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A figure emerged from behind a tree at the edge of the park, and my breath hitched.
Wesley’s ghost.
He looked different, clearer, somehow. His shoulders weren’t braced for a fight. They were relaxed. For the first time, he looked like the young boy I knew and loved. He looked at peace.
Squeezing Indiana to my chest, I mouthed, I’m sorry to Wesley’s ghost.
Wesley nodded, and rather than give me the bird, he smiled and walked away.
The squad car pulled away from my trailer, leaving me standing outside my van in the familiar darkness. I let out a shaky breath, trying to make sense of what happened.
My heart ached for Owen’s pain. I couldn’t bear to see him go to jail, but he had to face the consequences of his actions.
Indiana pulled back from my chest, her eyes searching mine. “Are you okay?”
She pressed her hand to my bare chest, right over my heart.
I cupped her cheek. “I am now.”
“Any other threats from your past I need to worry about?” She cocked an eyebrow.
“I did warn you. Although I expected his mother to be the one to aim a gun at me, not Owen.”
“He said she was dead. Do you believe him?”
Frowning, I tried to picture Owen burying his mother with his own hands. As much as his mother had tried to protect her sons, they were born into the Bolton family, and they’d seen things that nobody should see, let alone kids.
“Yeah, I do,” I said, but I needed Owen to reveal where he’d buried her body to be absolutely sure. It would be nice to confirm that part of my life was completely behind me.
I searched the area beyond the tree and had a feeling that I’d just seen the last of Wesley. Maybe he was happy now that his brother would be looked after. I had every intention of making sure Owen got the support he needed to turn his life around.
Indiana turned to me with a sassy smile. “I know I’ve said this before, but . . . you sure know how to show a girl a good time.”
I chuckled. “And I repeat my reply. You weren’t complaining earlier.”
I captured her mouth with mine, and when she leaned into my body, our kiss deepened. My life was in tatters before I met Indiana, but she was making me feel whole again. Like my life was worth living.
And I couldn’t wait to see what our next adventure was.
Provided it didn’t include assholes shooting at us.
The next couple of hours were swallowed up with Indiana and I giving our separate testimonials of Owen’s attack, patching a sheet of tin over my shattered kitchen window, the forensics team photographing my trailer and digging the bullet out of the tree beyond my kitchen window, and my repeated requests to Captain Watts to go easy on Owen.
It was nearly three in the morning before the commotion was all over, and I crawled into bed again with Indiana in my arms.
Sunlight filtered through my trailer home, casting a muted glow across the tiny space. Last night’s chaos crashed through my thoughts, and I still couldn’t believe what had happened. All this time, I’d been worried about Nikki. Not once had I thought Owen would be a threat. He had been nearly sixteen when I’d last seen him. He had grown a lifetime in the last two years.
I hated that he would suffer because he came after me. Attacking a police officer came with serious punishment. He had already suffered for years. He didn’t need this.
I dragged my thoughts away from Owen to the beautiful woman in my arms. Indiana’s chest rose and fell against mine. Her long brown hair sprawled across her pillow, and the jagged scar on her forehead seemed to have paled overnight.
She was fast asleep, with her gorgeous pale pink lips sitting slightly ajar. My fingertips itched to trace the line of that scar. It proved she was a survivor. After everything she’d been through, Indiana oozed untamed defiance. It made me happy that she was at peace.
A sense of relief washed over me. It was like all the missing puzzle pieces in my life had finally slotted into place. I had a feeling that the ghost who had haunted me was finally at peace, too.
“What are you staring at?” Indy mumbled.
I blinked at her. She still had her eyes closed.
