Chapter 23

“I knew it was a drone.” Jules was obviously trying to sound annoyed, but she wasn’t succeeding. “What did I say about y’all building a drone?”

“It’s a model airplane,” Ty protested.

“Well, a model airplane with a few additional features.” Tio was honest to a fault.

“W-what’s the difference betw-w-ween a model airp-plane and a drone?” Sam asked.

“Size, mainly.” Tio scratched his nose. “And those few additional features.”

“So a drone, then?” Jules clutched her head with both hands. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this after y’all sent your little sister out onto a battlefield with it!”

A chorus of protests from Ty, Tio, and Sam quieted when Jules waved her arms. “I know she snuck out.” She sent an admonishing look toward Dee, who was sitting on the floor, petting Xena with one hand and Mort with the other, while Turtle was curled in her lap. In pet heaven, Dee didn’t even catch the silent scolding. “But the only reason she was able to sneak out was because Sam was preoccupied with keeping the two of you from doing the exact same thing.”

Ty put on his most innocent expression. “Everyone was arguing about what to do after y’all heard the helicopter. If we’d waited for someone else to come up with a plan, Sarah and Otto would’ve died. Besides, how were we supposed to know Dee’d do that? We didn’t even know she could fly it.”

“Well, she had watched us a lot,” Tio said. “She picks things up pretty quickly, too, so—”

“T!” Ty cut him off. “Not helping.”

Sarah exchanged a look with Otto. They were sitting next to each other at the dining room table in Jules’s house, holding hands. Bob was sleeping on Sam’s chest. The cat had adopted Sam and followed him around like a dog whenever he was home. Sarah wasn’t sure that she and Otto would get Bob back when they moved home.

The thought of home sent a pang through her. Although it was wonderful to be in the midst of the warm chaos and company of their family, she missed having alone time with Otto.

Theo walked in, wearing his uniform, and crossed to Jules to give her a kiss. He, like Otto, looked exhausted. It had been two weeks since Aaron and the Jovanovics had sicced their private army on the town, but there was still a lot of cleanup to do. She’d barely seen Otto, even though they were both staying at Jules’s house until the pass was cleared. They were planning on living in the bunker until spring, when construction on a new house could start.

The chief and the officers who’d been at training in the Springs had been helicoptered in, and they’d set up a temporary police station in the empty office building across from the viner. Lieutenant Blessard’s betrayal had rocked the small force—and the town—and everyone was still reeling. It helped that most of the TV crews that had descended on Monroe after the attack were gone. Monroe was slowly starting to get back to…well, not exactly normal, but it was getting closer.

“Theo,” Jules said, refocusing after the peck turned into something longer and more intense. “Is building a drone legal? The boys want to build another drone, and I’m pretty sure that’s a bad idea, even if Dee did use it to bring down the helicopter and save the day—or maybe because she brought down a helicopter? Why do I get the feeling that parenting isn’t this hard in normal families?”

Theo hugged her against his side as he looked at Tio. “Will it weigh more than half a pound?”

“Maybe?” Tio said, looking at Theo expectantly.

“If it does, you’ll need to register it with the FAA.”

Jules gave Tio a stern look. “You will not be registering a drone with the FAA.”

“Then I’ll make it under a half pound.” Tio gave a small nod.

Ty grinned. “Dude! A mini-drone! So awesome.”

“Should I allow this?” Jules glanced around the kitchen, as if looking for advice from any quarter, and Sarah raised her hands in a shrug. She was biased, since she was hugely grateful to Tio for creating his drone and to Dee for flying it into the tail rotor of the helicopter and saving their lives. Also, she agreed with Ty. A mini-drone would be awesome.

“Good news,” Theo said, distracting Jules. “West pass is open.”

They all cheered, and Sarah squeezed Otto’s hand hard with excitement. They could finally go home. As the kitchen filled with happy chatter, Otto stood and leaned over to speak in Sarah’s ear. “Want to take a walk?”

She was about to mention that it was very, very cold outside, but Otto looked unusually excited about something. Curiosity had her agreeing, and they headed for the front entry where they pulled on their winter gear.

The first step onto the front porch took Sarah’s breath away, and she regretted agreeing to a walk. Turning to Otto, she planned to ask if they could just stay inside, when he grabbed her hands.

“The pass is open,” he said.

She waited a moment before answering. “Yes…?”

“That means… Would you… Uh, do you want to—” He broke off, and she stared at him. Otto hadn’t been this incoherent since the first—and second—and maybe third—time they’d met. He looked down for a moment and then met her gaze again, his jaw set with determination. “Let’s get married.”

Shock was quickly swept aside by a rush of joy. “Okay. Yes.”

“Now.”

“Now?” She blinked. “As in now now?”

“Yes. The pass is open. It’s not supposed to snow for a while. Let’s go to Vegas.”

“Vegas?” Sarah knew she sounded like a not-very-bright parrot, but those were not the words that she’d expected to come out of always-patient Otto’s mouth. Not married, not now, and certainly not Vegas.

“Yes. I love you. I want to be married to you as soon as possible.” He paused, looking uncertain. “Unless you want a big wedding?”

“God, no.” A big wedding was not one of her dreams. It would only bring back memories of when she thought she’d be stuck marrying Logan Jovanovic. That would’ve been a big wedding. A huge wedding. A huge, miserable mistake of a wedding. She shook off the thought. That hadn’t happened, and now she had her wonderful, gentle, kind Otto right here, proposing to her, asking her to go to Vegas to get married. “Yes. Okay. Let’s go. Now.” She laughed, her happiness spilling out all over. “But what about Bean and Hortense and the others?”

“Gordon said he’ll keep watching them. He’s built some stalls, fenced off a paddock for them, and bought more hay.”

“Wow. How generous.”

Otto scowled. “He knows he has to make up for lying about his ham radio. Besides, he’s jumped bail. He’s in a legal mess, and he needs our help to get out of it.”

“He did let everyone stay in his bunker,” Sarah said, feeling a little bad for Gordon. “Plus, that booby trap saved us.” She blocked out the image of Aaron’s broken body.

“I know,” Otto said. “But he can take care of my animals for a little longer. The dogs and Bob can stay here. When we get back, I’ll begin working with Xena again. The chief gave me the go-ahead to start training.”

She squeezed his hands with excitement. “K9 training?”

“Yep. She’s been so much more confident the past couple of weeks,” he said proudly. “Xena’s going to be Monroe’s next K9 officer.”

“That’s great!” Sarah hugged him, squeezing hard. After everything that had happened, it was hard to believe that things could ever get better, but they had—so much better.

The sound of an engine made her reluctantly pull away from Otto. Hugh’s new pickup bumped over the driveway and pulled up to the porch. Grace climbed out of the passenger seat.

“Brrr!” Grace gave an exaggerated shiver before pulling the puppies’ carrier out of the cab. “What are you two doing outside? It’s freezing out here!”

Too excited to hold it in, Sarah blurted out, “We’re going to Vegas to get married!”

“Congratulations!” Handing the carrier over to Hugh, Grace hurried up the steps and hugged Sarah. “When?”

“Now.”

“Now?”

At the echo of their previous conversation, Sarah laughed. “Yes, now. The pass is open, so we’re leaving while Gordon is still willing to watch Bean and Hortense.”

“That’s great.” Hugh shook Otto’s hand and gave Sarah a one-armed hug as the puppies yipped in their carrier. At four weeks old, the pups were getting big—and even more adorable.

“We could go, too.” Hugh gave Grace a hungry look. “Have a double wedding.”

She made a big show of pretending to consider it and then shook her head. “I’m having too much fun dating you.”

“C’mon, then, girlfriend.” Hugh ushered Grace into the house. “Let’s leave the lovebirds alone.”

“Are you eighty?” Grace asked before Hugh closed the door. “Because sometimes you sound like you’re eighty.”

Sarah turned back to Otto. “I love you, and I’d like to go to Vegas and marry you and live in Monroe forever, and let’s leave right now before it snows again and more people with guns and bombs and helicopters try to kill us, okay?”

He didn’t smile his slow smile that time. Instead, it was a full-out, beaming grin. “I like that plan.” When he leaned down and kissed her, Sarah could still feel his smile, and it was the best feeling in the world.