“No big deal.” He shrugged. “Just go on and plant the flowers, we’ll worry about moving it later.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
Annie carried the pot of geraniums and ivy to the large planter Evan had left at the foot of the deck, and poured in a bag of potting soil. Next she pulled the plants from their pots and started to transplant the ivy. When she started on the geraniums, he heard her exclaim, “Oh.”
She looked at him from across the small yard.
“There’s a little box in the bottom of the geranium pot.”
“Is there, now?” He stuck the shovel into the dirt and started walking toward her. “Well, maybe you should open it.”
She shook the small dark blue box from the pot and opened it.
“Evan,” she said softly, meeting his eyes as he walked toward her. “Evan.”
“What do you think, Annie?” he asked. “Think it’s time to make it legal?”
She nodded.
“Well then, let’s see if it fits.” He took her hand, then took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. “What do you think? Does it fit all right?”
“It fits perfectly.” She had not taken her eyes from his face.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it.”
“You haven’t even looked at it.”
She looked at her hand, at the simple gold band with the round diamond and nodded. “It’s perfect. I love it.”
“So, I guess this means yes?”
“This means yes.”
He gathered her in his arms and kissed her.
“Will this get me out of digging for the rest of the afternoon?”
“Probably not”-she laughed-“but it might get you a bonus at the end of the day.”
“I like the sound of that.” He kissed her again, then said, more seriously, “I’m thinking a Christmas wedding might be really nice, you know? All those red flowers they always put in the church-”
“Oh! Bad timing on my part. Sorry, guys.”
Annie and Evan looked up to see Grady Shields walking down the drive that ran behind the house.
“Hey, Grady,” Annie called to him. “This is a surprise.”
“Yeah, well, I just wanted to drop by to see you before I left. I wanted to thank you and Evan for what you did to bring that bastard Luther Blue in.” He turned to Evan. “The only thing I’m sorry about is that you didn’t blow his head off when you had the chance. He’s still trying to make deals, you know that? Still offering to give up other members of the kidnapping and trafficking ring in exchange for a reduced sentence.”
“Maybe the feds will offer him something on the kidnapping, but he’ll still have to face murder charges in Montana,” Annie assured him. “I spoke with Sheriff Brody a few days ago. I had promised I’d call if we found Melissa’s killer. He understands the situation very well, but he’s willing to wait his turn to prosecute Luther for Melissa’s death. He won’t be getting away with it, Grady. It may take a while, but he will stand trial in Montana.”
“That’s the first good news I’ve had since this started,” Grady said. “Maybe I’ll still be out there when that day comes.”
“You’re going to Montana?” Annie asked.
“Melissa left the property to me. At first I thought I couldn’t live in the house where she died. Then I started remembering all the good times we had there, and I was thinking maybe it would help her spirit to rest if I went back for a while. Maybe it would help my spirit, as well, to be with her.” He shrugged. “I can’t think of anyplace else to go right now.”
“Are you taking a leave, then?”
“I talked to John yesterday, he told me to go. He’ll take care of the paperwork for me, send me what I need to sign. Told me just to keep in touch, let him know when I want to come back.”
“I hope you do, Grady,” Annie told him sincerely. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too.” He gave her a quick hug, then offered his hand to Evan. “Take care of her, Crosby.”
Evan merely nodded.
Grady took a few steps backward, then let himself out of the gate. He walked to the end of the drive, then turned once to wave before disappearing behind the corner house.
“He looks terrible,” Annie said.
“He’s lost the woman he loved. I’d look terrible, too, if anything happened to you. It just reminds me to cherish each day, to never take it for granted.” He paused, then said, “If I take the job John offered, the main reason would be so that we could be together every night, instead of this crazy commuting back and forth.”
“You’re not going to think about it until we come back from Santa Estela, remember?” Annie reminded him. “I think you should stick to that. Besides, there are other things we need to talk about, as far as the trip is concerned.”
“Like how to tell the parents what happened to their daughters.” Evan grew sober again. “How to tell them why they had to die.”
“Maybe it will give them some solace to know that they never accepted the horrible things that had been done to them, that they’d been unwilling participants. And that they died because they would not stop fighting, they would not cooperate, isn’t that what Joe Sullivan told the D.A.? That these girls were killed as an example to the others?”
“Bastard. I still can’t get over him getting involved in something like this. I can’t reconcile the Joe Sullivan I knew all these years with the man who participated in any way in prostituting young girls…” Evan shook his head. “And for the worst of reasons.”
“It’s not the first time a man sold his soul for money, and it won’t be the last.” She put her arms around him. “Just be grateful you were able to put a stop to it.”
“This was just the tip of the iceberg, Annie. You know that.”
“But at least that tip was cut off,” she told him.
He appeared to be about to say something when his phone rang.
“Crosby,” he answered, listened for a few minutes, then said, “Give me fifteen minutes.”
He snapped the phone shut and turned to Annie. “That was Malone. They found two bodies in a boarded-up house down on Longwood. A couple of transients, it looks like, and I-”
“Go. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Annie, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Go.”
“I guess I should run upstairs and get cleaned up, get out of these dusty clothes.” He looked around the yard, at the half-dug bed and the plants sitting here and there. “I hate to leave you with this mess.”
“Don’t give it another thought. I’ll finish up out here.”
“Are you sure? I’ll probably be gone for at least the rest of the afternoon.”
“It’s okay. Go on and do what you do.” She kissed him and turned him in the direction of the house. “I’ll be here when you get home…”
She watched him take the steps two at a time, knowing that his mind was already on the crime scene and what he would find there. It was what he did, and who he was.
Annie wouldn’t have had him any other way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARIAH STEWART is the bestselling author of numerous novels and several novellas. She is a RITA finalist for romantic suspense and is the recipient of the Award of Excellence for contemporary romance, a RIO (Reviewers International Organization) Award honoring excellence in women’s fiction, and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times magazine. A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she is a three-time recipient of the Golden Leaf Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey Romance Writers, and has been inducted into their Hall of Fame. Stewart is a member of the Valley Forge Romance Writers, the New Jersey Romance Writers, Novelists, Inc., the Romance Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and two rambunctious golden retrievers amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania.
