Betrayal of the Dove

Chapter Thirteen



Shane knew the moment Nevin made him stop walking that he had no intention of taking him to Alyssa. Maybe he knew it before then too, but he hoped. He needed to see her; needed to know she was still alive. “Where is she,” he turned around and looked at the man ready to take his life. The man who blamed him for not getting what he wanted.

“Hell if I know. You got home first,” he said. “I’m going to enjoy killing you. Maybe a bullet in your leg, and then your arm, maybe shoot off your toes,” he laughed. Shane felt rage overtake him and he lunged for Nevin. He struggled for control of the gun and it went off, one shot up in the air and another out to the side as he managed to knock the gun out of Nevin’s hand. They fought, each man using years of combat and martial arts training; each man adequately holding his own.

Shane was starting to get the upper hand when Nevin threw a patch of dirt in his face, knocked Shane down and then went for his weapon. By the time Shane’s vision cleared what he saw was a man standing over him ready for the kill shot.

“Godspeed,” he said dryly as he eased his finger back on the trigger. Shane heard one loud pop, but instead of him being dead, he saw the bullet in Nevin’s head before he fell to the ground. He rolled to see who was behind him and what he saw surprised him. Leo was standing behind Alyssa, yet Alyssa was the one holding the gun that took the kill shot. She put the safety back on and ran to his side.

“Oh my God; baby, are you okay?” She knelt before him and frantically checked his body for injuries. He would be lying if he said having her hands roaming his body wasn’t turning him on right now. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “You just saved my life.” He traced his finger over her lip and she flinched.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” she said softly.

“That’s some woman you have there, Shane.” Leo’s admiration was audible in his tone. “Don’t suppose you have another one like her around here.”

“Leo, seriously. Are you really on the hunt for a bride or are you just yanking all of our chains?”

He shrugged. “I want to get married. I want the family, maybe not the kids, but definitely family. I keep meeting all these Mainland women I just want to take home with me—and what happens? They already have husbands. Or in your case, an almost husband. You two are probably going to be married before the week is out.”

Shane laughed and shook his head. “I thought your dad would be pressuring you for a grandson by now.”

He laughed. “I think he’s expecting Valencia to do that. Of course I’m sure he’d like for me to have some too. It’s just not what I want. Of course he keeps sending all these women my way who I don’t even want to know and telling me they look fertile. Real subtle that man is,” he tried punching in a number on his cell again. “There’s no signal out here.”

“We’re surrounded by mountains, of course there’s no cell coverage out here. We’re going to have to walk back closer to the house before we’ll pick up anything on the cell.” He scrambled to his feet before pulling Alyssa up and embracing her. “He told me he had you, and that he had killed Leo.”

“I figured you wouldn’t have left your home without a fight. Leo thought he might have told you he had me. Next time, kick butt and then torture until they talk. You’re military. You must know how to torture people.”

“That was not in my job description,” he said, but barely got the words out without laughing. He knew a lot of techniques; he just wasn’t the kind of guy to use them—unless he had to. He doubted it would have worked on Nevin. Breaking would have gone against the image the man was desperate to convey. He would have taken her location to the grave with him, had he actually had her in the first place.

While he waited for the cops to arrive Shane got the full story on the split lip Alyssa had. He wished he had been there, not just to keep her safe, but to see her in action. Valencia had told him she had an Irish temper, but she couldn’t have prepared him for how capable the woman was at taking care of herself. He should have known she would know how to shoot. Two brothers who were Marines and he would have been surprised if they hadn’t taught her something about firearms.

“Thanks,” he whispered in her ear as the police pretty much took over his property for their investigation. He knew she was going to have a lot of questions to answer, they all would, but she had actually killed the man and he knew she would have to spend a lot more time making statements than he wished she would have. He had already put in a call to his former commanding officer, and he knew, if need be, strings would be pulled. “Leo’s leaving for Vegas in a couple days.”

“Oh, I’m sorry he spent most of his time here working. I wish he could have gone up to Sedona and seen the red rock, or up to Lake Havasu. He would have enjoyed that.”

He nodded. “The man rarely gets a vacation. When I met him he was supposed to be going on vacation but they said he was the best so we asked for his help and sure enough, he’s the best. Maybe he’ll have better luck with a vacation in Vegas,” Shane smiled at her. “What do you say we join him?”

“Seriously? I can’t take a vacation. I have a store to run.”

“We can go get married; have Leo stand up for us as our witness.”

Her eyes widened. “Did you just ask me to marry you? We haven’t known each other long enough.”

“Sure we have. I understand Gavin asked London within less than a few months of knowing her…oh no, she asked him in a roundabout way;” he chuckled. “And Eve…”

“Was engaged for six months before she got married,” she stressed.

“So you want to be engaged for six months? Or is it that you don’t want to marry me?”

She smiled at him and shook her head. “I could see myself calling you my husband, but we really don’t know as much as we need to know about each other.” His eyebrow rose. “Okay, scratch that. You know practically everything you could find about me, and I know less about you.”

“Come to Vegas with me,” he kissed her neck gently as she sat on the porch step beside him. “Marry me. Be my wife, my family, my heart? Please?”

She giggled. “A wedding in Vegas?”

“I promise we don’t even have to go see Elvis.”

“Which one?” She retorted. “Shane, my brothers will kill you.”

“And make you a widow; I don’t think so.”

She laughed. “This is crazy.”

“But wonderful,” he added.

“Insane.” She stressed, but the smile on her face told him she was at least thinking about it. He didn’t need more time. He knew he wanted her to be his wife, and he wasn’t in the business of sitting around on his butt just waiting for what people perceived to be adequate time to come around. Every day was a gift, and he wasn’t planning to waste it.

“We love each other.”

“We do,” she nodded. “But…marriage. Shane, are you sure? I’m not perfect you know. You might not like me after you have to live with me.”

“I’m not perfect either,” he said. “And I’ve seen enough of you over the time we’ve spent together to know I’d very much like for you to live with me.” He stopped kissing her neck long enough to pull back and look into her eyes. “So will you? Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she laughed. “Yes I will marry you.”

“In Vegas?”

“In Vegas,” she nodded.

“What’s going on over here?” Leo approached them. He had been observing the investigation. Something about being law enforcement usually meant a smile and polite request could get him closer to the yellow tape than most other people.

“She’s going to marry me, and you’re going to be our witness. We’re going to Vegas with you.”

Leo chuckled. “It’s been nice knowing you, Shane. Her brothers are going to kill you,” he laughed. “Seriously, man; congratulations to both of you. I’d be honored to stand beside you. I’m sure we can find a little chapel.”

“No Elvis!” Shane and Alyssa said in unison before Leo could even suggest it; if he were going to suggest it. Shane knew Alyssa and Leo were probably right about her brothers. They would probably be upset that they didn’t know the wedding was going to happen; that they hadn’t even met him and had time to vet him. If he had a little sister he would probably have the same feelings about any man she went out with, let alone married. But if it came down to any violent lectures he could break their attack with an honest thanks Thomas McGregor because if it hadn’t been for his insistence his little sister have qualified security at her store, Shane would have never met her. Yes, he was going to be sure to point that out to the man the second he said anything. He was going to marry Alyssa McGregor, soon to be Alyssa McGregor-Maxwell, and he wasn’t going to let any threat of bodily harm or loss of life stop him from doing that. He loved her. She loved him, and that’s all he needed to know. This was right. He knew it was.

“Are you planning to honeymoon there too?”

“Sure,” Shane shrugged.

“No,” Alyssa quickly added. “I made a promise to be at an art gala next Friday and I plan to be there. Plus I have to get back to the store. I don’t have anybody else who can run the place for me.”

Shane nodded. “We’ll take a honeymoon later. Maybe we can go climbing in Sedona.” He knew she liked to climb because they’d talked about it once before—of course she did insist on the rock gym with the nice cushioned mat to help ease her fall if she fell.”

“Um…no. That’s not really my skill level.”

“I’ll help you,” he brushed his index finger against her cheek.

“How about a nice tropical beach where I’ll wear the sexiest bikini you’ve ever seen.”

“Deal,” he quickly said. Climbing gear versus sexy beachwear—there was no contest in his opinion.

“Well then when the two of you come up for air with your schedules come honeymoon in Hawaii. I’ll get my dad to comp a room for you at one of the Kauai resorts.”

“Your dad owns resorts?” Alyssa seemed shocked. Well, then again she didn’t know as much about the family history as he did, which said a lot because there was still a lot about the family he didn’t know either.

“It was one of the first businesses he took over when he wanted to take the family legit. It’s profitable too, so that’s a plus. Give me a call and let me know when you’ll need the honeymoon suite for. I’ll take care of it for you.”

“I can pay for that,” Shane told him.

“It’s my wedding gift to you. Plus, the room goes for ten thousand a night, but hey, if you want to pay.”

“Well in that case we’ll just take the gift.” He said and they all laughed.

“You guys are going to have those officers thinking I’m a maniac. I just killed a guy and you all have me over here laughing.”

Leo shrugged. “They all think you’re an amazing woman. Making that shot in the dark, and so expertly…trust me; they’re not thinking you’re a maniac. Besides, I was over there when the lead detective got a call from his supervisor. Apparently they got a call from some bigwig military guy and the order is to close the case tonight. You’re both in the clear from what I can tell. No detailed investigation and no threat of inquisition.”

She sighed, relieved at that news. She leaned closer to Shane and he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and held her close. Soon she would be his wife, the woman he woke up to every morning, and the one he came home to every night. Something about that reality had him bursting with pride and happiness. With her, he had finally found his true home.