Page 93 of Wild Justice

Sirens were in the distance but growing louder with every passing moment.

“Stay down,” Kai commanded when Ramsey had begun to try and stumble to his feet. “Deputy Steve is going to arrest you, so you won’t get far anyway.”

“No, he’s not,” Lulu said. In any other scenario, she’d want to stay and be coddled by Kai, but not at this moment. “As the sheriff of Harper, I’m going to arrest him. And I’ll take great pleasure in doing it, too.”

“I don’t doubt that you will.”

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you? It’s just something that I want to do myself,” she explained. “I want to give Dana justice. She deserves it.”

“Sweetheart, I sort of like your kind of crazy,” Kai said, kneeling so he could cup her face with his hands. She could already feel the prick of tears in the back of her eyes. His expression was filled with so much love and adoration. She didn’t have a clue what she’d done to deserve this or find this man, but she was just damn happy. “You can keep the peace in town and spend your evenings watching television or reading. Exciting or calm. I’m there with you. All the way. I love you, no matter what you do. And if anything ever happened to you?—”

Quickly, she placed her finger over his lips, shaking her head.

“I’m okay, and I’m going to be okay. You came to my rescue.”

“I don’t think you needed me. I think you would have been okay.”

“Either way, you came for me.”

Henry and Chase, who had been watching each, cleared their throats loudly.

“Uh, we came to your rescue, too,” Henry said awkwardly. “And Lulu, you need to tell Kai you love him this very minute. He said it to you, so you need to say it to him.”

Henry might think that he didn’t need love in his life, but this just proved that he was more than worthy. Somewhere out in the world was a woman who was going to be perfect for him.

“Kai Oliver, I love you,” Lulu said loudly as her deputies arrived, their tires blowing up more dust and dirt and their sirens almost drowning out her romantic proclamation. “More than I ever could imagine. I promise you now, I’m going to tell you every day. So, get ready. Now let me do my civic duty and arrest Ramsey.”

Her parents hadn’t even been gone two weeks. When they returned from their vacation, they were going to be surprised. She’d solved a murder.

And fallen in love. Deeply and madly. The forever kind.

Life was full of surprises. Sometimes, really good ones.

“I heardyou’re the person taking care of my little girl.”

Retired sheriff and legendary lawman Seth Reilly didn’t necessarily make that statement sound like a good thing. But it hadn’t sounded terrible either. Mostly neutral.

Kai was being evaluated and sized up, which was easy to see. Fathers weren’t always happy about the man that was doing “it” with their daughters. And this father was more intimidating than most… Seth Reilly probably knew a hundred ways to kill a man, hide the body, and then go to brunch with his family without ever being suspected of foul play.

Kai and Lulu hadn’t waved their relationship in any faces with a bunch of PDA. They truly hadn’t. But Kai’s things were in the bathroom and bedroom. It didn’t take a genius to figure out he’d been staying there while taking care of Lulu.

“I am, sir. But I think she’s feeling much better today since you and your wife are here.”

“Call me Seth,” Reilly said, clearing his throat. “Once we heard what happened, we came as soon as we could get a flight. She does look good. You must be doing a pretty good job. She’s not the easiest patient.”

Lulu was giving Kai a smug smile from her perch on the sofa. She’d warned him that her dad would be a hardass at first, but he wouldn’t stay that way.

“If I love you, he’s going to love you,” Lulu had said. “You have to look for the little signs, but they’ll be there.”

Kai had been invited to call the man by his first name. Surely that was one of those little signs Lulu talked about?

“He’s doing a wonderful job,” Presley Reilly declared, patting Lulu’s leg. They were sitting together on the couch, talking about the cruise that had been cut short because of Lulu’s adventure. “Lulu looks very healthy. And happy.”

The last was said as sort of a challenge to her husband. Kai could already tell that Presley Reilly was an amazing woman who knew how to handle her spouse. They were also totally in love with one another. The adoration between them was clear and strong. They’d been through so much in their marriage, and it looked like it had only brought them closer.

Kai wanted that with Lulu. Yes, it was fast. Maybe he was as spontaneous as she was. They both were all in on this relationship, and he could already picture them making a home and building a life and family together.

“What are your plans now?” Presley asked. “You’re still going to be the sheriff, right? You’re not going to let that asshole make you feel like you don’t deserve this job?”

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