Disarming Detective (24 page)

But Logan had required intubation and he’d been in ICU, so she couldn’t even sit in the room with him. They’d told her they didn’t know if he was going to wake up again.

She couldn’t help sobbing as she remembered, and the nurse gave her an understanding smile. “He’s looking good. He’s breathing on his own, and next to that, the broken ankle and torn shoulder and the minor burns are nothing. He’ll be fine.”

Ella drew in a calming breath and wiped away her tears. “Does his family know?”

They’d spent most of the past three days waiting with her, but they’d decided to take a break about half an hour ago, and left to get dinner. They’d wanted her to come along, but she hadn’t been able to bear leaving. She’d been afraid that if she did, it would be like breaking some kind of fragile connection and Logan would be gone. It was ridiculous, but her friends had understood and stayed with her.

“We just called them. They’re on their way back now.”

“Thank you.” His family had been so optimistic, so certain Logan would pull through. They’d spent the days talking about all the things they wanted to tell him when he woke up, making plans for Ella to come back and visit him as though it was a given that she would. And the whole time Ella had been paralyzed with fear.

A new sort of fear inched forward now, a fear of losing him from her life. But at least he was alive. And she wasn’t giving up without a fight. She was putting everything on the line and seeing where it got her.

She’d never been so terrified.

“Go ahead,” the nurse said, holding open the door to Logan’s room.

“Ella,” Logan rasped as soon as she stepped through the door. He looked pale and exhausted in the hospital bed, an IV running into his arm and hooked up to all kinds of monitors.

But he was finally awake. A smile broke across her face and the tears fell again, racing down her cheeks until she was gasping.

“Hey,” he said, holding out his hand. “Come here.”

She stepped forward, put her hand carefully in his, and he laced their fingers together, holding tightly enough that she knew he was really going to be okay. She brushed her tears away, embarrassed. “I was so worried.”

He smiled at her, and she had to lean down and place a kiss on his forehead, then another and another.

“Come here.” He shifted on the bed, obviously trying to suppress a noise of discomfort as he made room for her.

“Be careful,” she said as he insisted, “Get in.”

“I don’t know if—”

“Ella.” He locked those green eyes on hers, steady and clear and full of...

Her breath caught. Could it be love she saw there?

He tugged on her hand. “Get in.”

She climbed cautiously into the bed beside him, trying not to jostle him, and he laughed, a raw, raspy laugh, and pulled her close.

Wow, she loved this man. It was crazy and unexpected and so, so right. And it was time to tell him.

“Logan...” She cut herself off, realizing she couldn’t do this with her head against his chest. She needed to look him in the eyes.

So she propped herself up on her elbow and, her heart beating a frantic staccato, said, “Logan, I don’t know how or when this happened, but I...” Nerves flared up and she smiled at him, stared directly into those eyes that had pulled her like a magnet from the day she’d met him. “I love you.”

He smiled back at her, a great big grin that told her she hadn’t made a fool of herself.

“Ella.” He slid his hand from her shoulder up to her head, pulled her down to press a soft kiss to her lips. Then he continued to hold her close, her face millimeters from his as he told her, “I love you, too.”

Joy seemed to burst inside her. She gave a laugh full of happiness, then got serious. “Logan, I want to make this work. I know long-distance isn’t easy, but—”

He was already shaking his head. “I don’t want to do this halfway, Ella. I want to give us a real chance. With our jobs, long-distance... We’d both get pulled into cases and have to cancel flights and miss visits all the time. I don’t want to see you on random weekends. I want you next to me every day.”

Ella let out a heavy breath. “Logan, maybe down the line, but...” Her shoulders sank, weighted down by the realities of trying to make this work. “I can’t just up and move. I’d have to put in a request to go to a different office and the FBI would have to approve it. That can take months, waiting for a spot to open. I can’t be a profiler anywhere else, either. BAU is in Virginia. And I can’t leave Maggie. Not right now.”

She stared into his eyes, willing him to understand.

He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. “Ella, I meant that I was thinking of moving to Virginia. Your job may not move, but I
can
be a homicide detective anywhere. Yeah, I might have to take a downgrade initially, but I’ll work my way back up fast. I got a detective slot once, even with a chief who can’t stand me. I’ll get it again.” He grinned. “Heck, I’ll even let you tell Hank he gets my spot here. If you ever need a favor in this state again, he’ll make sure it happens.”

Her eyes widened. He was willing to leave Oakville? For her? “Really?” she whispered.

He smiled at her, a soft smile full of love. “Really.”

Tears welled up in her eyes again, tears of joy, and she blinked them back. “Your family is going to hate me,” she joked.

“I kind of think they saw this coming. Trust me, they’ll be happy for us.” His tone turned teasing. “And besides, Mom will just call you every week and ask about grandkids.”

Kids with Logan. The thought made anticipation and happiness fill her until she knew she was grinning like an idiot. “Okay. Let’s do it.” She felt a laugh bubble up. “I’ve even got room in my den for your ugly old chair.”

He tilted his head, his expression serious. “You want to live together?”

Oh, no. She’d misunderstood him. Moving to Virginia was a big enough step, especially considering the short time they’d known each other. Moving in together was a huge deal.

Ella frantically tried to figure out how to backtrack just as the door to Logan’s room burst open and his family filed in, hurrying over to the bedside, demanding to know how he was feeling.

Embarrassed, Ella tried to disentangle herself from Logan’s grip to get out of his bed, but he just held her tighter.

“Ella.”

She looked back at him, and knew he could see her fear that she’d screwed everything up.

Amusement twinkled in his eyes. “I’ll move in with you.”

Ella sensed his family sharing glances behind her, but she couldn’t turn her gaze from Logan’s sparkling green eyes as he added, “And since we’re diving right into serious, Ella, will you marry me?”

Ella could feel her mouth opening and closing silently, but she couldn’t seem to say anything.

“I’m sorry I don’t have a ring,” Logan added, sounding nervous. “But as soon as I get out of this bed...if you say yes...”

Someone nudged her from behind. “Say yes,” Becky whispered.

“Yes,” she breathed.

And then Logan was kissing her and his family was laughing and crying and congratulating them. And she knew, she just knew, that coming to Oakville to find a serial killer had been the best decision she’d ever made in her life.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from THE CATTLEMAN by Angi Morgan.

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Prologue

The gun barrel
burned against his right temple after being fired during the attack. Nick Burke had made a fatal mistake putting his trust in anyone. A greenhorn like Beth Conrad was his second mistake. He didn’t struggle, dropped his rifle to the ground, raised his hands to his ears and watched his captor kick his favorite weapon over the cliff.

He cringed as it whacked its way to the bottom of the ravine. “That was my best rifle.”

“You won’t need it, buddy.” Keeping the gun in place, the man frisked the small of Nick’s back.

He had no distinguishing accent. Nick hadn’t caught a close-up glimpse of their attackers until now. If this guy was helping the Mexican cartel from the US side of the border, he was the first solid lead they had come across in a year.

Where the hell is Beth?
If the DEA Agent had fallen off her horse again, he might do something crazy. Or might just end up dead. What if she was hurt or worse?

Neither was his first choice of scenarios.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked, attempting to be casual. In his opinion, he pulled off not caring pretty well. He practiced it every day.

“You in a big hurry to die?”

“Been there. Recovery’s harder.”

“Got that right.” A bit of southern poked its way through that long
i
.

“So you’ve been shot before?”

“Shut it, this ain’t no social hour.” The guy shifted his feet, stabbing Nick’s temple with each move. “You listen up. You’re gonna take me to your horse and give me directions out of this forsaken place. Understand? Or I’m going to kill you.”

The cooling cylinder was shoved harder against his skull. Nick could feel the man’s nasally breath on his neck each time he turned. Searching for who? Nick’s partner or his own? He and Beth had followed at least two horses from the drug traffickers’ camp they’d stumbled upon. And the cloud of dust he’d seen farther up the ravine was probably his captor’s partner.

“Can’t help you, so we might as well get this over with.” Nick kept his eyes open, surveying as much as possible without moving. Still no Beth. “What are you waiting on?”

“Might be waiting on his partner.” Beth’s steady voice came from in front of them, somewhere off the trail. “But that’s not going to happen.”

“Get in front of me with your hands up or this guy’s brains spatter on the rocks.” The man shifted nervously behind him.

“Are you a mind reader? That is exactly what I was about to instruct you to do.” Half of Beth’s tall frame stepped onto the path, the other—the half that held her handgun—was still covered by a juniper tree. She stretched her neck, dipping her chin to look over the top of her sunglasses.

Nick had seen her do that before, just before she fired her weapon to prove how good she was with a gun. She actually could shoot the tip off a cactus from fifty feet. He’d told her she should be in a Wild West show with that accuracy. That was if she could ride a horse. He’d never seen anyone as petrified of the animals as her.

“Do I have to officially say it?” Beth stepped fully onto the path, presenting her gun and badge. “DEA. You’re under arrest. Drop your weapon, drop to your knees and cross your ankles.”