But he couldn’t do it. He didn’t have the guts.

Sagging to his knees, he let the gun fall as tears began to streak his face. Sebastian had won.

Jane couldn’t believe that Sebastian was safe. She saw the dent in the bulletproof vest he’d been wearing that showed where the bullet had gone. It had hit him hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He admitted that it hurt, said he’d have a bruise on his chest, but it hadn’t seriously harmed him. He was fine and, although she felt as if her head was about to explode from the beating, Jane knew she’d be okay, too. Once again, she’d survived.

“Where’s Kate?” she asked as Sebastian held her in the back of David’s car. David was inside now, but he’d called an ambulance, was insisting that both of them get medical help. Afterward, they’d have to answer a lot of questions. But that could wait. The police had more important things to do right now.

“At the Burkes’.”

“Does she know that I was in danger?”

“No. I didn’t tell her.”

“That’s good.” She closed her eyes until she felt Sebastian nudge her gently.

“Can you believe it’s over?” he murmured.

She gazed at the car that held Malcolm. He wasn’t looking at them. His head was bowed as if he knew he’d made the biggest mistake of his life.

“He’s going to prison,” she said.

“He was a cop who murdered three people. They have irrefutable proof. I think he’ll get the death penalty.”

“Where do you suppose they’ll try him?”

“Here.”

“But he killed two people in New Jersey. They have the death penalty there, too, don’t they?”

“They do, but they haven’t had an execution since 1976.”

An officer crossed the lawn and strolled up, frowning over some notes he’d been taking on a clipboard. “When I got here, I heard two different kinds of gunshots. But you two were the only people I met coming out. Was there someone else inside the house, someone besides the two of you and Mr. Turner over there?”

Jane sat up despite the blazing pain in her head and looked around them. Where had Luther gone? He’d appeared and disappeared in a matter of minutes. Why hadn’t he stayed?

And then she understood. There must be warrants out for his arrest. If he’d stayed, he would’ve ended up in jail himself, even though it was largely because of him that she and Sebastian had made it out alive. “No, I don’t think so,” she said. “But then, I’m a little confused. I-I was punched in the head. I heard shots. But I have no idea where they were coming from.”

The officer turned to Sebastian. “What about you?”

Sebastian glanced at Jane, seemed to grasp what she was doing-and why she was doing it. “I fired a few shots. And Turner over there fired a bunch. He hit me with one. But that’s it, far as I know.”

The officer frowned. “I’ll be damned,” he muttered and walked away.

Jane smiled at Sebastian, then asked for his phone. He pulled it out of a pocket that was otherwise stuffed with ammunition and turned it on before handing it to her.

She wasn’t sure she could remember Luther’s number, but after three attempts, she reached him. “How did you know?” she asked without preamble.

“Know what?” he said.

“Where we were?”

“I came over to the office to see if I could fin’ you. I wanted to tell you that our boy was roughin’ up some hos earlier today, that he was back to his old tricks. I saw the van turn out of the drive and knew it was him. That was the same car my girls described to me. I tried to follow it but lost him. Took me a while, drivin’ that damn highway, to find it again. But then I saw it sittin’ there, plain as day in the driveway.”

“You saved our lives.”

“You did all you could for Latisha. I…appreciate that.”

It was the kindest thing Lucifer-Luther-had ever said to her. “Wow,” she murmured. “You’ve got me feeling all warm and fuzzy. Like maybe you don’t hate skinny white bitches anymore.”

His laugh was a deep rumble. “Don’ let it go to your head.”

She slipped her hand into Sebastian’s. “The police were wondering about a third shooter,” she told Luther.

“What’d you tell ’em?”

“That we don’t know of a third shooter.”

There was a slight pause. “That’s probably the best,” he said.

“We thought that might be the case. But they may not let it go. The evidence tells a different story, you know.”

“That’s okay. They’ll never know it was me unless you give them my name.”

That was probably true, as well. “How can I give them your name?” she said. “I didn’t see you there. I was too confused to really understand everything that occurred. And Sebastian didn’t see you, either.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

She could tell he was about to hang up. “Luther?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks,” she said and smiled as she disconnected.

“You feeling okay?” Sebastian asked.

She snuggled closer to him with a contented sigh. “I’m doing better than I have in a long while.”

“Because you’re in love with me?” he teased.

“Because you’re in love with me,” she said and pecked him on the lips.

Epilogue

The Valentine’s Day party Jane had suggested was a great idea. With Malcolm in custody, Sebastian felt like celebrating.

He stood at the periphery of the crowd that milled around the conference room and reception areas at The Last Stand. There were a lot of people he didn’t know-people who volunteered for the charity, legal associates and so on-but there were a few he did. Jane’s former in-laws. Kate. Jonathan, a private investigator he’d met at the office a few days ago, and his fiancée, Zoë. Sheridan and her husband, Cain. Mary, too, had come at his invitation. She’d bought herself a new dress and was smiling and chatting with everyone. Gloria and Latisha were in the corner talking to Skye. Even Luther had shown up. He didn’t mingle. He folded his arms and leaned against the far wall, watching everyone, but he seemed pleased.

“Jane tells me you plan on staying in Sacramento.”

Sebastian turned to see that Mary had made her way over to him. “That’s right.”

“For good?”

“I think so.” Unless he could convince Jane and Kate to go back to New York with him. But he understood why they were reluctant to do so. He didn’t want to take Kate from a school she liked, either. Maybe when she graduated in six years, they’d be ready for a change.

“What will you do about work?”

“I’m hoping to stay in the same field. I have some interviews this week.” He actually wasn’t too worried about finding employment. Lincoln Hawke Financial hadn’t been happy to receive his resignation, but he’d been their top performer and they’d promised him a glowing recommendation. He was eager to get back to regular life, to try his hand in this new tougher market and to start earning money again so he could buy the house he wanted for Jane and Kate. If he found a buyer for his condo in New York, he’d be able to do that even sooner.

“Wow,” Mary said, but it had nothing to do with his response.

He pulled his eyes away from Jane, who’d just smiled at him from where she was admiring Sheridan’s baby. “What’s wow?” he asked Mary.

Her grin was crooked. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a man so in love with a woman.”

“It’s that obvious?” he said with a laugh.

“You can’t take your eyes off her.”

“No,” he admitted. But part of that was simply his astonishment that he could feel whole again when he’d thought he never would.

“I hope to fall that hard some day,” she said wistfully and turned to thank someone who’d complimented her on her dress.

Sebastian was about to walk over to the makeshift bar, but he saw Jane approaching with one of the TLS partners he had yet to meet. “Sebastian, I’d like to introduce you to Ava and her husband, Luke.”

He offered his hand to Ava and then to her husband, a tall man with a military haircut and blue-green eyes. “It’s nice to meet you.”