Savannah continued to crouch on the dirt behind the bushes. The best part was that they were thick and concealing. There were uneven rows of them in this area. A good place to hide.
She was so glad Grayson was okay. The sounds she had heard after calling him had been scary. Had the person who’d been after him, presumably Schuyler, hit his car?
She wished he had told her more, but he’d promised to do so soon. And she had come to believe Grayson’s promises. She would see him in a little while. He’d said so.
And she couldn’t wait. Wisely or not, she had come to really care for him.
To love him.
It was late in the day now, but fortunately there was still enough light for her to see the bunker’s opening.
She had certainly intended to hurt Zane, and the fact she had knocked him out was a good thing, even though she couldn’t have been certain of that outcome. She just hoped she hadn’t killed him. Wouldn’t that be ironic under the circumstances?
The good thing was that she would have proof he had remained alive, at least until now. And that he had conspired to frame her for his murder.
Time seemed to pass so slowly as she waited there. No indication that Zane was leaving, at least, unless he had found some exit she didn’t know about. Through the mine somehow? And what direction would Grayson come from?
How long would it take him to get here—
There! She saw movement from the edges of the dirt road. Two people, walking.
Fortunately, one of them—the one walking behind—was Grayson, not wearing a shirt. Savannah couldn’t help staring at his sexy body, even in these stressful circumstances. But she quickly brought herself back to reality.
The man in front was Schuyler Wells, the guy who’d claimed to be Savannah’s lover as part of the attempt to frame her. As she’d believed, he must have been the one who’d gone after Grayson and the recorder.
The one who’d apparently caused Grayson to be in an accident. At least Grayson appeared okay. He walked normally, and she saw no blood on him.
She just observed his gorgeous, carved chest...
And Schuyler appeared to have his hands tied behind his back as he moved slowly forward, prodded by Grayson.
She wanted to scream out in happiness and relief and run toward them, but she didn’t. She would wait until they had entered the bunker, keeping watch out here in case Zane had somehow escaped another way, but then join them inside.
And so she waited—and good thing that she did. Sure enough, Zane appeared at the opening to the bunker. As far as she knew, she had his only weapon.
Grayson apparently saw him too, and stopped. “Hey, Zane. Good to see you,” he called.
“Not good to see you,” Zane called back. His voice sounded a bit fuzzy, and he wasn’t moving fast, either—possibly as a result of his injuries from the bookcase.
Or, possibly, he was faking it to put Grayson off guard as he approached.
In case it was the latter, Savannah moved away from her hiding place and out into the open—holding Zane’s gun and aiming it at him.
“Hi, Grayson,” Savannah said, glancing in his direction but looking back immediately. “Should we go inside the bunker now, or somewhere else?”
“The bunker will do. I’ve got some rope there and you can help me tie both these guys up. I’ve got Schuyler secured, but that would work better.”
“Damn you,” Zane cried. “I’m not going back in there. And you’re not going to tie me up like some stupid animal you’ve captured.”
“Oh, is that what you are?” Savannah couldn’t help asking. She basked for a few seconds in Grayson’s smile. “Anyway, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. And if Grayson wants you inside the bunker, that’s where we’ll go.”
“Actually,” Grayson said, “we can hang out in the entry area.” He had his gun in his hand, and now he aimed it at Zane, too. “Looks like our buddy Zane is the bigger flight risk at the moment, and I’ve got control over Schuyler. Let’s go into the entryway, then I’ll tell you when to go inside for the rope, Savannah, and where it is.”
Which made her feel wonderful. She’d started to fear that maybe things weren’t over after all.
But now she had reason again to believe they were. Or could be.
And she could only hope that the future became as wonderful for her, with Grayson, as she now desired to have.
Oh, yes. She desired it. And him.
They were sitting on the stone floor of the entry cave to the bunker—Zane and Schuyler, both secured with good ropes, and Grayson certainly knew how to bind them well. But just in case, he still held his gun and encouraged Savannah to hold hers, as well.
Savannah. She looked so happy now, so radiant.
And he loved her smile.
He also loved the fact that she would soon be cleared of all wrongdoing, particularly of murdering her ex.
Would she want to put it all behind her now, including him?
If so, he would have to convince her otherwise. And not just on a cot in a bunker.
Grayson had put his shirt back on. Now, his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and smiled. Sergeant Spencer Colton of the Mustang Valley PD.
His cousin. The cop he had called after he and Savannah had tied up the two men. He’d given Spencer a fairly detailed explanation of what had occurred in as few words as possible, and told him where he could come to pick up the criminals in this situation. His cousin had said yes, he and some colleagues would come to take the real bad guys into custody.
This time, Grayson would be glad to see him. “Hi, cuz,” he said, answering the phone.
“Okay, we’re here. Give me better directions. Where the hell are you?”
Talking to him a bit more, Grayson learned that Spencer had passed the area of his car wreck and continued down the dirt road. “You’re probably right outside,” he said. “I’ll send Savannah out to greet you when you get here.”
Fortunately, although it was getting later, there was still some daylight left, so Spencer and his fellow cops should be able to see her fairly easily.
“You okay with that?” he asked Savannah.
“If the other choice is staying here with those two—” she gestured with her gun hand in their direction “—then I’m definitely okay with it.”
She looked so good that way. So natural. Would she have any interest in becoming a first responder, too? That would be one way they could work together, though he wouldn’t want that to be the only way.
“Good.”
She exited through the opening.
“Look, Colton,” Zane said. “You really don’t have to do this. I may be ‘dead.’ To most of the world, but I still have resources. Financial resources even you wouldn’t believe. If you just work with me, tell your cronies that everything was set up by Schuyler, here, I can pay you—”
Grayson laughed. “Oh, you’re really a hoot, aren’t you, Oliver? Even if I needed your money, assuming you still have any after disappearing that way, no way would I take it.”
And on the ground near Zane, Schuyler was shouting, “You SOB,” and clearly attempting to get closer to him by edging along on the stone base.
Grayson didn’t need to stop him. Three cops were suddenly at the entrance to the bunker, followed by Savannah. None of them appeared to be taking her into custody, fortunately.
As the two other uniformed officers, probably the same ones Grayson had glimpsed at Zane’s house, took Zane and Schuyler into custody, cuffing them and reciting their rights, Spencer came over to Grayson, who now stood near one of the rough stone walls.
Spencer looked a lot younger than he really was—but he had a good reputation as a cop. He had sandy blond hair and blue eyes, and usually had a keen sense of humor—although he looked awfully serious right now. “Okay, cuz. Why didn’t you tell me before what was going on? You were helping a wanted fugitive all this time, and you now have recorded proof of her innocence? I should arrest all four of you, then figure this all out.”
“You know I won’t run away, so if you learn something different from what I told you—which you won’t—you can arrest me then. And I believe that Savannah feels the same way.”
She had approached them, and now nodded. “I’m innocent. I said so all along, and you finally have proof. You’re taking the man I allegedly murdered into custody, Sergeant Colton. I’ve already handed Zane’s gun to you. And I won’t run away again. I don’t think I have to. In fact, I suspect I’ll need to go to the police station now, right? But you don’t have to cuff me or anything.”
Grayson couldn’t help it. He drew near Savannah and put his arm around her, smiling triumphantly at his cousin. “Thanks to this wonderful lady, you’re going to be the primary cop to solve this situation,” Grayson told him. “You’ll get recognition for it. I think you’ll be thanking me soon.”
“Don’t count on it,” Spencer said—but then he smiled. “I gather the two of you are more than first responder and rescued soul.”
“Count on that,” Grayson said, giving Savannah a kiss.
It finally appeared really to be over. Savannah felt overjoyed.
Oh, she did accompany Grayson to the police station, as his cousin, the police sergeant, insisted. But no one took her into custody then, either, although she did have to make an official statement.
Sergeant Spencer Colton apparently called an EMT, not one of Grayson’s employees, to check his cousin out after the car accident. Fortunately, except for some bruising, especially on his head, he apparently was fine.
Afterward, standing in the station’s reception area, Savannah was told by the police chief that the situation remained under investigation and she was not to leave town.
“Tell us where we’ll be able to find you,” said the tall and mostly bald Chief Al Barco.
“I—” Savannah tried to answer, but she didn’t know what to say. She would prefer not to return to the bunker or the cabin, and certainly not Zane’s guesthouse, which she’d been staying in.
“For now, she’ll be staying with me, at the Triple R,” Grayson broke in and gave the address. “And here’s her current phone number.” He provided the burner phone’s number to the cop.
His family home? That sounded wonderful to Savannah. But was it a good idea?
“Sounds good,” the chief said. He had been regarding her sternly, but now he smiled. “I’ve got a feeling we’re going to have no further official interest in you, but stay tuned. We’ll have to let you know.”
“Of course,” Savannah said. She wished he’d been more positive, but at least there was reason for hope now. A lot of reasons.
“I think you’ve got some investigating to do,” Grayson added. “You have a couple of killers in custody, and one of them’s allegedly a dead guy.”
Chief Barco laughed. “Let’s see how that all works out,” he said.
“Yes,” said Grayson. “Let’s see.” He took Savannah’s hand and began leading her out of the station.
Sergeant Colton came over to them. “I haven’t completely forgiven you,” he said to Grayson, but he looked at Savannah and winked.
A cop winked at her! For some reason, that made Savannah feel a whole lot better. She was free now, hopefully forever.
“What’ll it take for you to forgive me?” Grayson said.
“Keep me better informed next time, for one thing.”
“I just hope there’s no next time, at least not like this,” Grayson said, and Savannah could only smile and nod her concurrence.
They left the station. But now what? It was dark outside. And Savannah knew her ultimate goal that night was Grayson’s home.
Bad idea? Oh, she loved the idea of being with him longer. He had done all he had promised, and it appeared that she was exonerated from the charges that had disrupted her life so horribly.
She really liked the guy. More than that. She had certainly come to care for him, a lot. Probably too much. But in some ways there was no reason for them to stay close together any longer.
Even though she knew she would really like that.
But she had vowed not to get involved with any other men after her ugly divorce —and she wasn’t sure she could so easily trust another guy so deeply, after what Zane had done.
Did she dare get even more involved with Grayson now?
They did stop for dinner at a nice restaurant on their way home, an Italian place. And for once Savannah was hungry.
She wished she could pay. She should be able to soon, since she would be able to get access to her bank account and other assets.
But for now—well, Grayson said he would pay, and she let him.
This time.
And next time? There had to be a next time. This simply could not be the end of his being in her life.
She hoped.
But she wasn’t certain. And she felt tears fill her eyes as they headed back to Grayson’s car.