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Locke switched his gaze from Karl to Nyla. “It was your gun, Nyla. The same gun you reported stolen eight years ago.”
Both Karl and Nyla exclaimed, “What!” Their features reflected their shock.
“There has to be some mistake,” Nyla said.
“No mistake,” Locke responded. “That means we have to determine how a gun that was stolen from you ended up being used by your fiancé eight years later in a homicide. A man you met only three years ago.”
***
It was close to eleven when Locke and Hollis arrived back home. After their meeting with Karl and Nyla, they had left to grab something to eat at one of the sushi places in town. Hollis knew she had her work cut out for her, but she was determined to uncover the connection. The question she knew bothered her as well as everyone else was how a gun Nyla had reported stolen eight years ago not only showed up now, but was the very same gun Karl had used to shoot Barcos.
“You’re quiet,” Locke said, wrapping his arms around her when they entered the house.
“This case is getting crazy.”
He smiled. “Yes, but there’s no doubt in my mind that you can handle crazy. Don’t be surprised if things get even crazier in the coming days and weeks.”
“You seem rather calm about it.”
“Only because I have you working on my team, and together I believe we can do anything, especially when it comes to defeating the bad guys.”
She nodded, loving the way he held her in his arms and gently stroked her back while assuring her everything would be okay. “I hate that I had to question Nyla. Now she blames herself for everything, saying that if her gun hadn’t been stolen, none of this would have happened.”
“She’s upset, and those are her emotions talking. Karl will calm her down.”
“The same way you’re calming me down?”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m glad,” he said, kissing her forehead.
She met his gaze. “I didn’t mean to come unhinged on you.”
“You didn’t. And I understand. You know how much Karl and Nyla love each other and just want all their troubles to go away so they can be together and live their lives in peace. We have to believe they will and just have to do our part to make it happen.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You have so much faith in our abilities, Locke Dangerfield.”
“Yes, I do, and don’t ever doubt that, Hollis.”
He then leaned in and kissed her before sweeping her into his arms.
***
“I’ve been nothing but trouble for you, Karl,” Nyla said after having a good cry in his arms.
He let her, knowing she needed to get those emotions out before he said his piece. “That’s not true, and you know it, Nyla.”
“Do I?” she asked, looking at him with tears glistening in her eyes. “First, it was my parents rejecting you, and then this thing with Donnie Barcos. Don’t you think I know that you only met him that night because you thought doing so would give you a chance to erase your past? I’ve told you that I don’t care about your past. All I care about is the man you are now, Karl. I love you so much.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, and then said. “I believe you, Nyla, and because I believe you, I want you to have the best. I’ve never had a woman…or anyone, for that matter, to love me as unselfishly as you do. Before, all those other women wanted me for my money and what I could do for them. You didn’t. You were too good to be true, so I figured you weren’t. You fought hard for the right to be by my side. You earned it by proving how much you loved me. All I wanted to do was prove how much I love you in return.”
“I believe you love me, Karl, and that’s all that matters. We know how much we love each other, regardless of what others think. Didn’t we promise that we would not let anyone come between us?”
“Yes.”
“And it was a promise I intend to keep,” she said.
