Page 95 of High Value Target

“I’ll always come for you.”

“I was so scared. He was crazy. And then I saw you come through the door, and I was terrified he’d kill you.”

“It’s over. You’re safe.”

“I’m so sorry about everything. I don’t want Palmer. It’s you I love, Grady. Only you.”

“Hush. We’ll talk it all out later. Right now, we need to call your parents and let them know you’re safe.” Grady pulled his phone out and dialed JD. “Mr. Wyatt? We’ve located your daughter. She’s safe. She’s here with me.” He passed her the phone.

“Daddy?” The moment the word was out of her mouth, tears flooded her eyes again.

Chris moved to his side. “Police are on the way.”

Grady nodded. There would be a lot of questions. They may even take him into custody until they had everyone’s statement and could determine it was self-defense. He was ready for that; he didn’t regret what he’d done. He’d do it again if he had to. He would have taken a bullet to save her.

“It’s gonna be a long night,” Chris warned.

Grady nodded. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was they’d saved Tinsley. When he’d seen that gun pressed to her head, and the look of terror on her face, it had shaken him more than he cared to admit. It was his job to remain calm under crisis, but that was easier said than done when what was at stake was the woman he loved.

Stan walked to the cars and came back with a jacket. He tossed it to him, and Grady wrapped it around Tinsley. Then he held her tight while they waited for the police and her parents to arrive.

Soon, flashing lights appeared in the distance.

“Here comes the cavalry,” Grady murmured in her ear.

Tinsley shook her head. “The cavalry already came.”

Grady smiled and tucked a loose curl behind her ear. “Anytime, Miss Wyatt.”

Then he dipped his head and kissed her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Tinsley took Grady’s hand and led him into her father’s study. She had always loved this room with its cozy, warm, neutral-tones, and wall of bookcases surrounding a fireplace on the opposite wall from where his desk sat. In addition to that, he had tons of windows on two of the other walls.

When she was a child, she would come in here and curl up in one of the chairs by the fire and read her favorite mysteries.

When she would look up at all the books, she imagined her father must be the smartest man in the world. It wasn’t until years later that she learned her father was a self-taught man who’d never had the benefit of an ivy-league education or a secondary education of any kind for that matter.

While Tinsley’s mother, on the other hand, had majored in French in an elite girls’ school in the south. She could converse conversationally, and had made sure her daughter could as well, taking her on many trips there over the years. It was one of the reasons Tinsley had always loved Paris.

So Tinsley felt this was the perfect room to tell her parents of the decision she’d made, knowing how it would affect them, since it would not be the path they expected for her life.

Lorretta stood near the desk, behind her husband’s chair, her hand resting on his shoulder. “Are you feeling well, dear? It’s only been two days since all that dreadful business. I worry about you so. What with all the police questions, it’s a mystery you got any rest at all.”

“I’m fine, Mother. Really. I wanted to talk to you both about something.”

Loretta turned to her husband. “Is it really necessary that Tinsley still have a bodyguard, dear? After all, now that we know who the threat was, and that has been taken care of—”

“Mother, that’s what I want to talk about. If you could just sit down.”

Loretta’s eyes dropped to how close her daughter and the hired bodyguard sat.

Tinsley caught her eye and reached over and squeezed Grady’s hand where it sat on the armrest. “If you could just sit down, mother…”

Loretta’s eyes narrowed. “What is this about?”

Tinsley sucked in a breath and exhaled. Fine. Then she would just say it outright and skip the spiel she had prepared to ease her parents into this. “Grady and I—”

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