SEAL’s Love by Leslie North

20

“Where’s Serenity?” Greg asked.

“Up the hill at the rendezvous point,” Colin said, still holding Harper close. “When we got up there and none of you were around, I realized something was wrong back here, so I told her to hide and gave her my knife, then came back down. Good thing too.”

“I’ll go up and get her,” Greg said. “Let her know everything is okay.”

“Yes, we need police and EMS at the Wellness Center, 1605 Oceanview Drive,” Logan said, his phone pressed to his ear with one hand, while he kept his gun pointed at Bone with the other. “Yes, the Wellness Center. One man with a gunshot wound to his left leg…”

Now that everything seemed to be done, the terror and adrenaline finally caught up to Harper, leaving her feeling weak and shaky. She would’ve crumpled to the ground if not for Colin’s strong arms holding her up. She’d never considered herself the “damsel in distress” type, but given her handsome hero, she was starting to see the appeal.

“Let’s sit you down here so I can get this asshole restrained,” Colin said, helping her over to a nearby bench before squatting down to pull some zip ties from one of the many pockets on his cargo pants. He secured Bone’s wrists, then returned to Harper’s side. He crouched beside her as they waited for the cops. He kept scanning the area, looking to see if they were going to be accosted by any of the center’s security guards—or even devoted cult members—while his eyes seemed to be looking everywhere at once, his hand was firm and steady, holding on to hers. She gripped it like a lifeline. “Okay?”

She nodded. “Is it really over?”

“Pretty sure.” Colin took a seat beside her on the stone bench. “Once you and Serenity give your statements, the police should have more than enough to lock up Sebastian Bone for a long time. Kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, and from what Serenity told me, involuntary manslaughter.”

“Manslaughter? You mean someone died?” The air whooshed out of Harper’s lungs. She’d known Bone was a criminal, but she’d never expected he’d actually killed someone. Then again, he’d threatened to do exactly that to her today, so maybe it was not such a stretch after all. Still, the word pounded through her, visceral and raw. So this was what Serenity had meant with her Opposite game, when she conveyed the message that Bone was even worse than they had realized. “Who?”

“Not sure exactly. Serenity said it was a former guest here.” Colin sat back and scrubbed a hand over his face, looking as relieved as she felt that this nightmare had come to an end. “Apparently, Bone ignored her dietary restrictions and insisted that ‘healing their spirits would heal their bodies.’” His air quotes were extra sarcastic there.

“Wow, the tour guide told us about that. Which means they’re still doing it. Who knows how many lives they’re endangering? So I’m guessing the woman’s allergies weren’t magically cured?”

“Definitely not,” Colin agreed. “She went into anaphylactic shock and died within minutes of eating whatever it was she wasn’t supposed to have. And the kicker is she didn’t even have her EpiPen, because Bone confiscated everyone’s possessions—including their meds—when they checked in. Part of his ‘holistic, natural’ approach to healing. Bullshit.”

“That’s terrible.”

“What’s even worse is that instead of going to the police and being upfront about it, Bone tried to cover it up, denying the woman had ever been a guest there, lying to the police, even destroying evidence. Lord knows what they did with the woman’s body, but I doubt we’ll ever find it now.”

Harper shuddered, frowning. “If he covered it up, how did my sister find out about it?”

Colin shrugged as the far-off wail of sirens approaching grew closer. “Nothing ever completely disappears. And even with all his careful planning, Serenity found some of the woman’s possessions hidden in Bone’s desk while she was searching his private office one day. Turns out the fraud she suspected was just the top of the iceberg.”

“Sis!” Serenity cried as she and Greg entered through the rear gate of the compound. Even wobbly as her legs were, Harper couldn’t stop herself from getting up and running toward her sister, meeting Serenity halfway through the central courtyard in an enormous hug. “Thank you! Thank you for coming for me and rescuing me!”

“I was so scared,” Harper said, her voice muffled, her face buried in her sister’s shoulder, Serenity’s good, comfort scent of patchouli and jasmine surrounding her. “Of course, I’d come find you. I love you. You’re my sister. I’ll always find you.”

They stood there rocking back and forth in each other’s arms, laughing and crying, just so damned happy to be together again. Finally, they pulled apart as the police arrived, swarming the compound just as the day’s mediation group let out. People streamed everywhere, some gawking at Bone lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, still whining about his innocence and swearing revenge. Others scurried toward their rooms in the hotel, under police escort, wanting to get out of there. No one was leaving until they were thoroughly questioned by the police, who immediately set up officers at each exit to prevent people escaping without making a statement.

Off to the side, Greg and Logan stood near Bone, keeping an eye on him and assisting the police, while Colin filled a detective in on what had happened before turning his weapon over to the police for analysis.

Serenity was summoned to give a statement as well. Harper assumed that someone would ask for hers eventually, but there were only so many detectives on site, and her statement wasn’t as urgent as Serenity’s or Colin’s. Harper waited until Colin was done with his interview before walking back over to him. He didn’t hesitate. Just pulled her right back into his arms and hugged her as if his life depended on it. Hers sure did.

“Hey,” he said, leading her a bit farther from the crowds to a secluded spot behind a large topiary carved into the shape of what looked like an abstract angel. “I want you to know that when I saw Sebastian with his gun to your head, I’m pretty sure I lost twenty years off my life.”

“Oh no.” She leaned in and kissed him. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. It was scary for me too, but it’s over now. Everything will be all right.”

He held her more loosely now, his hands clasped behind her lower back, and stared down at her, his gaze searching, uncertain. “Will it be okay? Between us, I mean.”

Maybe it was the trauma of the day. Maybe it was coming face to face with her own mortality. Maybe it was some strange, unknown cosmic alignment. Whatever it was, Harper was done.

Done running and hiding and finding a bunch of bogus, bullshit excuses as to why she shouldn’t be with the one man she wanted to spend the rest of her future with. Because life was too short.

“Colin,” she said, clutching the front of his black T-shirt like a talisman. This was hard and scary. But she could do hard things. And considering what she’d just been through with Sebastian Bone, scary had nothing on her now. She swallowed hard and continued. “I don’t know what the future looks like for us or how it would work out, but I do know that I—”

She never got to finish that sentence because he kissed her. Hard and hot and deep, then tender and sweet before pulling away, leaving them both breathless. For a moment, they just stood there, foreheads together, breath mingling, possibilities sparkling around them like glittering stars.

But there was still something Harper had to say. Needed to say, before this went any further.

She opened her mouth, but he stopped her with a finger over her lips.

“Please don’t,” Colin whispered. “Don’t say it unless you’re sure.”

Harper exhaled and closed her eyes, the words expanding inside her like helium balloons carrying her higher and higher. “I’m sure. More sure than I’ve ever been about anything in my life. Colin, I—”

A small tremor went through his big, muscled body and he held up a hand to stop her, cutting her off mid-sentence. She held him tighter, wanting to protect him as much as he protected her. “What? What’s wrong?” She’d thought he’d be happy to hear it, but it almost seemed like the prospect of the words scared him. Was this how he’d felt that night, when she hadn’t let him say that he loved her? Her stomach sank.

He shook his head, the frown line between his brows deepening. “We’re both pumped up on adrenaline and success right now, Harper. It’s the heat of the moment. And even though it seems like you’re about to tell me what I desperately want to hear right now, I can’t let you say it because I don’t think I could survive it if you took those words back later when you calmed down.” Colin pressed his eyes shut, then kissed her once more, fast, before letting her go. “Let’s talk about this again later, okay? Like when we get home to Baltimore?”

Stunned, all she could do was agree. That had not gone the way she’d expected. Not at all. Then again, the whole day had been fucked up so…

“Ma’am,” one of the officers came over to them. “We’re ready to take your statement now.”

Harper nodded, then glanced over at Colin before following the cop away. “Uh, yep. We’ll definitely talk later.”