She was going to chew him out for questioning her decision to go in the backdoor alone earlier, but then he came up with the brilliant idea to move the body. He looked fabulous doing it and when he smiled at her, she melted - just a little bit. The split second she was pissed at him, Stan needed her and she didn't have the time to stew on it like she normally would have. Maybe there was a lesson there, but she wasn't looking for self-help right now, she just wanted to complete their mission especially killing Mangus, make some big cash, and set herself up for a pleasant future, whatever that looked like.

So, Dodge and Wyatt moved Mags’s boy's body through the door that connected Stan's store to the empty store. That was a handy little tidbit Stan shared with them. He had it hidden behind some tall shelves, which luckily the two strong men easily moved aside wide enough to carry the body through. She sat with Stan who was looking tired and she wondered for about the third or fourth time where the hell the ambulance was.

Dodge and Wyatt came through the connecting door, slid the shelves in place, and stacked some crates over the scuff marks on the floor where the shelving unit slid away from the wall.

Dodge’s eyes met with hers and he nodded. She once again admired the green of his eyes. The brightness of them against the tanned skin of his face and the sandy blond of his hair was fabulously stunning. Even more stunning was the way his shirt stretched across the expanse of his chest and the outline of his abs showed against the soft t-shirt material, then tucked into the waistband of his jeans and looked oh-so-yummy. She'd always admired a firm muscled body.

Sirens sounded in the distance and she blinked quickly as the realization of what that meant dawned on her. Looking at Stan she knelt in front of him again. "Stan, the ambulance is coming. We have an officer coming, too, but he's not on Mags's payroll, he's a friendly. So, he'll make it look like he's investigating a murder scene, which he is, but he doesn't exactly know that. We hate to put him in too much trouble. But, you'll need to lay perfectly still when the ambulance takes you out. Can you do that?"

His wrinkled face stretched into a smile again. "Sure I can."

"Okay, but then after the hospital staff has stitched you up, we'll have a different ambulance come and take you to another hospital. We've got this, okay?"

His old voice was soft when he responded. "Honey, you don't need to worry about me. I'm at peace with all that has happened. I'm happy I stood up to her and I'm happy I killed her asshole lackey."

She smiled at the old man's pluck. "Good to hear." She stood then asked one more question of Stan. “Where will you go when you get out of the hospital?”

He shrugged, “I don’t have long. My sister lives about forty miles from here, I’ll go there.”

The sirens grew louder and finally stopped out front of the store. Wyatt walked to the front door to let them in and ushered them to the back.

She stood next to Stan as the ambulance crew came in with their gurney. Within a minute their friendly walked into the store and to the back with the rest of them.

"Folks, I'm looking for Jax and Dodge."

"That's us." She nodded to Dodge.

"I'm Officer Gerzek. I understand we have a sensitive situation here. Gaige Vickers spoke to me earlier and filled me in. These are friendlies also." He pointed at the EMTs. " Kevin and Jamie." Both men nodded as they got to work on Stan. Laying him on the gurney, they checked vitals and the bullet wound. Jamie looked up and said, "We need to administer antibiotics and an IV."

Dodge spoke quietly. "We need to make it appear as though he's dead for on-lookers. So, you'll need to wait on the antibiotics and IV until you get him into the ambulance."

Officer Gerzek nodded. "I'll fill you guys in at the hospital. Okay, let's go." He looked at Dodge then, "How are things playing out with you two? They're going to want to know who called the cops and ambulance.“

Wyatt spoke up, "Me. Mags hasn't seen my face yet and I can claim to be a customer who wandered into town. My SUV is out back."

Wyatt looked at her then Dodge, "You two need to get lost before I show my face."

She looked at Stan and took his frail hand in hers. "I'll be checking in on you, Stan."

He nodded, then pulled his wallet out of the front pocket on his uninjured side. Flipping it open he said, "Here's my address, you go look there later and see if that bitch has your jeweler in my house." He leaned back and caught his breath. “I have a key in the top drawer of the til. Just press the “esc” button and it’ll open.”

Jax pulled her phone from her back pocket and snapped a picture of Stan's driver's license. Then she asked, "Where's your car, Stan?"

He smiled. "I parked it across the square behind the yoga place. That's where I was walking from this morning when I saw you two kissing in the square."

Wyatt snorted then chuckled. Dodge glanced at her before she looked back to Stan. She'd deal with Wyatt later. "Why do you park over there?"

"I park at all different places every day. I never want Mags knowing exactly where to look for me."

She giggled then. The old man had spunk. "You take care, Stan and we'll watch out for your house and you."

"Just get that bitch." He wheezed.

Kevin started moving the gurney. "We've got to get going folks."

Dodge opened the backdoor and waited for her to exit the store. Wyatt chuckled again and she punched him in the stomach on her way out. Not hard enough to hurt him, just enough to shut him up. She passed Dodge and made her way to the car, her eyes looking over the back of the store and the area to see if she could see anyone.

Climbing into the passenger side of the car, she pulled her door closed quietly. Dodge wasn't far behind her and quickly started the car up and backed away from the building. Turning down the side road he exited town the back way they had come in.

He glanced at her briefly, "What's Stan's address? We'll go past it and see if there's any activity before we go and watch Ford and Josh mow Mags's lawn."

She looked at him and the smile on his face was swoon worthy. His eyes met hers and they both busted up laughing. That was kind of funny.

She read the address to him and then put it into the map app on her phone. "There it is."

The dirt driveway led to a little white house, neatly mowed. No cars showed in the drive but of course they couldn't see into the garage and they weren't going to stop during the day.

She sat back in the seat, "Wanna bet she's bringing the jeweler here?"

"Yep, I think that's exactly what she's going to do. Stan's out of the way, she'll wonder about her boy, but Wyatt'll take care of that. She doesn't stop business for any lackey going missing, that's my guess."

Okay, she'd give Dodge the jeweler and the pink diamond ‘cause that looked like it was going to happen and soon. Then, tomorrow she'd get Mangus. Things were looking up for her.

Her phone rang, she looked at the screen then announced. "Gaige." She tapped the answer icon then the speaker icon.

"Hi Gaige, Dodge and I are here."

"Great job on Stan. Wyatt filled me in. He saw Mags waddling across the square to see if she could get a look at Stan, but our guys quickly got him inside and took off. She asked Wyatt what happened and he said he came in to buy some antiques for his mom and just as he walked in some guy shot and killed Stan then ran out the backdoor."

"Did she believe him?"

"He said she was hard to read, but she has nothing to go on just yet. No doubt she went back to the cafe and tried calling her minion, but Dodge disassembled his phone when they took him next door. So, she'll only get voicemail."

She looked over at Dodge but he just looked straight ahead. Damn man was good.

She responded to Gaige. "Okay, we're on our way out to Mags's now to watch the boys mow." She laughed and Dodge and Gaige both chuckled.