Chapter 53

Snow had fallen by the time they arrived home from Eduardo Souza’s trial in LA, and the ranch and the surrounding landscape resembled a Christmas card. As the Beast swung into the driveway, Jenna could hear Duke barking. When they arrived at the garage, Duke was tearing around in circles, with Zorro on his heels, looking splendid in a red coat. They climbed from the truck and met Rowley as he walked from the barn. “We’re home safe and well.” She smiled at him.

“Everything is fine here.” Rowley nodded to Kane. “Horses are tended and Jo is in the kitchen cooking supper. I’m guessing you’ll all be wanting an early night?”

“Yeah, I’m beat.” Carter bent to rub Zorro all over. “I see leaving food in the feeder worked just fine for you.” He looked at Kane. “That was a great idea. He knows it’s okay to eat from the feeder.”

“I told you he was fine.” Rowley chuckled. “Although, I had to wait until he went into the ranch house with Jo before I refilled his food and water. He wouldn’t let me in the cottage the first time. That day Jo refilled it.”

“I appreciate you watching him for me. He usually prefers to starve himself to death if I go anywhere without him.” Carter hauled his bags from the back of the truck. “I’ll drop my things in the cottage and be right back.” He headed off, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow with Zorro bounding along beside him.

“Duke is dancing.” Tauri rubbed the dog’s ears and laughed when Duke licked his cheek.

“He’s happy we’re home.” Kane grinned at the dog’s happy dance and patted Tauri on the back. “It’s freezing out here. Why don’t you head inside and tell Jo we’re home? We’ll be right along.”

“How did the trial go?” Rowley, suddenly serious, looked from one to the other.

“I gave my evidence and the prosecutor says it’s a slam dunk.” Kane frowned. “We didn’t stick around for the jury to make a decision. We wanted to get home. It’s safer knowing the people around you. In California, we had federal marshals guarding us during the trial. My time there was two days but I was one of the last witnesses. The lawyers did their summing up and then it went to the jury.”

Jenna frowned. “We thought it would drag on forever. Every day I figured someone would crash through the door and try to murder us in our sleep. Nothing happened, no death threats. It’s way too quiet. I feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Carter and Styles are sure they’ve arrested the major players.” Kane pushed his hands into his pockets. “There’s no one taking over the cartel from the reports, and all their bank accounts were frozen, all deemed as assets from crime, so they’ll never get their hands on the money.”

“The trial was on the news and they said the star witness had flown in from overseas.” Rowley pulled on his ear. “They said, after an attempt on your life, you took your family to an undisclosed location in France.”

Nodding, Jenna looked at Rowley. “No one hereabouts knows about Dave’s involvement in the trial. The men who attacked him are dead. The story of him moving overseas was deliberately leaked to hopefully prevent any living relatives of the cartel searching for him. He was well protected going to court. I wouldn’t have recognized him.”

“How did they do that?” Rowley raised both eyebrows. “Dave’s a little hard to miss.”

Jenna laughed. “Smart thinking. They got a skinny, tall federal marshal wearing a baseball cap and hiding his face to pretend to be Dave.”

“I went in as one of the four federal marshals guarding the witness. I was wearing a hat and sunglasses. No one gave me a second glance; all the attention was on the skinny guy.” Kane grinned. “That was Wolfe’s idea and it worked out just fine.”

Rubbing her arms, Jenna looked at Rowley. “Come inside, it’s freezing out here. I’ll make hot chocolate, or coffee if you’d prefer.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be getting home before the snow gets any deeper.” Rowley touched his hat. “We’ll drop by over Thanksgiving.”

“Thanks for watching the ranch and Jo while we were away. I appreciate it.” Kane slapped him on the back. “I owe you one.”

“Catch you later.” Rowley ambled to his truck with a wave.

Inside the ranch house, Jenna shed her jacket and boots and inhaled the delicious aroma of cooking. The heat from the fire in the family room seeped into her chilled body like a warm hug. It was so good to be home. Footsteps sounded on the polished wooden floors as Tauri and Jo’s daughter, Jaime, came running through the house. “Hey, Jaime, good to see you again.”

“I’ve been riding Anna’s pony.” Jaime grinned at Jenna, showing a missing front tooth.

“I’m getting a horse after the melt.” Tauri smiled. “Uncle Atohi is giving me one. Help me think of a good name.” He turned and they went back into the family room.

“He’s happy to be home.” Kane hung Duke’s coat on a peg in the mudroom and dried the dog’s legs before straightening. “Now I smell of dog. I’ll go and wash up for supper.”

Jenna pushed her feet into her slippers and went to the kitchen. She liked Jo and they’d become very close over the years they’d worked together. “Hey.”

“There you are.” Jo took down cups and poured three cups of coffee. “I had a call from Styles. He’s still hanging around the courthouse. He figures the jury will reach a verdict soon. They asked the judge a question and sent out a request about five minutes ago.”

Jenna frowned. “That will be a fast decision.”

“I don’t know, it’s been eight hours.” Jo poured coffee into cups. “I’ve seen them reach a guilty verdict in four hours. The evidence is compelling and it’s not just Dave’s testimony. His was the icing on the cake, backed up with all the surveillance footage of the arms deal. They had footage of Eduardo Souza shooting an unarmed man as well. The charges against him are as long as my arm. He won’t walk this time.” She smiled. “I watched the footage of Dave walking into court. Where was he? I couldn’t make him out. All I saw was a hunched guy with a newspaper covering his face.”

“I was in the security detail.” Kane walked into the room.

Jenna sat down at the table pulling a cup of coffee toward her. “Jo thinks the verdict will come down soon.”

“Yeah, they’ll all want to be home for Thanksgiving.” Kane peered into the pots on the stove and sniffed. “I’m sure he’ll be found guilty and it will be wrapped up apart from sentencing tomorrow, for sure.”

* * *

The following morning, Jenna woke early and sat up wondering if she’d overslept. She stared at the light peeking through the drapes and climbed from the bed to look outside. Frost covered the window in an intricate icy design. She shivered and rubbed a small hole in the ice to peer out at the thick coating of snow that had fallen overnight. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and she had twenty-four hours to arrange everything for her guests. She had Jo to help her this year and Kane would cook as usual. She slipped on her slippers and robe and padded out to the kitchen, stopping along the way to increase the thermostat on the heating. She filled the coffee pot and stood by the phone making a list of things to do. As usual, Kane had ordered everything they needed, and the turkey would be delivered this morning. The pantry was filled to overflowing, Jo would make her famous pumpkin pies, but maybe Kane needed her to prepare the side dishes.

She counted the guests and made a note. She needed to get chairs from the basement. They always ate in the kitchen. The house did have a dining room but the kitchen was huge and very cozy. The table in there extended and would fit everyone and after dinner it was a great place for her, Jo, Norrell, and Wolfe’s girls to sit and chat while the men watched football. This year Atohi Blackhawk had agreed to join them, but Nanny Raya had gone to visit her relatives. She leaned on the counter as the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the room and looked at the calendar hanging on the wall. Time went by so fast and her birthday was after Christmas. Another year had flown by but next year couldn’t come fast enough. There were exciting times ahead. Life with Tauri had changed everything and now they made firm plans for vacations. Her little boy’s life was going to be as normal as possible for a child with parents in law enforcement.

When Kane’s arms came around her, infusing her body with warmth, she leaned into him. “I had planned on taking coffee into you for a change.”

“I came out to make sure you were okay.” Kane pressed a kiss on her cheek. “You’ve been gone for a time.”

Happy and contented, Jenna smiled. “I’m fine. I was making a list of things to do for tomorrow.”

“It’s a little after five.” Kane rested his chin on her shoulder. “Come back to bed. I have everything organized. It’s been a stressful couple of weeks and tomorrow you’ll have a houseful of guests. Why don’t you put your feet up for the rest of the day or play with the kids?”

Giggling, Jenna turned in his arms and cupped his face. “You’ll do anything to keep me out of the kitchen, won’t you?” She kissed him and then turned back to the counter. “Go back to bed. I’m making the coffee.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The day moved along swiftly, and Jenna spent her time filling the drinks refrigerator and getting wine from the cellar. Kane’s wine cellar was growing by the year and he was very specific about what he wanted on the table for Thanksgiving. She had a ton of beer as well. With the guys watching football, she’d make sure they had plenty of snacks as well. When Kane’s phone rang a little after one, she walked into the kitchen hoping it wasn’t a problem. Having to go into the office over Thanksgiving would be a disaster and the team needed a break. She walked into the kitchen and stared at him.

“Okay, thanks for letting me know.” Kane disconnected and smiled at Jenna. “That was Styles. The jury found Eduardo Souza guilty on all counts. Sentencing is set for the new year.”

Punching the air, Jenna grinned at Jo. “With the confession and the amount of DNA trace evidence found on the stun gun, plus the names of the victims Kalo was able to collect from Strauss’ files, hidden among the files on the ranch’s computer, we have two criminals off the streets this month. That’s a good result if I say so myself.”

“It is indeed.” Kane went back to stuffing the turkey. “Let’s hope we can keep crime-free until after the melt. It will be good to grab some downtime over Christmas.”

A cold shiver raised the hairs on the back of Jenna’s neck. “There you go again, tempting fate.”