Page 40 of Grimm County Wishes (Grimm County Lawmen #4)

T he elevator reached the fiftieth floor, and Al used the key card “Officer Shane” had commandeered from the security desk to open the door.

“Follow my lead, got it? Our priority is to find Jeannie and make sure she’s safe. Second priority is to kick that sorry motherfucker’s ass.”

“Hell, yeah!” Diane shouted. She hoisted the camera onto her shoulder. “We’re rolling!”

Jazz looked at her and grinned. Shane nodded, smoothing his hair and checking his breath in his hand. “I’ve taken down an army of assassins and a coven of vampires. I can handle this.”

Al smiled. It wasn’t his usual team, but they would do. He banged on the door leading to the suite.

“Open up! Pizza delivery!” He waited a few seconds, and when nothing happened, he took the key card and swiped, opening the door. The suite was not what he expected. Instead of a large sitting area with a crystal chandelier and big screen TV, there was a long hallway with lots of doors.

Jazz ran to the first one and tried to open it, but it was locked. “Pass me the key!” she shouted, and Al tossed her the card. The door opened, and inside they found a small room decorated like a hospital room. A woman in a nurse’s uniform was huddled on the bed.

“Hey, honey,” Jazz said in whispered tones. “I’m Jazz. What’s your name?”

The woman looked up, eyes darting at the group of people standing in the doorway. “Beth.”

“Do you want to get out of here?” Jazz asked.

“Yeah, but—” She held up her hand, which was handcuffed to the bed rail.

Jazz took a deep breath. “We can take care of that. You aren’t staying a second longer than you need to. Do you know where he keeps the key?”

Beth’s eyes filled with tears as she shrugged.

“I got it,” Shane announced, pushing his way into the room. “I played a street urchin in Les Mis during my method acting days.” He pulled a hair pin from Jazz’s elaborate updo and began to pick the lock.

They heard a scream, and Al ripped the key card from Jazz’s hand and ran out of the room. “Jeannie!” he shouted .

There was more shouting, and Al followed the noise until he got to the last room in the hall.

He opened the door to see Jeannie standing behind an old fat creep like an avenging angel.

She was wearing a ridiculously hot outfit—not that he was thinking about that—with gold chains crisscrossing her body.

Her hands held a thicker chain, which she was currently using to strangle the man.

His eyes bulged from his head, and as he gasped for air, she leaned down to his ear. “Nothing against genies, but I’m more of a Princess Leia girl.”

Al snapped out of his frozen state. “Jeannie! That’s enough!” Not that the man deserved mercy, but he didn’t want her to take a life if she didn’t have to.

Jeannie looked up, her eyes dazed as she continued to pull on the chain.

He stepped forward slowly. “It’s over. You did great, Jeannie-girl. And now I’m going to take you out of here.”

Jeannie blinked several times before finally dropping the chain as the man slumped to the floor. “Al?” she asked.

“Yeah, baby.”

She stared at him, and her eyes filled with tears. “You’re really here?”

“I’m here. In this weird-ass room.” He looked around, taking in the ribbons of tulle and exotic decorations. “You look fucking hot though. ”

Jeannie blinked again, looking down at her genie costume and a laugh burst from her chest. She grinned, the fog vanishing from her eyes as her strength returned.

“You bet your ass I do.” She raised an eyebrow.

“You know me. If I’m going to get kidnapped, I’m going to do it like a boss.

” She sauntered toward him, and he held his arms out to her.

“That’s my girl.” He held her close, not wanting to think about how close he’d come to losing her. After several long minutes, he loosened his hold long enough to kiss her lightly on the forehead. “I think it’s time we go home.”

“Yeah, I’ve had enough of city life.”

“Me too. I just want to put on my uniform and go back to work. Hunter told me someone’s been stealing Mr. Bill’s pine straw. And Axe wants to go on a honeymoon.”

“When did he get married? We haven’t been gone that long.”

“Two years ago,” Al deadpanned.

“Oh dang. I definitely missed something.” She shook her head. “Well, I guess if you cover him now, he’ll owe you when you take yours.”

“Mine?”

“Uh, yeah. Don’t tell me you forgot you proposed to someone tonight? It was Jazz, right? Please tell me it was Jazz. Because Iona—”

Before Al could set her straight, Diane burst into the room. “Oh Jeannie, thank God you’re okay!” His eyes landed on Victor’s limp body. “Holy shit! Is he—”

“Just passed out,” Al answered. “How’s Beth?”

“Jazz is with her and the others. The police are on their way.”

“Others?” Jeannie and Al asked at the same time.

Diane shook her head. “This dude is a total sicko, y’all.

There were six rooms here, each with a different theme and holding a different woman.

It’s like he collected them or something.

” She shivered. “Look, I need to film this room, not for the show because we are way past that. But just to make sure this is all documented for his trial. How about you guys head out into the main room?”

Jeannie smiled. “Thanks, I owe you one.”

“Drinks at Susie’s?”

“Done!” Jeannie smiled and reached for Al’s hand. He guided her to the front room where Jazz and Shane sat with several scared women in various costumes.

Jazz jumped up when she saw them and gave Jeannie a big hug. “I am so glad to see you. Are you okay? He didn’t do anything, did he?”

“No, he didn’t get the chance. He wanted me to massage him, so I played along until I got close enough to choke his fat Jabba the Hutt ass with my leash. ”

“Good work.” Jazz gave her a high five. “The police will want a statement. I’d say there’s no way they could peg this as anything but self-defense, but …

” She shrugged. She reached into her bra and pulled out a dollar, laughing.

“Mercedes taught me well.” She put the dollar in Jeannie’s hand. “Okay now give me that dollar.”

Jeannie handed it back to her. “Great. Now I’m your attorney. Don’t say shit to the police unless I’m with you.”

“Oh, thanks. That’s really nice of you.” Jeannie looked from Al to Jazz. She nodded, then smiled. “I’m glad we’ll be neighbors.”

“Neighbors?” Jazz said.

Jeannie looked back at Al, who was shaking his head. “Right, yeah. You probably want to live somewhere else. I get it.”

Al put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “I didn’t propose to Jazz.”

Jeannie gasped. “Iona? Seriously? You know she’s Victor’s niece, right? And all that bad luck I was having came from her? Jesus, Al. One day you’ve got to learn to quit thinking with your dick. Jazz is a wonderful woman and—”

Al covered her mouth with his hand. “We’re going to put a pin in the niece thing, but I didn’t propose to Iona either. I left before the arraignment finished. But even if I hadn’t, I wasn’t going to propose. ”

Jeannie gasped. “Al, how could you? What about your contract? You were supposed to find love and propose!”

“Fuck the contract, Jeannie. Nothing is more important than you.”

“But what about Ben?”

“Do you honestly think your brother wouldn’t sacrifice his safety for yours?”

Her eyes welled with tears as she shook her head. “But he’s sacrificed too much already.”

Al nodded, cupping her face with his hands. “He has. But so have we. We’ve spent every day for longer than I care to remember planning and scheming for ways to make money and get him free. And we won’t stop, but there’s no way in hell I’ll put you in danger. Not for anything.”

Jeannie bit her lip and nodded.

“Besides, I did find love.”

“You did?” Her eyes widened.

“Yes.” He chuckled. God, he loved this woman.

“But it happened before the show started.” He leaned forward and kissed her gently.

“About a year before, if you want to get technical.” He stared deep into her eyes.

“And I’m talking about you, in case that isn’t clear.

Turns out we really suck at communication. ”

Jeannie nodded. “Yeah, we do. I’ve been so scared to tell you how I really felt. I said it was about Ben, but that was an excuse. When Victor had me locked up in the genie sex dungeon—”

Al growled and Jeannie rolled her eyes before continuing.

“I wasn’t afraid. Irritated, yes, but not afraid.

And that was all because of you. Because you taught me to take care of myself, and because I knew you would find me before it got too late.

And you did. So if I’m not afraid of being locked in a creepy ass genie bottle, I’m not going to be afraid of loving you either.

And, heaven help me, but I am head over heels in love with you.

You were never just a one-night stand.” Jeannie reached behind Al’s neck and pulled her lips onto his.

“Oh my god! That was amazing! Diane, did you get all that?” Jazz shouted.

“Yeah, baby, I got it,” Diane said, lowering the camera to the floor and fanning herself. “Best ending ever!”

Al and Jeannie stopped kissing and turned to look at the women. “Baby?” they said in unison.

Jazz blushed a dark shade of red. “Oh, it’s, you know.” She waved her hand in the air.

Diane raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “He just made out with someone else, with tongue and everything. You won’t hurt his feelings. ”

Jazz opened her mouth, then closed it, nodding. “You’re right. Excellent observation, sweetie. Al, I’ve been hooking up with Diane behind your back. Sorry, not sorry.”

Al’s mouth dropped and Jeannie burst into laughter. “Wait, was that y’all’s DNA all over the beach house?” he asked.

“Fuck no,” Diane said, shaking her head. “Do you think I would have suggested the black light if it was? We used the Conjugal Suite.”

Shane cleared his throat. “Well, if it’s confession time,” he paused, loosening the collar of his uniform, “that was me.”

“What?” Al threw his arms into the air. “Who were you fucking?”

“Mercedes,” he said with a shrug. “And the twins.”

Al slapped his hand over his face.

“And Judy, too.” His eyes got a far-off look. “And let me tell you, that little librarian knew some things. Never discount the sexual prowess of a girl who reads. She even taught me some shit.”

“So, wait,” Jeannie interrupted, looking at Al. “You didn’t hook up with any of them?”

“No. None of them were you.”

“But I saw …”

“Just wait till you see the tape, Jeannie.” Diane laughed. “Just you wait.”