On the Line (43 page)

Captain Little rose and walked around to the front of the desk. He set his palms
on the edge and leaned over them. “I believe Bonner went to see the sheriff the day
Mr. Wagoner’s manifesto came out. He told the sheriff that you had been on the case,
but given the revelations in the video and your relationship with the Morgan family
and Mr. Lyons, you may be biased and try to hide the facts. Bonner promised to do
a thorough investigation and make sure that anyone who needed to be brought to justice
would be brought to justice.”

Nathan frowned as he sat up in his chair. “No one needed to be brought to justice.
How did he continue to drag it out?”

“Bonner visited the sheriff ’s office every other week with updates and assured him
that Mr. Lyons looked guilty of murder and he needed a little longer to prove it.”
Captain Little crossed his feet at his ankles.

“All because Patrick is a celebrity?” Nathan asked as he stood and walked around
his seat. “That man would never hurt anyone on purpose.”

“Bonner was under the impression that he could make a name for himself if he could
prove Mr. Lyons’s guilt,” Captain Little answered with a shrug.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he began to pace. “Well, I guess he accomplished that.”

Silence fell between them as Nathan paced the length of the room and considered the
captain’s offer. He could take his job back, but there would be more risks now than
there had been before. The whole county now knew
he’d had an affair with Janelle
and that she’d been an abused wife. Most of the abusers he had to deal with already
had short tempers, and at least half of them were the jealous type. What would they
think if Nathan showed up to help protect their wives and girlfriends from their
abuse?

And what about the other officers? Would they respect him enough to work with him,
or would they always view him with some level of skepticism?

“Can the other officers work with me?” Nathan asked as he continued to pace. “Do
they believe in my innocence or do they think me capable of assisting with murder?”
He stopped behind his chair, directly in front of the captain, and looked into his
eyes. “I can’t work with people who would doubt my innocence.”

“I can understand that,” Captain Little said. “For the most part, they all believed
Bonner was up to something. Several of them thought Detective Hayes had been acting
strangely, and when they found out about your arrest, they came to me immediately
and pleaded your case for you.”

Nathan felt some of his apprehension flow out his body. “Do you think the population
will be able to trust me? They’ve all seen the manifesto. They’ve seen the news of
the arrest on the television. It doesn’t make me look good.” Nathan gripped the back
of the chair. “I’m not sure I can take the risk of an abusive man thinking I’m there
to help his battered wife for the wrong reasons. That puts my life in danger as well.”

Captain Little nodded. “I see your point.” He rose from the edge of the desk. “I
can’t make promises about that. We can try to find a better fit for you in that department
if you’d like. Or we can find another department to move you to.” The older man walked
to the back of his desk and picked up the basket. “It wouldn’t have to be a permanent
move, just until this blows over. And I’m sure it will.”

Nathan eyed his badge and sidearm in the basket in Captain Little’s hands. He could
move to another department for a little while if it meant he could stay safe. The
last thing he wanted to do right now was put his life at risk. He finally had the
woman he loved welcoming him home every night. They had a daughter to raise, and
he already considered Zach his son.

He wouldn’t leave them.

“That may be the best option,” Nathan said as he reached for the basket. “I’ll think
about which area I might want to move to for the time being.”

Captain Little held the plastic basket out, and Nathan took his gun and badge from
it. He clipped the holster to the belt on his jeans and put his badge in his pocket.

“Take the rest of the week. I’ll pay you for it and see you back here on Monday,”
the captain said with a smile as he tossed the basket onto his desk. He held his
hand out across the desk and Nathan grasped it and shook it. “Welcome back.”

Nathan took a deep breath. “Thank you.” He turned his back on the captain and walked
toward the door. He gripped the knob, turned it, and opened the door. His eyes widened
as he took in the crowd of officers now gathered outside of the captain’s office.

Detective Hayes stepped toward him. “Are you back?” he asked.

“I will be Monday,” Nathan answered, and the crowd erupted in hoots and applause.

Hayes held out his hand to Nathan. “I’m sorry I didn’t stand up to him. You didn’t
deserve that.”

Nathan took the other man’s hand and shook it. “You came around. That’s the important
part.”

He dropped Hayes’s hand and waved to the crowd then turned and walked out of the
building.

He stepped into the bright sunshine and held his hand up to shield his eyes. At the
bottom of the steps, Janelle was leaning against the waist-high stone wall, grinning
up at him. He quickly skipped down the steps, his own smile widening as he got closer.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as he stopped in front of her and took her hands.

“I decided I couldn’t wait for Patrick and Kelsey to bring you home, so I thought
I’d come fetch you myself.” Her face lifted to his, and he placed a brief kiss on
her lips. “Did it go well?” she asked.

“I go back to work on Monday,” Nathan said as he slid his arm around her waist and
turned her toward the street. He glanced to his left and then to his right until
he found her van and turned them toward it. “The captain apologized for the misunderstanding
and is going to get the IA investigation dropped.”

“That’s great!” Janelle exclaimed.

“No,” Nathan stopped her and turned her to face him. “I’m happy to have my job back,
even if I do have to figure out where I fit in now, but having you in my life is
what’s really great.” He saw her eyes light up. “It was a bumpy road, and things
haven’t happened the way we might have liked, but I wouldn’t change this for anything.
I love you so much.”

Janelle slowly slid her arms over his shoulders and clasped them behind his neck.
“I couldn’t agree more.”

Epilogue

Ten months later . . .

Janelle rolled over and smacked her alarm clock to shut it off. Her eyes slowly opened
as she focused on the empty pillow beside her and smiled.

She placed her feet on the floor and stretched her arms as she looked around her.
There were boxes scattered throughout her room, some had been opened, some were still
closed. They were full of Nathan’s things. He had spent most of his time since his
reinstatement at her house, but hadn’t officially moved in.

That was about to change. Today was their wedding day.

They’d already started the process of him legally adopting Zach and Zoe. Today, she’d
be taking his last name and, in a few short months, so would her children. They’d
decided that would be enough for Zoe for now, she was almost four, and they weren’t
sure how much she would understand at this point anyway. It was an added bonus that
she barely remembered Richard, even a year later, so Nathan would be the only father
she would know.

As a wedding gift, Kelsey was giving them her house to live in. The errand that had
been so important on the day the charges were dropped was a trip to the local land
management office so they could get a copy of the survey of her property. They’d
decided to build a house and needed to see if she owned enough land, and if it was
capable of supporting a new home. Until it was finished, the house was still in Kelsey’s
name, but within the next few months, Kelsey and Patrick would be moving into their
new home and Kelsey’s house would become Janelle and Nathan’s.

Janelle’s eyes landed on her wedding dress, and her smile widened. She’d opted for
pale blue, the lightest shade of her favorite color. Zoe, as their flower girl, would
wear a dress matching Janelle’s almost perfectly. Zach’s suit would be a smaller
duplicate of Nathan’s, and he would be carrying their
rings down the aisle. To say
he was excited would be an understatement. Both children had gotten a taste of their
responsibilities six months earlier, when Patrick and Kelsey had made their trip
down the aisle.

Mary had been in attendance at Kelsey’s wedding, but Kelsey had invited her more
as a favor to her father than anything else. Mary’s relationship with her daughters
was still tense, but she was making an effort. She’d accepted Patrick as a son-in-law,
but Kelsey was still struggling with forgiving her for the role she’d played in Patrick’s
arrest. Likewise, Janelle was having a hard time forgetting how many times Mary had
sided with Richard during her marriage to him, but she was hesitant to banish Mary
from her life completely for the sake of her children. She hoped that if Kelsey ever
had children of her own, her attitude toward their mother might at least soften enough
to allow Mary to have a relationship with them.

Thinking of her sister, Janelle decided she’d better head downstairs and get a start
on breakfast. She had several mouths to feed, and this would be her last chance to
do it for the next two weeks. She didn’t want Kelsey to get the jump on her.

Down the hallway, Kelsey threw the covers off and sprinted to the bathroom. She barely
made it to the toilet before every bit of what she’d eaten the night before made
its reappearance.

Patrick slowly followed his wife into the bathroom, a slight grin on his face. This
was the fourth morning in a row she’d launched herself out of bed for the same reason.
He had his hopes, but she hadn’t confirmed them. He made his face a mask of concern
as he entered the bathroom to find her sitting on the floor with her head leaned
back against the wall.

“I’m no longer sure it’s something I ate,” Kelsey said with a sigh. “I hope I feel
better soon, this is really getting old.” She slowly rose to her feet and walked
to the sink to wash her face. “Janelle will kill me if I get sick at her wedding.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Patrick said and held the towel out for Kelsey. She
dried her face, and he reached into the medicine cabinet for the box he’d bought
two days ago. He closed the cabinet as she took the towel off of her face.

“What is that?” she asked as she looked closely at the box he was holding. “A pregnancy
test? Are you kidding me?” Giddiness bubbled inside of her but she quickly squashed
it. “Patrick, I don’t think I’m pregnant.”

He tried not to smirk. “But you could be.”

She shook her head. It was possible; she’d come off of the pill two months before,
and they’d used condoms for only a month after that. They weren’t exactly trying
to get pregnant. But they weren’t exactly trying to prevent it either.

“Sweetheart, just take the test.” Patrick held the box out to her. “What’s the worst
that could happen?”

She could be pregnant.

Or she might not be.

Kelsey wasn’t sure which would be worse.

She still wouldn’t take the box from him, and he tried not to get frustrated. He
hated the fact that her last experience with pregnancy had been such a lonely one,
that her ex had been so cruel when she’d found out she was having his child. He hated
even more that she might even consider his reaction would be remotely similar.

He set the box on the sink and put his arms around her. “I’m not him,” he whispered
as he placed a kiss to her hair. “I want so much for you to have my child.”

“I don’t want to disappoint you,” Kelsey said as tears filled her eyes.

Patrick released her and cupped her cheek in his hand. “Regardless of what happens,
I won’t be disappointed. Just take the test because if you’re not, I’ll have to take
you to the doctor to find out why you’re sick every morning.”

Kelsey couldn’t argue with that. If she wasn’t pregnant, then she probably should
see a doctor, but even that would have to wait until Monday. It was Saturday morning
and Janelle was marrying Nathan this afternoon. She had so much to do today she couldn’t
take time out of her day to visit the emergency room.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” she said as she picked the box up. “But don’t get your hopes
up.”

“Of course,” Patrick said somberly even though his heart was racing with excitement.

“Now, get out.” Kelsey pointed to the door as she took the little plastic stick out
of the box and began to unwrap it.

Patrick did as he was ordered and closed the door as he left. He walked to the bed
and sat on it as he waited for her to come out. A few moments later, the door opened.
She walked toward him and sat down beside him.

“Well?” he asked. She had a serene look on her face that he wasn’t sure how to interpret.

“Well what?” She pressed her lips together.