Page 106 of Coveted Justice

“I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

He probably could have, but it was sweet hearing the words.

“Tanner? Kiss me again.”

He did. No questions asked.

It was all going to be fine. With a little help from their friends, Tanner had caught himself another killer.

They had love. They had family. They had each other.

“Tanner,” she said when he lifted his head. “I think we’re going to need a new car. Seth is, too. How are we going to get home?”

Tanner simply smiled and nodded toward the parade of vehicles that were beginning to arrive. Reed had already climbed out of one and Dare another. It looked like Griffin had just pulled up, along with Logan and Jason in their rented sedan.

“I think we might catch a ride with a few friends.”

They had friends, too. The best kind.

Two days later…

It was Amanda’s birthday and they’d thrown a backyard barbecue for her. So many of their friends and family were here to celebrate the birthday girl.

And Tanner couldn’t have been prouder.

His daughter was smart and funny and beautiful. She wanted to be a doctor just like her mother. She was going to be a force of nature just like Maddie, too.

“I barely even remember being nineteen,” Logan said with a laugh. “Now our kids are adults and I’m scared to death. When did this all happen? It went so fast.”

“I’ve done this twice now, and I can tell you with confidence that it isn’t any easier the second time around,” Tanner confessed. “I know she’s growing up, but sometimes when I look at her, I just see my baby girl when she turned five. Then sometimes I look at her and see a mature woman with a great head on her shoulders. I think to myself…what an amazing person she’s turned out to be. I can’t wait to see what she does next.”

“It looks like you’re not the only one that thinks she’s awesome.”

Logan motioned to where Amanda was sitting with her friends - and Josh Mitchell. They were a couple and clearly, they’d fallen hard for one another. Tanner recognized that look on Josh’s face. It was the way he looked at his own wife.

In awe that this woman could love him so deeply.

“Josh’s IQ said that he was a genius,” Tanner replied with a grin. “This just proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Logan laughed and nodded in agreement.

“He’s a smart young man, and I think he’d make a decent son-in-law.”

“Whoa, let’s not rush into anything. They’re nineteen and twenty. There’s plenty of time to think about marriage in the future. They both need to at least finish school first.”

Logan’s smile dropped and he glanced over his shoulder as if to see if anyone was listening.

“Drew Parnham was released from the hospital this morning.”

“I know,” Tanner replied. “He said that was probably going to happen. He told me that he and Abby are going to plan Marty’s memorial service. He doesn’t have much family left now and I think they both need each other. You know, she was sitting in his hospital room when I was there, fussing over him like a mother. He seemed to be enjoying it, too. This might be a whole new start for them.”

“That sounds like a good plan. I feel sorry for him, though. Father dead, and his sister a homicidal maniac. A stepmother that likes to shop probably doesn’t seem so bad now.”

Drew had been upset when he’d woken up. He didn’t remember much from that day. He remembered Trisha visiting him and making them both a drink in his kitchen. He had a vague recollection of not feeling well, and his sister had said that she would drive him to the emergency room. He’d been led to his car but that’s all he could recall until he woke up in the hospital.

His bloodwork had shown that he’d been drugged. It was the only way that Trisha could get him into his car since she couldn’t carry him if he was knocked out cold. He’d thanked Tanner for suspecting him since it meant that his life was saved.

“I think this might be the wake-up call that Drew needed,” Tanner said. “He seemed like an entirely different person when I talked to him. He swore up and down he didn’t know that his father was planning to leave the business to him. He did admit that his father was going to invest in his startup - which he’s not doing now. He didn’t want anyone to know because he wanted them to think he’d done it on his own. Pride and all that. He said he wouldn’t have taken the business and cut Trisha out. He didn’t have any idea how much she hated them.”

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