Jill turned toward the pier and shielded her eyes. She could see people moving along the walkway and standing at the railing. Two officers in uniform walked toward the stairs leading to the beach. She recognized Mac and started to smile.

At that second, her heart gave a very distinctive ping, while her stomach flipped over and the rest of her insides got all warm and squishy.

She stood there, unable to move, unable to breathe as the truth crashed in on her. She loved Mac.

Loved him? No. Wait. It wasn’t possible. Sure, she’d had a crush for years and the reality was far better than anything she’d imagined, but that wasn’t love. It wasn’t anything but means and motive, right? It was great sex and fun conversation. It was him making her laugh and them sharing secrets and…

Oh…my…God.

It was love. She loved him. Maybe she always had, which was crazy. Maybe it was new.

Did it matter?

Several things occurred to her all at once. If he was charged with beating Andy Murphy and lost Emily, he would never forgive himself. Part of that self-punishment could very easily be refusing to be happy with her. Second, what if he didn’t love her back? What if this had just been some good times with a little slap and tickle thrown in? Last but certainly not least, what was she supposed to do about her career now? If she—

“Jill?” Emily tugged on her dress. “Can you see my dad?”

“What? Sure. He’s right over there.” She pointed to ward the pier.

“He’s gonna come have dinner with us later.”

“Good.” Not good. How could she face Mac knowing that she loved him and that he might not love her back? What was she supposed to say to him? How and when would she tell him the truth and what if he rejected her? She’d gotten over Lyle pretty easily because she’d never really cared. But Mac was a whole different kind of man.

Think about that later, she told herself, not sure if she was happy or panicked when Emily started jumping up and down and waving her towel to get her dad’s attention. It only took a couple of seconds for Mac to spot them and wave. When he started down the stairs, Jill had a bad feeling he was heading this way.

Act natural, she told herself. Pretend nothing has changed. This wasn’t the time or place to deal with how anyone was feeling.

“I’m heading to the car,” Tina said.

“Do you need help?” Jill asked, eager to disappear for a while.

“No. You stay here and guard our stuff. I’m telling you, people are ruthless.”

With that, she walked off.

Jill busied herself spreading out towels while Bev marked the corners of their plot with the coolers.

“It’s like a fort,” Emily said with a laugh. “We have to take turns standing guard.”

Jill sat down and started to tug off her sandals. Just then Rudy walked up. Aware that Mac was quickly approaching and not wanting the two men to get into any thing, she stood quickly, prepared to tell him to get lost, but something in his expression stopped her.

“We have a problem,” he said by way of greeting.

Mr. Smith hovered closer than ever and Jill noticed he had one hand tucked under his coat as if he were going to grab his gun at any second.

Bev walked over and took Rudy’s hand. “What is it?”

“An associate of mine is in town and he’s angry about the recent death of his brother.”

Fear gripped Jill. Another Mafia guy here looking for payback? In this crowd?

Her first thought was for Emily and she moved close to the girl. Where to go? Where could Emily hide and be safe?

“Rudy, I don’t understand,” Bev said, sounding frightened. “What are you talking about?”

Jill wanted to scream out the truth, but she was aware of Emily listening. She scanned the crowd, looking for an angry stranger, for Mac, for Tina’s husband.

Rudy pulled Bev to him. “You know those conversations you’ve been having with Jill?”

Bev nodded.

“She’s not wrong.”

Bev sagged against him. “No.”

“I’m sorry. I should have told you myself. I was afraid if I did you wouldn’t love me anymore.”

“I’m getting Emily out of here,” Jill said, taking the girl by the hand.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Why is Bev crying?”

Jill turned and ran smack into Mac.

“What’s going on?” he asked, but before anyone could answer, a woman screamed.

CHAPTER TWENTY

MAC TURNED toward the scream and saw Andy Murphy holding a knife to his wife’s throat.

“Get back,” Andy yelled. “Everyone get back.”

Mac swore and motioned for everyone to move away. Kim, pregnant and pale, her eyes wide with fear, didn’t say anything. Her husband locked his left arm around her just above her belly, pinning her arms at her side. The tip of a hunting blade brushed against her skin and a bead of red appeared. She whimpered and someone in the crowd screamed.

Mac could feel the weight of his own gun against his side. If he pulled it out, Andy would cut his wife’s throat. If he didn’t…

“This is your fault,” Andy said, his voice thick with rage. “You set that dumb-ass social worker on me.”

“What?” Mac demanded. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Just then he saw Hollis inching forward. Dammit all to hell, what had the idiot done?

“Get back,” Mac yelled at Hollis.

Hollis, still prissy in Bermuda shorts and a button-down short-sleeved shirt, walked purposely forward. “I’m a professional and I know what I’m doing.”

“You take another step toward me and I’ll slice her head off,” Andy growled.

Hollis came to a dead stop.

Mac ignored the social worker and focused on Andy. Information poured into his brain—who was nearby, the sharpness of the knife, Andy’s rapidly deteriorating mental state. He wondered if the guy was drunk or just pushed to the edge. Had that bully nature of his finally snapped, forcing him to believe he was trapped and this was the only way out? Mac had to convince him otherwise. If he couldn’t do that, he needed time to get off a clean shot.

“You shouldn’t kill her,” Mac said quietly. “If you let her push you that far, you know she wins.”

Andy stared at him. “What?”

“Don’t you have to win? Don’t you have to be the one to walk away while she begs you to forgive her?”

Andy frowned. He glanced down at Kim and started to nod. Just then Hollis moved in.

“What are you talking about?” he asked. “Andy, put that knife down right now so no one gets hurt.”

Mac physically shoved the social worker out of the way, but it was too late. Andy’s anger returned.

“I’m going to slit her throat,” he yelled. “I’m going to ruin everybody’s party. How’s that for fun, huh?”

Where was the rest of his team, Mac wondered, and what would they do when they arrived? He had to defuse Andy, but with Hollis around, not to mention the damn crowd, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Andy,” he said, hoping Hollis wouldn’t interrupt him. “You know she’s not worth it.”

Andy dug the knife in a little more and Kim gave a strangled cry. Blood trickled down her throat. Mac judged the distance. If he went for his gun, would the other man have time to seriously injure Kim? A knife wasn’t a gun, but it could still be lethal.

Mac could hear the worried conversations around him. He could feel Andy’s control slipping. He had to move or—

A dark-haired man in a light-colored suit came up be hind Andy. Before Mac could figure out who he was or what he was doing here, the man put a gun to Andy’s temple.

“Let the woman go,” he said in a low voice.

JILL TOLD HERSELF not to scream. Freaking out wouldn’t help anyone, but she couldn’t believe this was happening.

Andy jerked slightly, then clutched the knife tighter. “If you shoot me, she’s dead for sure.”

“I don’t think so,” the stranger said calmly. “Now put the knife down.”

Andy lowered his arm, but kept hold of Kim. Jill wanted to grab the pregnant woman and pull her to safety, but the guy in the suit looked too dangerous to mess with.

Mac glanced at him as he pulled out his own gun. “Let me guess. You’re here for Rudy.”

“Yeah.”

The man looked past Mac. Jill instinctively turned and nearly fainted when she saw another stranger holding a gun on Rudy. Mr. Smith lay unconscious on the ground.

“Looks like we’re going to have a gunfight,” the first man said conversationally.

“I don’t want any innocent people hurt,” Mac said.

“Sometimes they get in the way.”

This wasn’t real, she thought frantically. It couldn’t be. They were at the beach. All around them people were laughing and surfing and eating hot dogs. This sort of thing didn’t happen where there were hot dogs.

“I don’t care what happens to Rudy,” Mac said evenly. “But I’m not going to let you take care of business in my town.”

“Mr. Casaccio hasn’t given me and my associates much choice.”

Mac glanced around and Jill had a feeling he was wondering where his deputies were. The man with the gun obviously had the same thought.

“Two of your men are tied up in their cars. Uninjured,” he added. “The others are too far away to get here in time. I’m sorry to interrupt your party, Sheriff. I don’t usually like public displays like this, but I don’t have an other option.”

Jill turned toward Emily. She had to get the girl out of here. Relief poured through her when she saw Bev already had the girl and was inching back from the unbelievable tableau. Suddenly she heard the faint sound of sirens.

“Looks like my guys are on the way,” Mac said, sounding relieved. He pointed his gun at the man close to Andy. “Put your weapon down now and we’ll get this straightened out.”

“I don’t think so, Sheriff. Your men will get here too late.”

“Goddammit, this is about me and my bitch of a wife,” Andy yelled. “I’m going to kill her right now.”

“You’re annoying,” the slick guy in the suit said, and kicked the back of Andy’s knee.

Andy started to go down. Kim might be slight, but she was pregnant and awkward. She stumbled as her husband slipped. Andy pushed her away, regained his footing and ran toward the guy who had kicked him.

“Hollis, protect my daughter,” Mac yelled as he charged Andy and the other guy.

Jill heard a grunt. When she turned, she saw Rudy punching the man who’d held a gun on him. Hollis ran toward Emily, who broke free of Bev and started to run toward Jill. Jill grabbed her, pulled her against her body, then bent over, trying to cover as much of her as possible.

Mac plowed into Andy and his assaulter and the three of them went down. His only intent was to keep anyone from getting shot. He guessed the knife had gone flying. It would be a problem in a minute or two but right now he had to get the other gun.

A kick to the gut pushed all the air out of him. He fought the instinct to stop and breathe and continued to punch any flesh that wasn’t his own. A glint of metal had him grabbing, then the muzzle turned toward him. He ducked. There was a flash and he waited for the hot impact.

His heart beat once, twice. Nothing. Not sure what had happened, he cracked his gun against the wrist holding the other weapon. There was a grunt of pain and the gun in question fell to the sand. Mac grabbed it and scrambled to his feet.

“Don’t even think about moving,” he told the stranger.

The man rolled over onto his back and Mac saw the gushing bullet wound in Andy’s chest. Instinctively he glanced up toward Kim. The young woman saw her husband, screamed, clutched her belly and dropped to the sand. A couple of people in the crowd caught her.