Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
The problem is that Buck can see him, too. He stands between us, aiming for Kade, who has no idea he’s in the crosshairs as he starts following the trail of blood while his brothers urge him to be careful.
He’s going to get shot.
I can’t let it happen.
It means revealing myself, but I have to do it. I have to take a chance.
“Kade!” I scream. “He has a gun!”
Instead of firing on Kade, Buck swings around wildly, searching for me. “Found you,” he hisses, raising the rifle again.
“Kade!” I shriek.
A shot blasts through the air.
I wait for the pain.
Instead of a bullet tearing through me, Buck drops to his knees to reveal Kade still aiming his pistol. The rifle falls from Buck’s fist before he pitches forward face-first and lands hard in the dirt.
“Allie?” Kade’s frantic shouts shake me out of my horror and get me moving, stumbling through the pre-dawn light, sobbing, to make my way to the closest thing to salvation I’ve ever known.
It takes my last ounce of strength to reach him just before my legs go out, our bodies crashing together. He goes down to his knees with me, arms clutching me to him, holding me so tight that I can feel his heart pounding the same frantic rhythm as mine.
“Allie,” he whispers, rocking me, stroking my hair. “Oh baby. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I love you, I’m sorry.”
I would tell him I’m sorry.
That nothing that happened before matters now.
I would tell him I love him, too.
I guess I will, but for now, all I can do is weep in his arms while the sun comes up on a brand-new day.
Chapter 34
Kade
“The coroner says he would’ve been dead soon without the bullet you fired into his head.” Sheriff Tanner runs his hand over his scruffy jaw. It’s been a long couple of days for both of us. “I don’t know what was keeping him on his feet with the kind of wound he took to the stomach and all the blood he lost.”
I know what it was. “She betrayed him,” I murmur. “All that mattered was making her pay for it.” Rage is a powerful thing. It can keep a person alive. I should know. It was my diet for too long.
If she hadn’t called out to me, which meant risking him finding her, he would have ended my life in front of that shitty little shack. It took hours and a hell of a lot of favors called in, but Sawyer eventually found old property records, linking Buck and his family to the land where he died. There’s a chance he would have succumbed to his wounds before he ever caught up to her, but there’s a chance he wouldn’t have.
I can’t think about it.
Standing, I ask, “We done here?” It’s been more than a full day since everything happened, and I’ve been away from Allie for too long. Emma said she’d stay with her while I was here to give my statement, but that doesn’t dull my need to be with her. I already came too close to losing her forever.
“For now.” Because he has to act like he has the upper hand when he didn’t do jack shit to find her or put Buck down like the sick dog he was. Before I can leave the station, he clears his throat mildly. “What about that other problem? The one that keeps calling here and asking for details about his missing son?”
“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about him anymore.”
I look over my shoulder in time to watch his shoulders sag, and his face fall. “You weren’t going to… I mean, you wouldn’t admit that in front of me, would you?” he asks.
“Sheriff Tanner. If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re implying that I would commit murder and actually tell you about it in advance.” I wait for his face to go red, sort of a treat for myself, before snickering. “I only meant he wouldn’t be bothering you after today. Feel free to check on him if it makes you feel better.”
Not that he will. He’s too relieved he never has to deal with Joseph Lowry again. If anything, he should thank us for putting the whole matter to rest. He’s lucky we don’t invoice the department for services rendered.
As far as I know, much of what happened two nights ago has been glossed over, silenced. That’s how we run our lives. That’s how things get done. I can walk down the sidewalk, noticed by everyone I pass because of my name and reputation, but that doesn’t mean these outsiders know the first thing about Allie’s close call. I doubt she’ll show her face in town for a while after what she went through, anyway.
She’ll be able to process this and get over it without the scrutiny of outsiders. Maintaining her privacy is the least I can do after she saved my life by risking hers. I plan to spend the rest of my days making it up to her. That starts now, on my way to the ranch, where, as I understand it, we have a visitor. Granted, he was invited, and we spent yesterday preparing for him.