07 It Had to Be You Read online

  Ali blinked. “You think I’m perfect?”

  Luke hadn’t taken his eyes off of Bree. “You’re losing it, Bree.”

  “You think?” She jabbed the gun in his direction. “And for the last time, I said hands up. I mean it.” The gun shifted back to Ali. “I’ll shoot her, Luke. And I really don’t want to do that.”

  Luke pressed his knee into Ali’s. For comfort, she thought, and glanced down. His phone in his pocket was glowing.

  He’d gotten it on somehow. He’d been a busy guy, because he’d also tugged up his pant leg, revealing an ankle holster and the gun he had there.

  Oh, God. Did he really expect her to grab it? She glanced at him and found his eyes on hers, steady and sure.

  Yes. He did. Because he believed in her.

  I’ve got you.

  His words, he’d said them to her several times now. She hadn’t been in a place to fully believe him before, but by now, she absolutely believed him.

  He nudged her again.

  Right. The gun. She didn’t have to fake the next sneeze, but she added a dramatic head toss to go with it, bending forward with the momentum. She was wrapping her fingers around Luke’s gun when Bree yelled “Hey!”

  Luke, apparently tiring of waiting for Ali to get the gun, made his move without her. Lunging forward, he reached over the back of the seat to grab Bree’s wrists and shoved upward.

  Bree’s gun went off, blowing a hole in the car’s roof.

  “Ali,” Luke said, “get out of the car, take cover. Can you do that?”

  Ears ringing from the close-range gunshot, Ali stared at him still strong-arming Bree’s hands above their heads with the back of the seat between them. “Y-yes.”

  “Excellent,” he said calmly. “Do it now, Ali.”

  Oh, God, she couldn’t leave him. Wouldn’t leave him. He was in an awkward position trying to control Bree from the backseat. And then she realized he was holding back, waiting for her to get to safety so that a stray bullet couldn’t hit her.

  Reaching behind her, she opened the car door and stumbled out, still holding Luke’s gun. She couldn’t use it. She had no idea how, plus she couldn’t see in the dark to aim. She crouched behind the back rear tire, her fingers shaking so badly it took three tries to pull out her phone.

  She knew Leah would have called the police by now, and surely the cops in Teddy’s backyard would be coming any second, but she still hit 9-1-1.

  From the inside of the Lexus, the gun went off.

  Oh, God…

  “9-1-1 emergency dispatch,” a disembodied voice said in her ear. “What is your emergency?

  “Sh-shots fired,” Ali said through chattering teeth. “Off-duty officer and a crazy woman with a gun.”

  “Location?”

  Ali gave the street name and the Lexus’s license plate. “Hurry,” she said, and peeked around the back of the car.

  No one had emerged.

  She crawled to the open back door, using the light from her phone to see with one hand, pointing the gun with the other.

  Luke was still sitting in the backseat, sprawled out now with Bree’s gun in his right hand pointed at her.

  The streetlight shined into the interior of the car, highlighting Bree in bold relief. She was still in the front seat on her knees facing Luke, hands raised. Her hair was crazy, her makeup smeared, her eyes shiny with unshed tears.

  No gunshot holes.

  The streetlight didn’t light up the backseat, so Ali couldn’t see Luke’s face at all, but there was a stillness to him that terrified her. “Luke?”

  “It’s okay,” he said evenly, holding Bree’s gun. “Bree’s done now. Right, Bree?”

  Bree bobbed her head. A sob escaped her, and she covered her mouth with one hand, leaving the other in the air.

  Ali didn’t want to blind Luke, so she very carefully lifted her phone just high enough to see his body. And her heart stopped, just stopped dead in her chest. “You were hit.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” Bree whispered. “I just wanted to put the money in here. I just wanted Teddy to get what he has coming to him. That’s all.”

  Ali shoved the gun into the back of her waistband to free up her hands. She had no idea why, but she’d seen it done in the movies. Then she crawled into the backseat, leaned over Luke, and tore open his shirt.

  “I love it when you get rough,” he said.

  “Shut up a minute.” The bullet had gone into the meaty part of his shoulder but it looked terrifyingly close to his chest. She could hear the sirens now and sagged in relief. She peeled Luke’s shirt down his arm and pulled him forward just enough to see that the bullet had also exited his body. She pulled off her own shirt and pressed it to his front to try to staunch the bleeding.

  He grimaced in pain. “Ali.”

  She leaned over him. “Right here.”

  “Take the gun.”

  She took Bree’s gun from his fingers. This put her in the possession of two guns. I Love Lucy does Criminal Minds.

  “Keep an eye on her,” Luke said.

  Since Bree had collapsed on the front seat and was quietly crying into her hands, this wasn’t difficult. Ali twisted to keep her in sight. “Done.”

  “Good,” Luke said. “I’m going to pass out now. Nice bra though…isn’t this how we met, with you in your underwear?”

  And then his eyes closed.

  Raw fear nearly choked her. Still holding the gun on Bree, she sank to his side. “Go ahead,” she told him, her tears falling onto his face. “I’ve got you.”

  The street had come alive with police. The first ones to the car were two cops, both with guns pointed right at her.

  That’s when she realized she was still holding a gun on Bree. “No,” she said, shaking her head as it occurred to her that they probably thought she was the one she’d called 9-1-1 about, the crazy woman with a gun. “Oh, no. It’s not what you think—”

  “Ma’am, put the gun down.”

  “Okay, dropping the gun now.” She dropped it at her feet and then was unceremoniously yanked out of the car and away from Luke.

  That’s when the other gun fell out of her pants and hit the ground. “Okay,” she said. “I know this looks bad, but—”

  But nothing. She was quickly and perfunctorily searched for more weapons and pulled clear of the scene. She craned her neck trying to see Luke around the officer dragging her away, but all she could see was a sea of uniforms. There were voices yelling out medical jargon with a sense of urgency that shriveled her soul. She couldn’t hear over the rush of the blood roaring in her ears. She couldn’t see. “I need to—”

  “You need to relax, ma’am.”

  “Those weren’t my guns.”

  “They were in your possession.”

  “Yes, because I was holding them for Luke. That’s Bree Medina in there, the mayor’s wife. She stole the money from town. The fifty thousand? We caught her trying to put it in Teddy’s car to frame him. You’ll see it in the glove box.” He wasn’t listening to her rant, she could tell. “Please,” she said, “I just want to make sure Luke gets to the hospital.”

  “He’s on his way.”

  And indeed, just then the ambulance pulled out, heading down the street, lights and siren going.

  And then Ali was once again taken to the police station.

  Chapter 27

  The slow, annoying beeping broke into Luke’s consciousness first. And then an antiseptic smell. Ah, shit.

  A hospital.

  He drew in a breath, and pain shot straight through his shoulder and chest, clogging the air in his lungs. Getting shot hurt like a bitch, but oddly enough, he felt a heavy pressure on his good side. He opened his eyes and blinked the room into focus.

  The pressure was Ali, asleep in the chair at his bedside, her head pillowed on his good arm, wearing…a firefighter shirt.

  On the other side of his bed sat Jack. He was leaning back, booted feet up on the bed, hands casually linked on his belly, all
relaxed, as if he were watching a ball game. He wore his firefighter uniform—minus the shirt.

  “Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Jack said.

  “What the fuck?”

  Jack smiled grimly. “You caught Bree with the stolen dough, got her confession recorded on your phone, got shot, had surgery—you’re one lucky son of a bitch, by the way—and you’re about to get the girl.”

  Luke looked at Ali. Her hair was wild and crazy and in her face. Her mouth was open a little, and she was drooling on his forearm. He’d never seen her look more beautiful.

  “Don’t wake her,” Jack said. “She had a rough night.”

  Luke’s heart kicked, and one of his monitors beeped a warning.

  Jack leaned forward. “Relax, man, she’s fine. It’s just that when the cavalry showed up, she was holding a gun. The call had gone out about a crazy lady with a gun so…”

  “Jesus.” Luke wished she wasn’t on his good arm so that he could touch her. “Did they—”

  “Drag her off you kicking and screaming? Yes. And took Ali downtown.” Jack lifted a hand. “She’s okay. Your phone made a great witness, and Bree herself confessed everything. I came here first, saw you into surgery, then went down to the station to see what I could do, but Ali was already being released. I brought her here, where we’ve been ever since.”

  “So it’s over?”

  “The hard way, but yeah. You saved the day, man.”

  “Ali did,” Luke said.

  Jack shook his head. “I’m pretty sure it was you—”

  “No, she saved me,” Luke said. “She…” He couldn’t tear his gaze off her. “I’ve been pushing her away since the beginning.”

  “Tried, you mean.”

  Luke let out a low laugh, then sucked in a breath of pain. “Oh, Christ, don’t make me laugh.” He inhaled very carefully, then let it back out again. “I did try. And she let me think I was getting away with it too.”

  “She loves you.”

  Luke’s gaze touched over Ali again. “Yeah.” His own miracle. “Go figure.”

  “With all that bad ’tude and surly grumpiness,” Jack said, “what’s not to love?” He paused. “You love her back?”

  “More than my own life.”

  “Which became pretty clear when you put your body between mine and a bullet,” Ali said groggily, lifting her head. Her eyes locked on Luke’s, searching.

  He could see the worry, the strain, the fear in every line of her face. “I’m okay,” he said, and then turned to Jack. “Right?”

  “Well, your MLB pitching career is over, and PT is going to be a bitch,” Jack said, “but your arm and shoulder will eventually be okay. As for your psyche, that’s a whole different ball game. Oh and some other good news—Ben’s coming back. Unlike you, he’s all in one piece, no bullet holes.” He rose, stretched, and then bumped his fist very gently to Luke’s hand sticking out of the bandages. Walking around the bed, he kissed Ali on the top of her head before walking out of the room.

  Ali never took her eyes off of Luke. The night had been the longest of her entire life—being held at the station while Luke had been here, then sitting in that OR waiting room with Jack, pacing through the hours.

  If Luke had gone to San Francisco when he’d planned on going, this wouldn’t have happened. But he’d stayed to help straighten out her life, and it had nearly cost him his.

  “Stop,” he said, voice gravelly. Tired. His eyes were knowing. “Stop blaming yourself.”

  Her throat burned so much that she couldn’t speak. “You took a damn bullet for me, Luke.”

  He lifted his good hand and cupped her face. “I’d do anything for you, Ali.”

  That was becoming quite clear, and she leaned over him, very, very serious. “Anything?”

  “Anything,”

  “Then love me,” she whispered.

  He slid his fingers into her hair, stroking it from her face. “Done,” he said softly.

  She was quite certain her heart couldn’t swell any more without bursting a rib. “I want one more thing.”

  He let out a small smile. “You mean other than my life and also my heart and soul?”

  She didn’t return the smile, couldn’t. “Let me love you back.”

  His smile faded. “Ali—”

  “I don’t care that you’ll be in San Francisco. I don’t. Hell, I’d move there if you wanted me too. I love you, Luke. I have from that very first moment you looked at me like I was a crazy, naked woman in your house.”

  “You were a crazy, naked woman in my house.” He stroked a finger over her temple, down her jaw. “You need to think about this, Ali. Loving me isn’t a day in the park. I’m stubborn and like to be right. I rarely make my bed. I can never find my fucking keys. And last but not least, I love you so hard it hurts. I might die of it, actually, which makes me a short-term bet at best.”

  With her heart in her throat, she had to both laugh and cry as she dropped her hand to his good shoulder. “I already know you’re stubborn as a mule. And I can let you be right—half the time.”

  She felt his smile and lifted her head. “And an unmade bed works for me,” she said softly, “because then we can just get back into it whenever we want without worrying about messing it up.”

  She felt his hand fist on the back of her shirt, holding her close. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said fiercely. “The very best.” Then he nudged her in closer for a kiss—

  “Ahem.”

  Ali broke away from Luke and turned. In the open doorway, peeking around the curtain, was Sawyer and the mayor.

  “Luke,” Sawyer said, nodding. “Ali.”

  The mayor, somber, greeted them as well.

  Ali had seen both men briefly in the station last night, though neither had spoken to her. Sawyer had had his hands full with the night’s activities. Tony—no doubt called when Bree had been brought in, still sobbing about how she’d been framed by her “own stupid life”—had looked exhausted and solemn.

  Which was how they both looked now.

  “Wanted to make sure you were still kicking,” Sawyer said to Luke.

  A very small smile curved Luke’s lips. “Been through worse.”

  “I imagine you have. Couldn’t have figured this one out so fast without you.”

  “It was Ali,” Luke said.

  Sawyer nodded. “I know. I also know you missed your review. I called Commander O’Neil. They’re proceeding without you, but your job’s safe and intact.” He met Ali’s gaze then. “You’re a social media sensation this morning.”

  Oh boy. “You mean like Hapless Florist Nearly Screws Up Investigation?”

  He smiled. “I believe they said something about Calamity Jane meets Annie Oakley…”

  Ali groaned. Luke tried to laugh but choked it off with a sound of pain that had Ali whipping back to him.

  “We’ll make this short,” the mayor said. “Obviously, I’m horrified at the part Bree played in this.”

  He was careful not to claim her as his wife, Ali couldn’t help but notice. Probably Bree’s days with that title were severely numbered.

  Tony looked at Ali. “I wanted to do this right away.” He pulled out his phone and accessed a video.

  It was the senior center, the room Ali used as a classroom. All the seniors were there, crowded close to the screen, a sea of wrinkled, anxious faces.

  “We never should have doubted you, Ali,” Mr. Wykowski said.

  “And we love and admire you,” Lucille said.

  “Stay,” Mr. Elroy said.

  “Please,” Mr. Lyons said.

  Mrs. Burland was sitting there tight lipped. Lucille smacked her in the arm. Mrs. Burland glared at her, and then into the camera she said, “I know you’re smarter than to let a bunch of nosy-bodies chase you away, Ali Winters.”

  Edward’s face appeared. “You’re special,” he said. “Special and amazing.”

  “So special and amazing that I’m gifting you t
he first and last month’s lease money for the shop Russell vacated,” Mr. Lyons said. “And now for the reward money…”

  The video pulled back to get all of them in the same shot. They held a huge mock-up of a check in the amount of five thousand dollars, written to…her.

  Ali gaped.

  Tony slid his phone away and pulled out a piece of paper.

  Her check.

  “The reward money,” Tony said.

  “Oh,” she breathed, stunned. She looked up at the mayor. “But I can’t accept this. Luke—”

  “It’s all yours,” Luke said.

  Ali stared down at the check in shock. “It’s so pretty,” she whispered reverently.

  Sawyer laughed, and both he and the mayor left.

  “Wow,” Ali said with a shake of her head. “I feel like I won the lottery.”

  “That’s not all you won,” Luke said.

  She leaned in and kissed him. “A trip to Disneyland?” she teased.

  “If you want,” he said seriously, “but not what I was thinking.”

  “Some lease money for my flower shop?” she asked, waving the check.

  “Most definitely, but still not quite it. Keep going, Ali. You’re getting warmer.”

  “Luke—”

  “Need a hint?”

  “Please,” she said.

  He tightened his grip on her. “Me. Us.” He kissed her. “This.”

  She couldn’t breathe again, but this time it was because hope and love and affection were tangled in her throat, vying for space. “We’re an us?”

  “Yes,” he said, “which is a much better deal for me than you, so be sure—”

  She put a finger against his lips. “I’m sure. In fact, I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.”

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later, Ali picked up a tray of tea and coffee with hands that weren’t quite steady. “I’m so nervous.”

  Luke, still wearing a sling but getting more and more movement back every day, leaned in and kissed her. “You’ll nail this.”

  “Like she did you,” Leah quipped. She picked up the second tray, filled with the pastry goodies she’d made for the grand opening of the new flower shop.