Part 15.
"Kenny," Max said softly, feeling Angela's eyes on them.
He squeezed her hand in his, and drunk in her beautiful face before replying, "I'm okay. Just as nervous as you were."
"Are," she corrected, shivering slightly in the coolness of the church.
"Go get dry," he said, pulling her up with him and lowering his voice for only her to here, "I love you. Let's do this."
She nodded, as she followed Angela down the hallway, "Yeah. Love you too."
"Is this a spur of the moment marriage?," Angela asked, as they made their way to the bathroom, "If you don't mind me asking."
"Not exactly," Max trailed off, as her gaze dropped to her stomach, "It's complicated to say the least."
"You're having a child."
Max nodded, "We are."
"Here," she said handing Max a robe, "I'll put your dress in the dryer if you'd like. You have to take care of yourself and your baby."
Max nodded distantly, as she went into the bathroom and pulled her dress over her head, "I know. Here, thanks."
"It's not a problem," Angela promised, as Max wrapped the terrycloth robe tightly around her body, "It's our pleasure. I'll be back soon, if you would like to go find your friend?"
"Thanks," Max said again, dragging her fingers through her hair, and taking in her reflection thoughtfully. We're really getting married, she thought, feeling a pang in her stomach. I wish my family was here, even though they'd probably ruin it. Or at least some friends. I guess we can always throw a party later to celebrate. This is special though, and this is a beautiful place. I can't believe we're getting married. God, I'm going to be Maxine Lacos in a little while. That will be a change.
"Max," Kenny called, walking down the hall toward her, "You look a million miles a way."
She smiled at him, "I guess I was. I just can't believe that we're doing this."
He grinned back at her, "We're going to surprise a lot of people tomorrow. What are we supposed to say? We decided to elope last night?"
"Maybe we'll have to find a better way to phrase it," Max trailed off, "Plus haven't we been surprising people for the last few months, and this will be something we can tell them before they figure it out."
"Maybe we should take out an ad," he added, kissing her on her forehead, "Are you still cold?"
"I'm perfect," she insisted, feeling safe and secure in his arms, "What was that?"
"They stole my truck," Kenny yelped, seeing it shoot out of the lot, "Shit! Come on!"
Max followed him, as he ran down the hall barefoot back to the front of the church, "Hello? Minister? Angela? Shit! Kenny, look."
"Shit," he said, looking at the two tied up people and the open safe in the office.
"Shit," Max agreed, moving over to them, and she untied the ropes, "Are you okay?"
Kenny grabbed the phone off of the desk, and handed it to her, "Make the call. I'm going to see if anyone is still here."
"Be careful," Max replied, helping the real minister and his wife to their feet, "What did we walk in on tonight?"
Kenny shook his head, "I don't know. Stay here okay? Promise me that?"
"Go. I promise."
"What were you two doing here?," Jimmy asked, looking at his two deputies, "And where are your clothes?"
Kenny looked over at Max before replying and thought the truth wasn't the best option at the moment, "Max was feeling sick, so we stopped here. Got soaked, and they offered to dry our clothes . . . then they took my truck."
"Are you okay?," Jimmy asked, turning toward Max, "No more cramping or whatever?"
Max shook her head, "No. I'm fine, I promise."
Jimmy nodded, "If you're sure. You gave us a description, so did Reverend Jackson and his wife. Get up, I'm driving you both home."
Kenny pulled Max to her feet, "Thanks. It's been kind of a long night."
"Here," Allison Quinn said, walking out from the back, "I think these are yours. If you want to change before you go?"
"Great," Max said, wanting to crawl into bed and hide, "Thanks."
"Damn kids," Jimmy said, walking back into his house later that night, "They just can't keep themselves out of trouble."
"Who?," Jill asked sleepily, rolling over on her side, "Jimmy?"
"Kenny. Max. They stop in the one church in the state where a robbery is taking place tonight."
"Church? Were they getting married?"
"Married? No. She was sick, so they stopped for help."
"They wouldn't have just gone to the hospital then?"
"I don't know," Jimmy trailed off, as he thought of the holes in Kenny's story, "Maybe she just needed a bathroom or something. She is pregnant after all."
"Hmm," Jill mused, "I still think they were eloping. Kenny did give her that beautiful ring awhile ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they did it without all of the fuss of a big ceremony. They are going to be parents in a few months."
"I'll have to run that by them tomorrow," Jimmy replied climbing into bed, silently fuming if they had lied to him, "Right now I'm too tired to care."
"What a night," Kenny said, leading Max inside, "What the hell did we walk in on?"
"It looks like a robbery," she replied, stifling a yawn, "Do you think someone was trying to tell us something? Those poor people . . ."
"Yeah," Kenny agreed, wanting to nail the imposters who robbed them, "And no, I think our timing was off tonight. Too spur of the moment I guess."
"Yeah," Max agreed, kicking her sandals off and clasping down on his couch, "I just want to sleep forever right now."
He sunk into the cushions next to her, "I probably should have told Jimmy why we were really there."
She nodded distantly, "Probably. Why don't we invite him when we try this again?"
Kenny smiled at her willingness to get married, "What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Natalie Munson and Peter Henderson," Skeeter declared, dropping the file on Jimmy's desk, "They match Kenny and Max's descriptions of the people they saw last night. They've been robbing churches all over the country for the past few years. Stealing money from organized religions to fund their own. They're non-violent, and they haven't killed anyone."
"At least we matched their names and faces," Jimmy conceded, "We just don't know where they're going next."
"Kenny and Max picked a hell of a place to stop last night," Skeeter mused, "Sick my ass. My bet is they planned on getting married."
"You sound like Jill."
Skeeter shook his head, "He was planning on surprising her with a small wedding sometime soon. Just inviting family and friends, well since neither of their families is happy with their situation, probably not. That wasn't the spot he picked or anything, but that was the direction that they were heading in."
"Then why lie about it?"
"They've been weird about this since day one," Skeeter replied, "Quiet, and not flaunting it. I think they both just wanted some privacy after their other relationships, and I can't say I blame them."
Jimmy nodded, forgetting the case in front of him for a few minutes, "That they have been. Where is this place that he wants to marry her in?"
"I don't want to move," Max mumbled, burying her head in Kenny's chest the next morning, "Can we just stay here all day?"
"I'd like that," he replied, as she rolled over on her side to look at him, "You looked like you slept well."
"I was tired. And pregnant."
"Oh, I thought you were just getting fat," he teased, as he kissed her softly.
"Jerk," she commented, feeling him run his hand over her stomach, "You mean you don't want to run to the nearest church and pick up where we left off last night?"
He smiled at her, "Tell you what sweetheart. I think last night caught us both by surprise. I kind off wanted to surprise you with a wedding, at that place I took you to. Just us and our friends. Let's forget the surprise part, invite everyone and do it. How about this weekend? Can you buy a dress before Saturday?"
Max smiled at him, "You were going to surprise me?"
"I figured you wouldn't walk out if there were a lot of people around," he countered, "What do you say? We'll do this right. Hell, we'll even buy rings this time."
She nodded, "Okay. That's only a few days away . . ."
"What?," he asked, noting her pained and pale expression, "Max?"
"Something's wrong," she gasped, sitting up slightly, "I feel weird . . . my stomach . . . Oh god. Kenny!"
"Max," he asked, throwing back the covers as he grabbed his pants, "Hold on. What hurts?"
"Something's wrong with baby," she gasped, keeling over, "It hurts!"
"It's going to be okay," Kenny said, sounding a lot more calm then he felt, "Can you walk?"
She shook her head, as another pain ripped through her, "Kenny!"
Hearing the desperation in her voice, he lifted her into his arms, "Take deep breaths sweetheart. You're going to be fine. So is the baby. I won't ever let anything happen to you."
She shook her head, as the made their way down to her car.
"We found Kenny's truck," Skeeter said, "In Greenbay, at the airport. Apparently it's still in tact and it hasn't be stripped. I guess they just wanted a get away car."
"He'll be glad to hear that," Jimmy replied dryly, "Anything come through on the airport security cameras?"
"Not yet. I faxed the pictures over, and their names didn't come up on any manifests."
Jimmy shook his head, "We'll keep looking. They made off with over 2000 dollars in donations. That isn't pocket change, but it's not a fortune either."
"Hey if they got that much from every church that they hit, well it adds up," Skeeter trailed off, "How's our other project going?"
"Hang in there Max," Jill coaxed, "Deep breaths."
Max groaned, as Kenny looked on helplessly, "Jill? What's wrong?"
Jill shook her head, "Clamps please. We've got to stop the bleeding. I need an IV now! What is taking so long?"
"Sorry," a nurse replied, hooking the IV up, "There you go doctor."
"About time," Jill shot back, as she worked to stop the bleeding, "Max, this should stop the cramping, just relax and lie back."
"Relax," Max gasped, as Kenny brushed her hair back, "I can't."
"Ssh sweetheart," Kenny cut in, "Do what she says. You're going to be fine. Look at me."
Jill glanced up at the young couple before turning back to the task at hand. I'm not letting her lose this baby, she vowed, as she staunched the bleeding. No way. Come on, a little more. There! Laying her stethoscope on Max's stomach, she heard the faint heartbeat coming through and smiled to herself.
"I want you to lie back and rest," Jill repeated, "I stopped the bleeding, and I'm going to give you a sonogram to make sure that the baby is still doing okay. Are you still cramping at all?"
Max shook her head, and let her body relax a bit, as she whispered hoarsely, "No."
Jill smiled, "I'll be back."
"I feel so strange," she said softly, as Jill left, "So sleepy."
"Talk to me," Kenny replied, as she turned to look at him, "You're okay? When . . . How?"
She shook her head, "I don't know. It just happened so fast. Our baby. . . it could have . . ."
"Ssh," he replied, seeing that she was about to burst into tears, "Everything is fine." "Okay," Jill said coming back in, "We're going to do that sonogram now."
To be continued.