Forever Concealed Page 18

  “Huh, the saleslady fooled me. Didn’t take her for a cop.”

  “I’m no cop, but I have no problem shooting you either,” Paige Davies Parker said from behind her rifle. Paige and her husband, Cole, stood with guns raised in the front room between Sloane and the door.

  “Then you’ll have to shoot this innocent woman, too,” Lisa challenged. “Now move. Over by the stairs, all of you.”

  Paige and Cole looked at Sloane. “Would someone please shoot me?” Sloane shouted as Ryan and Matt moved to the staircase. Reluctantly Paige and Cole moved to the stairs as Sloane shook her head.

  “I’m sorry. I can shoot your mother, but I can’t shoot you. Dani would kill me.” Paige kept the rifle aimed at them in case Lisa poked her head out.

  “It’s time to go home, Chanel.”

  * * *

  Gabe saw Nash behind one potted decorative tree and Miles behind another one, framing the entrance to Paige’s shop. That meant it was probably Cy at the sniper position. Ahmed and Bridget stood in the doorway one building down with their police dog. Gabe looked around and saw Cade and Annie across the street hidden in the doorway of the insurance office. Sophie stood on the street, looking in the window nearest her parents. Next to her was Sydney with Robyn happily sitting on the bench next to them wagging her short tail.

  Nash made eye contact and didn’t look happy. Well, guess what? Gabe wasn’t happy either. Before Gabe could head toward Nash, the door to Southern Charms opened and the back of a woman appeared as she hid behind . . . Sloane!

  Gabe didn’t think. He reached across Draven and grabbed the decorative cavalry sword. Gabe unsheathed it in one swift motion and charged the woman holding Sloane hostage. Nash and Miles stepped on either side of her as Ryan, Matt, Cole, and Paige followed out of the shop.

  They fanned out forming a semicircle around Sloane and Lisa. If Gabe hadn’t been blinded by fear, he would have seen DeAndre, Sophie, Sydney, Annie, Cade, and about half the town’s population closing in from behind. Instead, Gabe could only see the gun pressed to Sloane’s neck.

  “You have a sniper aimed right at your head. There’s no way out alive unless you put down the gun and lie on the ground,” Ryan told the woman with a steady voice. As if hearing Ryan, Cy moved the red dot of the laser to Sloane’s head, right in front of the woman’s view.

  The woman whipped around, and Gabe made his move. He slammed the ornate solid gold handle of the sword against the woman’s head with a fierce hook punch. As she was struck, Gabe shoved Sloane away as the sound of a gun echoed off the quiet street.

  * * *

  Sloane screamed as she felt herself being shoved to the pavement from behind. Burning pain on her calf coincided with the sound of a gun going off as Sloane fell onto the rough pavement with her own gun still in her hand. Her knees stung as the breath was knocked from her.

  “Are you hurt?”

  The person on top of her had to repeat the question several times before Sloane could understand it through the fog in her brain. Adrenaline pumped into her system as she tried to focus on just one thing. Since no one was shooting her mother, Sloane had reached down to her thigh and pushed up her skirt as her mother dragged her from the store. Her hand had closed around the butt of the gun Annie had given her. Then a second later, her mother turned, loosening her grip enough for Sloane to fire. However, there was so much movement and shouting around her it had taken Gabe rolling her over and placing her face between his hands for her to understand his question. She was too focused on what had happened to her mother to hear any of the chaos around her and make sense of his words.

  “H-h-hurt?” she stuttered as she saw her mother being shoved up with her hands cuffed behind her. A red mark bloomed on her mother’s shoulder and blood trickled down the side of her face.

  “Yes. Are you hurt?” Gabe yelled at her, forcing her to look back at him.

  “I shot her,” Sloane said with disbelief as her mother began shouting at her daughter with pure rage and vitriol.

  “My leg. Something happened to it, but now I don’t feel anything.”

  Sloane stared at the anger in her mother’s eyes and heard the threats of death to her and the entire town. Gabe started to run his hands over her. “Dr. Emma! Sloane’s been shot!”

  “I’ve been shot?” Sloane asked, tearing her eyes away from her mother’s.

  Sloane saw Aniyah running toward her in a knee-length pencil skirt and white blouse. She was channeling her inner Veronica as a gun dangled from her bright red pointy nails.

  “How do you run in those heels?” Sloane started to feel a little lightheaded.

  “Lord help me! I shot you! Please don’t die!” Aniyah cried and lifted her hands to the sky as her large breasts swayed with every step. It was mesmerizing. “The one time I hit something other than a toe.”

  Aniyah crashed to her knees at Sloane’s head and pulled her head onto her lap. Sloane was about to tell her she’d be fine when Aniyah leaned over, trying to cradle Sloane’s head and began to pray. Unfortunately, that put Sloane’s head smack in the middle of Aniyah’s suffocating breasts.

  “Baby, she can’t breathe.” Sloane heard DeAndre a moment before air whooshed back into her lungs.

  “She’s stopped breathing?” Aniyah cried, dropping Sloane’s head to the pavement with a thump and shoving Gabe away. Sloane groaned and closed her eyes as her head throbbed. “We’re losing her! I know CPR.”

  “No, baby, she’s—”

  Sloane opened her eyes right as a pair of plump puckered red lips pressed onto hers. Sloane went to tell her she was alive when a rush of air pushed into her. She tore her lips away, coughing and more dazed than when she hit her head.

  “She’s alive!” Aniyah screamed, pulling Sloane up and shoving her head against her breasts once again. Since the breasts were no longer suffocating her, Sloane had to give it to Aniyah—they were nice. Soft, warm, and they smelled like fresh lemons. “Praise Jesus, I saved her!”

  Sloane tried to move, but one hand kept her pressed firmly in place. She saw Gabe next to Aniyah, looking hilariously caught between fear and laughter. DeAndre appeared and tried to pry her from his girlfriend’s grasp.

  “You did good, baby. Let’s celebrate you improving your aim with a pie at the café,” DeAndre coaxed.

  “This here is a miracle! Did you see it, Father Ben?” Aniyah asked as she finally surrendered Sloane over to Gabe.

  Warm strong arms surrounded Sloane as Gabe pulled her into his lap and held on for dear life. “I’m okay, Gabe,” Sloane finally managed to say as Aniyah cornered Father Ben.

  “No, you’re not. You’re shot!”

  Sloane looked down at her leg. “Where?”

  “There!”

  Sloane looked closer. Maybe she’d hit her head harder than she thought. All she saw was a scratch. She licked her thumb and washed away the small smear of blood.

  “See, it’s gushing,” Gabe said, waving over a woman with short curly hair who looked to be close to sixty. “Dr. Emma, can you stop the bleeding?” Gabe asked frantically.

  “Hi, dear. I’m Dr. Emma. Can I have a little look at that leg?”

  Sloane nodded as Gabe clutched her hand.

  “I think I hit my head because I don’t see any bleeding. Am I in shock?” Sloane asked.

  Dr. Emma shook her head as she opened her bag. “Good news. I can stop the bleeding,” she said as she put the Band-Aid on Sloane’s leg.

  Sloane looked at Gabe’s white face and decided not to get mad or laugh at him either. He’d saved her from her mother and overreacted about her injuries only because he loved her.

  “I am glad to see you were brought back to life from your serious injuries,” Draven said with a wicked smile on his face. He bent to pick up his sword.

  “Are you dressed up for some reenactment or something? You look like George Washington in that painting where he’s crossing the Delaware River. Of course, you’re wearing more medals than he did. You gotta get your f
acts rights if you’re going to represent the best of American history,” Aniyah lectured as she started plucking medals from Draven’s chest.

  “I’ve been telling you those medals look ridiculous,” Sloane said with a smile as Dr. Emma stood. Gabe stood too, his face having a little more color to it now as he bent over to help Sloane up.

  “They’re dignified,” Draven defended as he snatched them from Aniyah’s hand.

  “They’re gaudy.” Aniyah put her hands on her hips and stared the king down. “I like bling as much as anyone, but sometimes less is more. Now you just look like you’re trying to overcompensate for a small penis.”

  Sloane choked on the bubble of laughter. Others gasped. She felt Gabe suck in a breath behind her and begin to shake.

  “The Royal Member is not small!” Draven was turning red and reaching for his pants.

  “Mmm-hmm.” Aniyah didn’t seem to believe him. “Anyone who has to name it his Royal Member is definitely compensating for a small penis. Just like someone who names it Big Johnson or the Woman Pleaser. Now, when a man tells you his name for his winky is Little Johnson or Li’l Man, that’s when you know there’s nothing little about it.”

  “Baby,” DeAndre groaned. “Let’s not insult the king’s penis. Some men can’t help having small penises. It’s not their fault.”

  “Oh no,” Sloane gasped. “He’s going to blow.”

  Draven was so red he looked like a giant apple adorned in gold medals—a giant apple who dropped his pants and flashed all of Keeneston.

  “He’s not a king. He’s a reenactor. What king would wear that getup?” Aniyah turned to Draven as Miss Lily pushed her way to the front to snap a picture of a pantsless king. “If you want to get women, I wouldn’t tell them you were a reenactor. That’s not hot. Instead, I’d just whip out your willie and tell them its name is Little King. That’s impressive right there.”

  “Oh. My. God.”

  Sloane looked next to Aniyah to see Nikki drooling.

  “You think so?” Draven asked, standing proudly with his hands on his hips as he talked to Aniyah.

  “Yes,” the entire female population of Keeneston answered.

  Nikki rushed forward, elbowing fellow Belles out of her way as the single women of Keeneston converged on Draven. Sloane shook her head and leaned back into Gabe’s embrace. She had her own prince.

  “Hey, guys.” Ryan said, pulling off his FBI windbreaker. “Mrs. Malone is secure in the town’s jail. Dr. Emma is attending to the gunshot wound as every agency under the sun fights to talk to her. I’m going to have a talk with her before she gets transported out of here. Do you want to watch?”

  Gabe looked to Sloane, and she shook her head. “I don’t want to see her ever again.”

  “All right. I’ll let you know what I find out. I’ve talked to the prosecutor and he’s on a plane to Chicago as we speak to dig up your grandfather’s backyard. The recording we got was enough evidence to get the warrant and to seal your mother’s fate.” Ryan looked over her shoulder at Draven, standing in the middle of a horde of single women and shook his head. “Makes me glad to be married.”

  “Did you find my sister?” Sloane felt the fear creeping back into her body.

  Ryan frowned and shook his head. “Not yet. We have an alert out on her. We’ll get her.”

  Sloane wasn’t so sure, but before she could worry about it, friends surrounded her.

  24

  Gabe wasn’t going to let Sloane go. Finally they were in the peace and quiet of their small home-away-from-home. They sat, not talking, on the back porch swing and looked out over the fields filled with pregnant mares.

  Sloane was curled up, her feet tucked under her on the white wooden swing as she rested her head against his chest. The sun was a deep orange glow as it slowly began to set over the horizon. It sank into the earth until it was only shafts of light through the four-plank fence. And then it was gone.

  Gabe felt Sloane let out a deep breath. “Do you want to go inside?”

  “No. I want to stay out here. It’s so peaceful. I can’t believe I shot my mother.”

  “She deserved it,” Gabe said, trying to soothe her conscience.

  “I know. But now I feel as if I stooped to her level. I just couldn’t stand to see anyone else get hurt. I could feel her starting to panic.”

  Gabe felt like cursing when his phone began to vibrate. He dug into his pocket and pulled it out, intending to turn it off. “It’s Ryan.” Gabe answered the phone. Ryan was quick and to the point. Gabe was already hanging up by the time Sloane sat up.

  “Did they find my sister?” Sloane asked.

  Gabe shook his head. “No. But they found twenty-three bodies in your grandfather’s backyard. Your mother is being transported to Chicago. Ryan is escorting her. Your father is already in custody. The news has broken, but so far no one knows about you. Ryan wanted to warn me it was probably only a matter of time before your fake death is discovered.”

  “I should go. This can only reflect badly on you and your family.”

  “No,” Gabe said instantly as he held Sloane tightly in his arms.

  “Gabe. It was one thing when I thought my identity would never be known, but I saw the look my mother gave me as she was being placed in the back of the cop car. Even from jail, she’ll call in every favor she has to destroy my life. The first step of that is to make sure everyone knows I’m alive. My picture will be splashed all over the news, making it impossible for me to get a job, if she even lets me keep my life. She’s going to ruin everything I care about. I love you too much to let her take you down with me.”

  Gabe’s heart pounded in his chest. “You finally said you love me.”

  “Of course I love you. Did you think I didn’t?”

  Gabe smiled down at her, the corners of his lips lifting just slightly. “No. I knew you did, but I like hearing it anyway. And I don’t care what your mother throws at us. If we’re happy and in love, then nothing she does can hurt us.”

  “I’ll never be able to get a job.” Sloane pushed off him and Gabe let her sit up and look at him. “I’ll constantly be looking over my shoulder.”

  “Yes, you will get a job. You have an interview with the Keeneston school board and the principal the day after your graduation. Did you get my tickets, by the way?” Gabe changed the subject. He didn’t want to hear any arguments as to why she had to leave him for protection. He’d survived enough scandals. He’d be able to handle one more, especially if Sloane waited for him at the end of it. And protecting her wouldn’t be a problem, not with his resources. And if worse came to worse, they could move to Rahmi and no one would touch them there.

  “Yes. I got the email saying I have four tickets even though I only needed one.”

  “I think you might be surprised at how many people will want to be there, supporting you.”

  “Gabe,” Sloane said so seriously that Gabe got nervous. “What’s going on with us? I mean, really? Yes, I love you so much I can’t stand it, but I have to be my own woman. I’m not meant to stand behind you and wave and host teas. I’m not that kind of woman. And your family, while they’ve been so incredible, can’t want me for your girlfriend. I don’t even want to think about what they’d say if this developed into something more serious.”

  “Sweetheart, it’s already serious.” Gabe forced her to look up at him. He saw her deep green eyes filled with worry and would give anything to make her believe him when he told her all he cared about was her. “I would never dream of making you become someone you aren’t. Talk to Mila and my mother. Marrying into the family may have changed some things, like going to more charity events and political balls, but they haven’t changed. Mila still works as an interpreter. My mom worked as Kenna’s paralegal until Kenna became a judge. Now she’s chosen to accompany my father on political travel because she lobbies for charities. Something I would be honored to help you do, too.”

  “A charity?”

  Gabe nodded. “For ado
lescent drug use. Or anything you’re passionate about. Sydney Davies McKnight has started a charity to help fight sex trafficking. Her mother, Katelyn, works with charities to prevent dog fighting and rescuing dogs from those circumstances. You don’t have to do it, but even if you didn’t get a job at a school, you could still have a full-time job helping the kids like you want. I am hopeful I will conclude my meetings and have a signed peace treaty tomorrow. I know this life isn’t for everyone, and it’s certainly not the fairy tale that people imagine. So why don’t you talk to Mila and see how she’s adjusted?”

  Sloane wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. “It’s a fairy tale if I get to wake up next to you every day.”

  “Then let’s see what we can do to make that happen. First though, we have to go to bed.”

  “It’s too early to go to sleep.” Sloane laughed as she sat back.

  Gabe raised an eyebrow innocently. “Who said anything about sleeping?”

  * * *

  “So, you love her,” Draven stated as he hit the boxing bag the next morning.

  “Yes,” Gabe said with a smile. It felt good saying it to someone else.

  “I don’t see the problem. You tell her it’s time to get married.”

  Gabe shook his head. “You don’t tell someone you’re getting married. You have to ask her. And we aren’t to that point yet.”

  Draven stopped hitting the bag and placed his gloved hands on his hips. “Ask? A king does not ask and neither should a prince.”

  “You do if you want a happy life. What happens if the woman doesn’t want to marry you and you force her? She’ll spend the rest of her life trying to make you miserable.”

  Draven frowned. “I didn’t think about it like that. That’s a good point. So, you love her and ask her to marry you. No big deal,” he said with a shrug as he went back to punching the bag.