Page 63 of Chasing a Kidnapper
This was a temporary arrangement.
She went to work unpacking the box of items, then made a bottle for Gabriel. West popped frozen pizza in the oven, reminding her of their first night here together.
Then he picked up her fussy son, walking back and forth with him as she finished making Gabriel’s dinner. The way West pitched in was also very different from that first night.
“Set him in his seat,” she said. “I’ll feed him while you work on the mystery of the missing gold.”
“Okay.” He placed Gabriel in his seat. She began feeding her son as West booted up his computer. He was quiet for a few minutes, then his phone rang. He looked at her. “This is Ross. He might have news.” He pulled out his phone, surprising her by placing the call on speaker so she could hear. “Hey, boss, I’m here with Trish. Did Watley talk?”
“Yep, came to shortly after arriving at the hospital and spilled the beans in hopes of a lighter sentence,” Ross said. “He worked the Rocking K with Bryan Little. He got suspicious when Bryan abruptly quit, without having another job. A few months later, Aaron Klinger reached out to Watley to let him know about the gold that Little had stolen. Klinger apparently promised one gold bar to Watley if he could get all of it back. Watley admitted to taking his ex-girlfriend Renee Mills’s car, along with stealing a few others.”
“Mills was holding back,” West said with a dark frown.
“Yes. Apparently Watley tried to get information about the gold from Little, but he was too rough in trying to get Little to talk about exactly where the key was hidden, and he ended up killing Little before he could get specific.”
So Watley was a hired gun, she thought, then asked, “Any idea who the gold belongs to?”
“Yeah, the Montana link panned out. Apparently Klinger stole the gold from his uncle, but blamed it on someone else. The uncle suspected Klinger was involved, but the Rocking K Ranch was barely turning a profit, so the uncle figured the other guy was the real perp. Klinger didn’t go to the police when Little disappeared with the booty, fearing his uncle would hear about the gold being taken.” Ross sighed heavily. “Watley admitted to kidnapping Trisha and Gabriel as a bargaining chip to get the key. Claims he never tried to hurt them, but we’re not about to let him off the hook so easily. He killed Bryan Little. With both first degree murder and kidnapping charges being filed against him, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison.”
“That’s good to know. I’m glad this is finally over,” West said thoughtfully.
“Yeah, for us, too. Thanks again for your hard work on this, West, and you, too, Trish,” Ross added.
“Just another day at the office,” West drawled with a smile. “Thanks for giving me and Trisha tomorrow off, too.”
Wait, what? She frowned as Gabriel pushed the spoon away, having had enough.
“You’re welcome. Take care.” Ross ended the call.
“Why do we both have off tomorrow?” she asked, cleaning Gabriel’s face with a damp cloth.
West rose and reached for her hands. “Trish, we’ve been through a lot these past few days. I was hoping we’d have time to talk about our future.”
“Our future?” She stared at him. “I’m surprised. I mean, I didn’t get the impression you were interested in a family.”
“I wasn’t at first, my parent’s divorce has made me leery about marriage.”
“I can understand that.” Her divorce had scarred her too.
“I failed at my most recent relationship,” West added. “And I can see now that I was holding back even then. But not anymore. I very much want a family. Only if the woman is you and the little boy is Gabriel.” He smiled gently. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Trish. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that. I didn’t think I had room in my life for love. Now I can’t imagine my life without you. And Gabriel.” He glanced at her son, then back to her. “Please give me a chance. I don’t know much about babies or being in a healthy relationship, but I’m willing to try.”
“Really?” She searched his gaze. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”
“I love you,” he repeated. “I don’t want to rush you into anything, but I know God brought us together the night of the shooting for a reason. Because He knew we belonged together.”
“Oh, West.” She blinked back her tears and threw herself into his arms. “I love you. I don’t need time to know what’s in my heart.” She’d loved him before he’d stepped into the line of fire to protect her and Gabriel.
She would always love him.
Peanut came up beside him, so he picked up the K-9. West still had task force work to do, but solving this case was reason to celebrate.
“Bahwahah,” Gabriel said, making her laugh.
“I think that means Gabriel loves you, too,” she whispered.
West kissed her, then leaned over to address her son. “Your mommy is beautiful, smart and courageous. When the time is right, I’m going to ask her to marry me. I hope you’ll convince her to say yes.”
It was all moving very fast, but she didn’t care. West was the right man for her and Gabriel.
And she couldn’t imagine spending her life without him.