Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Three weeks later . . .

Cole finished his final report on Bradley Crow’s murder and sent it to Lieutenant Bell. By God’s grace, Jaxon Palmer had survived the surgery to remove the two bullets Jina had fired into his abdomen. The guy was looking at a long recovery, but Cole had gotten everything he’d wanted.

It had taken time to find Jaxon’s mother, who had an unfortunate drinking problem, to get the information he’d needed to nail the lid on the guy’s coffin. Jaxon’s mother recognized the remnant of the wool blanket that had been used to wrap Brad’s body as one belonging to her son. She’d also admitted he pretty much did whatever he wanted without any supervision from her.

Surprisingly, he’d learned Jaxon had become a cop, the same way Jina had. Maybe he had viewed that as the best way to win her back. Unfortunately, he’d been run over by a car as two perps had tried to escape a drug bust, his face and several bones in his body sustaining significant damage. The incident had ended Jaxon’s short career. His rehab had been long and laborious, and from what Cole could tell, the guy had spent his time convalescing by obsessing over Jina.

After being released from all medical care, he’d changed his name to become Duncan Granger. Again, Cole surmised that the guy had thought starting over with a new identity would enable him to get close to Jina. Jaxon now Duncan had taken the second-shift manager role so that he could be there during the times of day she went there the most. But it soon became obvious that Jina wasn’t interested. And the way she bested the guys at sparring had made Jaxon seethe with anger.

Jaxon had once again stalked Jina, this time to get her out of the picture, permanently. His major flaw was that he wanted her to know he was the one who’d done all of this. He wanted credit for the brilliance of his attacks. Instead of just killing her outright, he’d taken her away from the gym at gunpoint. Which had led to his downfall.

But the greatest find was the baseball bat that Jaxon had kept over all these years. He’d been so arrogant in his plan to avoid being caught that he’d kept the weapon and hadn’t bothered to clean it. The lab had just finalized the DNA report matching the trace of blood and skin cells on the blunt end of the bat to that of Brad Crow.

Faced with all the evidence against him, Jaxon had accepted a plea deal. He’d taken the second-degree murder charge with a sentence of twenty years behind bars.

Case closed. At least on his part. He couldn’t help but smile in knowing that Rhy was building a second case against the guy. Kidnapping, attempted murder, and arson. Even one of those charges would ensure Jaxon/Duncan would spend the rest of his life in prison.

Pushing away from his desk, he reached for his phone to call Jina. “I’m heading over to pick you up,” he said, turning to leave the Peabody precinct.

“I’m ready.” She sounded cheerful.

“Great. See you soon.” They’d taken to having dinner twice a week at Mario’s restaurant. He patted his pocket, making sure the ring was there. It might be too soon for her, and if so, that was okay. He figured he’d ask her every couple of weeks, hoping she’d feel confident enough in his love for her to say yes.

Eventually.

Jina was waiting outside Cassidy’s condo when he pulled up. She was dressed in a long, flowing, orange-patterned skirt topped with a solid orange sweater.

“Wow.” He had never seen her dressed up like this. Jina was drop-dead gorgeous wearing a stained sweatshirt and holey sweatpants. He’d learned she tended to downplay her looks, maybe a holdover from the unwanted attention she’d gotten first from Brad Crow, then Rory, and finally Jaxon. This? The flowery skirt was a complete shift from the norm. “You look incredible.”

“Thanks.” She blushed as she smoothed her hand over the skirt. “Cassidy took me shopping. I had to ditch all my old clothes because they reeked of smoke, so I decided to start over.”

“I love you no matter what you wear.” He kissed her for a long moment, then forced himself to release her. “Let’s go.”

“Just a minute.” She grasped his hand. “I have something I need to ask you.”

“Okay, but you should know the case is over.” He wasn’t sure where she was going with this and hoped to reassure her. “There’s no need to worry. You’re in the clear.”

“Not that.” She looked up at him. “I love you, and well, I’m hoping that maybe, um, someday, we might, you know...” She shrugged, then said, “Make it official.”

His heart melted. He pulled out the ring and dropped to one knee. “Jina, will you please marry me?”

“You bought a ring?” She looked shocked. “When?”

“The day after our first date.” He slowly rose to his feet. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes. Yes!” She threw herself into his arms. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” He kissed her again, then had to grin when he realized Cassidy was watching them through the window. He stepped back and slid the diamond ring on her finger. “Time to have dinner, soon-to-be Mrs. Jina Roberts.”

“I’m more than ready to eat, soon-to-be Mr. Cole Wheeler,” she countered with a smirk. “After all, I asked you first.”

He couldn’t help but laugh as he held her close. He didn’t care if she took his name or not.

Nothing mattered as long as he could share the rest of his life with her.