She felt his lips against her temple. “Then I’m sure he deserved it.”
“I did it to save Starkey’s life.” Not to mention her own and Rafe’s.
“And did Starkey survive?”
“He was shot twice, but it looks like he’ll make it. He’s in this very same hospital.”
“At least we’re making it convenient for you to visit.”
“You’ll be getting out tonight or maybe tomorrow morning. He’ll be in quite a while longer.”
“I could go home now, if I wasn’t enjoying your sympathy so much.”
She snuggled even closer. “Sure you could. You can barely talk.”
“I’m lucid.”
“Sort of.”
“Can you believe it’s all over?” he asked.
She knew he wasn’t referring to his medical treatment; he was talking about the murders and the smuggling and the risk to their lives. Van Dormer had filled her in, told her it was James who’d killed the UDAs and inadvertently exposed Gary and his operation. “I can’t. I’m glad, of course, but I’d be a lot happier if it didn’t mean you’d be leaving.”
He tilted up her chin so he could look into her face. “What if I were to take you with me?”
She would’ve liked nothing more. But she couldn’t walk out on all the people who needed her. “I wish I could go.”
“But…”
“The next few months won’t be easy for my mother. And there’s a fourteen-year-old boy who’s counting on me. He actually reminds me of you at the same age. He’s savvy, been forced to live by his wits.”
“Where’ve you been hiding him all week?”
“He’s been at soccer camp.”
“I’m drugged, but did you just say you have a boy?”
She couldn’t help chuckling at his confusion.
“It’s Starkey’s son. I pretty much raised him for the three years we were together. And I’ve done what I can ever since. Besides his father, I’m pretty much all Rafe’s got. I can’t let him down.”
Rod ran his knuckles down the side of her face. She had the impression he was thinking, weighing their options.
“Then there’s Bordertown,” she went on. “With James going to prison for the UDA murders as well as Stuart’s death, and the sheriff being indicted for accepting bribes to look the other way—I’m needed here. For all we know, there could be others.”
“I see.”
“They could use your help, as well,” she said hopefully.
“You want me to stay.”
She met his gaze. “I’m thirty and I’ve finally fallen in love.”
He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. “Good thing there’ll be a few jobs.”
“You’ll do it?” she asked in surprise.
“I think I can manage to put up with the place until Rafe turns eighteen.”
She held his face between her hands. “I hope that’s not the sedatives talking.”
He laughed. “It’s not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m thirty, but I’ve been in love ever since I was fifteen,” he said, and kissed her.
Epilogue
The city council meeting was far more crowded than any Sophia had attended before. She sat nervously in her uniform at the front of the room, facing the five council members who’d fired her. Paul Fedorko gave her a fleeting, apologetic smile, Liz Torres flushed every time their eyes met and Richard Lantus acted preoccupied, as if this was business as usual. But this wasn’t just another meeting. In the week since Gary and James had been arrested, they’d buried Stuart Dunlap and Leonard Taylor. She’d removed bugs planted by Leonard from her home, office and vehicle—bugs she never would’ve known about except for a text message they found on Gary’s phone. And the county sheriff and two members of the city council—Neil Munoz and the mayor—had already been named as suspects in a corruption investigation, with others in the works.
Although Neil Munoz was a no-show, Mayor Schilling presided as usual, trying to keep up appearances in hopes of convincing Bordertown’s citizens that he’d been falsely accused. And maybe that was true. Too many had been swept up in Gary’s “coffee” enterprise to believe they’d all known what was happening. Sophia believed it was just Leonard and the sheriff who were aware of the truth. The others had been duped. Ever since news of what Gary was really doing had broken several other people, including the Simpsons, had stepped forward to say they’d been invited to participate, too, as investors, and had refused for one reason or another. But they all said it seemed legitimate. Gary used other people’s capital to grow his illegal business but he paid a fair return, so no one was any the wiser.
The mayor pounded his gavel. “Can we come to order here? Quiet, please. Quiet. We’d like to get started.”
Cameramen from ABC News and CNN crouched at the side of the room, recording what the mayor had to say. Sophia could tell the inclusion of such “outsiders” bothered Schilling; he had too much pride to stand there as an accused man. But there was enough going on even without the news media, who crowded into every foot of space not already taken up by a Bordertown resident. Most people had come early to be sure of getting a seat. Recent events had stirred up a surfeit of emotion, and folks had come out to have their say, to complain to their elected officials as well as their neighbors and the press.
Ever since that terrifying night at the Boot and Spur, Sophia herself had spent hours talking with reporters. Mostly she’d told them how glad she was to have it all behind her. The safe house was closed down, and although one of the two men who ran it had escaped, he was an illegal immigrant himself who’d probably returned to Mexico. And she no longer had to worry about James shooting innocent people. But now she was uneasy again. One detail remained. She was about to hear whether or not she’d receive an offer to continue on as chief of police.
Drawing a deep breath, she turned to look for Rod and found him sitting at the back, his injured leg stretched out in the aisle. She knew it hurt him to bend it, but he was getting around and had insisted on coming. He was sitting with Bruce, which made her smile. They’d managed to forge the beginnings of a friendship over the past few days. Yesterday Bruce had taken Rod fishing. Rod had acted as if it wasn’t any big deal, but she could tell he was secretly excited. She’d loved packing his lunch, then helping fry the trout he brought home.