The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(55)

“I know guys like this,” he said, not taking his eyes or the gun off Forbes. “He’s not going to go to prison.”

“You don’t know Toni, though. If he gets out of it, we’ll take care of him then.”

Finally Adam lowered the gun by a fraction of an inch and that was all Scott needed before he roughly turned Forbes onto his stomach and deftly handcuffed him. Then he pulled out a radio and called for backup to come in for the three injured perpetrators.

Adam was studying Forbes as though waiting for him to make another move, so Melody took his face in her hands and brought his forehead down to hers. “It’s okay,” she breathed.

They stood like that for a few long seconds before commotion outside started to draw attention. The police were going to be coming in.

Toni walked over to where Adam and Melody stood. “I hate to break this up, but it’s showtime.”

“Showtime?” asked Melody.

“Well, we can prove that you didn’t kill that cop, but we do need to bring you into the station without getting shot.” She then held up a pair of handcuffs.

“You’re serious?”

“Yep. And we have about twenty minutes to get it done before they realize that Scott and I don’t actually work for the Chicago PD. Think you have enough adrenaline left for one more con?”

Melody looked over to Adam, who gave a little nod. “There’s always room for one more con.”





“I still can’t believe all this,” said Whitney as she handed Melody the last box.

“Like I said, it was all a big misunderstanding.” Melody did a quick scan at her belongings before writing on the side in big Sharpie what it was.

“So what if you were accidentally accused of murder? That doesn’t mean you have to up and move out of state. I didn’t mind having you here, really.”

“I know. And I almost believe you. But I don’t know if this is the right town for me. When I first came here and married Ben, I wanted a certain life, and now that I’m a bit wiser, I don’t think the life I wanted was ever really meant for me.” Even as Melody was telling Whitney her deep personal realization, Whitney’s eyes had glazed over as she looked past Melody and out the window. Melody didn’t have to turn around to see what Whitney was ogling. She knew perfectly well how good Adam looked loading her boxes into the back of the oversized SUV they’d rented for the move.

“You’ll keep in touch though, won’t you?” said Whitney, a tad too late for casual conversation. “Pictures?”

“Pictures of me or pictures of someone I happen to be spending time with?”

Whitney let out a little giggle as she continued to look at Adam unabashedly. “Come on. Where did you even find him? They just don’t make guys like that anymore.”

Didn’t she know it. “I told you. I met him while I was at that wedding a few weeks ago.”

“Has Ben seen him? You need to introduce him to Ben.”

“Ben has met him. Ben hates him.” In fact, Ben hated her more than ever. Even better, Ben was terrified of her. Her bullying, stubborn, asshole of an ex was scared of her. Apparently she had a little sadistic streak, because when she’d stopped by the house a few hours ago to pick up some things before her move to Louisiana, Ben had immediately opened the door and then drove away so he wouldn’t have to deal with her.

Of course, it was hard to think of your ex-wife the same after you’d seen her shoot a man with a shotgun, she supposed.

She carried the last box out to the car and Whitney followed. “Are you sure I can’t make you all lunch? It’s going to be a long drive.”

Melody loaded the box in the back and shut the trunk door. “We’re already late.”

Adam looked at her with a raised brow but didn’t say anything. They weren’t on any time table, so they weren’t technically late for anything. But she knew the longer she was with Whitney, there’d be more questions she didn’t want to hear and more ogling of Adam. Not that Melody could blame Whitney. She pretty much spent every spare moment of the past week ogling Adam too. The joy of not having to run for her life was having time to appreciate the small things. Or not so small things....

Whitney gave her a quick hug and then took the chance to give Adam a tight squeeze. He gave Melody an annoyed glare over Whitney’s shoulder but still allowed the hug. Then they were off and on the road out of town. All the packing had exhausted Melody and immediately she could feel her eyelids getting heavier. It was a long drive to the swamps of Louisiana. And once she got there, she and Adam were going to work on getting his house, a house on actual land, up to date. There was no huge rush. She wouldn’t mind passing the dark nights on that houseboat with him....

The car came to a stop and Melody opened her eyes, looking around. She knew she hadn’t fallen asleep yet. She glanced around to make sure there were no other cars around since they were stopped in the middle of the road. “What are we doing?”

“This is it. The end of Huntsville.”

Melody looked out and glanced just behind the SUV where the battered-looking “Huntsville” sign stood. It didn’t say “Welcome” or have any cute slogans. Just the basic bare sign.

“And why are we stopped at the end of Huntsville?” She still wasn’t following where he was going with this.