Page 76 of By the Book

Chuck tries to turn, lifting his own gun. And I think he’s trying to point it at me. But he never gets his arm raised, Tripp is faster. He pulls the trigger, aimed at Chuck’s shoulder.

The sound of the shot booms through my store as the deputy immediately drops his weapon, clutching at his fresh wound. Tripp kicks it across the wooden floor, towards the front of my store, and presses the muzzle of his handgun into Chuck’s bloody shoulder. “On the ground,” he growls.

With a yelp, Chuck does as he’s told. He kneels before Tripp, who keeps the gun trained on him but for the first time, steals a glance at me. His eyes soften as he scans me. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” I stare back into those eyes, those remarkably comforting eyes. “I’m so sorry?—”

“I just need you to be okay,” Tripp interrupts me with a gentle tone. “No apologizing to me, honey.”

He withdraws his phone and calls his team to come respond at my shop. As if they were sitting just around the corner, the first car arrives in seconds. And out of it climbs Millie. She rushes inside and I watch shock, anger, and concern flash across her face in waves.

“You got this?” Tripp asks her when she approaches, withdrawing her handcuffs. Millie looks between us and nods, pointing her finger at him then swinging her hand in my direction.

“Yes, go ahead,” she instructs him.

With the confirmation, Tripp holsters his weapon and makes a beeline for me. I rise from the chair, my legs wobbly from the panic I’ve experienced in the last hour. I don’t have to move far though, as he catches me and wraps me up in his arms, squeezing as if he never plans to let go. And I hope he never does.

Safe in his embrace, the adrenaline high I’ve been riding crashes, flooding me with exhaustion and tears. Tripp drops his head to rest on my shoulder, nuzzling against my neck. “I don’t know what I would have done. I can't lose you, Ivy, I can't,” he whispers, his voice scratchy.

“You won’t, you didn’t. I knew I’d be okay; I knew you’d come,” I murmur back through my tears, pressing tighter into him.

The sound of sirens carries in through the open door, growing louder on the approach. “Let's go meet our friends outside,” Millie says to Chuck, pulling him out to the front door in handcuffs.

We don’t follow them. We remain in the back of my store, Tripp’s arms tight around me. He lifts his head to kiss me, and our lips meet with desperate, urgent need to feel one another. To know, tangibly, that we’re okay. He tastes of coffee and mint and as the kiss deepens, the salt from my stream of tears mingles on our lips.

Tripp’s hands move from my waist, up my ribs and then around my back. He slides one up to cup the back of my head, the other hand dropping back down to clutch my hip snug against him. It’s as if he wants to feel every inch of me at once, unable to grasp just one place. All the while, his mouth stays locked on mine, unapologetic in front of his team of deputies on the other side of the open doorway.

“It’s over now?” I ask between kisses, looking up into his warm brown eyes and threading my fingers together behind his neck.

“It’s over now. No more looking over your shoulder. It’s just you and me, and date nights that don’t involve cases, Sherlock. Think you’ll be happy with that?”

“I think I’ll enjoy how we decide to fill the time,” I smile against his lips. “I’m just so glad you’re here. I thought, when you canceled today… maybe you had changed your mind about us, with all the Wes stuff.”

“Never, Ivy.” He takes hold of my chin and pins me with his gaze. “It’s you that matters to me. That’s it.”

“Can we go home then?”

Tripp sighs and I can feel the rattle of his chest against me. “God, yes. Let’s go home.”

Home. My brain drifts to a cozy seaside cottage instead of my apartment. A bedroom with a window looking out to the blue-gray water below. A cozy living room with a wood burning fireplace. A place that smells of Tripp and is as comfortable and as unassuming as its resident. Because the reality is, Tripp is home to me.

Chapter 30

Tripp

Ihold onto Ivy like a tether, keeping me from disappearing into my self-doubt, anger, and fear. I had managed to come at just the right time. And despite the fact that I devised my plan with zero tact of a confident sheriff, I got the job done. Every second, all I could think about was that I failed her. I was bordering on unhinged. Chuck had Ivy, and nothing was going to be okay until she was back in my arms.

“Hey! Is everyone okay?” Millie approaches us while her fellow deputies put their team member in the back of their car.

“I’m good,” Ivy replies, giving me a pointed look as if to make sure I’m hearing her words. I need to hear it a handful more times, though.

I tuck her under my chin, encouraged by the way she settles in. We fit, as I always suspected we could. Over her head, I give Millie a nod. It’s enough, my old partner understands.

Millie reaches out and gives my shoulder a light punch. “Alright, good. And hey, probably won’t get recalled anymore after tonight. Because how the fuck do you catch a guy who seems like a model citizen and deputy. I mean he could be a prickly cuss at times, but still…”

I manage another nod. Her surprise makes sense. Everyone is going to be surprised. Once my anger settles, I know I’ll have to process the loss of a man I thought of as a mentor. Chuck had been the one that trained me when I first joined the team. He’d supported me when I nearly screwed up my first prison transfer, and a number of other new guy blunders I pulled. And he never had a negative word to say about it.

There weren’t many people I considered to be in my corner, and I seem to be losing them rapidly. Pops is now gone. Wes may never speak to me again. And now Chuck needs to be crossed off my list. But I have Ivy. And she’s worth a hundred Chucks and then some, I remind myself.

---