AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Joe held out his hand. When Brian took it, he pulled the kid into a tight hug. “My name is Joe; Judge is a nickname I acquired in the military. You can call me either.” He released him and stared hard into the boy’s face. “You know I’m mad that you stowed away in Hank’s vehicle. You could’ve been hurt.”
The boy lifted his chin. “I had to be there.” He waved a hand toward the younger kids separated from the others sitting in a row of chairs, being processed by the Child and Family Services people. “I wanted to be there until they’re returned to their families and don’t need me anymore.”
“And what about you?” Penny asked.
He shrugged. “I’ll be okay.”
“We have something to ask you,” Joe said. “We’re not sure what hoops we have to jump through or the mounds of paperwork required, but if it’s possible, we’d like to make us a family.”
Brian’s brows pulled together. “I don’t understand.”
“You, me and Penny. A family,” Joe said.
Penny laughed. “What he’s trying to say is, we want you to consider letting us adopt you.”
Brian’s eyes widened and filled with tears. “Seriously?”
Penny’s eyes filled with matching tears. Even Joe’s glistened. He pulled Penny and Brian into a hug. “It’s your decision, but we love you and want you to be part of our family.”
“Yes!” Brian said. “Please.”
Joe laughed and swiped his hand down his face. “I haven’t even proposed to Penny yet.” He turned to her. “I will,” he promised. “But I want to do it right, with dinner and wine. And chocolate ice cream.”
They laughed and hugged again.
“It might take time,” Joe warned. “But we’ll make it happen.”
Brian nodded, a grin splitting his face. He returned to his kids, happier than Penny had ever seen him.
Penny turned to Joe. “I’m tired and hungry, and I want to collect on our deal.”
Joe nodded and guided her toward the exit. On their way out, Hank, Sheriff Barron and Drake stopped him.
“They identified Tiberius as George Sanderson,” Sheriff Barron said.
Drake frowned. “Any relation to Roger Sanderson, owner of Sanderson Oil and Gas?”
Sheriff Barron nodded. “His brother.”
“So, Augustus was Roger Sanderson?” Joe shook his head. “Why would someone who made as much as he did get involved in something as weird as The Chosen Way?”
“Apparently, the Sandersons were tired of running into one roadblock after another when it came to laying pipeline across Montana and Wyoming.”
“That would explain why they’d tasked Liza to assassinate Wyoming’s Congresswoman Lightfeather,” Joe said.
“And get this,” the sheriff said. “They were trying to build an army to overthrow the Montana State government and make Montana a separate country.” He looked to Hank, Drake, Joe and Penny. “You did a good thing today by bringing down The Chosen Way. We can all sleep better at night.”
A few minutes later, Joe and Penny made it outside into the fresh air, away from the roar of voices and the overwhelming crush of people.
Joe climbed onto the four-wheeler.
Penny slipped onto the back and wrapped her arms around this amazing man who’d captured her heart and saved her life.
Together, with the help of friends, they’d saved an entire state.
The day had been an ending and a new beginning. The ending of The Chosen Way and the beginning of a happy life with Joe, Brian, family and friends.
It didn’t get better than this.
