The Trouble With Love (24 page)

"
What fucking deal, Sabrina?!?
" Cole shouted behind her.

The agent leaned around her shoulder and told Cole with a sly grin,
"Your
fiancé
agreed to testify about the arms deal she saw go down
,
while she was being held captive
."
 
The agent grabbed
Sabrina's
arm and spun her around
toward the door. 

Cole vaulted out of the wheelchair and almost did a facer, before he grabbed the chair for balance
.  He grunted in pain then told the agent in a warning tone,
"Let her fucking arm go, asshole
,
"
then
he
swallowed hard and speared
Sabrina
with his eyes, "W
hat the hell did you do
, Bri
?
Those guys
have people everywhere...they'll
kill
you
,
before you
testify
!"

"But the FBI took them down, Cole...it'll be fine."

"It
won't
be fine
dammit!  There's no way
they
got
them all! 
That compound was just a small piece of a very big pie.
..if they don't kill you, that gr
oup has the money to hire it done!  They're not going to let you
or
your brother take them down!"

"I had to do it to get you guys out, Cole.
..i
t'll be fine."

"Her brother knows things about that group?" The agent asked
his eyes almost sparking with glee
.

Both Sabrina and Cole looked at him and sucked in a breath.  Cole knew his answer meant that Gabe would be taken into custody too, but
at least her brother would be there to protect her.
"Yes,"
Cole
said simultaneously with Sabrina's, "No!"

Sabrina looked at him with angry eyes. "No...Gabe doesn't know a thing," she tried to reiterate.

"He knows about those killings in
Mesa
...and that family that was killed. That's why they were after him, and why you're in this mess now."

She swallowed
then
gave
Cole
a lethal look,
and
i
f looks could kill, they'd be calling undertaker for him.  "I'm sorry, sugar
....
"

"Where's your brother?" the agent asked
her then
pulled his phone out of his pocket.

The double doors opened as if on cue, then
Sabrina groaned
when
Gabe
and Luke walk
ed through them then
directly over to
where they were.

G
abe
t
hrew his arm around Sabrina's shoulders and
said, "Hiya, sis...thanks for busting me out."
She dropped her chin to her chest and drew in a deep breath.

"Give it up, darlin'.  You're not going alone," Cole told her with a slight grin.

She looked up at him then kicked her chin up an extra notch.  "I'm not going at all--you need me to take care of you.  There isn't anyone else to help."

The more he thought about it, the more Cole thought that protective custody was
for
the best to make sure Sabrina was safe until she testified.  She'd already stepped off in it with the FBI, so there was no going back now...she'd made them a promise, as much as it chapped his ass
that
she
'd done it
.

"You need to go, Bri...they'll make sure you're safe.  I won't even know where you are, so they can't use me against you."

She harrumphed.  "I don't need the
FBI
taking care of me
, I can take care of myself
...and th
at gang is
so dumb they wouldn't think twice about trying to hold you against me, even though I'm in a safe house and wouldn't even know about it."

Cole thought about that one, and he had to agree with her.  Those guys were a bunch of dumb asses
for sure
, but he'd make sure he was well-protected, while he was recuperating. 

"You guys going to post a couple of agents at my place to put her at ease?" he asked then winked at the smug agent.
  "I am off my feet for a while and would be a sitting duck out there in the middle of nowhere.  They've already been there before."

The guy grumbled, then nodded. "I'll ask Ms. Whitmore."

"Okay then...looks like it's all worked out, sugar."

"You trying to get rid of me, Cole Jackson?" She asked, her face red and her
uninjured hand
clenched at her side.

"No way, you're my
fiance'
--I just want to make sure I can keep you around forever. 
By the way, sugar, t
hank you for agreeing to marry me.
  That was a surprise, but a pleasant one, for sure,
"
  Cole grinned at her and
watched her mouth open and shut
.  He was sure she thought he'd missed the agent's use of that term for her. 

Cole Jackson might talk slow, but he didn't miss much.
..especially not that.
  Joy filled him at the thought of marrying
her
, of having her with him forever.

He could hear the growl rumbling in her chest and smiled again.  God, he loved his little spitfire...she should have been born in
Texas
instead of
Arizona
, because
with that temper
and protective nature
of hers,
she fit in just fine.

"Who the hell is going to take care of you Cole?
  Cook for you and help out around the house?
  Re
-
bandage your wound?
  Help you to the damned bathroom?
"

"I'll hire someone, darlin'.  Don't be worrying about me...I've been taking care of myself for a long time now."  He'd love nothing better than to have her taking care of him, but
Cole would
much rather her take care of herself and be safe.

Gabe walked over to her and put his arm over her shoulders, "He's right, Bri...it's better for us to agree to go into custody.  Those guys don't play around, as you now know.  I'd feel safer too if you went," he told her then groaned, "Even if I have to go with you."

Her shoulders slumped and she said petulantly,
"What the hell...I probably won't have a job to go back to in
Phoenix
anyway.  I haven't called my boss and he probably considers me AWOL."

Hearing her say that sent a wave of relief coursing through Cole, because that meant she wouldn't be in
danger on a daily basis a
nymore
, once this was over.  A
nd she w
ould be
free to move to
Bowie
...with him.
  "Don't sweat it, sugar...there are other jobs, but there's only one you."

"Yeah, there are other jobs..." she said then grinned at the agent standing beside he
r.
"Maybe even with the FBI.  Ms. Whitmore offered me a job when I called her earlier."

Fear slammed into Cole's chest and he shouted, "
What?!
?"

"She offered me a job
,
working for her...and I'm seriously thinking about it."

Cole thought he heard the agent mumble something like, "She would," but he wasn't sure.
  Lord have mercy, the danger she faced working for the Phoenix PD was nothing compared to what she'd face working for the FBI.  Icy cold tendrils of anxiety worked their way through his veins and froze his heart.  "No..." Cole told her flatly.  "You're not working for them."

She took a step forward then put her hand on her hip and leaned toward him, "What did you just say?" 

Her low lethal tone should have been
Cole's
first clue to back off, but
he
dove in with both feet
, telling her
through
gritted teeth, "I said, you're not going to work for the FBI...end of story."
  In addition to the danger she'd face, she would be all over the place, and not in
Bowie
with him.

"Your attitude is the end of a story all right--our story," Sabrina told him and he saw angry tears building in her deep blue eyes.  "Goodbye, Cole, take care of yourself," she said and then turned to the agent, "Let's go."
 

He watched her
stomp across the hospital lobby and
go
out the front doors without another glance at him
,
with
the agent and Gabe hot on her heels
.  Cole was damned afraid that mi
ght be the last time he saw her, and his heart
bounced off his ribs then a pain shot through it
.
  He'd been an overbearing ass again.

He couldn't run after her, Luke was his only hope. "Slick, go get her and bring her back," he heard the desperation in his voice, but didn't care.
  Luke nodded then took off
for
the front door.  A few minutes later, he came back inside shaking his head, and Cole's heart dropped to his boots.

"She didn't want to talk to you, Cole...I'm sorry, man, I tried.
  She's pretty hardheaded...and your comment really pissed her off.
"

"I
know...
I just don
't want her working for the FBI.
"
Cole shoved a hand through his hair and huffed out a frustrated breath.

"I've learned since I've been married to Cassie...there are ways to say things...then there are ways to say things, if you want a frying pan upside your head.  Your comment to Sabrina was a prime frying-pan example."

Cole snorted then misery flooded him
and he
told
his best friend,
"She's probably quit me for good
, Luke," then he groaned and admitted, "For some reason--around her--
I'm such an overbearing
ass
sometimes
.  I don't know why,
but
I
can't help myself!
  What the hell am I going to do?"

"Looks like the way things are right now, there's nothing you
can
do. 
The FBI have her now and you're not going to be able to contact her. 
You'll just have to bide your time until she testifies, then you can try and make things right with her."

With a groan, Cole told him, "That could be months."
  Dammit, he couldn't wait that long, he missed the hell out of her already and it had only been
twenty
minutes since she
'd
left.
  But it looked like he wasn't going to have much choice.  He would wait...because he loved her and couldn't face the possibility of living his life without her.

Luke walked behind his chair and told him, "I think you need to come out to the Double B for a while...at least until you're back on your feet.  Imelda will stuff you full of food
and fatten you up
, then I won't have to worry about Cassie looking at your ugly ass."

He could always count on Luke to make him laugh.  "That cowgirl doesn't even know I exist when you're around, Slick.  You never have to worry about her, she's too busy checking out
your
ass to look anywhere else."