Asking For Trouble (36 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jazzie watched in terror as Beau ran out
into the open with the bad guys firing at him. She had his
bulletproof vest on, armor they'd called it, so he was unprotected,
and she was scared shitless. He shouldn't have given it to her! She
shouldn't have let him!

Cole grabbed her arm and said, "Run like
hell, once the door opens--don't stop and don't look back!" Jazzie
nodded and swallowed down the fear for herself and Beau, and
focused on getting to that helicopter alive. That's why Beau was
putting himself on the line, she reminded herself, to make sure she
got out of here alive. Jazzie knew it, and it pissed her off,
because he hadn't been honest about it. He probably didn't think
he'd get out of this alive, and didn't seem to care, as long as she
got out. Well, she sure the hell cared...but there wasn't anything
she could do about it.

The door of the helicopter opened and she
saw someone jump out with a huge gun with something even bigger
mounted on top of it. He ran toward the mound where Beau was
stationed and dropped some legs beneath the gun, then got down
behind it. Jazzie and the rest of their group took off running.
Like Cole said, she didn't look at anything, but the door of the
helicopter as they ran.

Susan was ahead of her, because the woman
had legs for days, Carlos was about as slow as she was and was
right beside her holding his side as they ran. Luke was in front of
them and Cole was behind firing toward the van and cabin as they
ran.

Jazzie heard a high-pitched squeal then a
loud explosion rocked the ground, almost knocking her to her knees.
Still, she followed Cole's directions and didn't look back, she was
about halfway to the helicopter now, and wasn't stopping, or
looking back. Another explosion rocked the ground and she covered
her ears as she kept running. It felt like her heart was going to
jump right out of her chest, it was beating so hard. Her breathing
was short and shallow, and she vowed to buy herself a treadmill
when she got home, or go to Carlos's gym more often.

That didn't do her a lot of good right now
though, she was paying penance for her half-hearted to non-existent
workout routine . Evidently playing music on a stage, and dancing
around in four inch heels for two to three hour stretches didn't
put one in optimum shape for running like a track star.

When they reached the helicopter, the blades
were still running, so they ducked down and made their way to the
door then climbed inside. Finally, Jazzie looked back toward the
cabin and vans and saw that one of the vans and the cabin was on
fire. There were a few men on the ground, not moving, she assumed
they were dead and swallowed down bile that rose up to her throat.
At least it wasn't one of them, she reminded herself.

Beau was still crouched behind the dirt
mound shooting, and whoever had gotten out of the helicopter with
the big gun, she figured it must be his brother Gabe, was also
still laying on the ground firing his weapon too. Cole and Luke
were standing a little away from the helicopter, firing too. Cole
yelled loudly and Gabe looked back, then he said something to Beau
and they both got up and faced the chopper, then ran toward it.
Jazzie breathed a sigh of relief, and counted the seconds, before
Gabe and Beau hopped into the helicopter, followed by Cole and
Luke, who slid the door shut and yelled, "Go, go, go, June!"

"Ya'll took damned long enough," the
grizzled old pilot said then snorted. "Thought I was gonna have to
come help," he laughed then slapped his thigh, before he engaged
the stick and the bird lifted off the ground.

"Thanks for the grenade launcher, June--that
really helped out," Beau told him, then added, "And thanks for
coming to pick us up."

"You boys are always in trouble, seems like
you court it...and troublesome women...but I'm glad to help," he
yelled loudly, and Jazzie saw him grin. It looked like he was
having fun, in the middle of all this hell the man was actually
enjoying himself. She shook her head and Beau looked at her and
smiled then grabbed her hand and squeezed, before lacing his
fingers with hers.

"This was a piece of cake compared to last
time," Junebug said with a laugh.

"Yeah, Bri is much more trouble than
Jazzie," Cole yelled to him then chuckled, and winked at her.

"What happened with Sabrina?" Jazzie asked
Cole curiously.

"Similar situation, but she took out the bad
guys before we got there...my wife is a bad ass, let me tell you.
They were sorry they kidnapped
her
when she got done with
them."

"I wish I was like that," Jazzie said
seriously.

"We all have our talents, sugar," Beau told
her, then snorted, "Sabrina can't play a fiddle for shit."

Laughter bubbled up inside of Jazzie then
erupted, and before long they were all sharing it, even Susan was
laughing.

Less than an hour later, they were landing
in a field on a wooden platform a little distance from a big old
red barn. Cole told them it was Junebug's farm outside of Bowie.
Gabe had his Sheriff's Department SUV parked near the house, and he
said he'd take them out to Cole's house. Although Jazzie had met
Gabe at Katie and Tommy Tucker's wedding, she didn't know him well.
All she knew was that he looked a damned lot like Beau, except for
his eye color. They certainly couldn't deny they were brothers,
that's for sure.

Susan called someone to come and get her,
and offered Carlos a ride back to Dallas, which he accepted. Carlos
was worried about his car, and the shape it might be in, and Susan
told him she'd help him find out where it was. She also suggested,
that he and Frankie, who was being protected by Dave Logan and his
men in Dallas, leave town for a while until the FBI could sew up
the case and arrest everyone involved.

Barring that, she offered to put them into
protective custody. Carlos had shivered at the thought, and said he
and Frankie would take a vacation for a couple of weeks. He needed
the time to recover from his injuries anyway, he said.

Cassie pulled up in a beat up old pickup,
and Luke left with her to head back to the Double B. Cole thanked
Junebug repeatedly, then invited him to dinner at his house next
week to thank him. June was excited, because he said he wanted to
see Sabrina again, and taste her cooking, which everyone in town
raved about, and he wanted to meet the 'young un'. Jazzie thought
the grizzly old pilot might have a crush on Cole's wife the way he
talked about her.

To Jazzie, it sounded like there was
definitely a reason...the woman sounded like a dynamo, a chef and a
bad-ass ex-cop. Jazzie looked forward to getting to know her.

After a few minutes of conversation, Cole
was still jovial, but he was fading fast. It was very obvious to
Jazzie that he just wanted to get home to his wife and little boy.
If he was as exhausted and wrung out as she was, it was no wonder.
All she wanted right now, was a hot bath and a warm bed. She
imagined Beau felt the same way. He still had her hand in his and
was awfully quiet.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked him and
glanced up at the deep gash that had stopped bleeding now, and had
started to scab over.

He shrugged and glanced at it, then said,
"Probably needs stitches, but it'll heal. I'll get Bri to clean it
up when we get to Cole's house." His face froze and then his mouth
dropped open, and he said, "Oh, my god, I forgot..."

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Lucy and Robbie are at Bri's house...I have
to figure out what to do with them," he said then huffed out a
breath.

"I was going to see if my mom would foster
them...but then things happened," she said and shook her head.
"She'd be great for them, but I don't know if she's up to it
twenty-four seven or not."

"Bri's probably worn out by now. She said
she'd keep them as long as I needed her to. As far as the social
worker is concerned, I'm their foster parent for now."

"I'll check with my mama and let you know
what she says," Jazzie told him. She had to help him somehow,
because he'd told her implicitly he didn't want kids, and she knew
he had a life in Lubbock to get back to. The thought that he'd be
leaving her soon, and she might not see him again made her heart
twist in her chest and tears burn her eyes.

He hadn't made her any promises, and she
knew he wouldn't. From the outset, he'd told her he didn't do
relationships, and she'd let herself love him anyway. Jazzie loved
him, but he might never feel that way about her, she had to face
that fact, and decide if that was something she was willing to live
with.

It would rip her heart out to let him go,
but it might be better for her in the long run...especially
considering what he did for a living and how dangerous it was. He'd
probably get shot or killed at work, and she'd lose him anyway.
She'd seen how close he'd come to dying doing what was his job.
There was no way she'd ever ask him to give it up...it was who he
was...a white knight. Beau had an innate sense of goodness that
made him want to heal all the injustices in the world. The world
needed more people like him protecting it. Who was she to ask him
to give it up, because she was afraid?

White Knight complex aside though, him being
in the situation with the kids was partly her fault too. If she
hadn't dragged him into the drama with Frankie, and insisted she go
to that violin class, he wouldn't be stuck with the kids now.

She dropped her gaze to the ground and told
him, "I'm sorry I got you into all that."

He put his hand under her chin and lifted
her face. "Hey, I got involved, because I wanted to get involved,
they needed my help. It's not your fault."

"But, you don't want--" she was going to say
kids, but he cut her off and put his index finger over her
lips.

"Don't...just leave it alone, and don't
worry about it. I'll work it out," he told her then rubbed his
thumb over her lips and his eyes followed the motion.

She huffed out a breath and said, "I'm so
damned tired...I think I could sleep for a week."

"Me too, sugar, we'll get some rest at Cole
and Bri's...let's go," he said then tapped Cole, on the shoulder.
"You ready, bro?"

Cole twisted to face him and said, "Yeah, we
better get going. I'll see you next week, June, and thanks again,
man," he said and shook his hand.

"Anytime, Cole...ya'll take care," he said
then turned to walk toward the big old farm house down the
driveway.

They all piled into Gabe's SUV and he
cranked the motor and headed for the main road. Beau sat in the
back seat with Jazzie and pulled her into his lap, instead of
letting her sit on the seat beside him. He wrapped his arms around
her and she snuggled into his neck.

"I've got to figure out how to get my truck
from Dallas. I parked it where we met to load up for the mission,"
Cole said.

"I can run you there tomorrow," Gabe
offered.

Jazzie perked up, because she needed to go
back to Dallas and check on her parents too. She also wanted to
talk to her mom about the kids. "Can you take me back too,
Gabe?"

"No!" Beau growled and his arms tightened
around her.

She looked up into his angry green eyes and
wondered at his reaction. "Why not?" she asked him in
confusion.

"It's not safe...you can stay with me at
Cole's for a few days, until things settle down," he told her
firmly.

"But, I thought you had to get back home?"
she asked him, and a small ray of hope that she'd have at least a
few more days with him took root inside of her.

"I'm taking a damned vacation," he said
gruffly, then added, "Even with Tahiti, I have tons of time
left."

"Okay, then...I'll wait," she agreed softly
and relaxed back against him. The tenseness in his body eased, and
he kissed the top of her hair then rested his chin there.

Jazzie fell asleep a few minutes later and
didn't wake until Beau gently shook her when they arrived at Cole
and Sabrina's house. The big rambling house, which could hardly be
called a mere house, because in reality it was a mansion, was lit
up and Sabrina stood on the porch with her baby on her hip, smiling
at them.

Cole didn't waste time, he opened the door
as soon as Gabe put the SUV in park and walked swiftly up to the
porch and pulled her and the baby into a bear hug, then kissed his
wife silly. That's the kind of relationship Jazzie wanted one day,
one where there was so much love between her and her husband, they
couldn't resist showing it, even if there was a stadium full of
people around. That's the kind of relationship her mama and papa
had, and that's what she wanted. She glanced up at Beau, who still
hadn't opened the door for them to get out, he just sat there
unsmiling with a muscle working in his jaw.

He wasn't the man for the job, she decided,
unless things changed drastically. He was right, she would have to
leave him, because she wasn't going to settle for less than what
her parents had. Good sex was nice and exciting, and new to her,
but it didn't make up for a lack of affection and demonstrative
love. They went hand in hand, and if Beau couldn't manage that,
then she needed to move on.