“You’re going to make me say it. It’s just a flesh wound. I’m okay. CiCi needs to get warm and dry. Take Barney, would you? He’s a little shaken up, too.”

“The ambulance is here.” Cecil rushed down. “They’re heading down now.”

“Good. Cecil, I want you to unclip my holster, take my weapon until we have all the statements. Matty’s in charge until this is cleared.”

“No, sir, Chief.”

“Cecil, that’s how it’s done.”

“I won’t do it. You can fire me, but I won’t do it.”

“He’ll have to fire me, too,” Matty put in. “And the rest of us, because none of us are doing that.”

“Ah, well.” Reed straightened, stepping back as the paramedics took over.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Though Matty corroborated Simone’s eyewitness account, as she’d been ten steps behind Reed, he gave his statement to Leon.

“I’m going to ask you to take my weapon.”

“Nope.”

“Deputy Wendall, I’m going to ask you to take the weapon I fired, so we keep the chain of evidence clean. I’m not asking you to take over, just to take the weapon, bag it, seal it, label it. I’ve got a backup in an ankle holster, and have had since Memorial Day.”

Leon considered, rubbed his chin. “Okay then. You get that arm fixed up, Chief.”

Reed gave his statement to the feds while one of the island doctors stitched him up right in CiCi’s kitchen.

Shutting down the ferry brought Mi back, so the three women sat together, refusing to budge while the crime scene work went on around them.

Jacoby came in, sat across from him. “Tranquility Island, huh?”

Reed had to smile. “Usually. What’s the word on Hobart’s condition?”

“They airlifted her to Portland. Your clinic’s not equipped for wounds that severe. She’s in surgery. I asked your former partner to work with us on that side of the water. She’d like to hear from you when you have a chance, and wanted me to tell you she’ll contact your family, let them know you’re okay.”

“You’re okay, for a fed. My deputy Leon Wendall has my weapon—sealed and labeled. Three shots fired from it. Do you want me to run it through for you?”

“No, I’ve got it. We’re working on the rental cottage, and the car. If she makes it to trial, we’ve got everything we need. Unless she’s got another stash, it looks like she was running low on IDs. Only a couple left at that cottage. It’s clear her control’s deteriorated since you shot her. The first time. We’ll talk again, but I want to say…” She rose, held out a hand. “It’s been a pleasure working with you, Chief.”

“A pleasure for me, too, Special Agent.”

*

Since Matty wouldn’t take over, Reed coordinated his deputies, talked to the mayor when she raced up in a frilly pink tank and a pair of pajama bottoms with starfish all over them. He dealt with the publisher of the Tranquility Bulletin.

He’d need to make an official statement, and do more dealing with the reporters flooding in from the mainland, but that would wait.

Since Essie had reassured his family, he’d follow up with all of them just a little later.

Leaving the rest for now, Reed walked over to sit on the coffee table across from Simone, CiCi, Mi. “How’re you doing?”

He put a hand on CiCi’s knee first.

“I’ll be better when I can have a couple tokes, but I’m waiting on that until the cops clear out so I don’t embarrass the chief of police.”

“I appreciate it. I’m sorry I wasn’t faster. Sorry I didn’t find her before she—”

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.” Simone gripped his face, pressed her lips to his and poured every piece of her heart into the kiss. “You did exactly what you promised. So did I. So shut up.”

“I’m going to get you a whiskey,” CiCi decided.

“It’s going to have to be coffee for a while yet. Chief on duty.”

“I’ll get it. You sit.” Mi rubbed CiCi’s arm, got up, then leaned over to put her arms around Reed’s neck. Just held on. “They’re my family,” she told him. “Now so are you.” She straightened to go into the kitchen.

“These girls are treating me like an old lady,” CiCi complained. “I don’t like it, so don’t you add to that. When are these cops going to get out of my house—present company excepted.”

“It won’t take much longer.” He looked back at the broken glass door. “We’ll board that up for you.”

She nodded. “Mi wants to call her family. The news is going to get out about this, and while she didn’t tell them she was coming, they’ll worry about me and Simone. So will Tulip and Ward and Natalie.”

“You can call your families.”

“Then I’m going to get a whiskey and do just that.” CiCi rose. “Stop hogging the man for a minute.” She leaned into Reed. “You’re the answer to all my prayers to all the gods and goddesses. You clear these cops out as soon as you can—I need to white sage my house. And you take Simone home.”

“We’re staying here tonight,” Reed told her.

“Because I’m an old lady?”

Deliberately, he brushed Simone aside, whispered in CiCi’s ear. “You’re the love of my life, but I have to settle for her.” When she laughed, Reed kissed her temple. “And because Simone’s not moving in until the twenty-third, and you’re coming to dinner.”

“I’ll accept that. Mi, pour me a whiskey, and yourself whatever you’re having. Then we’ll go upstairs and make these calls. Mine will result in hysterics on the other end, so make that a double. We’ll talk in the morning,” she told Simone, then smiled at Reed. “Over cranberry pancakes and Bloody Marys.”

“She could still change her mind,” Reed considered, taking the coffee Mi brought him.

“Can we just go outside for a minute?” Simone asked.

“Sure. I’m still the chief of police. Don’t let this spoil this house for you, the beach, any of it.”

“It won’t,” Simone told him as they stepped out on the patio, as she took a deep, clear breath. “It can’t.”

Lights still shined on the beach below, cops still did their work. She didn’t care. He was here.

“When they leave, can we take a walk on the beach?” She leaned her head on his uninjured shoulder. “Our version of a couple of tokes and some white sage.”

“Let’s do that.”

“You need to call your family.”

“Essie talked to them, so they know I’m okay.”

“You need to call them. They need to hear your voice. Do it now. I’ll wait.”

“You call yours, I’ll call mine.”

“CiCi’s already talking to Mom and Dad.”

“Call your sister.”

“You’re right.” Simone drew a breath. “You’re right.”

As she spoke to her sister, she heard Reed glossing over some of the details on his end while he soothed the still anxious Barney with long, easy strokes.

She didn’t blame him for the glossing over as she did exactly the same. The hard truths could wait a little longer.

She put her phone away, watched the water, waited for Reed.

“They’re coming out tomorrow,” he told Simone. “I couldn’t talk them out of it.”

“Good, because Natalie’s coming out with Harry, and I’m going to bet my parents will, too.”

“I guess we’ll have to heat up the grill.”

She kissed his bandaged shoulder. “And tomorrow, you can tell me everything. I caught bits and pieces, but you can tell me everything. Not tonight, tomorrow. Except I guess it’s already tomorrow, but in the morning, after those pancakes.”

“That’s a deal. You saved me. She might’ve gotten the drop on me again.”

“I don’t think so. I watched it all, and I don’t think so. But we can say we saved each other. And he helped,” she added, looking at Barney.

“Caviar Milk-Bones for life.”

“With champagne chew-bone chasers.”

“It’s the high life for Barney. Sorry.” Reed pulled out his phone. “Jacoby? Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “Yeah, thanks for letting me know.”

He stared at the phone a moment, then put it away.

“She didn’t make it. Hobart. They called it at twelve-thirty-eight.”

“July twenty-second,” Simone added. “Thirteen years to the day.” She gripped his hands. “CiCi would say it’s karma, or it’s the hand of fate, and she wouldn’t be wrong. It’s a door closed, Reed, for both of us. And for all the people she meant to hurt just because they lived.”

“She heard the sirens, had to, but she didn’t even try to run. So, yeah, it’s a door closed.”

He turned her hands over, kissed them. She’d scraped them up a little on the rocks.

“We’re going to take a walk on the beach,” he told her, “and start the next part of our lives. And since I’ve already talked you into step one—the moving in together—I’m going to start talking you into step two. Especially since the door’s closed, and I’m wounded.”

“What, exactly, is step two?”

“We need to talk about a few things. You never answered the fancy wedding question. Me, I’m more in favor of simple, but I’m flexible.”

“Not nearly as much as you pretend. Step one hasn’t even happened yet.”

“Today’s the day. Plus, ouch, I’m wounded. They’re clearing out. Let’s take that walk on the beach.”

She went down with him, down the steps she and the most important woman in her life had run down only hours before.