Chapter 21

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

Khloe sat on Raid’s couch with a blanket around her. Raid was at her side, as he’d been from the second he’d been released from the hospital. The bullet had been removed from his leg and the doctor was amazed that more damage hadn’t been done. He had a good amount of rehab to go through, but he’d been reassured that, with a lot of hard work, he’d be able to get back on the trails as a member of the Eagle Point Search and Rescue team before too long.

Khloe had recovered fairly quickly from the entire ordeal, except now she felt as if she was always cold. Raid had turned the heat on in his house, despite it being the middle of summer, and it didn’t matter if it was set at seventy-one or eighty-one, she still felt chilled. So he’d bought a ton of throw blankets and was constantly wrapping her up in them whenever she sat down.

She’d spent a lot of the last week cooking for them and making sure the house was clean. Raid wasn’t able to help much, which seemed to frustrate him to no end. He wanted to be up and moving immediately, but Khloe reminded him that, from her experience, he’d need time to get back to his normal self.

The best thing about coming home to Fallport was being enthusiastically greeted by Duke. Raid had cried when he’d seen his furry friend and wasn’t even embarrassed that everyone had seen him blubbering at the sight of the bloodhound, safe and sound.

All of their friends had come over today to celebrate Raid and Khloe—and Duke, of course—being home and in one piece. And to gossip.

“All right, someone needs to finally tell me where the hell Duke was and what went down after Khloe and I went missing,” Raid said.

Just over a week had passed since that awful night, but he and Khloe had been busy with Raid’s short hospital stay, getting resettled, and generally healing both physically and mentally from their ordeal. They’d begged their friends for a bit of time before they all converged, which meant they’d yet to hear the story of how the bloodhound was found. They’d both been content just having him by their side. Now, it was time to hear about everything that happened after they were kidnapped.

Instead of lying on his bed in the corner, Duke had climbed up onto the couch. He sat to one side of Raid, his head in his master’s lap, while Khloe was snuggled up on Raid’s other side.

Their friends were on every available piece of furniture in the living room. Chairs from the table had been brought in as well, and most of the rest sat on the floor around the couch. Tony was entertaining Marissa out in the yard. Zeke and Tal were standing at the sliding back door, keeping an eye on them as they played.

Looking around, Khloe got a little teary eyed once more. Never in a million years would she have expected to have found a group of men and women who would come to mean so much to her. She was a lucky woman, and she knew it.

“Right, so as you know, once word got out that Duke was missing, the entire town was on the lookout,” Caryn explained. “Shortly after Garcia’s goon called the diner to report the false sighting, a couple was taking a walk in Raymond Ziegler’s neighborhood.”

“They heard the most ear-splitting howling coming from his house,” Bristol said, picking up the story. “They said it sounded like an animal was being tortured in there. So they did what anyone would do in that situation—they called Simon.”

“Simon went to the house, and by that time, a crowd had gathered,” Elsie said excitedly. “The police chief knocked on the door, and no one answered. But the howling got even louder. He sent Miguel over to Ziegler’s clinic to ask what the hell was going on.”

“Ziegler, obviously sensing the shit was about to hit the fan, lied his ass off,” Brock added. “Said he had no idea what they were talking about. Which is about the stupidest thing he could’ve done. If he’d simply confessed right then and there, he might still be in business instead of fleeing town with his proverbial tail between his legs.”

Khloe smiled at the image Brock’s words evoked.

“To make a long story short,” Lilly said, “Simon broke into Raymond’s house and they found Duke in a guest bathroom.”

“Duke doesn’t do well in locked rooms,” Raid said dryly.

Everyone laughed.

“Yeah, obviously. He’d shat all over the room and walked in it,” Bristol said with a grin. “When Simon opened the bathroom door, Duke bolted out and practically ran the poor chief over. Then, to show his appreciation for being free, Duke zoomed around the house, making sure to get his poopy pawprints all over everything.”

“I learned the hard way when he gets stressed, he tends to lose his bowels,” Raiden said after everyone had stopped laughing. “The only thing I can figure is that his first piece-of-crap owner kept him locked up. He hates being shut in rooms by himself now.”

“Well, as relieved as everyone standing around Ziegler’s house was to see Duke, they were also pissed. Everyone wanted answers,” Rocky said. “I swear, by the time Simon and most of the onlookers arrived at the clinic, it was practically a mob. When asked, Ziegler said he’d found Duke wandering along the road and picked him up to keep him safe.”

“Riiiiight,” Finley said sarcastically. “Picked him up, didn’t tell anyone—like Raid—that he’d found his dog, locked him in his house, then went to work as if nothing was wrong.”

“Not saying anyone believed his story, just what he claimed,” Rocky said with a grin.

“People were so appalled that Fallport’s resident veterinarian had basically kidnapped one of the town’s heroes, they started canceling their appointments at Ziegler’s clinic,” Lilly said. “By the end of the day, he’d basically lost all his clients.”

“Last I heard, he went to stay with his brother for a while up near DC,” Tal said.

“Good riddance,” Heather said with a good deal of heat…for her. “I think this town has had enough kidnappings, no matter if it’s people or animals.”

“Definitely!” Bristol said fervently.

Everyone agreed.

“Do you think Duke got out on his own, or do you think Garcia’s guy had a hand in it?” Ethan asked.

Raid shrugged. “I don’t know. Duke’s never really been a wanderer, but if given a chance, and if he caught a scent, I wouldn’t put it past him. In the end, it doesn’t really matter. I didn’t even know Garcia or someone working for him was here. He clearly took advantage of the situation and did what he’d been sent to do.”

“And he’s really gone? He won’t come back?” Finley asked.

Raid paused for a moment before nodding. “He won’t ever be an issue for me or Tonka, or those we love, ever again.”

“Because his boat went up in flames and he was caught in the fire,” Elsie said dryly, clearly skeptical.

“That’s right,” Raid said with a straight face.

Khloe knew what really happened because Raid had told her late one night in the hospital, when it was just the two of them. He admitted that while he couldn’t have done what Tonka did, he didn’t condemn him. Garcia had put Tonka through hell, and it had affected every part of his life since. He was also very grateful for his friend for making sure he and Khloe would be safe from here on out.

“Well, good riddance,” Caryn said. “And the same goes for Doctor Ziegler too. Khloe…are you going to be able to keep up with the increase in business?”

Khloe shrugged. “I’m gonna try. Afton and my other vet techs have been lifesavers. They’ve been able to do most of the routine things, like shots and checkups. The more serious issues they leave for me or my new partner. That friend of mine from Norfolk is already doing a wonderful job of holding down the fort.”

“The timing of her accepting your offer was damn perfect,” Bristol agreed.

“So…Garcia’s taken care of, Ziegler is a bad memory…what about the Mather brothers?” Ethan asked.

Khloe frowned. “I’m not sure. I haven’t seen Jason or Scott lately, but I wouldn’t put it past them to show up when I least expect them.”

“They won’t,” Raid said with such conviction, Khloe turned to him with her eyes narrowed.

“What’d you do?”

“Nothing anyone else who wanted to live a nice, quiet life with the woman he loved wouldn’t do,” Raid said, squeezing her shoulder.

Khloe swore every single person in the room leaned forward, eager to hear more details.

“Raiden Walker, I haven’t gone through what I have—being run over, going through rehab alone and scared, moving to a town where I knew no one, taking a job I knew nothing about, getting sniped at by you every day at work, having to sit through a trial where I felt as if I was the one being accused, watched my friends get kidnapped and hurt, had my secrets exposed to everyone in town, falling in love, being kidnapped, and finally feeling as if I can breathe and really start a life with the person I was always meant to be with—only to have to worry about you being arrested and thrown in jail for doing something illegal to the asshole and his brothers who are harassing me for no good reason!”

Her voice had risen throughout her little freak-out, but Khloe didn’t care. She was serious. She felt as if things in her life were finally falling into place, and the last thing she wanted was to have Raid get in trouble because of her.

Raid laughed, as did his friends—the male ones—and it infuriated Khloe all the more. She sat up, intending to give Raid another piece of her mind, but he tugged her back against him.

“Shhhh. Don’t get worked up, Khloe. I’m not ashamed to admit that I had grand plans for Alan and his brothers. A plan that included using a contact in Colorado to get word to some people behind bars with Alan…the kind of men who’d make sure he understood you were off-limits. And if he didn’t call off his brothers, his life in prison would become even harder than it already was.”

“And?” Khloe demanded when Raid paused and didn’t say anything else.

“Turns out, we didn’t have to do anything. My guy’s contacts in prison didn’t even have time to make their point before Alan Mather did what he does best—pissed off the wrong person. He was killed six days ago when he stupidly took on a high-ranking gang member who was serving time in the same cell block. From what I understand, he was stabbed in the heart and he bled out in minutes.”

“Holy crap!” Khloe whispered.

“What about his brothers?” Elsie asked. “Won’t they be even more pissed now?”

“I was worried about that too, but the gang member has plenty of friends outside the prison, and they apparently delivered their own message to the brothers. Khloe and Fallport are off-limits unless they want to end up the same way as Alan did,” Raid said with a shrug.

“Why would some random gang care about Khloe?” Heather asked. “No offense intended,” she said quickly, after she realized what she said could be taken the wrong way.

“It’s okay, I wondered the same thing,” Khloe reassured her.

“I don’t think it’s Khloe so much,” Raid said. “Details about his case, and why Alan had it out for you so badly, got around the prison…which is what Alan and the gang member were ‘discussing’ when he died. Apparently, even some of the most hardened criminals have pets they love. I can only guess they’re willing to go out of their way to protect those who help them.”

“Wow,” Caryn said. “I’m not sure whether to be impressed or freaked out.”

“Impressed,” Finley said firmly.

“Right, so, there shouldn’t be anyone else lurking in the shadows to try to hurt you,” Lilly said decisively. “And that goes for the rest of us too…unless anyone wants to share anything? Now’s the time. Anyone got any exes who might want to stalk them? Any business deals that went bad and now they’re in the crosshairs of a monster? Maybe a connection to the Russian mafia we don’t know about?”

Everyone laughed and shook their heads.

“Good. So the most stressful thing we have to worry about is not working too hard. And maybe Bigfoot storming into town, pissed off because his peaceful existence in our mountains has been disturbed.”

Ethan rolled his eyes, but everyone else laughed.

Khloe listened to the banter between her friends with a smile on her face. This was what she’d always wanted. Friends she could laugh with, cry with, and count on beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Raid leaned over and kissed the top of her head, and Khloe looked up at him.

“You good?” he asked quietly.

“I’m great,” she told him.

“Will you marry me?” he blurted.

Khloe stared at him for a heartbeat. “What? Seriously?”

He blushed. “Yeah. I hadn’t actually planned to do this now, but I love you so much, and I figured if I asked you when you were feeling mellow and happy, you’d be more likely to say yes.”

“You have got to be kidding me. You actually think I’d say no?”

Raid shrugged.

Ignoring their friends, Khloe rose to her knees on the couch. She badly wanted to straddle Raid’s lap, but with his leg still healing, that wouldn’t be smart. She put her palms on his cheeks and leaned in.

“I love you, Raid. So much it scares the shit out of me. If you hadn’t been with me in that water, I would’ve given up even in the few minutes before the cavalry arrived. You make me want to be a better person. You make me a stronger person. The way you look at me makes me feel as if I can do anything. Be anyone. I want to be Anise to your Bjorn. I want to conquer gnolls and ogres, and cast magical spells, and live happily ever after.”

She heard Lilly shushing everyone, but she ignored their audience.

Raid didn’t say anything for a heartbeat—then he grabbed her waist and yanked, dipping her backward over his lap. Duke grumbled as he was jostled, but when he realized Khloe’s face was within reach of his tongue, he took advantage of the situation.

Khloe shrieked as Duke gave her a tongue bath. She was still laughing when Finley came to her rescue and pulled Duke off the couch.

Raid hovered over her, face inches from her own. One of his hands supported the back of her head while the other was wrapped around her waist, keeping her steady.

“Was that a yes?” he asked.

Khloe grinned. “Depends.”

Raid frowned. “On what?”

“On whether you’re going to make me put on a big, poofy white dress and suffer through a formal wedding.”

Relief shone in Raid’s eyes. “You can have any kind of wedding you want. As long as you’re my wife when it’s all said and done, I don’t care.”

“I want a party. A big-ass party. Celebrating life. Mine, yours, Duke’s, and everyone’s,” Khloe told him. “We’ve all been through some pretty gnarly stuff in the last year, and I think we need to let loose and celebrate the fact that love triumphs over evil.”

She heard everyone clapping and cheering around the room, but Khloe only had eyes for Raid.

“Deal,” he whispered. “I never thought this would be my life. That someone as amazing and beautiful as you would ever choose me.”

“I choose you, Raid. Today, tomorrow, and every day after that.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you,” she returned.

They kissed as their friends began planning Fallport’s party of the century.