Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (16 page)

“Understood,
Sheriff.”

“Take position on
the west corner of 2
^nd
Avenue,” he ordered Honor’s former guard.  “We’ll
address whatever issues we have tomorrow after this is over,” he informed the
other guy before turning his attention to the other cops present.  “What do you
have?” he questioned the nearest one.

“Sheriff,” one of
the other officers greeted him gravely.  “It looks like we’ve got two armed
women, both possessing at least one firearm each, holding at least twenty
individuals hostage.  There could be more.   Mostly women.  No children that we
can see.  Of the hostages, we were able to identify your brother and the
McKinnon sisters and aunt.   We’ve got two units in the back alley behind the
store in question, a unit on the opposite side of the street, and officers
taking positions on the rooftops opposite the street.  Dispatch just radioed
that Slade Cansler will arrive shortly.  Would you like to take a look, sir?”
the young officer asked, offering Zeke the high powered binoculars.

Quickly grabbing
the binoculars, Zeke raised them to his eyes as he still held the cell between
his cheek and shoulder, listening.  Adjusting the lenses, he quickly zoned in
on where Honor stood, flanked by Ice on one side and her Aunt Orla on the
other.  “Holy hell, is that crazy old bird reaching for a candy bar?” he
muttered, watching as Honor yanked the elderly woman’s arm and whispered
something in her ear.

“Looks that way,
sir,” one of the other cops murmured as he, too, stood looking through a pair
of binoculars.

Zeke frowned as
the radio on his belt squawked and the dispatcher’s voice alerted him that
Honor’s cousin was on scene.  Glancing between the two young cops that didn’t
look much older than the early twenties, Zeke directed, “Alright, boys. We’re
gonna hold positions until I say otherwise.  I’m gonna get our shooter into
place on the roof.  Once he’s squared away we can see what can be done about
getting those folks out of there.  Radio me if the situation inside changes. 
Nobody – and I mean NOBODY gets trigger happy without my direct order.  Get on
your radio and let the rest of the team know my orders as well.  Earcoms in,
but silent for now, boys.”  Zeke quickly pushed his tiny earpiece into place as
he turned and moved to where Slade stood beside his pickup truck.

“Who the fuck does
he have in there, Zeke?  The dipshits that called me wouldn’t say,” Slade asked
harshly as he began to stomp toward Zeke, his rifle hanging from a belt over
his shoulder. 

Eyeing the other
man, Zeke noted that today he was dressed in a torn and dirty black sleeveless
tee shirt and a pair of torn and dusty faded jeans.  His light brown hair
looked unwashed and windblown and his eyes were slightly bloodshot.  Frowning,
Zeke growled, “You sober, Slade?  Man, I can’t have you involved if you’ve been
in the bottle again no matter how good a shot you are.”

Slade nodded. 
“You got lucky.  I’m sober.  I hadn’t started drinking yet today.  I wasn’t
even at home.  I was still at the Potts’ construction site,” he returned,
mentioning the housing area Logan Potts was building just north of town.  It’s
the site his brother Ice had been working, too. 

Zeke nodded.  “To
answer your earlier question, most of your family is in there including, but
not limited to your Aunt Orla and Honor.  Good news is that Ice is in there,
too, and there’s a good chance he’s carrying.”

“How many
targets?” Slade questioned bluntly, the muscle flexing in his jaw the only
indication that he was the least bit affected by what Zeke said to him.

“Two.  Both
women,” Zeke answered flatly.

“Women?” Slade
echoed in disbelief.

“I’ve got an open
line into the store,” Zeke quickly began to explain, briefly lifting the cell
phone away from his ear.  “I can hear inside, but I’ve got nobody on the other
end of the phone.  The call is from Honor’s cell phone.  Best I can figure, she
was calling me for help when one of the hostage takers told her to drop the
phone.  From what I’ve gathered off the call and what I know of the situation
already, the woman that owns the store – Melody - has an ex-fiancé that had
wandering dick disease.  It’s what broke ‘em up several months back.  These
girls waving the guns around are the women he was screwing.  When the ex-asshat
decided he wanted Melody back, these ladies took it personal-like.  Now,
they’ve got Melody, Melody’s boyfriend, Cal- who happens to also be former
military, Melody’s brother – also currently serving in the military, my
brother, your family, and evidently half the damn town in there with them.  I
want this fuckin’ standoff ended fast, Slade.  You up for this?”

“They got my
family.  Of course I’m fuckin’ up for this,” the former Navy Seal muttered. 
“What are my orders?”

“I want both
hostage takers neutralized as quickly as possible by whatever means necessary,”
Zeke informed him sharply. 

“Shoot to kill?”
Slade questioned, his bland voice apathetic.

Zeke eyed the
other man critically.  Everybody knew that Slade had been hitting the bottle
fairly regularly since he left his SEAL team a couple of years back, but nobody
knew why, and Slade was not a guy inclined toward sharing.  However, he’d
always known the guy to be both loyal and honest, and if Slade said he was
sober, then he would be rock steady.  With Honor potentially in the line of
fire, though, he felt compelled to ask again.  “You sure you’re good to do
this?”

“I’m good to go,
Sheriff.  Said it once already.  Don’t like repeating myself,” Slade warned
tersely, his fingers tightening around the rifle as he situated it under his
arm.

“Then do the job,
Slade, and take whatever shot you can get, but most importantly, let’s get
Honor and the rest of those people out safe.  Now, where do you want to set
up?”

Slade eyed the
surrounding buildings, finally zoning in on the insurance office directly
across the street from Hooks & Books.  “McCready’s Insurance will offer the
best nest.”

Passing the other
man an earpiece, Zeke jerked his head toward the building.  “Keep that in the
entire time, man, and remember to use your words, Slade.  We can’t read your
mind down here.  Get moving!”

Twenty minutes
later, it was all over.  When the dust settled and the echo of gunfire had
faded, both of the hostage taking women had been taken down in a barrage of
bullets, one of them by his brother and one of them by Slade.  Cal Valentine’s
arm had also been winged by one of the assailants, but he’d recover fine.  Ice
was giving his statement to one of the senior deputies, but Slade had
disappeared like smoke in the wind once he’d seen that his family was safe. 
That was fine.  Zeke would make a special trip to Millers Peak to thank him
later. 

For now, all he
wanted was to wrap his arms around Honor and never let her go.  It had been
another totally too close call for her, and he knew she’d be shaken up.      
Finally spotting her standing slightly apart from the milling crowd with a hand
against her left temple, he nodded quickly to Deputy Lindsey, letting the other
man know he was now in charge before rushing toward his girl.

“Honor?” he called
as he hurried toward her.  Watching her turn her head toward the sound of her
name, Zeke saw her blink slowly as he continued to walk in her direction.   
“Kitten, are you okay?”

“How in the world
does this keep happening to me?” she asked him huskily when he finally reached
hearing distance.  “First the café, then that shack in the woods where Tanner
died, and now the freaking book store… are gunfights just going to be a normal
part of my life now?” Honor asked shrilly, her cerulean eyes wide and dilated
as she looked around her.  “Because if this is my new normal, I’m moving,
Zeke.  I’m moving far, far away.  Maybe somewhere in Scotland.  Maybe Ireland. 
I’ve always wanted to see the Irish village,” she murmured. “Do you think they
actually still have cobblestone streets there?”

Relieved to be in
touching distance, Zeke wrapped his arms around her smaller body and yanked her
against his chest, burying his nose in her tawny, silken hair.  “You’re not
ever going anywhere without me,” he muttered into her soft tresses.  “Damn it,
I’d give anything if just one time in our lives the trouble could happen far,
far away from you.”

“Me, too,” she
admitted with a hysterical little chuckle as she pressed the side of her face
into his chest.  “Facing crazy women with guys really wasn’t an item on my
agenda today, I swear.”

“I know, baby,”
Zeke admitted, keeping his arms around her.  “But seriously, if you ever decide
to bolt, pick somewhere warm with a nice beach.  I won’t be as grumpy when I
catch you if there’s sunshine and sand,” he shared, gratified to hear her
giggle against his shirt. 

“I can’t swim,”
she whispered, lifting her face to stare up at him with soft eyes.

“I’ll teach you
anything you need to know,” he returned easily, rocking her slender body from
side to side in his arms.  Dropping his lips to rest against her forehead, he
felt the tension slowly leak from Honor’s body as she rested against him. 
Lifting one arm to check the time, he groaned.  “Well, we lost our reservations
by about three hours,” he grumbled.

“What
reservation?” Honor asked blankly, looking up at him.

“Well, I was going
to take you out to lunch at The Block over in Parkersburg to celebrate
Valentine’s Day, but things kinda happened that put a damper on those plans.”

Honor made a
face.  “Cupid can kiss my can, Ezekiel.  I no longer recognize Valentine’s Day
as an official holiday if this is that cherub chump’s idea of a good time,” she
declared passionately.

Zeke couldn’t help
chuckling over her well-deserved feelings about Valentine’s Day.  “Well, don’t
clam up on me, Kitten.  Tell me how you really feel about it,” he teased as
Honor shifted in his arms.

“Don’t make fun of
me,” Honor complained, lightly smacking his arm as she finally began to put
some distance between them. 

“Sorry,” he
apologized, sliding his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket and
withdrawing the velvet box that held her gift.  “Maybe this will help.”

Staring at the
flat red velvet box he offered her for a moment, Honor slowly lifted her
confused eyes to his.  “It’s not my birthday, Zeke.”

“Nope, that’s next
month,” Zeke agreed with a shrug.  “This is Valentine’s Day.”

“But I’m not your
Valentine,” she whispered, dropping her eyes back to the proffered present.

“Guess again,
Kitten,” Zeke recommended firmly.  “Take it and open it.”

Honor’s eyes
darted around them to ensure they weren’t creating a spectacle.  Finding
everyone absorbed in their own conversations, she extended her hand toward the
gift, taking it in her trembling hand.  “Zeke, you really shouldn’t…”

“Shut it, Kitten. 
I wanted to get you something, so I did.”

“But, I didn’t…”

“Will you please
just open it?” Zeke laughed, cutting her off.

Cracking open the
lid, Honor gasped.  “Zeke,” she breathed, her surprised eyes lifting to his. 
“It’s beautiful!” she praised, swallowing hard as she dropped her eyes back
down to the gorgeous necklace fashioned in the shape of a dreamcatcher.  “It’s
way too much, though.  I can’t accept…”

“Woman, yes, you
can.  I found it just for you.  I know you’ve been having a lot of trouble
sleeping, so I did a little sleep research.  The pendant is made of quartz
crystal which is supposed to promote good dreams.  Obviously, it’s in the shape
of a Native American dreamcatcher and the theory behind that is pretty
self-explanatory.  I figure anything is worth a try.”

“Quartz crystal
surrounded by a whole bunch of diamonds,” Honor muttered, biting her lip as she
stared down at the sparkly pendant.  “This must have cost a fortune, Ezekiel,”
she continued, flashing him a worried look.  “You shouldn’t have spent this
kind of money on me.  I’m just…”

“Mine, Honor.  The
word you’re looking for is ‘mine’.  My Valentine.  Now, turn around,” he
ordered, plucking the gold chain from the box and motioning for her to spin
away from him.  “Let’s see how it looks on you,” he suggested, gently pulling
her long hair out of the way so that he could carefully fasten the delicate
clasp around her slender neck.  “There,” he murmured.  “Now, show me how it
looks,” he requested as she turned back to him.

Smiling as he saw
the twinkling pendant nestled between her high, firm breasts, he nodded.  “Just
like I suspected.  It’s perfect on you.”

Gingerly touching
the cool pendant, Honor looked down at it.  “It’s the most gorgeous thing in
the room, Zeke.  Thank you.”

“You’re the most
gorgeous thing in the room, Kitten, but you’re welcome for the jewelry.  I’m
sorry about our lunch plans though… I could have used that steak after the
morning we’ve had.”