized now. Everything she knew about her father had been a lie.

  “Oh, you won’t turn me in. You’ll be dead also, just not here in this room. If both you and Godlewski die here, then obviously there must be another party involved. You’ll be buried where no one will find you. Not that many people will be looking.”

  Michael moved over to the table and began gathering the bounty from the bank. “You know, I almost feel bad robbing this town blind twice. Maybe now they’ll really learn their lesson.”

  “So that’s it? You’re just going to kill me, your own daughter? You’re more upset about robbing Oak Creek than murdering your own flesh and blood?”

  “You know what, kid, I wasn’t going to say anything, but maybe you’re better off knowing the truth. Your mom was already pregnant with you when she met me—some soldier guy she met when she decided to have a free-for-all slut fest in Los Angeles. She didn’t even know who he was or how to get in touch with him. She married me because evidently the women in your family don’t make such good choices when it comes to men.”

  Jordan just stared at him. How many times had her mother said almost that exact same thing? The land was constant. People—men—would come and go, but the land would always give them what they needed.

  Michael shrugged. “I was already on the run when I married your mom. Reiss isn’t even my real name. I never liked that town, but nobody ever came to look for me there—go figure, since it’s in the middle of fucking nowhere—so I stayed. Then I got into the whole family-and-kid thing. I even planned on going honest, with my fake Social Security number and working at the factory. Hell, I even stuck around once your mom died. But when my past caught up to me, I had to bail. Taking those losers’ money to keep from going to jail wasn’t as hard as I thought.”

  Something snapped inside her. “Those losers were our friends. You took money most of them had worked years to save. Some of them never recovered from it.”

  Michael just laughed. “Listen to you, just like your mother. She always loved that town so damn much. That land. That house. I bet it nearly killed you when it burned down.”

  Jordan refused to even think about that right now. And she damn well refused to discuss it with him.

  Michael shrugged. “Sorry to throw all that stuff on you right before you die. It’s got to be upsetting to find out your dad isn’t really your dad.”

  She laughed at that statement. She didn’t even attempt to stop the laughter that barreled out from her insides. She laughed until she could barely breathe.

  “What the hell is so funny?”

  She finally pulled herself together enough to answer. “I’m good at cybersecurity. Like, really good. Do you know how many nights I’ve lain awake afraid that was a skill that had been passed down to me from you?” She took a step closer to him. “That I might be so good at protecting people because stealing from people was in my genes, and I could see potential pitfalls? But it’s not. There is nothing of you inside me, and that makes me the happiest person on the planet.” Another step closer, toward him and the door. “Because I am not related to you at all.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re about to be dead and not related to me.”

  This was her only chance. They couldn’t shoot her inside the house if they wanted their plan to work, so she ran. The chances of getting away were probably nonexistent, but she was going to damn well try.

  She bolted for the door, throwing chairs behind her as she went. Michael and his crony both cursed as she reached the door and threw it open.

  She didn’t slow down as she ran into the yard. She thought about hiding behind one of the many trees, but that would just give them time to catch up with her.

  “Shoot her!” Michael yelled.

  She pushed for more speed, but it wouldn’t be enough. A raging force threw her to the side as two shots fired out. She hit the ground hard, all the air knocked out of her. Gunfire cracked again, but she didn’t feel anything but a heavy pressure. She finally managed to turn her head to the side and realized the pressure was from someone lying on top of her. Huge arms surrounded her.

  “I’ve got you, Rainfall,” a deep, familiar voice murmured in her ear.

  Someone began yelling. “Gabe! Gabe, man, are you all right? It looked like you took both hits.” Zac ran up to them, Gavin a half step behind.

  Gabe groaned as he rolled to his side but kept his arm around her, spooning her against him. “Kevlar took it.”

  She jerked around so she could see him. “You’ve been shot? Again?”

  “Vest,” he muttered. “But I’ve probably got a cracked rib. I’m okay,” he told the men. “Get Michael.”

  Zac and Gavin left to go help the rest of the team. Jordan’s hands flew to Gabe’s back to check for signs of bleeding. She didn’t find any, but her heart was still racing.

  “I got your code.” He winced as he reached for her hand at his back and pulled it between his own.

  She relaxed a little. “I was afraid you were going to think I had tricked you again.”

  “Not even for one second. I refuse to believe that about you ever again.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “Gabe . . .”

  “Gabriel. I know I don’t deserve it, but I hope someday you’ll call me Gabriel again.”

  She ran her fingers along his chiseled jaw. “You just saved my life. I think it’s fair to call you my guardian angel.” Fear coursed through her body once again at the thought of how close he’d just come to dying. “You couldn’t have known the bullets would hit the vest. They could’ve hit you in the head. They could’ve gone through the vest. They could’ve—”

  He reached a hand behind her nape and jerked her against his heart.

  “I didn’t care. I will take every bullet for you. Today and always.”

  Chapter 35

  Jordan thought Oak Creek might throw a parade; they were so excited when Michael was arrested.

  Michael Reiss, a.k.a. Simeon Matthew Thompson, was wanted in two states—beyond Wyoming—for theft, fraud, and piracy. Now the authorities could add murder to the list since Jordan had been there to witness it.

  The people of Oak Creek wouldn’t be getting back the money Michael stole, but he would be going to prison for a long, long time.

  Jordan had expected to go back to town in handcuffs, but Sheriff Nelson had told her that he understood training exercises sometimes went wrong. And, hell, lots of people had already come forward to explain she’d been working under duress.

  She wasn’t surprised her friends had stuck up for her. But she was surprised the sheriff believed her.

  The older man had just shrugged. “Everything is here and accounted for. You stopped three criminals who had stolen a great deal from Oak Creek residents. And at great risk to yourself. In my book—and in my official report—that makes you the hero of the story, not the villain.”

  Jordan could hardly process everything that had happened to her. She’d ridden back to town with the Linear team, Gabriel insisting on staying by her side. When Zac called Annie to let her know everything was fine, she’d demanded Gabriel come to the hospital to have his ribs checked out.

  And although she knew it was cowardly, as soon as he was taken in from the waiting room, Jordan slipped out of the building.

  She had to go home.

  She sat in her truck, staring at the charred remains of her house for a long time before finally putting her head down on the steering wheel and crying.

  She didn’t waste one tear on the man she’d thought was her father, but she had plenty of tears for everything else.

  She cried for the home she’d lost. She cried for the mother she missed every day. She cried for the biological father she would never know. She cried for the wife and child whose life she had taken.

  And for the first time ever, she cried for herself.

  Because although she wasn’t without blame, she was no longer going to take all the blame. The people of Oak
Creek could either accept her or not. She’d spent her entire adult life, even when she was in prison, trying to find a way to pay a debt that wasn’t hers.

  No more.

  When her tears were finally gone, she got out of the truck and sat on the hood, staring out at the land.

  It was time to start over. She would’ve preferred to do it here, because here was always going to be home, but that wasn’t an option right now. She needed to rebuild in every possible way, but she didn’t have the energy or the patience to fight the town while she did it.

  She looked at the burned house again. Not to mention she didn’t have the money.

  But she would. She would finish out her parole working whatever job she needed to, then find a way to start her cybersecurity company. Hell, she would even use what happened with Michael as a selling point. And she would make it into a successful business.

  This wasn’t the path she’d planned to take to get there, but it was the one she would have to walk.

  She heard a car pull up behind her but didn’t turn around. She’d known Gabriel would come find her when he figured out she was gone.

  A few moments later, he was leaning up against the hood of the truck with her.

  “When I picture you in my mind, it’s you sitting on that front porch rocker, staring out at the land.”

  If she’d had any more tears left inside her, she might’ve started crying again. That rocker was gone now.

  But she didn’t have any tears now, only resolve.

  “My mom always told me that the land was constant. That you might make bad choices in life or in love, but the land would always take you back no matter what.”

  “Rainfall . . .”

  She turned to him and smiled, touching his arm. “It’s time for a new start for me.”

  And because she loved him, she told him everything. She told him what Michael had said about not being her father. Told him about what the $622,000 had been for and wasn’t surprised to hear he’d already found out. Told him how she was going to develop the cybersecurity company using skills that were hers alone and not passed down by bad genes as she’d feared.

  And she told him how she had never wanted to leave this place, but she couldn’t stay here now, not anymore.

  He listened. He held her hand and listened through it all. He didn’t try to fix it, didn’t provide platitudes that wouldn’t change anything. He just stood next to her, silently offering his strength, and supported her.

  And when she was done, he climbed—cracked ribs and all—up on the hood of the truck behind her. He leaned back against the windshield and pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms around her.

  And they watched the sun set over her land one last time.

  Jordan agreed to stay until Finn and Charlie’s wedding.

  She even agreed to be a bridesmaid.

  She enjoyed every minute of the day, watching two people who had found each other again, despite all the forces against them, pledge their lives to one another.

  Charlie’s father, suffering from a degenerative brain disease, hadn’t been able to walk her down the aisle, but her mother had, and the two of them had pushed her father in a wheelchair together.

  Little Jess had sat in his lap, tossing her flower petals as they passed down the aisle before jumping down and running to stand next to Ethan, who stood with his father.

  There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

  After the ceremony, the party moved to Linear Tactical’s massive training center warehouse. All the equipment had been moved out and most of Oak Creek had moved in to celebrate two of their favorite people joining their lives.

  Nobody had harassed Jordan. No one had shunned her on the dance floor. No one had made any snide comments. Every once in a while, she felt like people were talking about her, but it never seemed to be in a negative spirit, so she just ignored it.

  This was all she had ever really wanted, not for them to be open and friendly with her, just to let her live in peace.

  It was enough.

  Especially since she knew she was leaving the next day.

  For the past week, she’d seen Gabriel every day, even though he was in the middle of finalizing the sale of his business.

  Every day, he’d driven in from Idaho Falls and taken her out to dinner. Then they talked or went back to Charlie and Finn’s house, where Jordan was staying, and watched a movie, or played a game, or got roped into helping with something for the wedding.

  And every night he left.

  By the third day, when she asked what he was doing—particularly because there had been no sex involved in any of their outings—he’d just smiled and said he was courting her.

  It was both the most wonderful and the most frustrating thing she’d ever experienced.

  He knew she was moving to Reddington City tomorrow. The newlyweds needed their privacy, and Jordan was going to take her old job at the café again. She’d rented a room from Betty Mae, the owner, so she wouldn’t have to drive so far every day.

  Gabriel had explained that he could court her from Reddington City too.

  He’d danced every dance with her at the reception. Except for the ones they’d missed because she’d dragged him into a utility closet at the other end of the warehouse, far away from all the wedding festivities, and told him his courting days would be over for good if he didn’t give her what her body needed right then.

  The fact that he’d had to stuff her ripped panties into his pants’ pocket by the time they were done had just made it all the sweeter.

  After the bride and groom had left and everything was winding down, a fit of sadness hit Jordan. She was only leaving Oak Creek for a short time, and only because she didn’t have any choice, but she didn’t want to go.

  When she had been in prison, she’d promised herself that once she got back, she would never leave that house and land again. But she was.

  Gabriel slipped an arm around her hip and pulled her back against him, kissing the top of her head. “Do I need to find another closet for us? There’s no shortage around here.”

  “No.” She managed a small smile. “Just big changes for me tomorrow.”

  He spun her around until they were face-to-face. “Why don’t you go by and look at your land tomorrow before you leave. I think it would be good for you.”

  She hadn’t been back since the night Michael had been arrested. She just hadn’t been able to face seeing that again.

  “Yeah. That’s probably a good idea,” she said.

  But the next morning, truck loaded up with what few belongings she had left, she wasn’t able to do it. She didn’t want the picture of her charred house sitting silently on the land to be the last picture in her mind. She couldn’t bear it. She drove out of town, trying not to look in the rearview mirror.

  Which was why she didn’t see the police lights until they were right on her.

  She pulled over. This was not how she’d wanted to exit Oak Creek. She rolled down her window as Sheriff Nelson walked up.

  “I promise I haven’t stolen anything, Sheriff.”

  The man chuckled, removing his hat and rubbing his dark, bald head. She’d lost count of how many times she’d seen him do that over the years. She’d known this man since she was a baby.

  “I know you didn’t, Jordan. But I was wondering if you would do something for me. You don’t have to, and I can’t make you. And it’s got nothing to do with law enforcement.”

  “Sure, Sheriff. What do you need?”

  “I need you to follow me in your truck. Will you do that? Even if you don’t like where we’re going? There’s something you need to see before you leave town.”

  She laughed nervously. “You’re not taking me to the holding cell, are you?” she asked, only half joking.

  He winked at her. “Nope. No more cells for you.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears. Lead on, Sheriff.”

  She followed him as they drove through Oak Creek to the other s
ide of town. A few minutes after that, it became clear exactly where the sheriff was leading.

  To her house.

  Damn it, Gabriel had probably put him up to this, although she didn’t know how he knew she hadn’t gone by to see the house. She sighed. He was probably right. Seeing it one more time before she left was probably a good idea.

  By the time she got to the end of her driveway, which was difficult because of all the cars parked there, all she could do was stare, flabbergasted.

  All the charred remains of her house were gone, and in their place an almost completely brand-new house stood. People—not just construction workers, but people she knew from Oak Creek—were working everywhere. They were painting the outside, carrying hardwood flooring inside, plumbing, roofing, installing windows.

  The Linear guys were doing some of the work, but it wasn’t just them. It was almost the entire town.

  Sheriff Nelson appeared at her truck’s door and opened it. Her eyes flew to his.

  “I-I don’t understand. Gabriel?”

  “Collingwood certainly had a big part in all this, considering he was most familiar with the original plans of the house. But everyone came together this past week to get as much of it done as possible.”

  “But why?”

  “Because you’re one of us, Jordan. What happened last week with Michael made everyone realize they’d been blaming the wrong person for way too long.”

  She got out of the truck and stared at everyone working so hard on a home for her. “But they didn’t have to do this. I never blamed them for hating me.”

  “They didn’t have to do it, but they wanted to. I think this is their way of telling you they hope you’ll stay. You’re a part of Oak Creek, and we take care of our own.”

  Hours later, everyone was gone except Jordan and Gabriel.

  As soon as she’d been able to get her emotions under control, she’d grabbed a hammer and gone inside to help in whatever way she could. And had been met with smiles everywhere.

  When Mr. DiMuzio had shown up at lunch with pizzas for everyone, she’d been in tears once again.