With a triumphant laugh, Felicity ran to where Clint was sprawled on his side. She kicked the gun next to his right hand, sending it flying into the darkness. Bennett hopped out of the golf cart he’d just used as a battering ram to check Clint’s pulse and breathing before hog-tying him with an ease that made Felicity breathless with adoration.
“It’s kind of fun to be rescued by a knight in shining armor,” she said giddily. “Have a knife on you?”
“Why?” Bennett asked as he stood, immediately pulling a knife from his pocket. “Want to stab him a little before the cops get here?”
“Tempting,” she said, turning her back to Bennett. “But I’ll need the use of my hands first.”
He stepped behind her, and with a pop, her hands were free. She groaned with both relief and pain.
“You okay?” Bennett’s voice was deep with concern as he gently gripped her shoulders to turn her around.
“Fine.” She shook out her hands, trying to speed the blood flow. “Just pins and needles.”
“Hurt anywhere else?” His eyes were scanning over her, even though she knew he couldn’t see much in the dark.
“I’m fine.” Strangely enough, now that she was safe, her voice started to shake. “I realized something though.”
He gave an inquiring grunt as he pulled her gently against his chest, wrapping his big arms around her in the best hug she’d ever gotten before in her life.
“I love you.”
“Finally.”
“What?” Her outrage was tempered by laughter as she tried to pull back to glare at him. His arms tightened, keeping her plastered against him, so she decided to subside against his chest and yell at him from there. It was extremely comfortable—and comforting—there after all. “What do you mean ‘finally’? We met, like, a second ago!”
He snorted. “I knew I loved you the first time I saw you.”
“That’s not love,” she scoffed, although her entire heart had melted at his declaration. “That’s lust.”
“Nope. Love.” He said it with such certainty that she actually started to believe him, even though the idea was ridiculous. “I saw you, and it was like someone squeezed my heart really hard.”
“Sounds painful. You sure you weren’t having a small heart attack?”
A laugh rumbled through his chest, vibrating against her cheek. “I’m sure. It just got stronger the more I got to know you. If it were a heart attack, I’d be dead by now. It’s definitely love.”
“I’m glad you’re not dead.” She burrowed deeper into his chest, smelling his comforting Bennett scent and wishing she could stay like this forever—or at least for a solid peaceful week. When he stiffened, however, she knew her time was up.
Pulling free, she looked around the darkness to see two headlights speeding through the darkness toward them. “Any idea who that might be?” she asked.
His grunt was definitely a no.
“To the golf cart then,” she sighed. “This night is never going to end, is it?”
Red and blue lights flashed on for a few seconds above the headlights, and Felicity paused before jumping into the passenger seat of the cart. “Good cop or bad cop?”
“Probably Chris.”
“And possibly Deputy Donkey-Face?” She grimaced. “Think we can make it back to Rory’s store before he catches up to us?”
Even in the near darkness, she knew exactly the look Bennett was giving her. “It’s a golf cart.”
“Fine,” she sighed, sitting back, regretting kicking the gun away from Clint rather than grabbing it somehow—maybe with her mouth? If it was Donkey-Face, she and Bennett were in a very vulnerable position without any way to protect themselves except for a heavily dented golf cart. Her muscles tensed as the squad car got closer, the headlights brightening the scene in a way she could’ve used a few minutes ago when she was trying to stumble through the darkness without falling on her face or getting shot.
The squad turned alongside them so the headlights were no longer shining directly in their eyes, and the driver’s window lowered. When Chris stuck his head out, all the tension drained from her body, and it was all she could do to remain upright.
“You called?” he asked, smiling his usual good-natured grin. “I take it that Operation Free Gun worked like a charm?”
Felicity turned her head to meet Bennett’s eyes before letting out a peal of laughter.
“Yeah,” she said to Chris without looking away from her husband. “Like a charm.”
Chris got out of his squad car and walked toward a hog-tied Clint. Felicity knew the moment he recognized the man on the ground, because his body jerked before he turned to look at them. “You know this isn’t Dino Fletcher, right?”
Felicity, still feeling giddy from surviving and Bennett’s confession of love, giggled. “Dino’s at the store. A few things happened during your twenty-five-minute response time.” She was still horrified by that.
He grimaced. “I was on a traffic stop on the other side of Liverton. I figured you could hang on to one skip while I convinced LeRoy Carson that he needs two functional headlights on his Buick. Want to explain why you have Clint—just the guy I wanted to talk to about his role in Cobra Jones’s death—trussed up and waiting like an early birthday present for me?”
“The skull was Cobra’s?”
He nodded. “DNA testing’s not back yet, but dental records match.”
She tried to take in this news, but it was a little too much on top of the evening’s events, so she pushed it to the back of her mind to examine more closely later. Instead, she concentrated on summarizing everything else that’d just happened. “A couple of Clint’s lackeys blew up Rory’s store.”
Chris stared at her. “Again?”
“Again?” Now she felt extra guilty. “This has happened before?”
“Not exactly this, but definitely the bomb in the store part. Everyone okay?” He rushed back toward his squad car while snapping out questions too quickly for her to fit in an answer. “Is Daisy hurt? Do I need to call for medical, or are they already on scene?”
“Everyone’s fine,” Felicity hurried to tell him before he zoomed off and left her and Bennett to deal with Clint who, by the sounds of his moans, was coming to. She really didn’t want him in the back of their golf cart. “No one’s hurt. There’s just a hole in the front of the store. In fact…” She squinted through the surrounding darkness to see another set of headlights coming their way, this time from the direction of Rory’s store. “I’m guessing you’re going to see for yourself that Daisy’s okay in just a minute.”
Chris let out an audible breath, but at least he didn’t jump in his squad car and tear off. “Explain, please.” He still sounded terse though.
“The gun giveaway setup went just as planned. Then I had to say something about how well it worked, and two of Clint’s militia minions—”
“Trey and Kelsey,” Bennett interrupted. When she and Chris looked at him, he finally expanded on that. “Tied up outside Rory’s store.”
Pretty sure that was all the details they were getting out of Bennett for the moment, Felicity continued. “Trey and Kelsey set off an explosive device outside the store. The wall has a good-sized hole in it, but no one was injured.” She emphasized this part, since Chris was starting to look tense again. “Bennett took off after those two, and Rory texted me that their van was outside her front gate, so I went there, planning to incapacitate it before helping Bennett.”
Bennett’s interest perked up at this part, which made sense, since he’d experienced the first part of her story firsthand.
“Clint grabbed me, and we tussled.” She felt Bennett’s thigh tense against hers, so she kept her voice light. “I would’ve won too, but Finn cheated and snuck up behind me to knock me on the head.”
Bennett instantly started gently feeling her skull, looking for the lump, and she smiled up at him. When she looked back at the deputy, he was staring at her in disbelief. “Finn?”
“Finn Byrne.” She gave a decisive nod and then winced as Bennett found the bump. He immediately lightened his touch, giving a displeased grunt at her injury. Despite her sore head, that made her smile.
“Wait—Finn Byrne, the firefighter? You’re sure?”
“Wild, right?” She knew her expression was much too happy for this conversation, but she couldn’t help it. Her husband loved her and hated when she was hurt. “Firefighters are never the bad guy.” She remembered something and jumped a little in her seat. “Oh! He’s still in the van. He probably does need medical.” Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she pointed at where Clint was starting to stir. “Him too. He got run over by a golf cart.”
Still looking shell-shocked, Chris radioed in that he needed medical and backup. Once he’d put his radio back, he looked at Felicity expectantly. She swayed a little, exhaustion suddenly hitting her hard, and Bennett wrapped his arm around her, steadying her.
“You okay?” he asked for the third—fourth, maybe?—time that night.
“Yeah.” She leaned into him, soaking in his strength. “Just tired all of a sudden.”
“You’re going to let the EMTs take a look at you when they arrive.”
Felicity opened her mouth to argue and then reconsidered. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Bennett sounded surprised at her easy acquiescence.
“Probably a good idea after getting knocked over the head. Again.”
“Can you finish your statement?” Chris asked sympathetically. “Then you can go back to the shop, have medical check you out, and give me a written statement in the morning.”
“Sure.” Bennett’s warmth and coziness were making her a little too comfortable, and she was about to fall asleep, so she sat up straight. He kept his arm around her shoulders, however, and she was grateful for the support. “I wasn’t knocked out by Finn’s hit, but I was a bit wobbly, so I didn’t fight back when they tied my hands and tossed me into the van. They took off, driving away from Rory’s, and Bennett must’ve been following. Finn was going to shoot him, so I kicked his seat lever to recline his seat, then kicked him a couple more times to make him drop the gun and then to knock him out.” When she recounted what happened, it sounded a little more premeditated than it actually had been. She’d just kicked until the threat was mitigated. “Bennett must’ve shot out their tire?”
Glancing at Bennett, she raised her eyebrows at him, and he nodded, confirming her assumption.
“So the ride was pretty rough, especially when Clint let go of the wheel to grab the gun and then me. He got the van stopped, we got out, started walking—which is really hard in the pitch-black—all while he was talking about how much he was going to enjoy killing me.” She didn’t want to be whiny, but she felt pretty justified in complaining a little. Bennett’s arm stiffened as he made an unhappy sound, so she gave him a reassuring pat on the leg. “Then there was a whirring sound, and I told Clint it was the sound of firefly wings, and Bennett ran him over with the golf cart while Clint was arguing with me about whether Colorado has fireflies. Bennett tied him up, and then you showed up, and we were really glad it was you and not Deputy Donkey-Face, since we think he’s allied with the militia.”
Chris stood there for a few moments before nodding and heading over to Clint, who’d opened his eyes but was still looking rather bleary. Cutting the zip ties, Chris replaced the one on Clint’s wrists with handcuffs and then hauled him up onto his feet. Clint swayed, stumbling a little as the deputy led him over to his squad car and sat him in the back seat.
As Chris closed the back door, locking Clint inside, Rory’s pickup came to an abrupt halt next to the squad car, and all four murder club women poured out.
“Felicity! Bennett! You okay?” Lou asked.
Giving her abbreviated statement had used up Felicity’s last reserves of energy, so she just offered a little wave and smile. Chris immediately swept up Daisy in his arms, and they had a low-voiced, intense conversation that Felicity was glad she couldn’t overhear. It was enough at the moment just to deal with all her own newfound feelings.
“Callum’s babysitting Dino,” Lou said as she, Rory, and Ellie gathered around the golf cart. “You were all out of camera range, so we came to check on you.”
“The whining was unbearable,” Rory said.
At Felicity’s confused look, Lou translated. “Dino. He tried begging and threatening and had moved on to crying when we left. We were mainly concerned about you two, but I have to admit that it was very nice to get away from that. I feel bad for whatever deputy is stuck in a car with Dino when they bring him to jail.”
“What happened?” Ellie asked. “All we saw was the van flying away from the gate and then Bennett pursuing in a golf cart.”
“I made improvements,” Rory said, stroking the front of the cart affectionately, “but even so, I didn’t think you were going to catch up.” She eyed the van huddled pathetically just outside the light from the two vehicles’ headlights. “How’d you manage that?”
“Bennett is a good problem solver.” Felicity followed Rory’s gaze and was reminded again about Finn. “Oh! Deputy!”
Chris had already detached himself from Daisy and was walking toward the van. At her call, he turned around, but she waved him on.
“Just going to remind you of Finn, but you’re already on it.”
He gave a nod and continued toward the van.
“Finn?” Lou asked, and Felicity winced. She really didn’t want to go through everything again, especially since Rory volunteered with the fire department. There was a good chance that she’d been friends with Finn. Felicity’s eyes wanted to close, so she allowed them to sink down as she rested her head on Bennett’s shoulder.
“She’s tired,” Bennett said firmly, starting the golf cart. “We’re going to get her checked out and then go to the hotel.”
When Felicity cracked her eyes open, she saw they were headed back toward the store—headlights on this time. She smiled and let her eyes sink closed again, burrowing into his side as his arm tightened around her.
Just this once, she’d let her knight sweep her off into the sunset on his trusty electric souped-up golf cart steed.
Bright light turned the insides of her eyelids orange, bringing her slowly awake. She was lying on her stomach in a cloud-soft bed, and a smile curved her lips as she stretched her arms out to either side, searching for her husband. When her reach only turned up crisp sheets, she frowned and opened her eyes.
Although the main room was empty, she could hear a low rumble of his voice in the bathroom. Assuming he was on his phone and didn’t want to wake her, she stretched again, feeling the bruises and aches from the night before. Her hands were the worst, especially the rug burn, but they were still usable. A low-grade headache throbbed behind her temples, but she knew once she popped a couple of ibuprofen, she’d be right as rain.
Since Bennett didn’t seem to be wrapping up his phone call anytime soon, she reached for her own cell. She was overdue in contacting Molly thanks to her sleep-in, and she didn’t want her sister descending on their honeymoon suite, especially not knowing that it was an actual, literal honeymoon suite.
“Did the fake gun giveaway work?” Molly asked as she answered.
Felicity grinned. Despite everything that’d happened, that little trap had performed beautifully. “It did indeed. Walked right into our snare, the silly little skip.”
Molly cheered, and she heard John in the background asking for more details.
“There were a few hiccups afterward with his militia buddies, but Bennett helped me out, and it all ended well.”
“Want to elaborate on those ‘hiccups’?”
“Nope.” What Molly didn’t know couldn’t give her an ulcer, so Felicity breezed right by that. “Enough about that. I have news.”
“Good news?” Molly asked eagerly. “Because I’d love some good news.”
“It is.” Despite her nerves about telling her sister, Felicity felt excitement bubbling up inside her. “Bennett and I got married.”
The silence on the other side built until Molly screeched, “What??”
“We’re married!” Nervous relief released in a happy laugh. “We didn’t really plan it—long story—but we’re really happy.”
“I…what…married?”
Felicity giggled again at hearing her usually composed sister so discombobulated. “Married. And in love.” She didn’t mention that, for her, they happened in that exact order.
“Really?” Although Molly still sounded skeptical, there was an edge of hope in her voice. “You’re really happy to be married? Because last I knew, he was stalking you.”
“Yeah, he’s supersmart and great at his job but horribly awkward socially.” Now that the hardest part was over and her sister seemed to be taking the news semi-well, Felicity propped some pillows behind her and snuggled in, excited to be able to talk freely about her new husband. “He reminds me of Norah, actually.”
“You know,” Molly said thoughtfully, “I can actually imagine Norah stalking someone—just by accident.” John’s laugh boomed in the background.
“Exactly.” Smiling, Felicity mentally replayed what he’d said to her the previous night. “I’ve even started liking his grunts, because only I know what he means, so it’s like we have this private language.”
“His grunts?” Molly started to laugh. “Now I know you’re in love.”
“Pax, put Fifi on speaker.” John’s voice came through more clearly, meaning he was trying to squish his head against Molly’s so he could hear. “I’m just getting bits and pieces, and I’m dying here.”
Molly’s giggle turned into a squeal, and then there were some rustling noises and heavy breathing and more laughter from both of them, and Felicity pulled her phone down so she could give it a dubious look before putting it back to her ear.
“Fifi, it’s John Carmondy.”
Felicity could hear Molly’s breathless voice in the background, demanding her phone back.
“Tell me everything.”
Felicity couldn’t help but laugh at her ridiculous boyfriend-in-law. “First off, I know who you are. Why did you tell me your last name like Molly has a stable of Johns running around the house?” She paused, since that came out a little differently than she’d planned. “Second, let me talk to Molly. I’m not going to gush over my new husband with you. That’d be weird.”
“Fine,” he huffed, and there was a slight pause before Molly’s voice came through with a slight echo that told Felicity they were on speaker.
“Sorry, Fifi,” Molly apologized. “Remember how you all liked him and I didn’t because I thought he was stealing all my jobs and you told me how great he was?”
Felicity shrugged even though her sister couldn’t see her. “I still like him,” she said easily.
“Thanks, Fifi,” John butted in, sounding smug. “You’re my favorite after Pax.”
“Mm-hmm.” Felicity had a feeling he’d also told that same thing to Cara, Norah, and Charlie on different occasions.
Before she could say anything else, the bathroom door opened. She couldn’t help the sappy smile that spread over her face at the sight of her husband, the one who loved her. He grinned back, the crease between his eyebrows smoothing out of existence.
“Moo, I have to go. We’ll be back in a few days, so I’ll tell you the rest in person, okay?”
“Only if I’m around to hear it too,” John said.
“Hang on, Fifi.” Molly’s voice sobered. “Sorry to do this to you, but would there be any way you can give Charlie a hand? She’s trying to pretend that everything is fine, but I think she’s having a hard time. There’s just a few weeks before Mom’s next court date, and if we don’t get her back in time for that…”
“She forfeits her bail and we lose the house,” Felicity finished as her heart sank. She’d been hoping she and Bennett could actually have that real honeymoon they’d joked about, the one where they didn’t leave the suite for days at a time. There was no way Felicity could let Charlie struggle alone, however, especially when their family home was at stake. Her sister needed her, so she’d be there. As much as she wanted it, a real honeymoon could wait. With a silent sigh, she forced a more cheerful tone. “Of course. Give me a day to wrap things up with the sheriff’s department. Is Charlie still in Nebraska?” Her heart sank even more at the mention of her least-favorite state.
“Yep, Omaha, according to her last text. We’ll fly you out and have Charlie pick you up at the airport—or both of you if Bennett’s going too?”
Her gaze met his, and she couldn’t help the wry edge to her words. “He’ll be going. Won’t be able to keep him away.”
He gave her a puzzled look as she exchanged her usual I-love-yous and be-carefuls with Molly and John.
“Charlie needs help,” she explained after she’d ended the call. “We’ll be flying out tomorrow to meet her in Omaha—or Des Moines, maybe, if Mom keeps heading east.”
His eyebrows knit again. “We?”
Her stomach gave another churn, but she forced a smile. “Sure. Now that you’re back on the case, you can join us on our Mom-chasing adventures.”
His expression blanked as he sat on the edge of the bed. She studied him curiously. He almost seemed…nervous?
“I’m not on the case,” he said, studying his hands where they were braced on his knees. “I just called my client—my former client—and told them I’m off the case. Permanently.”
“But why?” Felicity asked, her heart leaping with hope. “Aren’t they your best client?”
He shrugged, catching her gaze. His eyes were hungry, making her mouth dry and her heart thump against her ribs. When he smiled, though, the heat shifted into such an intense love that she pressed her fist to her chest. “Conflict of interest. I’m married—and wildly in love—with Jane Pax’s daughter. Plus I’m a general in her bounty-hunting army.”
This time, when a smile curved her lips, she meant it with her whole heart. “And she’s wildly in love with you—but you’re a colonel. That’s the highest I’ll go.”
“I’ll take it.” He lunged, making her squeal with laughter as he landed above her, caging her to the bed with his arms.
“We’re staying married then?” She’d assumed they would, with the love declarations and all, but she wanted it confirmed before she could stop that tiny niggle of worry.
His expression turned cautious. “Do you want to stay married?”
“I do.” She grinned at her unintentional vow.
His face still serious, he gazed down at her, his eyes full of more love than she’d ever expected to receive from anyone. “I do too.”
Looping her arms around his neck, she tugged him down toward her. “Then I proclaim us still married…forever.”
“Forever.” He said that as a vow before his lips met hers.
She kissed him for a long, sweet moment, her eyes closing, before pulling back. “You don’t have to come with us. I mean, it’s Nebraska. If you have another job to do, I’ll totally understand if y—”
He cut her off with another kiss. “Where you go, I go.”
She smiled fondly at him. “Stalker.”
He grinned back. “You love your stalker.”
“I do.”
They were both still smiling when their lips met again.