Live and Let Love (38 page)

“Kennett is the assassin,” Jack said. “He’s known in intelligence circles as the Rooster
and works for the Revolutionary International Organization of Terrorists. He’s the
one planning to kill thousands of innocent civilians. I’m here to stop him.”

“Don’t believe him,” Kennett said to Willow, without taking his eyes off Jack. “He’s
been here for less than a week, showing up out of the blue and pretending to be Aldo’s
cousin.

“You
know
me. I’m steady and committed.”

Willow opened her mouth to speak, shook her head, and closed her mouth without saying
anything.

In the meantime, Jack was praying for a lucky break. He hated relying on luck, but
it had gotten him out of a tricky situation or two in the past. Though, as his bastard
of an old man used to say,
you make your own luck.

“Let the lady go, Con,” Kennett said. “She’s innocent.”

Jack was all for getting Willow out of here, but he didn’t trust Kennett. There was
no way Kennett was letting her leave alive.

“Fine with me.” Jack nodded to Kennett and then toward the door. “Let her walk out
of here.”

Kennett shook his head. “Nice try, Con. I let her walk past and you kill me while
I can’t fire back for fear of hitting her? Then you shoot me and her. Men like you
have no compassion or honor.

“There’s a trapdoor to an old bomb shelter behind me, hidden beneath the hay. It’s
safe. Let her go down there and then we’ll settle this between us. The winner can
rescue her.”

Jack kept his poker face on. He knew why Kennett wanted Willow in the bomb shelter,
and it sure as hell wasn’t to protect her.

“No deal. That’s a trap. You have enough explosives stored down there to blow this
place so high it will never be found.”

Kennett lifted the barrel of his gun slightly, aiming for Jack’s head. “It’s that
or shoot it out now.”

Jack was thinking hard and fast, but nothing was coming to him. All he knew for sure
was that he wouldn’t risk shooting Willow.

“Fine,” he said, at last. “But first, you move away from the door. The last thing
I need is you disappearing like a rabbit down a hole.”

Jack was trying to telegraph a message to Willow. He wanted Willow to duck so he could
take out Kennett.

Kennett shrugged and did as Jack told him, moving closer to the window. “Satisfied?”

Jack shrugged. “Good enough.”

“Kick the hay out of the way,” Kennett told Willow.

She did as she was told.

“Do you see the door?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Give it a gentle tug. It sticks a bit, but it will come up with a little pressure.
A light will come on and you’ll see a ladder.” He stared at Jack and smiled. “Once
she’s down the hatch, I’m taking you out for good.”

Willow opened the door, tugging as Kennett had told her to do.

Where’s the lock?
Jack thought. He’d been right—Kennett had been planning to take her down there all
along.

“Willow, no!” Jack yelled just as Willow looked as if she was going to start down
the ladder into hell.

Kennett grinned and everything happened in slow motion as Jack’s senses went on high
alert.

Kennett aimed at him and pulled the trigger.

Jack ducked behind a stack of apple crates.

“No!” Willow screamed. She lunged forward and pulled Kennett’s arm down.

The shot went into the floor. Grabbing him from behind, she swung him toward the bomb
shelter trapdoor. Kennett tumbled backward off balance right into the opening.

Jack heard the sickening thuds as Kennett fell down the ladder.

Damn,
Jack thought.
The bomb shelter’s booby-trapped.

Kennett fell too fast to disable his safeguards.

Willow froze, looking horrified at what she’d just done.

“Run!” Jack yelled to her as he raced toward her. “This place is going to blow!”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door. She squeezed his hand back and
ran with him.

They burst through the door, stumbling over the dogs as Willow called to them to follow
her.

They were less than twenty feet away when the apple shed exploded, a ball of fire
and heat behind them.

The dogs whined and cowered.

Willow tumbled into Jack’s arms, coughing and crying. “I knew it was you. I never
doubted.”

Jack pulled her into his chest and led her away, sheltering her with his body as debris
rained down around them.

They stopped in the safety of the orchard across the street.

“You believed me? You scared me there for a minute.”

Willow turned to stare at the fully engulfed apple shed and shuddered in his arms.
“Of course I did. The Sense was screaming at me and there were no kittens.”

He frowned at her.

“Shane called me over here this morning saying he needed some help saving some abandoned
kittens. There weren’t any.”

Her lips trembled. “I killed him,” she whispered. “I only meant to lock him in the
shelter.”

Jack pulled her close. “I know, babe.”

“Oh, my gosh, I killed him.”

“That man was an enemy terrorist assassin responsible for the deaths of thousands
of innocent civilians and half a dozen NCS agents.” Jack used the most calming voice
he could. “You saved countless lives.”

She shook in his arms.

He tipped her face up to meet his gaze. “Wills, he’s the man who blew me up in Ciudad.”

“You were going to kill him?” She looked horrified and stunned.

“Yes.”

“Revenge?”

“No. Mission.”

She stared at him in a way that broke his heart. “Are you really an assassin for the
Agency?”

He nodded. “I am. I always have been.”

She took a deep breath and blinked as she looked at him.

He took a deep breath, too. Just as he feared, it was over between them. He had to
explain. “That’s why I stayed away after I died. I knew you’d be better off without
me. You still will be. The Agency will keep paying you my pension. I’ll maintain the
cover of death. Things will go back to the way they were a few weeks ago, before I
came to Orchard Bluff.

“You’ll be fine, Willow. I just want you to know…” The words stuck in his mouth. He
felt like a world-class jerk, but he had to say them. “I love you, Wills. I always
will.”

She stared at him. “You fool. Don’t you dare leave me again.”

He was so surprised, he nearly took a step back.

“Better for me? Better for me without you?” She pulled his face down to hers. “Look
at me, Jack. I don’t believe in killing, but I believe in you. I know you. You’re
only doing what you believe is right to save others.”

She glanced at the flaming barn. “Given what I just did, I’d be the world’s biggest
hypocrite if I didn’t understand your motivation and threw you out.

“I love you, too. And always will. You promised Con would marry me and you’d darn
well better stick to your promise. And marry me soon.” She stroked his cheek. “Now,
call nine-one-one. But kiss me first.”

When a wife commanded, a husband obeyed. Jack leaned down and kissed her as if he’d
never let her go.

STINGER

TWO MONTHS LATER, DECEMBER 18

Emmett Nelson smiled to himself as he waited his turn in the reception line at the
Orchard Bluff Grange Hall to congratulate the new couple. Jack beamed ear-to-ear and
Willow looked radiant and as happy as Emmett had ever seen her. Neither one looked
upset by the new arrangements—Jack would be Con in his personal life and continue
on as Emmett’s top assassin in his profession.

The hall was decorated in country finery—boughs and wreaths made of fragrant fresh
greens, apples, dried apples, candied apples, every kind of apple imaginable on wreaths
and in table centerpieces. Poinsettias in red, pink, and white from a local greenhouse
sat on each table and by the roaring fire in the oversize fireplace at the grange.
A ten-foot-tall Christmas tree grown by a local farm was decorated in white lights
and homespun garlands. The wedding gifts sat beneath it.

There was a huge Italian spread on buffet tables lining the far wall—lasagna, spaghetti,
pesto, salad, bread, meatballs, and apple wine. Con’s cousin Aldo catered the event,
of course, looking on proudly from his perch behind the buffet table where he urged
people to eat, acting like an Italian mama. “You’re too skinny. Eat! Eat! The meatballs
melt in your mouth.”

Willow wore a simple knee-length white dress and shoulder-length veil held in her
hair by a crystal comb. Jack wore a fancy Italian suit that the Agency’s cover artist
Malene had picked out for him and the Agency had paid for. If Emmett pegged Jack right,
and of course he did, Jack was as uncomfortable as hell in that suit. Ah, the price
of love. Jack was going to have to dress out of his comfort zone for quite a while.

In time, he might be able to claim he’d gone country and dress in the casual way he
preferred.

Drew Fields stood beside Jack in the line as his best man. Drew hadn’t exactly been
thrilled with Emmett for keeping the secret of Jack’s being alive from him. But as
a first-class spy he understood the necessity. He’d mostly been furious that his wife,
Staci, had suffered so much guilt over Jack’s death.

Well, Emmett had set it right now. This wedding was costing Emmett a chunk of his
budget. Good thing it was the
use it or lose it
time of year.

Enjoy your Christmas bonus, Jack. This is all you’re getting this year.

Conversation buzzed all around Emmett, and Emmett, being head of NCS and a world-class
eavesdropper, took in every syllable.

“They look so sweet together,” one woman behind Emmett whispered to another. “But
can you believe their whirlwind courtship? Two months. And her a widow only two years.
They met on the anniversary of her husband’s death. Looks like she’s forgotten all
about her first husband.”

“Oh, I think it’s romantic,” the second woman said. “I’m glad she found someone who
makes her so happy. Look at her!” The woman sighed with great joy in her voice. “She’s
glowing.”

“Yes, but I thought for sure she’d end up with Shane.” She sounded just the tiniest
bit regretful.

“Oh, now there’s a scandal for you! Claiming to be an organic farmer while stockpiling
fertilizer and pesticide to help Grant Cooper. They were both frauds.” She sounded
as if this was the worst possible thing she could imagine.

“Yes, I know. It’s all anyone can talk about. And the way they died…”

Emmett had to fight to keep a straight face. If only the women knew the worst of it.

Chalk up another mission and matchmaking win for the chief. He had an impeccable record.

The line moved forward. Emmett shook Drew’s hand and moved forward to clap Jack on
the back. “Congrats, buddy. It’s about time you got the girl.”

He winked at Jack and grabbed Willow, hugging her and kissing her on the cheek.

She whispered in his ear, “I should be mad at you for keeping him from me for two
years, but somehow I can’t hold it against you, you old charmer. Call it the Sense
working overtime, but I can’t help thinking you orchestrated this somehow.

“After all, you could have refused to ever send him here in the first place.”

Emmett laughed and whispered back, “I should hire you. With that Sense of yours, you’re
a dangerous woman.”

“I think I’ll pass. I prefer making candy.” Willow smiled and introduced him to her
mother, who stood next to her, as an old friend of hers and Jack’s. “Meet another
dangerous woman. Mom, Emmett was just saying how dangerous the Sense is.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Diana said. “But it does come in handy.” She beamed
at her daughter and then smiled at Emmett. “It was so nice of you to come. I’m just
so happy for Willow and Con.” She looked Emmett straight in the eye. “He reminds me
an awful lot of Jack. I suppose I’ll get used to it.” She winked at Emmett and passed
him on to Willow’s matron of honor, Staci, as he wondered what Diana knew.

“Good to see you, you old liar. I think,” Staci said.

“What do you mean, you think? Don’t forget, you owe me your marriage, too. My methods
may be unconventional, but I get results.”

Staci glanced at Willow and Jack and smiled. “Yeah, I’ll give you that.”

Next Emmett hugged Willow’s bridesmaid Mandy, the widow of one of his best spies,
Kyle.

“I don’t suppose you have a resurrection up your sleeve for me?” she whispered in
Emmett’s ear.

“I’m sorry, darling. I wish I did.” He squeezed her back. “But I could probably see
about getting you some work in Canada.” He winked at her. She’d been secretly seeing
a Canadian secret agent. “I have some pull with the Canadians.”

“I bet you do.” Mandy handed him off to Ada, introduced as one of Willow’s Orchard
Bluff friends. “This is Emmett. He’s part of the family.”

Ada’s eyes lit up. “Oh, how nice. Are you related to Aldo, too, then?”

“No, sadly not.” Emmett took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“He’s from the…”—Mandy’s lips twitched—”other family, the other side of the family.
We all love Emmett. What would we ever do without him? He always seems to work magic
in our lives.”

Yes, Magic. He had a little prestidigitation he needed to work for her next. There
was a mad magician on the loose in Vegas and NCS was in need of an illusionist. Vegas—it
would be good to get back there.