Secrets Collide (Bluegrass Brothers)

to her rescue. He had saved her.
    “You came for me,” she whispered.
    “Of course I did. I could never leave you. Now let’s get out of here.” Cy scooped her up and held her close to him. Then he put his arm around her and hurried her to the foyer. As they approached, the only sound was the clinking of metal against metal.
     
    Ahmed didn’t notice the sounds of the gunfight quieting down outside. He only saw Sergei and his knife as they thrust and stabbed, trying to disable each other. Both had been militarily trained in the same techniques and therefore were matching move for move.
    Ahmed tossed his elbow out as a distraction. When Sergei glanced, Ahmed sliced through the air and connected with the killer's side. The cut wasn’t fatal, but it dropped Sergei’s guard some. Ahmed could finish him off; he knew it. But then he heard the sound of people coming at him. In his peripheral vision, he saw Cy with his arm wrapped around a bruised and bleeding Gemma.
    Cy stopped and bent to help Gemma sit down in the chair. He knew without a doubt Cy was coming to help, but then a figure emerged slumped against the wall. He was bleeding from the shoulder and had a trickle of blood streaming down his rounded head. Ahmed blocked a weak attack from Sergei and landed a solid punch to his face. Sergei staggered back. He had the kill shot to finish off his nemesis, but then the man behind Cy raised a gun and aimed it right at the couple.
    Ahmed raised his arm and went for the kill. His knife flew through the air, tip over end, and sank into the chest of Liam O’Flannigan. Liam was knocked back and collapsed to the ground as Gemma and Cy spun around in surprise. When Ahmed looked back, Sergei was gone.
     

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
     
    Cy looked down at the woman he loved and felt whole. She slept quietly on the pillow next to him, her white-bandaged arm lying on the quilt as her hair fanned out over the pillow. He pushed back a lock of hair and she turned her face into his hand, seeking him in her sleep. He cupped her cheek and lowered his lips to hers. He had almost lost her and he was determined that would never happen again.
    The Keeneston Sheriff’s Department and their citizens had been credited in this morning’s paper as heroes for bringing down the world’s largest black market dealer, arms trader, and terrorist. Dani didn’t even get mad that Ahmed had loaned them her old car.
    Shots had been fired, but those had come mostly from Annie. She had fired at the feet of the guards who were trying to rush back into the gate after they had confronted the group in the car crash out front. When they turned around to run back down the driveway, Paige fired off a couple of shots and they were met with the barrel of a large Magnum held by the surprisingly steady hands of Edna.
    Cy had kept a tight hold on Gemma since he found her in the office with Liam. Ahmed had disappeared in search of Sergei as soon as Liam hit the ground with Ahmed’s knife lodged in his heart. Ambulances and the rest of the FBI had been called. The Rose sisters clucked around Gemma even though Cy made sure to keep her in his arms. Ahmed had returned a short time later and, with a slight shake of his head, Cy knew that Sergei hadn't been found.
    Still beautiful in her wedding dress, Dr. Francis had arrived before the ambulance and stitched up Gemma’s arm as she gushed about how this was a wedding to remember. Noodle had stood beside his new wife beaming with pride as she gushed about her hero of a husband.
    Cy answered the questions for Marshall’s report and then for Cole’s. When completed, he took Gemma back to her room. She looked so delicate with her face slightly swollen and her dress splattered with blood. He’d carried her upstairs against her protest and helped her undress. He made a warm bath for her and helped clean away the nastiness of the night. As soon as he had her tucked in bed, she had fallen asleep.
    He had been awake all night watching her. She had rested with surprising peace. The night had given him the time and the perspective he needed to think. The conclusion he reached was that he didn’t want to go another day without Gemma by his side. He loved her, his family, and his town. He realized he was genuinely happy. Now all he needed was Gemma to be his wife, if she would have him.
     
    *     *     *
     
    Henry Rooney handed the last of his and Neely Grace’s research over in duplicate to the sheriff’s office and