Chapter Twenty

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Marise figured the adrenaline crash and fatigue were playing into this peaceful feeling that had seemingly taken over her body. Of course, Slade was responsible for the feeling, too, since she was still snuggled in arms as they sat in the back of a county cruiser while the first responders did their thing.

Nash and Caroline were in the front seat, and he was also snuggling with Caroline on his lap while Jericho occupied the driver's seat. He was talking on the phone to his fiancée, keeping his voice at practically a whisper, but Marise heard him doling out reassurances that he hadn't been hurt.

And he hadn't been.

As far as Marise could tell, Jericho, Nash, Caroline, and Slade had gotten no real injuries in the attack. Just some nicks and bruises. Marise had gotten some of those as well, including what she figured was a small cut on her left butt cheek. That'd happened when she'd gone over the bluff with the colonel, and she'd smacked against the rock. Soon, she'd need it examined, but it didn't feel like a priority at the moment.

Through the rain-streaked windshield, she could see the medical examiner with Sonny's body, and she'd heard the cops say it would soon be transported to the morgue. Marise personally didn't care if the SOB's body went straight to hell with the man's soul. She felt no anger about that. Just that peacefulness that came with the fact that Sonny had failed.

And they hadn't.

Sonny was dead, and the rest of them were alive. That included the colonel who was behind them in an ambulance while the EMTs examined him.

One ambulance had already taken Stephanie to the hospital because of her head injury. The cops hadn't finished with her yet, but again, Marise was having a hard time working up any anger over the woman's participation in this shitshow. Maybe that particular emotion would come later.

"We won't be getting out of here anytime soon," Jericho muttered once he'd finished his call with Rachel. He turned in the seat and looked behind them. "There's an ambulance, two cruisers, the ME's vehicle, and a CSI van parked behind us."

Yes, and they were on basically a trail, one littered with parts from the van that'd been ripped apart with a grenade, so it would be next to impossible for the vehicles to turn around. Once it was time to leave, they'd have to drive in reverse to get out of there.

"So, have you two accepted you're together?" Jericho asked, sliding his gaze between Slade and her.

Marise was trying to figure out how to respond to that when Slade beat her to it. "Yes."

Surprised and very pleased, she turned and looked at him. And she kissed him. That gave the peaceful feeling and her body a nice little jolt of heat. Then again, Slade always gave her the right kind of heat. Still, his "yes" wasn't exactly a declaration of, well, anything.

Was it?

She didn't get much of a chance to contemplate that because a cop approached the cruiser and tapped on the window. It was County Sheriff Billy Lee Thompson. Apparently, he'd responded rather than the sheriff from the nearby town of Canyon Ridge, but their jurisdictions overlapped somewhat so the response team that got tapped was usually the one that could get there the fastest.

Like his deputies, Sheriff Thompson was wearing a bright yellow slicker, and when Jericho lowered the window, he ducked down to peer in at them.

"Y'all doing okay in here?" he asked.

They all responded with sounds of agreement.

"Good. Well, we'll try to get you out of her soon. Your boss just called me," he added, looking at Jericho, Nash, and Slade. "She wanted a status update since she was certain, and I'm semi-quoting her, none of y'all would tell her how you were really doing."

Yes, they likely would sugarcoat it. Though in this case, the sugarcoating would be very close to the truth. All that was left to deal with was the aftermath of the brothers having killed Sonny.

Ruby would need to be reassured that all was mentally well with them. There'd likely be tests, counseling, and such, but Marise figured Sonny's death was for the brothers as what it was for her.

A relief.

"FYI, we found Sonny's truck parked on one of the trails," the sheriff went on a moment later. "According to what Colonel Rosa just told me, Sonny had Rosa and his wife in the cab of the truck, and the three hired gunmen in the back where, as you can imagine, they were getting damn assed wet from the storm."

The sheriff seemed pleased they'd experienced the discomfort of that.

"The men are all confirmed dead, by the way," he added. "But then, with the training you fellas have, that shouldn't be much of a surprise."

It wasn't.

"Any proof that Sonny hired them and they weren't working for Stephanie?" Slade asked.

"No proof yet. Mrs. Rosa was talking in the ambulance, but she didn't own up to anything." The sheriff shrugged. "Well, she didn't own up to me anyway, but she said plenty to Sonny when they were in the truck, and the colonel reported it to me. Apparently, his wife was seriously pissed off that Sonny had decided to kidnap her and bring her to the creek."

"He actually kidnapped her?" Slade wanted to know.

"Sonny did. She didn't come here willingly and griped about it the whole drive from where Sonny snatched her from her downtown office. During that drive, the colonel got an earful. He heard all about how his wife had hired Sonny to kill her lover, but that got screwed six ways to Sunday when her assistant lost his cool and did it."

"Julian," Marise muttered.

"That's the one," Sheriff Thompson verified. "So, then Mrs. Rosa wanted Sonny to gaslight the colonel so no one would believe he actually witnessed a murder." He paused a second. "Gaslight. That's a clean-sounding word for what was basically a shitty thing to do to her husband, a man who served his country with honor." Another pause. "Personally, I hope she rots in jail."

"And so say all of us," Jericho piped in.

The sheriff smiled, and he patted Jericho's arm. "Don't worry. Mrs. Rosa is going down for a whole bunch of stuff, including accessory to murder, obstruction of justice, and any other charges SAPD and I can throw at her."

Sheriff Thompson stood upright, his gaze zooming behind them and prompting Marise and the others to see what'd captured his attention.

Colonel Rosa.

He was wearing one of the police parkas and was making his way toward them.

Nash lowered his window as the colonel approached, and as the sheriff had done, Rosa leaned down to talk to them.

"Thank you for everything," Rosa immediately said. "And I'm so sorry all of you got dragged into this."

"I'm sorry you were dragged into it, too," Slade responded. A sentiment that Marise was certain everyone there agreed with. "Are you all right?"

Rosa certainly didn't jump to confirm that he was. He, too, would need counseling. "I have to process all of this," he finally said, and then looked at Marise. "I won't be going back to Patriot's Retreat. Well, not as a resident anyway. If you ever need a volunteer worker, just let me know."

"I will," she assured him, and she reached over the seat to take hold of his hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

The colonel managed a slight smile. "You're sure you'll keep working there. After how you handled yourself around Sonny, I thought maybe you'd apply for a job at Maverick Ops."

"No," she was quick to say. "I love the job I already have."

But as she said that, some of the peaceful feeling vanished. Yes, she loved her job. However, she also loved Slade.

So, where did that leave her?

Apparently, she had some processing to do, too. Along with having a serious conversation with Slade.

Rosa tipped his head to the rear of the cruiser. "One of the deputies is backing out the vehicles so the ambulance can leave," the colonel explained. "The EMTs want to take me to the hospital for an examination, and then I'll go to the sheriff's office to give my formal statement of what happened."

"I'll need statements from all of you," the sheriff piped in. "But they can wait until you've all caught your breath. I'm sure once the trail is cleared, Ruby will be sending someone out to get you out of here."

Or Ruby would be coming herself. Marise figured she'd want to check on three of her operatives and her daughter.

"Just call me when you're ready to give those statements," the sheriff added, tapping his hand on the roof of the cruiser before he walked away.

The colonel started to walk away as well, but Marise got out and hurried to him. Despite her raingear, she was already soaked to the bone so she didn't mind getting even wetter so she could give the colonel a hug.

"If you need anything, just ask," she told him.

Behind her, Slade, Jericho, Nash, and Caroline got out as well. Slade went to Rosa, not pulling him into a hug as she'd done but resting his palm on the man's shoulder. The two didn't say anything to each other. They understood that they'd be there for each other if the need arose.

The colonel had some tears in his eyes when he turned and walked back toward the ambulance. They stayed put, watching him leave.

Three phones dinged at the same time with a text alert.

Slade, Jericho, and Nash took out their phones, all reading the message. "Ruby will be here in a few minutes," Jericho relayed. "She figured we were all about ready to get out of here."

"We are," they muttered in agreement.

"So, why don't we walk to the end of the trail and meet her," Jericho suggested. "Slade and you can lag a little behind so he can whisper sweet nothings in your ear."

"I don't do sweet nothings," Slade grumbled.

Just as Marise said, "I'd rather he just kiss me. Actions speak so much louder than words."

Jericho chuckled, and with Nash and Caroline by his side, they started toward the road. It would be a muddy, wet trip, but Marise didn't mind. Slade might not have been a sweet-nothings kind of guy, but he was a great hugger, and he snuggled her back in his arms as they walked.

"FYI, I might need a butterfly bandage on my ass cheek," she said to break the silence that settled between them. "You think you're up to the job?"

Slade looked at her, and some alarm went through his eyes. "How bad are you hurt?"

"Not bad." She dropped a quick kiss on his mouth. "In fact, it might not even need a bandage, but I like the idea of you playing nurse with me."

The corner of his mouth lifted. "I like the idea of that, too."

He pulled her even closer to him and managed to kiss her while they trudged along the side of the trail past the vehicles. Even though it was a kiss on the move, Slade managed to leave her breathless, lightheaded.

And wanting a whole lot more.

Then again, she always seemed to want more when it came to Slade.

"I'm not sure we can go back to our friends-only status," she said. "In fact, I'm positive about that. And trust me when I say that scares me a little."

"We can be friends and lovers," Slade was quick to confirm.

That eased some of the worry that was settling around her heart. "Frequent lovers?" she asked.

His smile widened. "I'm counting on it. Counting on putting that bandage on your ass cheek, too." He paused. "I'm counting on a lot of things, Marise."

Oh, she liked the sound of that so she just went with it. A full-on babbling confession. "Good. Because I'm in love with you."

Slade stopped and seemed to do a mental doubletake. Her heart sank. She was about to launch into having some major regrets about her confession.

But then he kissed her.

And everything became right with her world.

"Nice. Very nice," he said with his mouth hovering right over hers. "Ready to hear a shocker?" Slade didn't wait for her to answer. "I'm in love with you, too."

There it was. That kick of pleasure, heat and extreme happiness all rolled into one. Some would probably question the timing of such a declaration, what with them on an active crime scene and less than an hour out of a shootout.

The timing was perfect, though.

Everything about this was.

"So, does this mean…" she started. "…that we can ride off into the sunset together?"

"Let's start with walking in the rain together and going back to my place. We'll save the sunset for another time. Trust me, Marise, we'll have a lot of time for sunsets. And sex. And a lot of time for just us."

She hadn't thought her happiness level could get any higher, but she'd been wrong. This felt like the nirvana of happiness levels.

Marise leaned in, kissing Slade, as they continued their journey.

Together.

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