14

MIRANDA STRUGGLED TO see past tears. “Jackson, fight! Stay with me!”

A siren wailed in the distance, but would help come in time?

While she sat cross-legged on the ground, cradling Jackson’s head on her lap, it took three officers to wrestle Betsy into the back of a squad car. As long as she lived, Miranda would never understand that kind of hate.

“We’re gonna need animal control!” someone shouted from the garage. “I’ve never seen so many snakes!”

She shuddered, smoothing her hand over Jackson’s head. “I love you, sweetheart. You’re going to get better and we’ll live the greatest life. We’ll get away from snakes. Please, angel…”

Don’t leave me when I’ve only just found you.

The ambulance finally arrived and from there, her life become a blur.

Paramedics got Jackson into an ambulance and when she wanted to ride along, they pushed her back. While one stayed with him to start an IV, the other shut the vehicle’s rear door and jogged to the driver’s side. As fast as they’d shown up, the paramedics—along with Jackson—were now gone.

Her parents stepped up from behind her.

“He’s going to pull through.” Her mom helped her to her feet. “Let’s get you dressed, then head for the hospital.”

“Yes,” Miranda said, only just now realizing she still wore the robe and slippers her mother had brought her after she’d taken a second shower in their room. In a daze, she let her parents care for her. After all she’d been through, she felt utterly and completely beaten down.

If she lost Jackson…

No. She refused to believe his dying was even a possibility.

THE NEXT FEW days proved agonizing.

Jackson’s doctor told Miranda the snake’s poison had been injected into his vein. He was lucky to be alive and that plenty of antivenom had been available. Many victims with multiple bites died within minutes.

While he floated in and out of consciousness, she waited.

Prayed.

Envisioned a brighter shared future.

Harding and the rest of the Trident crew arrived in waves. So many of them that she struggled to recall their names.

Two weeks later, when doctors assured her that even though Jackson was still groggy, he’d survive, she sat beside him in his New Orleans hospital room where he’d been ever since they’d life-flighted him Saturday morning, as soon as he’d been stable.

In the golden glow of that evening’s setting sun, Miranda struggled to focus on a crossword puzzle book her mother had brought when a knock sounded on Jackson’s hospital room door.

She glanced up to find Reginald and Lenny. “Hey, guys.” Standing, she gave them both hugs. “What’s the latest?”

While she sat in the recliner beside the head of Jackson’s bed, they both sat in straight-backed guest chairs.

Reginald whistled. “Can you believe it? When Betsy turned against David, he spilled everything. We got a signed confession.”

“Wonderful. So, it’s really over?”

“For you and Jackson,” Reginald said. “But for David, he’s going to be behind bars a long time—as will Betsy and Mark. Prints proved she was the one who’d been in your house. She found the passage when she’d worked as a maid for your inn. She’d been watching you ever since. I guess she and David bonded over their love of fire when he bragged to her about having torched the trawler in your honor—because its owner…” He consulted a pocket-sized notebook. “…said you looked fat in a pair of jeans you’d been wearing.”

“Good grief… Maybe I should hire him to take out all the people who think I’m a lousy mayor.”

Reginald laughed. “That’d be one way to shut down a political opponent.”

“Did he burn my bar?”

“The first time. I guess you’d had lunch with him at the dealership and mentioned being overly tired from working late shifts. David figured he’d help you out by eliminating the problem.”

“He truly is sick.”

“Not as sick as his snake-loving girlfriend. She’s the true menace. FYI—not a single print of David’s was found in your home. That was all Betsy. When she was serving appetizers at one of your parents’ swanky parties, she overheard Mark and Moody discussing how much faster their oil refinery and offshore drilling projects would move without your interference. I guess you expected them to follow environmental regulations?”

“Shocker, right?” She shook her head.

“Anyway…” Reginald flipped to the next page. “Betsy recognized a potential business opportunity and offered her bomb-making services to Mark. He paid her handsomely to blow up the statue at City Hall and your bar. David took out Jackson’s first rental car because he didn’t like the way he looked at you. Betsy torched the others. The visits she paid you were all bonus gifts. Jealousy seemed to be her sole motive.”

“Thoughtful of her…” Jackson tried sitting up, but fell back with a cough.

“Hey, sleepyhead.” Miranda adjusted his pillows. “I didn’t know you were catching all of this. It’s like something out of a movie.”

“A bad movie,” Lenny said. “Glad it’s behind us.”

“I think that’s about everything. Any other questions?”

“I’m good,” Miranda said. “Jackson?”

He shook his head. “Thanks for driving all the way over here, guys. You did great work.”

“Likewise.” They shook hands before leaving Miranda and Jackson once again on their own.

“It’s finally quiet in here,” Jackson said. “Between your folks and my Trident buddies, I didn’t think we’d ever get a moment to ourselves.”

She leaned in for a kiss. “Do you have anything special in mind to do with all of this privacy?”

“I wish…” He winked, but then sobered. “On a serious note, I thought I was dead. And all I could think about was what a waste that would be. I love you so much. I don’t understand these things. I mean, we barely know each other, but I don’t care. The only thing I do know is that I want to marry you. Have babies with you. I want to never, ever see another snake with you.”

She laughed through happy tears. “Agreed.”

“I’m sorry, babe. I don’t have a ring. Sounds sappy as hell, but all I can offer is my heart.”

“That’ll work.” She kissed him again, this time slower with a slip of her tongue. “Since we’ve both developed quite an aversion to snakes, where do you think we should go?”

“I’ve given it a lot of thought. Since you’re a pro at the whole wedding venue thing, I’ve got a SEAL buddy up in Alaska who’s been after me to come up for a visit. What would you think about us maybe investing in a B & B? We could host summer weddings there while the snakes are active down here, then hold winter weddings down here while the snakes are sleeping.”

“I like it,” she said with a teasing grin. “So basically, we’ll structure our lives around snake hibernation?”

“Right. Although I’m not sure if that’s what you technically call it.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m in. I love you.”

“Babe, I love you, too. But for the record, you have lousy taste in friends. Every time you bring home a new one, they’re getting a thorough background check.”

Laughing, nodding, she said, “I one-thousand percent agree.”