LeJeune kept his word, and Georgia was back in Nauvoo before nightfall. Jimmy was waiting for her at the airstrip in the SUV. He was alone.
“Please don’t be angry with me,” she said. “I’m only here to get the little boy.”
Jimmy didn’t say anything for a moment. Then he scooped her into his arms and held her tight. “It’s just that I love you so much. If anything happened to you, I—well, I just don’t know what I’d do.”
“I feel the same way. And I promise not to take any risks. Really. I’ll stay out of sight until I know it’s safe.” She brushed her fingers down his cheek. “As long as you do, too.”
He kissed her. “I had an idea on the ride to the airport.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, assuming everything goes okay, and we get JoBeth home safely, I thought I’d take the next few days off.”
“Okay. Sounds good to me. Except we’ll probably have a lot of loose ends to tie up.”
“They can wait.”
“Why?”
“I thought we could get married. That is, if you want to.”
Georgia wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “Uh…um…what did you say?”
“Will you marry me? Tomorrow? Or the next day? Or the next?”
Georgia was taken aback. “Right now? Before we risk our lives? You decide to propose?”
“If not now, when?” He gazed at her with a look that made Georgia quiver with pleasure.
She was momentarily speechless. Then she cupped his face in her hands and said, very softly, “Yes. I’d love to.”
He grinned. “Well, then, okay. We’ll go downtown and get our license when we’re back. Let a judge marry us. No big deal.”
“Sounds perfect. Can Mom and Vanna come?”
“Of course.” He let out a breath and kissed her. Then they got into the SUV and drove into Nauvoo.
They pulled up to another SUV parked on the same twisty road they’d driven after leaving the motel a week earlier. LeJeune and his SWAT team were inside. Dusk was settling in, so Georgia couldn’t make out individual faces.
LeJeune climbed out of the other van. So did one of the members of the SWAT team, a man in so much protective gear it was hard to tell where it stopped and he started. Georgia and Jimmy slid out of their SUV.
“This is Quinn,” LeJeune said. “We have a decision to make.”
“What’s that?” Jimmy asked.
“The men think it’s important to get the cache of weapons before we go in for your mother. With their weapons gone, Christiansen’s men would be at a disadvantage. Lives could be saved.”
“But we don’t know for sure if the weapons are on the second floor in those closets. What if they’re someplace else? In a basement? Or a back room in the office? We’d be sitting ducks,” Jimmy said.
“Out assignment is to rescue my mother,” Georgia said. “The weapons and drugs aren’t our priority.”
Quinn spoke up. “They may not be on paper, but if we don’t get our hands on them, we’ll be dead before we can save your mother.” He yanked a thumb in the direction of the motel. “Rumor is Christiansen is on his way over with his men. He’s mad as hell.”
“Good.” LeJeune snorted. “I want him fighting mad.” He gazed at Georgia and Jimmy. “But Quinn has a point. If we don’t have enough cover, we’ll screw up getting your mother out.”
“We’re relying on your intel.” Quinn pointed at Jimmy. “How confident are you that those rooms upstairs contain the cache of weapons?”
“I’m not,” Jimmy said. “I didn’t see them. But it seems logical. Christiansen uses the entire back side of the motel for his HQ. Wouldn’t he want his firearms nearby?”
“You can’t split up?” Georgia suggested. “Half your men get the weapons, the other half my mother?”
Quinn shook his head. “Too risky. We need snipers on the second floor picking off his men. We need others to block exits in front and back.”
“In back? I thought there was just woods,” Georgia said.
Quinn shook his head. “We did some recon. There’s a back road out of the motel. It’s dirt and studded with rocks, but passable. We figure that’s how Christiansen’s militia gets in and out.”
“It’s a militia now?” Georgia asked. “I thought it was just a bunch of angry Mormon Fundamentalists.”
“With lethal weapons,” Quinn said. “Close enough.”
Georgia’s hands flew to the sides of her head. “Shit. What do we do?”
LeJeune’s cell buzzed. “What is it? Yeah? We’re on our way.
“Our spotter noticed a pattern of activity at the motel. Half a dozen men pulling into the parking lot and disappearing around to the back. Maybe more using the back road. Too late to grab the weapons. They’ll already have them. Time to get this rodeo started. Quinn, divide up your team. We need men blocking the back road, men in the parking lot, and your best guys to make a run for the second floor and the mother. I’ll alert the front office.”
LeJeune jumped in the van with the SWAT team. Jimmy and Georgia followed in their van.