Almost a Bride, page 21
How quickly John had gone from pompous and aggressive to pitiful and defensive.
“It’s too late for that. Next time, try thinking of others before yourself.”
“I would never intentionally hurt Mandi. I told you I was trying to protect her and to give her a better life than I’ve had. I love my daughter.”
Gray unlocked a cabinet in the corner of the room, took out a Glock and loaded it at lightning speed. “You, John, don’t even know the meaning of the word.”
* * *
MANDI PULLED UP to Gray’s fence, next to her father’s car, and ignored the light sprinkle as she made her way around the gate and past the laurel tree.
“Dad? Grayson Zale? Or whatever your name really is. We need to talk. Now,” she yelled. She was still a good twenty feet from the cottage but she knew she could be heard. Not being able to hear their voices worried her, though. Were they fighting or arguing in there? John did have a temper, although he was no physical match for Gray. Gray didn’t have a temper, but what if her father had pushed one too many buttons with this file? “Dammit, Gray! I need answers. For once in your life, you’re not going to hold back. I need to know the truth.”
The door to his place swung open.
“Mandi. Get over here. Now.”
That stopped her in her tracks. She glared at him from the center of the clearing.
“I don’t take orders from you or anyone else, including my father. I’m sick and tired of lies and games. I know he’s in there and I’m sure he’s told you everything he knows. Is it true? The fake identity? Fake life? The witness statements and birth certificate? All of it? The truth, Gray.”
He raked his hair back and looked restless.
“Yes, Mandi. It’s true.”
Raw disbelief enveloped her. Her feet felt as though they’d been weighted down by anchors. An admission of guilt? This wasn’t happening.
“How could you? Five years. Five.” She shook her head. “I almost married you. Under a different name.” Every cell in her body ached. She wanted to die.
“I can explain, but first, you need to get inside. You’re not safe out here.”
“I can’t believe you anymore. Truth, Gray. You promised honesty and truth. It makes so much sense now...how you always held back, never opening up. I should have listened to my gut. I knew something was off.”
“Mandi, hear me out. I’ve been in the Federal Witness Protection Program. I couldn’t tell you even if I had wanted to, and believe me, I did. It was too dangerous. But I was going to today because it was the only way to get out of your father blackmailing me. You have to believe me. We’re in danger. John blew my cover and that puts you in danger, too, because anyone out there seeking revenge would have figured out that you mean everything to me.
“You know the real me, Mandi. The new name and documents? Those were about appearances. My outward identity.” He jabbed a finger at his chest. “The real me is still in here. He’s really a vet who loves animals and pizza on a rainy night. You know the real me, Mandi. The guy who fell in love with you and who still loves you.”
She shook her head and took a step back. She couldn’t stop the tears or the rain that was getting heavier or the pain. She had loved the man she thought he was. A man who didn’t exist.
“I don’t know anymore,” she said.
The sound of a vehicle speeding down the road grew closer. No sirens. Just the engine getting louder. It sounded like a motorcycle. Someone was taking a risk driving that fast in the rain. She glanced down the road and back at Gray.
“Mandi. You can’t stand there like that. It’s dangerous.” He started to close the gap between them. She took a step back.
“Where’s my dad?”
“He’s telling the truth, Mandi,” her father said, appearing in the doorway of the caretaker’s house. “I think I made a mistake. I’m so sorry, Mandi. Listen to him. Hurry.”
The afternoon clouds thickened and blanketed everything in a foreboding shade of gray. The sound of the engine revving got closer. Her dad was the one who had all the evidence against Gray. He was the one who never liked Gray. And yet, here he was admitting fault and backing Gray up? It was true? Gray had been in the witness protection program all this time? Memories from their times together...small bits of conversations...it was all coming back in a new light. The pieces were falling into place. Tears stung the rims of her eyes. She walked toward him, unable to speak but wanting to say so much.
The headlight of a motorcycle appeared through the rain at the end of the road and aimed right for the gate without slowing down. The look of horror on her father’s face...the intense fear in Gray’s eyes...the headlight beaming right toward them. It was all registering at once. Then a second bike sped up behind the first.
“Mandi! Now!”
* * *
GRAY BOLTED FORWARD and lunged at her. Whoever was approaching clearly wasn’t on their side. The marshals wouldn’t have come for him on bikes. They wouldn’t have approached so aggressively. WITSEC made people disappear. They didn’t draw attention to those under their protection. Where were his contacts? Or Carlos? Now would be a good time to get here, Sheriff. The rain started coming down even harder.
“John, get inside and lock the door!”
His priority was to protect Mandi and the safest place he could get her was the lighthouse. Its walls were impenetrable. It had height. It was his WITSEC designated safe place in an emergency. There wasn’t time to get John, Laddie and the kittens there, but maybe he and Mandie heading for the lighthouse would also serve as a decoy and buy them all time.
Gray grabbed Mandi’s arm and ran toward the lighthouse as fast as he could, trying to shield her with his body, but the helmeted intruders crushed the picket gate and sped across the clearing, aiming straight for them. The first one swerved to block their path and the other circled like he was corralling sheep. The rider pulled out a gun and aimed right at them.
“Gray!”
He shoved Mandi to the ground, pulled out his own gun and aimed straight for the chest of the motorcycle driver, but in a flash, Laddie appeared in his peripheral vision, faster than he’d ever seen him run. The dog bolted into the air and knocked the rider off his seat. The rider’s gun flew off to the side and landed a few yards out of reach. The bike fell to its side and did a one-eighty, spraying wet sand with it. Laddie wrestled the guy and kept him pinned down. The other driver swerved around and started for them. John, of all people, ran out of the house and began waving his hands in the air and yelling curses to bait him.
“John, no! Get back!”
John ignored him. The man was going to get himself killed. Gray could hear vehicles approaching in the distance. Hopefully the right ones this time. They needed to buy time. He knew the motorcycle riding jackets worn were embedded with armor to protect in an accident, but he wasn’t sure if they’d stop a bullet or not. He aimed and shot the tire on the bike first, to slow the guy down. The rider lost control but jumped off his seat, rolled out of his fall, then tackled Gray. Gray’s gun skidded out of reach. The attacker had managed to hang on to his. Gray grabbed the guy’s wrist, jammed his knee behind his leg and flipped him over, pinning his arm behind him. The gun fired. John buckled to the ground.
“No!” Gray screamed.
“Dad!”
“Mandi, take these keys, run for the lighthouse and lock yourself in. Go, now!” He threw her the keys just as his attacker used a similar combat move to escape the hold Gray had him in. Gray took a punch to the face. If only he had his helmet on, too. He twisted the man’s wrist, forcing him to drop the gun, put his knee behind the attacker’s and flipped him back down. He grabbed the gun off the ground and aimed it at his chest.
“Move and I’ll shoot.”
The first rider had gotten out of Laddie’s hold and started running at Mandi, who had ignored Gray’s orders. Instead, she ran for the first attacker’s gun that was lying in the sand not far from where Laddie had first pinned the guy down and aimed it at the man. Laddie jumped him again, this time latching on good with his teeth and pinning him down. Mandi’s hands were shaking, but Gray somehow knew she wouldn’t shoot, because of Laddie, unless she had to. She had to be okay. If she got injured—or worse—he’d never forgive himself or survive it.
Everything was happening in microseconds. From the corner of his eye, he saw a black SUV swerving into the clearing and slamming its brakes. The sheriff’s car and Carlos. Finally. Laddie yelped and the man he had by the arm started to run. Someone yelled “down” and shots rang out at the same time that Mandi hit the ground.
“Mandi!”
Gray’s attacker took that moment to leg flip him in the mud. The man made a run for it. Gray aimed the gun at him but shots rang out again before he fired. The man went down.
Gray’s breath caught in his chest. He recognized the marshal running toward him through the rain. There were teams fanning out to secure the area. Ambulance sirens nearing. He couldn’t see Mandi. He could only see the sheriff kneeling down where she’d fallen. Panic consumed him. His pulse was erratic. If she was hurt...if he’d lost her...his life would be over, too.
* * *
MANDI SAT UP with Carlos’s help. She couldn’t keep up with each breath. She started gasping. She couldn’t control her breathing. She saw her father go down. She didn’t know if Gray was hit. Where was Laddie?
“Slow down. Slow breaths. You’re hyperventilating. It’s all over. You’re going to be alright.” Carlos signaled for a medic, then moved out of the way when Gray reached them. Laddie was glued to his side, looking up at him repeatedly to make sure he was okay.
Grayson. She didn’t care what his last name was or had been. He was her Gray and he was alive. Tears began streaming down her face uncontrollably. She could feel them, but the moment was surreal. She could feel Laddie licking her hand. Voices were everywhere but they sounded muffled in her ears. All that really mattered was Gray.
She tried to say his name but only heard her heavy breathing and sobs.
“Mandi.” He took her in his arms and held her tight against his chest. His warmth and the beating of his heart helped soothe her pulse and breathing to a steady pace. As steady as her pulse could ever be in his arms. He stroked her hair and pressed desperate kisses to her head, face, then lips. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She kissed him back, then buried her face in his shoulder. “Gray I’m scared. My dad...”
Gray kissed her forehead again.
“He’s going to be alright. A bullet grazed his shoulder. They’re walking him to the ambulance right now. Come on, I’ll take you to him. You need to get checked, too.”
“I’m okay. Just shaken. I’ve never held a gun. I couldn’t shoot because I didn’t want to hit Laddie, but I was afraid that guy would get it or get away. And then I heard the shot and I dropped to the ground for safety but I also saw him fall and I don’t know if I did it. Did I kill a man?”
“No, but you sure were ready to. So was I. The marshal got him first. I was scared to death for you, Mandi. But the fact is, you were amazing and you and Laddie teaming up against that guy made all the difference.”
“Laddie made the first move. He deserves a medal. Don’t you?” She gave Laddie a hug and Gray gave him a good rub.
“He’ll get one even if I have to make it myself. But first, he’ll be getting a thorough check at the office. No cuts, but I think he’s limping slightly on his back leg. You’ll be okay, though, boy. Let’s check on John before the ambulance leaves.”
“Wait.” She took his hands in hers and held them to her chest. “I’m sorry, Gray. I’m sorry that I doubted you for even a moment. I knew deep down you were a good man...someone I’d never stop loving. I know how my father can be and I knew there had to be some sort of explanation for what I was seeing in the file he had on you. But when you first said it was all true, I let my insecurities and emotions get in the way. Please forgive me. For everything. For not trusting you enough about your ‘secrets,’ for abandoning you on our wedding day and for doubting you today. I love you with all my heart, Gray. I trust you with all my heart. You have to believe that.”
“I do.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I love and trust you too. And I can’t blame you for your reaction. Falling in love when you’re in the witness protection program isn’t exactly the typical dating scenario for either party.” He gave her a lopsided grin and she smiled.
“Very true,” she said, before sharing a kiss.
“Let’s go check on your dad, now.”
He put his arm around her and walked Mandi, with Laddie at their side, to the ambulance. John’s eye was already turning black-and-blue and a paramedic was pressure bandaging his shoulder wound. Mandi ran up to him and held his free hand in hers. A tear escaped the corner of John’s eye.
“Oh, Dad. You’re hurt badly.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m just glad the two of you are alright.”
“John. You may have triggered what happened today, but what you did back there was risky, insane...and courageous. Thank you, from both of us, for trying to distract that rider.”
“I can’t take any credit. I got you both into this mess. I put you both in danger. I’ll never forgive myself. Mandi, you mean the world to me. You do, whether you believe it or not. I think I was trying to hold on too tight and messed up along the way. I didn’t want you to suffer the way I did when your mother left me.”
“Dad, you can’t keep trying to relive your life through me. I’m not your do-over. I’m my own person and so is Gray.”
“I know that now. I was trying to fill a void and lost sight of what was important. Showing how much I love you and am proud of you, for one thing.”
Tears welled up in Mandi’s eyes again.
“Thank you, Dad. I’m going to need some time to get over what happened today, but we’ll talk. Focus on getting well for now.”
“The fact that either of you is still willing to talk to me is more than I can hope for. I’ll live every day here on out trying to make it up to you. I know it’s not enough, but I mean it when I say that I’m sorry. You deserve to be happy. Forever. Both of you do. Life’s short. Don’t waste it apart.”
The medics apologized for interrupting, got him in the ambulance and closed the doors.
“Gray, Mandi,” Carlos said, walking up to them. “I have another ambulance on the way for the two of you. I know ‘you’re fine’ but after what just went down, you’re not arguing with me.”
“We’re fine,” they both said, exchanging looks.
“Sheriff’s orders,” Carlos said.
Mandi rested her head on Gray’s shoulder.
“Carlos, did you know all this time?” she asked. “About Gray being in witness protection?”
Carlos looked at Gray.
“I’ll let him fill you in. I believe the US Marshals will want to talk to you both, before more is said or done.” He motioned over his shoulder as a marshal approached.
“Mandi, this is US Marshal Brenda Finn,” Gray said. “Brenda, fill me in because I can’t do this again. I can’t start over. And I can’t do that to Mandi, but at the same time, I want her safe.”
“You had a close call here, Zale. My intel said that as far as they can tell, these two guys were the only ones who had tapped into Rivers’s info search on you and passed your location on. I can’t give you guarantees and you know we usually recommend staying in the program, but we’ve ID’d the bodies. They were the two we suspected might come after you—Keenan’s brother and his friend—and Rivers inadvertently drew them out of the woodwork. And let’s just say they’re no longer an issue. One of your attackers today was Keenan’s brother.”
“You’re saying I’m a free man?”
“I’m saying, I’d keep your current identity and play it safe, but if you want out, I believe the threat has been neutralized.
“Understood. I’m not going anywhere. This is my life now. My choice.”
The marshal nodded, said something about paperwork and went back to her team. Mandi wrapped her arms around Gray and felt her body melt into his when he held on to her.
“So, are you keeping the last name Zale?” She looked up at Gray and linked her fingers in his.
“I guess I will. Everyone here knows me by that name. My practice is built around it. Changing all my legal papers would be a pain. But at least I’ll have my past...my history...back, too. Does it still matter to you? The name? The fact that I kept it from you?”
“I love you, Gray. Not a name. You. And the only reason I’m asking is because I’d like to know what I’d be changing my last name to.”
Gray’s brow twitched and his lips spread into a slow, lopsided smile.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“If you’ll give me a second chance, I promise I won’t run away this time,” she said. Her pulse was racing all over again. What if he said no? She wasn’t even sure how it would work out. All she knew was that she couldn’t picture life without him. “Grayson Zale... I don’t want to almost marry you. I want to marry you.”
“Mandi, all I ever wanted was for you to be my bride, so that I could wake up every sunrise by your side and love you every minute of my life. Marry me, Mandi.”
She brushed her lips against his and he held her face in his hands, then kissed her like there was no tomorrow, but with the promise of forever.
EPILOGUE
THE LIGHT FROM the full, strawberry moon glistened across the Atlantic. Gray turned off the house lights, then made his way down the steps from Nana’s cottage, carrying a thermos of coffee and a couple of mugs. It was going to be a long night, but Mandi was with him and that made all the difference. She sat there, silhouetted against the moonlit sky, waiting for him...and the turtles. He walked over, set the thermos down and sat behind her in the cool sand, spreading his legs so that she could rest her back against his chest.
