Forever Driven: Forever Bluegrass #4 (21 page)

“
R
iley
!” Matt yelled with his heart in his throat. Angela’s surprised look would forever be etched on her face as she fell to the ground with a bullet lodged in her forehead.

With tears streaking her cheeks, Riley turned and gasped. “You’re alive!”

Matt was on his knees beside her in a heartbeat. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. He buried his face in her hair as she clung to him. “Shh, it’s over now. You’re safe,” Matt whispered, even though he knew it wasn’t true. They had a few loose ends of their own to clean up.

The clatter of boots running up the marble stairs sounded impossibly loud along with a second gun shot echoing in the empty building, but it was the sound of stilettos pinging on the stone that reached them first.

“Who else can I shoot?” Aniyah huffed as she ran into the room on her five-inch heels. The man Riley had choked groaned as he started to come to, and Aniyah pulled the trigger. Matt flung himself over Riley to protect her from Aniyah’s bad aim.

The man yelped. “The bitch shot me in the toe!”

“Whoops. That’s a real sensitive trigger. I mean, the gun is beautiful, but with my salon nails, I’m just shooting up everything. I just took out a chunk of the Abraham Lincoln statue in the rotunda, and that man’s a national treasure. I don’t so feel so bad about taking a toe from this man, though.” Aniyah waved the gun toward the figure writhing in pain, and Matt flung himself over Riley again.

“State police!” Tandy yelled as he rushed into the room with his gun drawn and backup flanking him. He looked around and holstered his gun before he stepped over to Aniyah and held out his hand palm up. “Hand it over,” he said as gestured with his fingers for Aniyah to give him the gun.

“But—”

Tandy shook his head. “No buts. I don’t know how you beat us over here in those heels. And while I respect the hell out of that, you can’t shoot worth a damn.”

Aniyah rolled her eyes and placed the gun in Tandy’s hand. “It’s the nails,” she said stubbornly as she flashed the long, pointed fake nails that spelled out KENTUCKY on her fingers with a galloping horse on one thumb and a University of Kentucky Wildcat on the other thumb.

“Are you two hurt?” Tandy asked as Aniyah went over and looked down at Angela.

Aniyah clucked and shook her head. “She’s not having an open casket, that’s for sure.”

Tandy looked as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to roll his eyes or bust out laughing. In the end, he just shook his head and turned to Matt. “I’ll call in the coroner for Ms. Cobb. I have an ambulance arriving soon for the man in Riley’s office. I guess I need two,” he said, looking down at the man cursing Aniyah, who just smiled back and blessed his cold heart.

“Riley, are you injured? There’s so much blood . . .” Matt ended on a whisper as he pushed back her hair and studied her face. He felt as if he had been punched in the gut as he looked for injuries.

“I’m okay,” she said softly as she covered his hand with hers. “I broke his nose for knocking me out with a stun gun.”

Matt brought her to his chest again.
She’s safe. She’s safe,
he repeated to himself as he held her in his arms. He never wanted to let her go again. Matt just clung to Riley, trying to bring his feelings back under control. He opened his eyes when he heard the unexpected sounds coming from the state police officers securing the scene.

“Commissioner Elton,” Matt said with surprise as the Kentucky state police commissioner strode into the room. His white-streaked red hair was sticking up at all angles as if he’d just rolled out of bed, which he probably had done at this late hour.

Commissioner Elton was one of the few people who knew about Matt’s undercover work. The old policeman had started out in patrol, and over the course of thirty years, worked his way up to commissioner. He was a tough country boy who didn’t give a fig about saying or doing the politically correct thing.

“What in the Sam Hill is going on here? Walz, you bastard, you were supposed to be on leave for the month. And somebody please tell me there is a good reason for a ranking member of the House to have a freaking bullet in her head!” Elton put his hands on his hips as he looked down at the man cursing up a storm about police brutality. “And who shot this pansy in the foot? Stop your whining, it’s just a toe. It’s not even your big one.”

Matt helped Riley stand up as Aniyah snorted and more than happily told Elton she was the one who shot off the toe.

“Baby!” DeAndre said with fear in his voice. “You shot another one?” He smiled as she wrapped her in a hug.

“Another one? Who the hell are you?” Commissioner Elton bellowed.

DeAndre froze as he sputtered his name.

Matt walked over with one arm around Riley and slapped DeAndre on his shoulder. “Elton, this young man will be your next top trooper,” Matt smiled. “Now, let’s go to Riley’s office so we can explain what’s going on. And call your wife. You’ll need her to bring your uniform. The fancy one with all the medals so you look real nice on national news telling how you took down a corruption ring intent on murdering a public official over her vote, with the help of an undercover officer and a Capitol guard, of course. But first we have two more people we need to visit. Want to have your wife bring your SWAT gear and have some fun for old time’s sake?” Matt winked as a giant grin spread across Elton’s face.

He pulled out his phone and called his wife. “Meet me in the annex. Yup, both outfits and don’t forget the bulletproof vest.” Elton hung up and nodded at the group. “Now, I want to hear what you’ve been up to on your time off, Walz.”

R
iley let
Matt explain the situation in a very concise, fact-based timeline. She sat on her couch in her office urgently texting the entire town of Keeneston that she was safe, that things would be over soon, and please don’t come up to Frankfort. And yes, a pie would be nice.

“And that’s how I discovered the connection between Angela, her husband, Luttrell, and Hager. In the meantime, Riley was here and learned it as well. Sweetheart, can you tell the commissioner what happened?”

Riley nodded and took a deep breath. She told the commissioner about the note, the stun gun, Angela’s confession to the attempts on Riley’s life, and the reasons behind it all.

Elton reached out his hand and patted her knee. “You did real good, Miss Davies. And so did you, Walz. I take it you’ll be sponsoring Mr. Drews here for the academy. Let me know when you send in your application, son. But maybe you should keep guns away from your girlfriend. I noticed Lincoln is also missing a toe. I’d watch your feet if you ever get in an argument with her.”

“Dear?” a soft voice called from the doorway. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I brought your
I’m a badass
outfit along with your
I’m important
outfit.” A woman, who couldn’t be more than five-feet-two inches tall with gray hair cut in a cute bob and a teasing smile, spoke so politely it was as if she were letting him know meatloaf was for dinner.

Riley struggled not to laugh as Elton looked at his wife with love and adoration. “Thanks, dear. I appreciate you bringing these down here in the middle of the night.”

Elton stood up and took the clothes from her and kissed her cheek. His wife reached to the side of the door and brought out a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. She pumped it in one hand and smiled. “And I brought Big Bertha. I know you’ve missed her.”

Elton grabbed the shotgun and smiled before kissing his wife on the lips. “You’re the greatest.” Then he turned to Walz. “Come on, Walz. I need you to liaise with the Lexington and Keeneston police so we can plan the simultaneous arrests of Luttrell and Hager.”

Riley held up her hand. “I can do that for you. My uncle’s the sheriff of Keeneston, and my cousin’s the head of the Lexington FBI field office. Will that do?”

Elton smiled. “If you can get me warrants in the next twenty minutes, I’ll let you have a couple of minutes alone with Luttrell”

“Promise?” Riley smirked as she typed into her phone. A minute later her phone pinged. “Marshall will meet you a mile from Luttrell’s home in Keeneston and Ryan will meet whichever group you send to Lexington.”

Elton’s phone beeped. “And that’s your warrant for Luttrell. Ryan will have the one for Hager in a couple minutes,” Riley smiled. “Oh, and the Rose sisters want to know if you’d like a vanilla cake or brownies?”

“No wonder you love Keeneston so much,” Elton said with a shake of his head while his wife mouthed
brownies
to Riley.

“And you need to get out of my way!” Riley heard a raised voice say from the hallway.

“Veronica?” Riley questioned as she stood up and hurried to the hall in time to see a perfectly put-together Veronica tongue-whipping a uniformed officer.

“Oh, thank goodness. If my calculations are correct, the police will be raiding the houses in one hour, and the news reporters will be here at the Capitol in two hours for live morning news coverage. I need to get you ready.” Veronica looked over at the clothes Elton was holding and nodded. “Stay in the SWAT outfit. Very hands-on for a commissioner.” Then she looked at Matt as Elton went to get changed. “Are you going to wear that?”

Riley hid her laugh behind a cough as Matt looked down at his jeans and Country Boy Brewery T-shirt. “What’s wrong with this?”

“It’s great beer, but the word
POLICE
doesn’t show up anywhere,” Veronica stated as she looked around at the officers filling the office. “You,” Veronica snapped at the officer holding a M4 rifle. “Give me your jacket.”

The man didn’t think twice about responding to Veronica’s command. “Yes, ma’am,” he snapped and tugged off his windbreaker with a Kentucky State Police star embroidered on the front and the word
POLICE
in big letters across the back. She handed it to Matt and smiled. “There. Now you can keep your T-shirt and look official. Have you ever thought of using hairspray?” Matt narrowed his eyes and Veronica held up her hands. “You’re right. The rugged look is really in right now. Besides, your face will be blurred.”

Elton walked in a minute later all suited up. “Ready or do we need a mani/pedi before we bust the bad guys?”

Riley lost her control and a laugh slipped out when Veronica looked at Elton’s nails. “Well—” Veronica started before she swung around and cringed at Riley. “I don’t think I’ll have time for that. But you could always stop at the Fluff and Buff in Keeneston when you’re driving through. Now, gentlemen, do your thing and we’ll meet you back here in ninety minutes for the press conference. I’ll also have a speech prepared for you if you’d like to use it.” The way she stated it, it didn’t seem to be an option.

“Who is she?” Riley heard Elton ask Matt as they left.

“PR genius and right hand to the Prince of Rahmi,” Matt answered before turning back and striding across the office.

Riley’s breath caught at the look of desire and love in his eyes a moment before his lips met hers. It was hard and quick, but when he drew back he was grinning. “Couldn’t leave without a good luck kiss.”

Matt gave her a wink and strode out of the room with a canvas bag over his shoulder and a smile on his face. Riley shook her head as Veronica started dictating a speech for Aniyah to type while she moved Riley to a chair and got to work cleaning her up.

M
att felt
the adrenaline pumping through his body as an officer used a battering ram to break down Harvey Luttrell’s mansion door. The men hired by Angela, Luttrell, and Hager had seen the writing on the wall and spilled everything they knew about their employers, including their directions to kill Riley and Matt so it looked like an accident.

“Breaching the front door,” Matt heard Ryan Parker say into the coms. The Lexington arrest was running simultaneously so neither party could alert the other that they’d been caught.

Matt swept up the stairs with his gun drawn and Elton behind him. The door at the end of the hall opened, and Luttrell stumbled out as he was tying his robe.

“What the—?”

Matt didn’t let him finish. He had Luttrell pinned to the ground and in cuffs before he could finish his question. “Harvey Luttrell, you’re under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder,” Matt said before he listed off all the charges and read him his rights.

“We have Hager,” Ryan said over the coms.

Matt didn’t listen to Luttrell’s denials. He simply escorted him down the stairs with a satisfied smile on his lips. “I’m sorry, don’t you know? We have your henchmen in custody. We can’t get them to shut up,” Matt said with a shake of his head.

Elton looked down on his phone. “Smile, boys,” he muttered as he read the text from an unknown number. “Who’s this from?” Elton asked as he opened the door.

Cameras flashed and reporters began yelling out questions. Elton’s phone beeped again. “I thought I told you to smile. Tell them you’ll have an update for them at the Capitol in thirty minutes. Looking hot in those SWAT getups, guys.”

“Son of a bitch. It’s that blond nightmare,” Elton said between clenched teeth as he let go of Luttrell’s right arm and headed for the press. Matt kept his face serious and his head down, put on a baseball cap, and pulled it low over his eyes, but those eyes showed his amusement. Veronica was a force of nature.

R
iley stood
between Ryan and Elton as Elton gave his press conference. He hadn’t argued when Veronica had handed him a speech, just shook his head and offered her a job—a job that she politely turned down.

Before she was ready, Elton was stepping back and allowing Riley to step forward. She spoke from her heart as she described the events, the corruption, and the attempts on her life. “I am saddened and disheartened by the events that have unfolded since I took office, but I want to send out my sincere appreciation to the state police, my assistant, Aniyah, and the best Capitol guard around, DeAndre Drews. Thank you.”

“Are you going to seek reelection?”

“Will you be completing your term?”

Questions were shouted, but Riley quickly tackled them. “It’s too early to even think about reelection. And yes, I will be finishing my term. There are many important votes still ahead of me in this last week of session. I have a job to do for my district, and I won’t disappoint them.”

“What does this mean for the highway project?”

Riley looked straight into the camera. “Well, I hope it means it’s as dead as Angela Cobb.”

Matt chuckled from where he stood off to the side, the reporters gasped, and Veronica buried her face in her hands as Riley stepped back and let Elton end the now fever-pitched conference.

“Nice,” Ryan laughed as he and Matt escorted her back to her office.

“There’s my firecracker,” Matt said, kissing her temple.

“I’m tired of mincing words. Hell, I’m just plain tired,” Riley mumbled as Aniyah and DeAndre hurried after her.

“Now, that was a ‘Real Politicians of Frankfort’ confessional right there. You just said what we all thought, bless her cold dead heart,” Aniyah said as she made the sign of the cross.

Riley took a seat on her couch while a cleaning crew got the blood out of the carpet in the main waiting room. Veronica rushed in and headed straight for Riley’s desk and started pulling out drawers.

“What are you looking for?”

“This.” Veronica popped the top to a bottle of bourbon open and put it to her ruby-red lips. “Dead as Angela Cobb? Are you trying to ruin me?”

Aniyah starting shaking her head as she looked at her phone. “Turn on the news,” she said to Veronica, who grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

“Straight shooter Riley Davies has set the new bar in politics,” Dan from 14 News said into the camera from outside the Capitol. “Willing to die for what is right and showing no remorse for sticking up for her constituents. She is leaving the rest of the state wondering why their representatives aren’t doing the same for them.” Dan looked off screen and yelled out. “Senator Peel! Would you like to comment?”

Senator Peel froze as he was trying to sneak in through a side door. “Not at this time. What Representative Davies has gone through is quite remarkable, and you’ll be sure I’ll be talking to her about it soon and how we can better work together in the future. Thank you.”

The room leaned forward as Ryan stepped forward with three other FBI agents. “Senator Peel, you need to come with us.” The camera zoomed in as Peel was escorted to a waiting car.

Veronica turned off the television. “Well, I guess it wasn’t a total disaster. My job is done here. Let me know if you need anything else.” She tossed back another shot of bourbon and sashayed out the door.

“No wonder she’s a lesbian,” Aniyah smiled. “No man could handle that.”

R
iley spent
the rest of the day casting votes in a very crammed Senate chambers since the House chambers were off limits as a crime scene. Peel and Stanley had talked to her, along with the governor. For the first time in history, a section of the budget had been unanimously voted down. After a little wheeling and dealing, the rest of the budget passed, giving the governor something besides corruption to talk about at her own press conference.

By the end of the day, Riley was ready to fall over where she stood leaning against the wall, listening to the last measure. She looked behind her and saw Matt leaning against the back wall with his arms crossed over his Country Boy Brewery shirt and a gun at his hip. His eyes never left hers. She smiled softly at him, and after she cast her final vote of the day, she moved through the crowd to his side.

“Ready to go home, sweetheart?”

“With you, always,” Riley rested her head on his chest as he put his arm over her shoulder. She let the sounds of people calling out her name and the flashes of cameras disappear as Matt guided her out of the Capitol.

“I love you,” Matt whispered against her ear as they snuck around the wall of television reporters lobbing questions at Senator Stanley for her involvement with Peel and why the FBI asked to meet with her.

“I love you, too.” Riley stopped walking and looked up at the man she loved. “I don’t ever want to be apart from you again. I shouldn’t have denied my feelings for you. We’ve lost so much time.”

“It’ll remind us to make the most of what we do have, which is a lifetime, after all,” Matt grinned down at her before.

Matt opened the door for her, and she climbed into his car. They were quiet as they drove home. She didn’t mind. She had a lot to think about and it appeared Matt did, too. He kept his hand on her thigh and the way his thumb gently traced circles caused her body to relax. Before she knew it, he was carrying her into his house.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Riley said as she rubbed her eyes.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Let’s get you into bed.” Matt helped her undress, and they slid under the covers together. Matt pulled her to him and Riley fell asleep with her head on his arm and her leg thrown over his.

* * *

F
or one month
, Matt had enjoyed every second with Riley. He’d used his leave to write the story for
The Keeneston Journal
before asking her father for a job on the farm. He had baled hay, helped birth foals, and mended fences. Did he need to do it? No. But it was a good part of his healing process. He didn’t have to pretend to be someone else, and it gave him time to come to grips with his fears of moving forward with Riley.

They had spent every moment they could together after she had finished her session and had gotten back to work on the farm. Every night, he held her in his arms and every night he felt more and more sure he could never let her go. They went to Lexington to try new restaurants. They went hiking through the Red River Gorge. They played poker with their friends. She was the woman of his dreams, and he loved her more than he had ever known was possible.

There was only one thing stopping him from asking her to marry him—his past. Matt hammered in a nail and stood up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. The fence he was mending was almost complete. As he bent to place the last few nails into the board, he saw a car in the distance. The dust cloud behind it showed it was coming up the seldom-used dirt road to the pasture where Matt was working.

Matt hammered the last of the nails in place and tested the board before standing back up. He slipped the hammer into his tool belt and pulled off his work gloves. He watched as the SUV came to a stop, and he smiled at the man who got out. He was in his early seventies. His dark blond hair had turned lighter with age, but it was still in the same buzz cut it had been since Matt moved in with him as an angry teenager.

Simon Walz had grown softer over the years—his stomach more jolly than hard and his face more relaxed—but he always had a ready smile for the closest thing to a son he’d ever had.

“Dad,” Matt smiled as he hopped over the fence. “What are you doing here?”

Simon smiled at the name. Matt had started calling him that after his second year of college and had never stopped. After all, he was more a father to him than his own had ever been.

“Your mother told me she had a feeling I should come see you. Apparently, she heard something in your voice when she talked to you yesterday,” Simon told him as he slapped Matt on the back. “And you know how she is about her feelings.”

Matt nodded. Simon’s wife hadn’t been able to have children. When Simon had shown up with a malnourished, neglected, angry seventeen-year-old boy, she hadn’t blinked an eye. Instead, she had wrapped her arms around him and welcomed him to his new home.

“So, you want to tell me what’s worrying you, or do I have to send in the big guns? Your mother did send your favorite cookies to bribe you,” Simon said as he reached into the car and pulled out a storage container filled with cookies and a note attached saying
I love you ~ Mom
.

Matt turned and took a breath. What was wrong with him? It was all this time outdoors working with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. He was getting so emotional. He took a deep breath and decided to embrace it for that day only and then he swore he’d stay cool afterward.

“It’s Riley,” Matt said softly as he leaned back against the black four-board fence.

“Is something the matter? Your mother and I got the impression when you were both over for dinner that everything was going quite well. Your mom even mentioned the
G
word.”

“
G
word?” Matt asked.

“Grandbabies.”

Matt laughed and shook his head. “Ironic, isn’t it? That’s the one thing stopping me from asking Riley to marry me.”

He could see his father’s eyebrows rise, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he waited for Matt to explain.

“I love her so much. I want nothing more than to have a family with her, but what if I turn out like them?” Matt didn’t have to explain
them
to the man standing before him.

“You’re not your father, Matt,” Simon said softly.

Matt went rigid. “Do not call him that. You’re my father. He doesn’t deserve that title.”

“You know firsthand what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that rage. You’ve never acted out. You’ve never been overtaken with it before. And from what you’ve told me about some of the situations you’ve been in, it would have manifested itself by now if you were anything like him. You’re your own man, Matt. One your mother and I are very proud of,” Simon told him, knowing now wasn’t the time to touch him.

Matt let out a breath. “It’s not him. It’s my mother’s legacy I worry about the most. This past job, I had to take drugs. They still call to me occasionally. Riley got me into NA, and I’ve been good since, but what if . . .?”

Simon grabbed Matt then. Matt was so startled he almost jumped back. “You can’t let what-if dictate your future. What if you die tonight? What if you fall out of love? What if, what if, what if. They’ll paralyze you, son. What do you want to do right now? Your heart, your mind—what do they want?”

“Riley,” Matt answered instantly.

Simon let go of Matt and gave him a caring smile. “Then I think you have your answer on what to do. You have love and support all around you. If you ever fall, we’ll be here to catch you. But never stop living for fear of the what-could-happen.”

Matt felt dazed. Was it really that simple? God knows he loved her with all his heart and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. “Oh, crap,” Matt whispered as he closed his eyes and let his head fall back.