Long Simmering Spring (32 page)

“Cole!” she gasped. The lawman didn’t even flinch, intent only upon reaching his target. In one swift movement, he knocked the pistol out of Max’s hand, twisted his arms behind his back, and threw him to the ground. Another moment passed before he had him handcuffed. Methodically, Cole read him his rights with his knee pressed into the small of Max’s back.

Max lay there, breathing heavily.

“Hank!” Cole yelled. “Now!”

Julie simply stared at him. He was saying something to her, but all she could think about was her ankle. It throbbed terribly.

“Ah, crap, Doc. Don’t pass out on me now. Where the hell is he? Hank!”

Cole’s voice snapped her out of her daze. But before she could rise, Hank appeared in the doorway. “I’m here, boss,” he said.

Hank pulled Max up from where he lay and propelled him to the door. As Cole relinquished control of Max to Hank, Julie saw blood seeping down the front of Cole’s shirt. The sight of the blood snapped her out of her stupor.

“Oh, God, Cole!” she exclaimed, standing up and rushing toward him. “Sit down, please.” He complied, sitting down heavily on the step. Quickly, she knelt, unbuttoned his shirt and pushed the fabric back, then carefully examined his shoulder. “Call an ambulance!” she said to Hank. “Entry wound clean, no exit wound,” she muttered. “Maybe we won’t have to wait that long. Hold on a second.”

Her ankle was smarting, so she hobbled down the alley, unlocked her office’s back door, and rushed to the nurse’s station. There, she retrieved sterile towels, gauze, and medical tape. When she returned moments later, all three men were in the exact same positions. “Cole? Lie down. It’ll be easier for me to stop the bleeding.” Crouching down, she helped him get off the step and ease back, then immediately began applying pressure to the wound. She pressed hard for several minutes until the blood flow slowed. “You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said quietly, still gritting his teeth against the pain.

“You’re in good hands until the ambulance gets here,” Hank said. “I’m taking this character in. I’ll be by to see you later, after Max is transferred to county lockup.”

Cole gave him a nod, and Hank left, pulling Max along with him.

The alley was dark and silent. After the insanity of the past few minutes, it seemed almost therapeutic to be alone.

“Smart of you to call me,” he said.

“Shh. Don’t talk.”

He ignored her. “Took me a few moments to figure out what was going on, but once I did, I ran over. I—” he paused for a moment, as if trying to phrase his words carefully. “Glad it didn’t go through to my voicemail.”

A hard pit formed in Julie’s stomach when she thought about what could have happened if she hadn’t gotten through. It had taken both Hank and Cole to shut Max down. “Me too. Now stay quiet. I don’t want you to bleed out before the ambulance gets here.”

“From this?” He gave her a painful smile. “It’s just a scratch.”

“It’s going to scar.”

“You know I’ve had worse.”

There was silence for a while before he spoke again. “Been working on this drug case nonstop for the past three weeks. We’d zeroed in on the local involved. The subpoenaed name was coming tomorrow, but when I heard Max’s voice on the phone, I knew it was him—the guy behind Don Rathbone’s attacks, and the coordinator of the drug manufacturing in Star Harbor. The bank records are proof enough, but I heard the confession you got out of him. You did good, Doc.”

Julie shifted her weight to press harder on the wound, and Cole winced.

“Cole! Are you getting dizzy? Weak?” Julie put her free hand under his knees. “Elevate your legs onto the step.”

He didn’t move. “Just thinking about what would have happened if he had hurt you, even a little bit.” His face hardened.

“But he didn’t hurt me, Cole. I’m fine. A bit shaken up, but fine. Please, stay quiet and put your legs up.”

“I can’t lose you, Julie. Marry me.”

“What did you say?” Julie jerked her head up.

Cole’s eyes burned into hers. “I want you to marry me. As soon as possible.”

“Cole, you’ve been shot! You’re wounded and delirious, and you’re bleeding all over the place. You don’t know what you’re saying.” She bit her lip. “You might even—”
Die. I was about to say die.

“Dying without saying what I need to say would be worse, Doc. Just let me talk. Please. Marry me.”

“But that night in the park—”

“Acted like a first-class idiot. So sorry for the pain I must have caused you. God, I was so focused on the PTSD I couldn’t even see what I needed the most. This last month has been one of the most stressful of my life. Worse than being in combat. And it’s because you’ve been in danger. Thought if I pushed you away it would all just fade away. Thought I wouldn’t have to confront those feelings head-on. But I lied to myself and I lied to you.” He paused.

“How are you even lucid?”

“You read my file, Doc. How many times have I been shot?”

Four.
The bleeding had slowed and he was grimacing in pain, but if he was determined to talk, she wanted to hear everything he had to say. “Go on,” she said.

He swallowed. “There’s so much I haven’t told you about my stint in Afghanistan. So much I’ve kept from you. Those nightmares are just the tip of the iceberg. Got diagnosed with PTSD as soon as I got back to the States. Able to manage it with therapy, but any time I got a strong emotion—fear, hate . . .”

“Love?”

“Yeah, love,” Cole said. “You forced me to look at myself in a different way, made me work to show you that I was changed. When you started to see the best in me it brought out the worst, because I’d never loved anyone like you before. So when you were in danger, I couldn’t hold it in.” He looked at her expectantly.

“Keep talking,” she said softly. This was the most he’d ever spoken about it and she wanted to hear every word.

“Thought I could handle it—being in love with someone.” He gritted his teeth, obviously in agony, but then took a few deep breaths. She was shocked when he continued, his voice clear and strong. “The lack of control got to me, but I tried to keep it in check. For you. And then you were in danger and I just lost it. It kept getting harder and harder to manage. But there were so many times when you took the edge off. I wanted you so badly, I knew I had to make some serious changes to get you back in my life. I thought about it for a long time. And when I got your call tonight, when I saw the gun Max was pointing at your head, only one thought was running through my mind: I love her and I will do whatever it takes to have her.” His voice was even stronger now. How he’d pushed back the pain she’d never understand. With his good arm, Cole picked up Julie’s hand and held it to his cheek. “I love you. I need you. I can’t live without you. Marry me.”

“I love you, too. So much. You’ve become an amazing man, with incredible strength and character, but—”

“I’m one step ahead of you, Doc. I already made an appointment to see my shrink in Boston. I don’t want anything to get in our way.”

“Yes, yes I’ll marry you.” She was crying now, and she didn’t care.

Then Julie kissed him, long and hard.

“Ah, Julie,” he groaned. “Kiss me again.”

When her lips met his, her heart swelled so joyously she thought it would burst. He loved her, and was willing to face his demons in order to have a future with her. And she would do everything she could to support him in what she knew would be a difficult journey. But they were together. That was all that mattered.

They were still kissing when the ambulance came.

CHAPTER 25

“Are you sure that’s not too heavy for you to carry?” Julie asked as they walked up the path to Emma and Jimmy Bishop’s farmhouse. Tucked under Cole’s arm was a full case of beer. Though three weeks had passed since Cole had gotten shot and he was recovering well—no doubt due to his excellent physical condition—Julie still wanted him to take it easy.

“It’s my good arm, Doc,” Cole said with a grin. “Besides, I have to keep in shape somehow.”

Julie walked up the porch stairs, Cole right behind her. “You’re in that sling for another three weeks. Doctor’s orders.” Without thinking, she rubbed the top of her right foot over her left ankle. It still ached from where she’d twisted it the night Max had attacked her, but it had improved tremendously.

“Happy to obey.” Cole put the case down on the porch railing and pulled Julie in for a kiss.

She came up breathless and dizzy. “I’m glad we left the Millers’ party,” she said, tracing the line of his jaw. “Not that we’re going to get any privacy here, but relaxing with your brothers and our friends on Memorial Day is much more my speed than a fancy society party. I hope the Millers don’t mind our leaving early.”

Cole gave a shrug. “We put in a good appearance for a couple of hours, and then we left. No big deal.”

“You’re right. I enjoyed seeing them, but this is better.”

“Much better,” he said, and he kissed her again. Her heart swelled. Just as she was about to tug him back to the car so they could forget about
this
party and drive home where she could show him exactly how much better being with him made her feel, the door to the farmhouse opened and a man cleared his throat. Julie turned toward the sound.

“Thought I heard something out here. Am I interrupting anything?” Sebastian said with a huge grin on his handsome face.

“Yes,” Cole muttered, barely lifting his head to acknowledge his brother, focusing his attentions instead on Julie’s neck.

Julie laughed. “Cole,” she said, giving him a gentle shove. “Come on. We’ll do this later.”

“You can count on it,” he growled into her ear, unwrapping his arm from her waist.

Julie caught Cole’s gaze, and he gave her a private nod. They’d promised to keep their engagement quiet—at least for a while—not just to give them time to enjoy each other without a lot of attention, but to let Cole have time to work with his psychologist. Julie was looking forward to announcing the news, but for now, it was wonderful to have something of her own to cherish.

“Awesome,” Theo said as he walked out the door. “More beer.” He hefted the case up and brought it inside.

With a little smile, she took Cole’s good hand and together, they walked into the farmhouse, down the hallway, and to the kitchen at the back.

All of their friends were already there. Lexie was in front of the stove, boiling a huge pot of corn; Avery was arranging some delicious-looking brownies on a plate, and Theo was swiping one right out from the big pile she’d already made. Seb joined Lexie at the stove, while Val sat at the big wooden table, drinking a beer.

“Where’s Emma?” Julie asked.

“In the pantry, getting some ingredients for our spice rub,” Seb said. “Jimmy and Luke are outside, setting up the fire in the barbecue.”

“Great. I’ll go check it out,” Cole said, and grinned at her. For a split second, he looked like that seventeen-year-old bad boy he’d been—dangerously unrepentant and utterly hot. She relished the warm feeling that began in her stomach and traveled throughout her body. They’d both grown up, and through some amazing twist of fate, had found each other.

Just after Cole slipped out the back door, Emma was back with an armful of vials and boxes.

“Hi, Julie,” she said with a smile. “Really glad you could come.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this.”

“Here,” Emma said, handing off the spices to Lexie and Seb. “Can you do something with this?”

“You bet,” Seb said, organizing his workspace.

“I can’t believe it’s your day off and you’re still cooking,” Val said.

Seb shrugged. “I love it. And there’s no pressure when I’m cooking for you guys. You’ll eat anything I make.”

“Hey,” Lexie said. “First off, I’m cooking too, so you can’t take credit for everything. And second, I think our friends and family are a lot more discriminating than you give them credit for.”

“Just teasing, Spice. I knew that’d get a rise out of you.”

“Pfft,” Lexie said, but she didn’t really sound angry.

Julie laughed. She knew what it was like to enjoy work. She’d recently gone back, even though Lisa and Cloris would have preferred her to take more time off, but she couldn’t bear to be idle. Also, the thought of all those patients, and paperwork, backing up made her more anxious than she cared to admit. It felt good to be useful, and even better to have some semblance of normalcy back in her life.

And things
had
gone back to normal. She didn’t have Don Rathbone to worry about, for one thing. His bail was revoked, and he’d actually pled guilty to all the charges. His sentencing hearing was coming up soon, and Cole had assured her he’d be in jail for a long, long time. Even better, Margo and Quentin were doing well. They’d decided to stay in Providence, and it would be a while before they came back to Star Harbor. That is,
if
they decided to come back.

Cole came back inside, mumbling something about there being too many cooks by the fire. Julie cocked her head at him.

“My arm,” he admitted.

“Sorry,” she whispered back. “It’ll be better in a few weeks. You can make all the barbecues you want this summer. My dad’s prize Weber is in my garage, just waiting for you to come light it.”

That elicited a big smile, so she grinned right back. She was glad that Cole had chosen to come live with her. Staying on Val’s boat really wasn’t an option, and she didn’t relish the idea of selling her parents’ home.

“So how’s Star Harbor’s most famous criminal doing?” Seb said from the stove.

“Max? He’s in state lockup, where he’ll be for a long while,” Cole said, shaking his head. “All along, I thought someone was jerking Don’s chain. Well, it looks like someone else was jerking Max’s. The bank account records I subpoenaed show that Max has been funneling large sums of money into a private personal account he kept secret even from Karen. The question now is, who was funding Max?”

Val put down his beer. “Unfortunately, Max wasn’t able to provide any additional information that will help us figure out who is running the operation. He gave us a few contacts, but whoever the mastermind is sure kept him in the dark.”

“He must have been desperate to agree to such an arrangement,” Avery murmured.