Katie In Denver (In Denver Series Book 3) (18 page)

Then all the dots click. I close my eyes. “Thank you, Richard,” I say. “It’s Randall. Somehow Randall Burke is involved with Michael’s disappearance.”

I tell them about how Randall was always pushing Michael to drink and take drugs, how Randall’s sister set Michael up to believe he cheated on me, and how after Michael had left, Randall Burke had asked me out several times, but I always told him I didn’t date. When I’m done, everyone starts moving into action. 

“We are going to find you, Michael, you just have to hold on, baby. Please, Richard and Aunt Maggie, keep Michael safe.”

Chapter 26

Michael 

I had a bridal necklace and earring set designed for Katie. Her mother helped me with the design in honor of her Ute heritage. I also had a bracelet made for MJ with Rhydian’s help. He was able to have them incorporate a tracking unit into the wolf design, ever since the kidnapping attempt of Liam’s kids by Estelle’s step-father, Edwin, we have all found a way to place trackers on our family it gives the men piece of mind. I hear someone calling for help, and I look around. I jog up to a panel van and instantly get a bad feeling. I pull my hand off the handle and then everything goes black.

I’m trying to open my eyes.

“Oh, his royal highness finally decides to join the party.”

I lift my head and see Randall and his partner in crime, James. I look around, and I realize that this is a really bad situation. I’m tied to a chair, and I’m bleeding from my head. 

“What is this about, Randall?” I say, trying to sound calm and collected.

Randall walks up and punches me in the face. “You took Katie from me, she should have been mine. I saw her first; I picked up her wallet, and you just grabbed it out my hand and ran up to her. I wasn’t going to keep it, but you took it right out of my hand.” He punches me again.  

“James, come here,” he says. James comes forward, pulling my head back so Randall can punch me in the face again. When Randall goes to into another room, James leans down.

“Help is on the way. I have to play along; he has Rachel and my son somewhere. Please, he is crazy, he has my family. I had to help him.” When Randal comes back, he has more rope and a screwdriver. James punches me and the chair tips over. He could have punched me in the face, but punched me in my shoulder. Randall ties the rope around my neck and ties it to another chair across the room. 

“There,” he says. “Now one of us won’t have to hold your head.” 

He stabs the screwdriver through my thigh, and I scream out in pain.

“Katie was mine, and you took her. I would have loved Katie and your baby, but she wouldn’t even give me the time of day.” He stabs me again. James is slowly moving behind him and then I hear it, the sound of the stun gun. Randall is out cold. James unties me and helps me to my feet. 

“Can you walk, Michael?” 

“I will.” 

We make our way to the van, and he pushes me in. "Rachel and the baby are safe. She sent me a text; your brothers are on the way.

James is trying to get the truck turned around when we hear gunfire. Randall is standing at the cabin door firing into the van. I hear James yell and slump over. I crawl to the front of the van; he is hit. 

I have to get down the mountain. I can see Randall reloading, so I get us turned around and I hear bullets hitting the rear of the van. The glass shatters out of the back windows, but we make it around the bend and are out of range. I try to stop James’ bleeding, but the blood is pouring out of him quicker than I can handle. The bullet must have hit something. He is able to pull over and I lay him on the floor of the van, but make it only a few feet before I’m surrounded by cars. My brothers hop out and run toward the van while police rush past us toward the cabin. 

“Please,” James sputters, blood gushing out of his mouth. “Please.” My brothers grab him out of the van, and the EMTs put him on the stretcher.

“Please,” I hear him say again. “Please help Rachel and my son. Please.” He closes his eyes and says, “Please, Lord, forgive me for my sins.”

“I promise, James. I promise.” With those words, his chest releases its final breath and he is gone.  The paramedics come to me and start working on me. I’m loaded onto the ambulance and taken to the hospital. It’s not as bad as they thought it was. I need a few stitches and rest. I’m finally able to see Katie and MJ who run to my bedside. 

“I need you to do something for me, Katie,” I say. 

“Anything, Michael. Name it.” 

“Marry me right now. It’s 2 p.m., and the courthouse is right across the street. I’m sorry this ruined our wedding plans, but I want to get married right now.”  I see MJ launch out the room then come back with a priest.

“Father Donovan, what are you doing here?” I ask. “I was just visiting a sick parishioner when this young man ran into the room and told the woman that I would be back in ten minutes, that I had to marry his parents really quickly so here I am. I’m guess you are the bride and groom.” 

“I will be right back.” And MJ ran back out of the room. 

Katie pops her head out of the room and looks back at me. 

“MJ sent Rhydian one way and then grabbed Liam and headed toward the elevator. What is that kid doing?” she turns to me and asks. 

The priest took the time to get to know Katie, he said he normally wouldn’t perform the marriage since she wasn’t a practicing Catholic, but the circumstances being what they were, he felt he was morally obligated to help MJ get his parents married. Fifteen minutes later MJ comes in with two nurses. They roll me out to the waiting room where someone has arranged the chairs like aisles, and he grabs Katie’s arm and moves her to Joseph. 

“All you got to do is walk, Mom. Let’s get on with it, I’ve been waiting long enough.” Joseph walks Katie down the makeshift waiting room aisle and the priest proceeds with the standard ceremony. Right before he says, “You may kiss the bride,” MJ stands, blocking Katie. He hands her a paper.

"You need to sign where it says bride, Mom.” Then he turns to me. “Dad, you sign where it says groom.” I do and then Liam and Rhydian sign as witnesses.

“Don’t kiss yet!” MJ says as he grabs Liam by the shirt. We watch them run across the street. Exactly eight minutes later he comes back into the waiting room and hands me a receipt. 

“You may now kiss your bride, you guys are married finally,” he says. I kiss Katie for the first time as my wife with the cheers of nurses, doctors, sick patients, and my family surrounding us.

A week later I am sitting next to my wife in a crowded courtroom. We are waiting for Randall to have his first appearance. He has been charged with stalking, kidnapping, attempted murder, and first-degree murder in the death of James. My entire family takes up the galley. I look toward the door when Rachel appears with her son Ashton. Katie looks up and then stands. She walks over to Rachel and hugs her then walks her and her son over to sit with us. She holds Rachel’s hand during the whole proceeding. Randall looks crazed as he looks around and mouths, “I love you,” to Katie. I feel her shudder, and I wrap my arms around her. I see the frown in Randall’s face. 

After Randall pleads not guilty, a trial date is set, and we all exit the courtroom. We invite Rachel and Ashton back to our house, but Rachel politely declines. She seems so lost without James. She was always so full of life, always loud, always flirting, and now she is just a walking shell. My parents let us know they will have MJ for the weekend, so Katie and I go back to the house and collapse in the living room. 

“I need to find a way to help Rachel. I promised James,” I say. “I just don’t know what to do. She doesn’t need money, she needs support, but I just don’t know how to give that to her.”

“You better than anyone know how depression can take hold. We will figure something out,” she says, kissing me. She loosens my tie and pulls me forward.

I lie on top of her, kissing her neck. 

“You owe me a wedding night,” she says softly into my ear. “And now we have a wedding weekend,” she adds and licks the outside of my ear, sending all the blood directly to my dick.

I lift her up, and she wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her to the bedroom. This seems familiar. If anyone disturbs us, they are going to die. I pull her dress over her head. 

“Damn, baby, I love this bra,” I say, pulling at her breasts and taking her dark nipple into my mouth. My cock gets even harder at the sound of her moan.

This feels so different,
I think to myself. Now that she is my wife the feeling is so intense, knowing she’s mine, knowing that I am the only one who has ever been in her pussy is intoxicating. She is mine and only mine. Forever. 

She is withering below me. I trail kisses down her stomach, and press open mouth kisses to her thighs while sliding her panties down her legs. “Damn, baby, you smell like heaven.” I strip off my own clothes and slide her to the end of the bed. I pull her ass to the end of the bed then throw her legs over my shoulders and open her pussy lips with the flat of my tongue. She moans softly and whispers how good it feels. I suck her clit into my mouth and work two fingers into her soaked opening. 

“Baby, you’re so wet and tight.” 

“Please, Michael, I need you. I need you inside me,” she moans. 

“I’m gonna give you want you need, baby, but I want this to be perfect.” 

She comes the minute I hit her g-spot and hearing her cries of ecstasy has me harder than I have ever been in my entire life. She puts her quivering legs down and kisses me, then she slides off the bed and makes me stand up. Seeing Katie on her knees in front of me makes my cock leak. It’s the most erotic sight I have ever seen. She looks up from her lowered lashes and leans forward pulling my cock into her hot wet mouth. I feel my knees buckling, and she moves me so I can sit on the end of the bed.

“Baby, if you don’t move I’m going to come in your mouth.”

She hums and it’s over; I come down her throat and I feel a tear fall down my face. 

“That was amazing.” 

She continues to suck my cock until I’m hard again then has me lie down on the bed. She straddles me and lowers her pussy down, rocking back and forth slowly, enjoying each thrust I add as she moves on top of me. We are looking in each other’s eyes, and my heart starts to feel like it's going to explode. This is making love. We aren’t fucking, this isn’t sex. This is love on another level. 

She presses her breasts against my chest and continues to roll her hips slowly. I meet her with a thrust every time she is centered on my dick. We explode together, and she lies on my chest. 

“I hope it’s like this forever, Michael.” 

“It will be, Katie. This is our forever. I will spend the rest of my days on the Earth making sure you know how loved you are. I love you, Katie Kerrigan.” 

“I love you more, Michael.”

Chapter 27

Katie

Spending the last couple days setting  up  my new home, I can’t help but miss my old life on the reservation, I spend my days working on getting my leg strength back and spending time with Mrs. Fairchild, she seems so happy these last few days like she has a new lease on life.

“What has you with that giant smile on your face?” I finally ask her. 

She puts her cup of tea down. “Today is the day I met Richard sixty years ago. I was just reliving the magic of it in my mind, child,” she says with a bright smile. 

“He visited me last night in my dreams.” She suddenly gets serious and sits back in her chair. 

“Henry,” she calls. It’s a few minutes before Henry comes in with an envelope.

“These are my wishes for my homecoming, Katie. When it’s my time, I don’t want you to be sad; I have had an amazing life. I want you to have not once ounce of sorrow, but I want you to have a celebration. Henry has been with me a long time, and so has his wife. They are fixing to retire in the next year or so. I ask that you keep them until then.” 

“Henry, you will have a job here for as long as you want it. If you want to retire in a year, or if you want to work another five, you have nothing to worry about.” I see the relief on his face. Henry excuses himself.