Troublemaker (39 page)

So far Axel's computer forensic team hadn't unearthed anything that would incriminate the congresswoman; perhaps she knew he wouldn't, perhaps there was a degree of separation that kept her in the clear. At any rate, she had been going about her life, handling her husband's death and funeral, accepting condolences. She
had
resigned from the HASC, so at least she was no longer in any position to know and pass along crucial military details. That was one small victory—too small, but Axel hadn't given up.

Sometimes the good guys won. Sometimes they didn't.

Bo put that terrifying day behind her. In an odd way, she was less upset about it than she had been the day Kyle Gooding had tried to kill Tricks. The most dire threat had been to herself; she'd had hopes that Morgan would be able to handle himself, that Tricks would be okay. She could handle that. She'd had a couple of dreams about it, but the dreams hadn't risen to nightmare status, and that had been in the first couple of days when she hadn't slept well because of her neck.

Still . . . if it hadn't been for that day, she'd have liked to get married at her home, in her yard. Though everything had been cleared by the time Morgan brought her home from the hospital, even the bloodstains washed from the grass and concrete, the patio pressure-washed to remove the splatted brain tissue—something she refused to let herself think about, though she immediately began planning to have that section of grass replaced with new sod, have new gravel brought in for the driveway, the patio posts restained—she didn't want her wedding memories to mix with those memories. It was best to keep the two separate.
So they were getting married in the town park, in a little gazebo that had already seen several weddings.

“Brace yourself,” Morgan said the day before the wedding as they were on their way home from the surgeon's office. His mother and stepfather had arrived the day before, and his mother—Theresa—had insisted they stay in the small motel so they didn't get in the way, thereby earning Bo's eternal gratitude and friendship. They were going to attend when Morgan and Bo had a quick walk-through of the ceremony that night. Other than eating out with them and having getting-to-know-you conversations, for now she and Morgan were going about their regular routine—almost. Though she'd gone back to work a week after being wounded because paperwork waited for no man—or woman—she didn't intend to work the day before her wedding, and everyone seemed to be totally on board with that.

“Why?”

“Axel's coming to the wedding.”

“
What?
” Her head snapped around so fast the healing tissues and tendons in her neck howled a protest, and she slapped her hand over the bandage. “
Ow!
Damn it! What do you mean, he's coming to the wedding?”

“He's coming to the wedding, that's what I mean.” He gave her a concerned glance. “Don't jerk your head around like that.”

“No joke. Why's Axel coming? Who invited him?”

“No one invited him. This is kind of an open deal, remember? Whoever wants to show up will? My team happens to be between missions right now so they're all coming, and he decided to come along with them.”

“Crap. I'd rather have my parents than him.” She scowled out the windshield. “Just keep him away from me, all right? Have your guys sit on him or something.”

“He'll be on his best behavior. With Axel, though, that isn't anything to brag about.”

“I know. We'll make sure he's seated beside Loretta, and we'll give
her a heads-up. If he starts anything, she'll cold-cock him. Problem solved,” she said with satisfaction.

Morgan laughed. “I'm impressed. That's top-notch strategy. Now I'm actually hoping he gets out of line.”

“Yeah, me too.” She fantasized for a few minutes about how satisfying it would be to see Loretta lay Axel out with one punch. If she did, Bo would definitely start lobbying the town council to give Loretta a raise.

The big day itself went smoothly, mainly because they weren't making a lot of fuss about the details. A couple of churches and the community center volunteered folding chairs for the wedding guests to sit on and arranged them all in neat rows. They didn't have fancy covers over them, or bows tied to the backs, but no one cared.

Long tables were set up along one side for the wedding cake and punch, as well as the cases of Naked Pig fetched by a couple of Morgan's guys, whom he'd had make an emergency run to Alabama to the Back Forty Beer Company. Some inroad into the supply had been made before it arrived in West Virginia, but he'd ordered extra with that in mind. There were also sparkling water, tea, and soft drinks for those not inclined to try out the Naked Pig.

Daina and Kenny Michaels and a few others, including Emily, Brandwyn, and Kalie, had strung white lights in the gazebo and on the surrounding bushes and small trees. Even though the wedding was during the day, the white lights looked great.

The rest of Morgan's guys, and Axel, showed up well before the ceremony. Bo and Morgan were already in town—she was getting ready in the bathroom at the police station, so he had custody of Tricks until it was time for him to change into his suit. It was a new suit because, in his opinion, none of his old ones did justice to the occasion. Bo had bought a new dress, therefore he bought a new suit. Worked for him.

His guys didn't pay much attention to Tricks at first, other than commenting that she was a pretty dog, which was like saying Einstein was fairly smart. They were all standing around outside shooting the
bull while Morgan threw the tennis ball for her. After a while, of course, she deigned to allow someone else to have the honor and deposited her ball at Kodak's feet.

Morgan kept his mouth shut, let Kodak give it a muscular throw, then filled him in on what he'd done wrong when Tricks retrieved the ball, and on her return gave Kodak a disdainful look before giving the honor to one of the other guys. Morgan instructed him on how she liked the throw, and on cue she caught it on the first bounce and posed for him until he told her it was a great catch.

From then on, the guys were hooked. Tricks had all the attention she could possibly want—maybe, because she had a large capacity for handling attention. She was petted, she was played with, she amazed them with her understanding of people language, she demonstrated that she knew
exactly
what the numbers on the clock meant when it was time for her lunch. Even Axel was impressed. “Maybe we could use her,” he muttered.

“Stay your ass away from her,” Morgan said. He was only glad Bo wasn't around to hear that comment or she'd have cold-cocked Axel herself, then sent the Mean-As-Shit Hobsons to burn down his house.

For her part, Tricks disliked Axel on sight, which only proved her excellent character judgment. She turned her head away from him every time he tried to pet her. Probably the best pet for Axel was a snake.

Finally it was time for the ceremony. Morgan and Bo walked together to the gazebo, her hand resting in the crook of his arm. She was as graceful as a willow, her gown flowing around her thin, supple body, her skin and eyes glowing, her thick mane of hair currently remaining in Daina's style creation.

Morgan's mother and stepfather sat in the front row of folding chairs. Daina was also in the front row, with Kenny on one side of her and Mayor Buddy and his wife on the other. Tricks was sitting in front of Daina, her leash firmly held, an expression of doggie bliss on her face because of all the attention she'd had that morning. Jesse and Kalie sat on the other side of the aisle, also front row. Morgan's buddies took up the second row. As Bo went past, she saw Loretta give her a thumbs-up.
Axel was seated beside her, and he looked positively cowed. It was a great day.

When the minister said, “Isabeau Rebecca Maran, do you take this man—” he was interrupted by a sharp bark from Tricks, who had impeccable timing. Morgan and Bo both burst out laughing, as did everyone else in the audience. Tricks took advantage and pulled loose from Daina, dashed over to Bo, and wormed her way between Bo and Morgan where she stood beaming for the rest of the ceremony. She was happily tucked between her two people, right where she belonged.

Of course Tricks was in all the photographs, except for the artsy close-ups of their wedding rings, Bo's bouquet, and things like that.

Afterward, when the Naked Pig had been drunk, cake and other goodies had been eaten, Bo and Morgan had danced on the grass before others joined in, Tricks had finally decided to take an exhausted nap, and the cleaning up had begun, Bo noticed that Morgan, Axel, and the other GO-Team members were gathered in the shade of one of the big trees, evidently having a serious discussion.

She herself was talking with Theresa and Daina, and she wasn't going to go over. One, this was probably GO-Team business. Two, she didn't want to be that close to Axel. But, hell—as of a couple of hours ago Morgan was her husband, and if he was leaving tonight, she wanted to know. She had taken him for better or worse, so she was prepared for his job to take him away for long periods of time. She hoped it wasn't tonight, and she intended to find out.

She strode over, as authoritatively as one could stride in a gown, and insinuated herself into the group. “Has something come up? Do you have to leave?” she asked, not whining about it and ready to help him pack if he wanted her company.

Morgan looked down at her and smiled as he slid his arm around her. “No, nothing in particular. I was just resigning from the GO-Teams.”

Her mouth fell open in shock. “What?”

“This is your fault,” Axel said in his typical surly, sour tone.

Bo looked around. “Loretta!” she called, having spotted her friend
still lingering as she and her husband, Charlie, talked to some friends. Loretta looked up, excused herself, and headed toward them with an air of purpose.

Axel actually blanched and began edging away.

Morgan said sharply, “Bo hasn't asked me to quit, hasn't said a word about it. This is my decision. I'm not too old yet, but I only have a few good years left while I can stay in top shape, so I'm making the move now. I want to be here, I want to start a family—”

“A
family
?” Bo squeaked, so obviously shocked that all the guys chuckled. Well, all of them except Axel.

“With your permission.” Morgan grinned and tightened his arm around her. “So I'm resigning.”

“Damn it,” Axel said in frustration. “I knew I shouldn't have let you come here.”

“You
sent
him here, asshole,” Bo growled, and just like that they were almost in each other's faces, with Morgan holding her back because she wasn't in any shape for another brawl. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Loretta pick up speed, and he said, “Stand down, Mac, or be mowed down.”

Axel saw the wisdom in that and immediately backed away. He even tucked his hands behind his back. Loretta slackened her pace, but her gaze was locked on him like a guided missile.

“You're one of my best leaders. Hell, you're
the
best.” Axel looked as if he'd throw a temper tantrum if it weren't for the pressing need to behave.

“Give it up,” Kodak advised, grinning. He loved scenes like this. “Promote one of us, and deal with it. And hire Morgan as a consultant so we don't lose him completely.”

At that Axel looked thoughtful. Loretta reached them then and looked down at Axel from the almost six-and-a-half feet height her high heels gave her. “Is the runt causing problems?” she asked. It was amazing how a woman in a green dress with little white flowers on it, wearing makeup and jewelry and high heels, could look so intimidating, but Loretta managed. She had it down to an art form. It also helped that Morgan had recounted the scene between her and Warren
Gooding, so all of them knew her reputation and that she generally took no prisoners.

Bo was the only one who laughed outright. The men all hid their grins. Axel looked both outraged and terrified. He wasn't a runt, maybe medium height or a little better, but Loretta definitely made him look runtish.

“He's trying,” Bo said, not about to let him off the hook.

Loretta simply waited, her gaze locked on Axel. He fidgeted. He turned red. He ran a finger around his collar. Bo could tell he wanted to go into one of his classic Axel scenes, but the bottom line was he was afraid of what Loretta might do. She was an unknown quantity to him, and he was on her territory. If she knocked him into tomorrow, everyone, even his own men, would swear he'd tripped over a tree root.

Finally he focused on Morgan. “Would you stay on as a consultant?”

“We can talk about it,” Morgan said, though Bo knew that would be the perfect solution. He wasn't about to give Axel power going into the negotiations though.

“All right.” Axel looked relieved. “Come see me Monday. Uh—unless you're going on a honeymoon, or something like that.” He shot a glance at Bo that said he still couldn't believe Morgan had actually married her.

“No honeymoon yet,” Bo said. “We're waiting for when it will inconvenience you the most.” Beside her, Tricks stopped staring balefully at the man she disliked to give a woof of agreement.

Perfect.

Morgan went through security at the county courthouse and slipped
into the courtroom where Kyle Gooding was being arraigned. The process had taken long enough to get to this point, but Kyle had remained in jail the whole time, so that didn't matter.

What he assumed was most of the Gooding family was in the courtroom. The district attorney was there, the Gooding lawyer, and a couple of reporter types, some just out of curiosity. Morgan took a seat away from the others, choosing to be as isolated as possible. He wanted Kyle to see him.

The county deputies brought Kyle in. He'd had his hair cut and he wore a suit for all the world as if he was expecting to walk out of the courtroom free instead of going back to jail. There was a hum of anticipation from his family group. He looked at them and gave them a small cocky grin. In that moment Morgan knew for sure that Kyle intended to back out of their agreement.