Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
He was so cold, so unlike the Henry she knew, but he was also deeply competent and she trusted him. The Henry who always helped, who’d read her college history papers and edited them for her, was still in there. “I do. Please help Shane. I know they said they have him, but I can’t help but wonder if he’s been shot.”
The barn door came open and Brooke held the shotgun up, but Henry quickly deflected it before she could fire.
Noah Bennett stumbled in, blood pouring from his left side. “Henry, you have to get Nell out.”
Brooke rushed to help him. “Noah, what happened?”
Henry glanced out the barn door. “Brooke, I need a shot. Someone saw Noah and they’re coming to check on him. We might be able to deflect.”
Brooke quietly apologized to the goats and blasted a shot toward the back of the barn.
“Everything okay in there?” a deep voice asked.
“Is now,” Henry replied, his voice equally deep. “Tell the boss I got it handled.”
He did an excellent laconic Western accent.
Henry turned. “He’s going back. Noah, what am I dealing with?”
Noah was pale, and he gritted his teeth as he moved. “I’m not sure, man. I walked into Trev’s place to grab some towels for the ride. Birth is messy. And then this woman stepped out of the living room and shot me. I went down, and luckily she didn’t look too closely. She assumed I would die. She’s a terrible shot and doesn’t know anatomy. I’ve got a while before I bleed out. How is Nell?”
“She’s great if we want to have a baby in a barn in the middle of some kind of range war,” Lucy replied. “And among a bunch of goats.”
Brooke noticed a couple of the babies were huddled against Nell. Like they knew she would protect them even when she was at her most vulnerable. One of the little suckers rested his head on her belly. Nell simply petted the animal as though she got comfort from it, too.
“I pretended to be dead, and when I was alone, I made my way here,” Noah continued as he allowed Brooke to help him to the back where Nell was currently fighting through a contraction. “I counted at least seven men, but I suspect the interviewees were sent in to tell Kingman when it was a good time to murder us all. So nine men and one woman, give or take.”
“And they’re in the big house?” Henry asked the question blandly, as though all his emotion and anxiety had been shoved deep.
“Yes. I heard some as I was lying there,” Noah managed. “They have Shane. I think they want something from him.”
“He saw something he shouldn’t have,” Brooke said but then why… “If that’s true, then they would have killed him. Why all the drama? Why risk this? There’s something more here than silencing a witness. That man said they could use him against Bay.”
It made no sense that Kingman would put himself in this position when it would be so easy to arrange an accident for Shane. For Bay, too. Why risk becoming a Dateline special when he could keep this quiet?
“It doesn’t matter,” Henry said. “Not now. I’m going to get to the radio Trev keeps in the office. I’m fairly certain Kingman is the reason we don’t have cell service, but I bet he hasn’t taken the radio offline. Nell, I love you.”
“I love you, too, Henry,” she said as she held Lucy’s hand and her whole body seized.
Henry disappeared like a wraith. Brooke took her eyes off him for one second and he was gone.
He left the dead body behind. It was dead, right? “Should I check and make sure he’s dead?”
Nell groaned. “I assure you my husband doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to this. He’s dead. You should barricade the door.”
“After she helps me,” Noah replied. “I need to be closer. Lucy hasn’t actually delivered a baby on her own yet.”
He was covered in blood. Brooke moved in beside him and lent him her strength. She walked him into the stall where Nell was…open and on display.
Lucy knelt between her legs. “You’re doing great, Nell. Noah, I think she’s fully dilated. I’m not great with the centimeters’ thing yet, but I can see the baby’s head.”
Noah nodded Brooke’s way, and she helped him down to the ground, back to the wall. He sat behind Lucy so he could see a bit of what was going on. “How close are her contractions?”
Brooke ran to the door, shotgun in hand. She quickly found a pitchfork and slid it through the handles. The doors opened out. It wouldn’t hold forever, but it would at least give them a fighting chance.
“Two minutes,” Lucy said. She had her bag open and pulled out antibac. “I know I should wash my hands, but this is going to have to do.”