Reckless (27 page)

He'd carried her nearly all the way back. The
dirt road should be just beyond his range of vision now. She hadn't
stirred in all that time. A sense of dread had settled over him. To
lose her now would kill him. He drew closer to the road, able to
see its shape. He was about to step through the last line of trees
when he heard the choppers. They approached fast, and in seconds
hovered over him. Spotlights swept through the trees over the road
and seemed to settle on a subject. An artificially amplified voice
filled the air, all but drowned out by the pounding of the chopper
blades, but audible and mad as hell. “We are federal officers.
Stand where you are and throw your weapons to the ground.”

There was sudden movement from the road, and
a burst of gunfire. Nick lowered Toni to the ground and lifted his
weapon just as Lou Taranto lunged through the trees directly in
front of him. Nick heard one of the choppers touch down. Lou lifted
his gun muzzle.

“Forget it, Lou,” Nick said, his voice level.
“You're going down this time. It's over.”

Taranto’s gun wavered. “Like my own son,
Nicky.” His body shook now, as well as his hand. “I treated you
like my own son. You're right, it's over. But not just for me.” The
change in his grip on the revolver was minuscule but enough. Nick
pulled the trigger three times in quick succession, and each time
Lou's fat body jerked as if electrocuted. He went down then and lay
still on the ground.

Nick looked at him for a long moment. He'd
been waiting for this from the time he was sixteen years old, and
now that it had come, it was nothing. It meant nothing. All that
mattered was Toni. He turned and bent low to lift her into his arms
again.

“Not yet, Manelli.”

Viper's voice came from just behind him, and
Nick's blood went cold. He'd lowered his weapon too soon. He
stiffened, not even breathing, and lifted his gun, ready to spin
and fire, and knowing he couldn’t move fast enough.

The sudden crack that split the air behind
him jolted him, but Nick felt no bullet. He whirled, ready to fire,
not believing Viper had missed. But Viper lay dead on the ground.
Nick looked past the hit man to see Carl's garishly bruised face.
He stood with one hand braced against a tree trunk and gave Nick a
lopsided grin.

“How many times are you gonna make me save
that overdeveloped butt of yours, pal? I'm getting kinda sick of
it.”

“By my count, that makes us about even,
Salducci.” Nick turned, holstering his gun, and bent over Toni
again. He picked her up and walked toward the road.

“She okay?”

“She has to be,” Nick said. “I'm on a
roll.”

He stepped out of the trees onto the road and
saw cops everywhere and several of Taranto's men being handcuffed.
Toni’s sister, Joey, ran toward him, shaking an officer’s
restraining hands off her as if they were nothing. She stopped in
front of Nick, her hand smoothing Toni's hair.

“Oh, God...”

“She's only unconscious,” Nick said gently.
“She's going to be all right.”

She nodded brusquely, stepped to one side,
keeping her hand on her sister's face and walking along with him
toward the nearest chopper. “Yeah. Yeah, she will.” There was
relief in her voice, then she looked up at him. “She looks better
than you do, I can tell you that much.”

Nick heard the slight waver underlying the
gusto of her words. He saw her lower lip tremble and he spotted
droplets forming on her lashes. What was it with these women and
their false bravado, anyway?

When Nick saw Joey's gaze jump just before
she got to her feet, he knew the surgeon had finally come out of
the O.R. of the tiny Community Memorial Hospital in the town of
Hamilton. It was a good hospital. Nick had checked. And the guy was
a good surgeon. He'd checked on that, too. He'd had little else to
do in the four hours since they'd rushed Toni through the double
doors with the signs proclaiming Absolutely No Admittance Beyond
This Point. He got his rib cage wrapped, his lacerations stitched,
his thigh re-bandaged, then he sat in anguish trying not to think
of Toni as he’d last seen her; pale and limp and so damn weak.

She'd told him she loved him. He still wasn't
over the shock of it. She'd meant it, too; it showed in her eyes.
She loved him. It was a miracle—the only one he'd had in his life.
Maybe you were only entitled to one. He'd damn well like another
one. He wanted her to be all right. He couldn't lose her now.

“Miss Bradshaw, Mr. Manelli?”

He snapped to attention. The surgeon stood in
front of him. Nick didn't know when he'd stood up. He looked at the
man's blue pouffy paper hat and at the mask he'd tugged down so it
hung around his neck. He couldn't seem to meet the man's eyes. His
fear of seeing the worst there kept his gaze darting around the
waiting room. The smell began to get to him. He felt it must have
permeated his body by now. He felt as if he'd still smell it even
if he burned his clothes and took ten scalding showers. He
felt—

“Thank God,” Joey whispered. She turned to
Nick, hugged his neck, wobbled very slightly, and Nick put his arms
around her shoulders to steady her. “She’s okay, Nick. She’s gonna
be okay.”

Nick could’ve sworn every muscle in his body
melted in relief. “When can I—can we—see her?” he managed.

“She's in recovery,” the doctor said. “She
lost a lot of blood, won’t wake for several hours. I'd advise you
to get some rest, something to eat. Someone will let you know the
minute she starts to come around.”

“She's going to be okay,” Nick muttered,
almost in disbelief as the doctor strode away from them.

Joey straightened and looked up at him.
“Yeah, but are you?”

He shook his head. “Two miracles in one day.
It's hard to swallow.” She was all right. She loved him and she was
all right. Suddenly, he grinned, feeling like a small boy on
Christmas morning. “I've never been better!” He grabbed Toni’s
sister and hugged her hard enough to force the air from her lungs.
“I’ve gotta go out, but I won't be long. Text me the second you
hear anything.”

He walked on air through the corridors, and
managed to commandeer a local cop's car for his purposes. Then he
drove away from the neat, low brick building, through the college
town and into the rural countryside. He left the windows down so
that wonderful fresh-cut-grass fragrance could waft over him, and
he tried to imagine what on earth he'd done to deserve to be loved
by a woman like Toni.

As he drove, the houses grew farther apart.
He passed green meadows, fenced fields and herds of lazy fat cows.
He drove by a huge rambling Victorian house and he smiled,
remembering the way Toni had confided her secret dreams to him,
afraid he'd think they were silly.

He didn't. He couldn't for the life of him
imagine a better way to spend his life than with Toni in some big
old house. They'd fix it up together, and she'd have an office with
lots of light. She could work on those warm, uplifting books she
wanted to write. He'd join the local P.D. When he came home at
night, she'd be there. She wouldn't walk out. She loved him.

He smiled, suddenly knowing exactly what he
wanted to get for her. The doctor had said several hours. Would he
have time to find what he needed?

The afternoon sun slanted in through a window
and heated Toni’s face and eyelids. The smells around her were
clean and familiar. Hospital smells, she realized. Her throat hurt.
It felt dry and as if something had scraped it raw. There was no
pain in her shoulder. Somehow she thought there should be.

She opened her eyes. Nick sat beside the bed
in a chair. He held her hand tightly, she realized. He looked
better than he had. His cheek was still swollen and purple, but not
as bad as it had been. The blood had all been washed away from his
bruised face.

He looked relieved when she met his eyes, but
nervous, too. “Hey, sleepyhead. Feel up to a five-mile run?”

She smiled at him and her heart swelled when
she thought of how much she loved him. She'd told him so, hadn't
she? When they'd been in the forest, and she'd thought she might
die, she'd decided to tell him exactly how she felt, in case she
never had another chance. Maybe that was why he seemed nervous.
She'd scared him with the intensity of her feelings.

He smiled back at her. “You don't know how
good it is to see that smile of yours, Toni.” He leaned close and
kissed her with exquisite tenderness. When he straightened, he
studied her face as if he was drinking it in.

She lifted one hand—the only one she seemed
able to move—and ran it through her hair. “I'm a mess,” she
said.

“You're gorgeous.”

“My hair—”

“You'd be gorgeous bald, lady.”

That remark elicited a giggle, but Nick
wasn't smiling. His face was serious. “You remember what
happened?”

Her smile faded. She nodded and glanced down
at her arm. Her shoulder was heavily bandaged, her arm in a sling.
“I was shot.”

“The arm will be fine, Toni. No
complications. A few weeks and you'll be as good as new.”

She frowned. “Was my sister there? Where is
she? Is she okay?”

He nodded. “She fell asleep in the other
chair, woke up looking like she’d seen a ghost, and said she had to
go. Something about her other sister being in trouble.”

She lifted her brows. “Caroline. Joey’s real
sister. Well, the one she was raised with, anyway. She’s sweet,
even if she doesn’t like me very much. I think I’m a reminder that
their sainted mother had an affair. But then, so is Joey.” She
blinked slowly. “I hope she’s all right.”

He frowned. “You have any reason to think
she’s not?”

“Joey...she knows things sometimes. Sees
things. In her mind.” She sighed. “I’ll call her later, find out
what’s up.” The frown left her brows and she gazed at his face.
“How are you, Nick? Are you okay?”

“Physically, yeah. The rest...kind of depends
on you.” He cleared his throat, lowered his eyes. “Do—um—you
remember what you told me out there in the woods?”

She drew a deep breath. “I didn't mean to
make you uncomfortable. I was afraid I wouldn't make it. I wanted
you to know—”

“Then you meant it?”

He seemed so uncertain all of a sudden, and
kind of vulnerable. Frowning, she looked into his eyes. “I'm in
love with you, Nick. Maybe I shouldn't have said it so soon, but
I'm not going to take it back now.”

“I'm glad you said it.” He looked at her, and
for a moment she thought there was a bit more moisture in his eyes
than usual. “No one's ever said it to me before.”

“Then you don't mind?” He shook his head.
Toni sighed. “I love you,” she told him. “I love you enough to make
up for all the people who didn't. More than enough...if you'll let
me.”

He pressed his palms gently to either side of
her face and kissed her again. “I love you so much I would have
died if I had lost you.” He carefully gathered her to him and
kissed her even more deeply, letting his feelings rush over her and
through her. She felt the lack of reservation and restraint and she
gloried in it.

When he eased her down onto her pillows, she
felt caught in a whirlwind. “I'm not sure what this means. Where do
we go from here?”

“Anywhere we want, that's the icing on the
cake. Toni, do you realize how well our dreams mesh? Your big rural
house, my small-town beat...and....” He bent low and scooped
something from the floor. “And this,” he whispered.

She frowned as he set a small basket in her
lap, then lifted the lid and peered inside. A furry white head
popped out and a tiny tongue bathed her in puppy kisses. Her breath
caught in her throat, and the tears she'd been holding back spilled
over. She reached her good hand inside and pulled the tiny
gray-and-white fur ball out, held him close to her, and the puppy
nuzzled her neck. “He’s a sheepdog! I can’t believe you did this,
Nick.”

“I'm calling him Ralph,” he told her. “If
that's okay with you.”

“It’s more than okay with me. It’s perfect.
You’re perfect.”

“I wasn’t,” he said. “I was missing a piece
before. But then I found you. I love you, Toni Rio. I’m gonna love
you for a long, long time.”

“I’m counting on it,” she whispered.

–
THE END–

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