P.I. I Love You (Miss Demeanor Suspense Series Book 1) (7 page)

Chapter Eleven

“Roger,” Gage said, and hung up his phone. “That was my pilot friend, the flight went fine. The soft-clothes officers were there upon arrival and took Mrs. Darnell and Tami to the safe house,” he told River as the two of them and a decoy of Mrs. Darnell headed south on I-5.

“Good to know. Have we picked up our tail yet?” River asked.

“Can’t say for sure, but our rest stop is coming up soon.”

His phone beeped and he glanced at the text displayed.

“They’re all set at the rest stop. This should go smoothly.”

“From your mouth,” River said.

Gage popped on his headlights as the sun set.

“I’m sure glad we waited until after sunset to run this op. I mean you’re good, but I don’t think you could pull off Mrs. Darnell in the daytime,” Gage said, as he glanced in the rear-view mirror.

“You’re welcome, numbnuts,” replied the female officer in the backseat.

“Oh, I see you’ve worked together before.” River giggled.

“You could say that.” The officer rolled her eyes.

“Funny,” Gage said. “Let’s get our game faces on. We’re two miles out.”

They pulled into the rest stop and parked across the lot and a few spaces down from the restrooms. A dark-colored sedan pulled in a few minutes later and parked four spaces away, placing another parked car between them.

Gage and River got out of the car. Gage headed for the restrooms, while River helped Mrs. Darnell from the vehicle. The two women entered the restroom together. Shortly after, Mrs. Darnell exited the restroom and walked back toward their vehicle. She strolled by their car and walked over to sit at the picnic table directly in front of the dark sedan. Her back was to the sedan.

The passenger door and one of the back doors of the sedan opened. Two men got out and looked around the rest area. There were two other vehicles in the area, the one between them and Mrs. Darnell’s ride and a pickup truck with a horse trailer attached, half-a-dozen spots away. The two men nodded to each other and headed in the direction of Mrs. Darnell. In less than thirty seconds they taped her mouth, threw a bag over her head and dragged her back to their sedan. One man shoved her into the backseat, and jumped in behind her as the other got into the front.

“Go, go, go…” Came the voice through the radio Gage held in his hand. The pickup backed into the middle of the parking area, and the doors of the horse trailer sprang open, six officers in complete riot gear jumped out, armed with Remington 870 shotguns aimed at the sedan. The sedan started backing up quickly. Sirens blared and lights flashed as police cruisers blocked all exits in and out of the rest-stop. The sedan stopped, but there was no other movement.

Gage took the bullhorn handed to him.

“You’re surrounded. Throw your weapons from the vehicle and come out with your hands up. Any hostile actions will be met with deadly force.”

Nothing happened. They waited a beat, then two.

“Okay,” yelled the driver. “We’re tossing our weapons.”

The weapons were tossed, and the three doors opened. The three men exited the vehicles hands held high in the air. The policewoman came out directly behind them, her gun drawn and pointed at the two men in front of her.

Two hours later, Gage and River headed for the Baxter residence.

“It kind of surprised me those imbeciles gave up so easily,” River said.

“Guess they were smart enough to know they wouldn’t get out of their predicament in one piece,” Gage said. “Actually what surprised me was how fast they flipped on Ellis.”

“They didn’t want to go down for the murder of the Baxters. Thanks for verifying their stories of being in Hawaii so quickly.”

“My pleasure,” Gage reached out and covered her hand in his.

“We work well together. I see a productive future for us.” She smiled at him. “In more ways than one.” She laced her fingers in his, brought them up to her mouth and kissed his hand.

They arrived at the Baxter residence just as Ellis was being escorted, handcuffed, to the waiting police cruiser. Blake held his sister, Garnet, as she sobbed into his shoulder.

“I feel sorry for Garnet. Her whole world has crumbled around her,” Gage said.

“Better now than after she married the bastard and he killed off the rest of her family and then her,” River said.

An unmarked vehicle pulled up and Mrs. Darnell was helped from the back seat. River walked over and greeted the older woman.

“I can’t begin to thank you for what you’ve done for my family,” Mrs. Darnell said.

“They still have some difficult times ahead. But at least their parents’ killer will be prosecuted,” River said.

The door on the other side of the vehicle opened and a young woman stepped out. She looked like a combination of both Blake and Garnet.

Blake noticed his grandmother and the other woman. He said something to Garnet and pointed in their direction. Garnet wiped her eyes and followed her brother down to the car. He reached his grandmother first and hugged her fiercely, his love for her evident. Garnet followed suit.

“I thought it past time you met your sister, Tami,” Mrs. Darnell said.

Time seemed to crawl by as the three siblings gawked at one another. Shock and surprise flashed across both Blake’s and Garnet’s face. Finally Garnet smiled and wrapped her sister in a bear hug, tears streaming down both cheeks.

“My baby sister! Welcome to the family. I feel as if I’ve known you my entire life. We have so very much catching up to do. We want to hear all about your life. Everything. The important events and the everyday happenings.”

Tears gathered in Tami’s eyes and started to leak. Garnet pulled away, still holding her shoulders as she studied the girl.

“I can’t wait to show you pictures of Mom at your age. You look just like her, doesn’t she, Blake?”

“She does, yes,” Blake said.

“Thank you so much for welcoming me. I wasn’t sure what your reactions would be,” Tami said as she dabbed at her teary eyes.

“Of course we would welcome you. Not only because it was what Mom wanted, but because you are our sister, our blood,” Blake said. He pulled Tami into his arms. “Welcome home, little sister. We know that you have a life and parents who have loved and raised you. But you need to know this too will always be your home and we, your family.”

Mrs. Darnell stood silently dabbing at her wet eyes with her lace handkerchief and watching her all of grandchildren. She turned to River and hugged her.

“Thank you, River, for not giving up, for seeing this through to the end. You have righted a wrong that happened so many years ago. You’ve given me the one thing I believed would never come to fruition. For that you have my eternal gratitude,” she whispered. She pulled away and smiled at her. “I feel I’ve gained another granddaughter in you and I expect that you and your beau will visit me often.”

“Oh, no…we’re not,” River stammered.

“Give it time, child.” Mrs. Darnell smiled at her and then she turned and winked at Gage.

“Let’s take Tami up to the house,” Garnet said. She reached out and took Tami’s hand in hers and offered her other hand to her grandmother.

The quartet started for the house. Suddenly, Blake turned back and walked over to River.

“I can’t even begin to say thank you.”

“You just did. Go be with your family. You know where to find me, when you’re ready.”

Six weeks later…

A key rattled in River’s apartment door. She ran over to open it. Gage stood there juggling take-out from one of their favorite places and a wrapped box. She kissed him and took the gift from his hand.

“For me?”

“Naturally.” He set the boxes on the kitchen table and picked up a glass of wine from the counter. “Don’t you think we should talk about finding a bigger place? I mean, I’m here nearly all of the time. I want to make it official.”

“I don’t want to leave my girlfriends. But I did speak to Uncle Mike today. He said the unit at the end of the hall will be empty in another month—two bedrooms, large living area, a kitchen and dining room.” She opened the box and found a stunning cobalt blue charmeuse pullover. “It’s perfect, I love it!”

“I thought it would highlight your dazzling eyes.”

Music from River’s favorite oldies station streamed through the speakers. A Beatles song started playing. Gage grabbed River and started dancing to the song,
P.S. I love you.
As the song reached the chorus, he belted out his own lyrics: “P.I. ~ I Love You.”

River froze and stared at him.

He continued singing…
“you, you, you…I love you.”

She jumped up into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and kissed him, over and over, until he could hardly breathe.

“I don’t know a fancy song, but I do love you, more than I ever thought possible,” she whispered between breaths.

“That’s music to my ears.” At that precise moment Gage knew he could never get enough of River Nightingale.

Look for the other titles in The Miss Demeanor Series

P.I. I Love You - Joanne Jaytanie

Choreographed Crime - Jackie Marilla

Bare- Angela Ford

Golden Ribbons - Lauren Marie

About the Author Joanne Jaytanie

Joanne was born and raised in Sherburne, New York, a quaint village surrounded by dairy farms and rolling hills. From the moment she could read she wanted to explore the world. During her college years she slowly crept across the country, stopping along the way in Oklahoma, California, and finally Washington State, which she now proudly calls home. She lives with her husband and Dobermans, in their home located on the Olympic Peninsula with a panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains.

Joanne writes romantic suspense, paranormal, and contemporary romance. She loves to submerge herself in the world of her characters, to live and breathe their lives and marvel at their decisions and predicaments. She enjoys a wide variety of books including paranormal, suspense, thriller, and of course romance.

Joanne is a member of Romance Writers of America, and past President of Peninsula Romance Writers, which was Debbie Macomber’s home chapter.

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