“What? My mom died in a bar fight.”
“That’s another lie he’s told you,” he says. “Isaac probably blames me, but it’s his fault she didn’t want to live.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ll explain everything to you. We have all the time in the world to catch up.”
“Why? What do you want with me?”
“You’re mine, Lyla. I always knew it, before she told me.”
Those are the last words he says before heavy footsteps approach us.
Barrett. It has to be.
The light lowers, and he raises the gun.
“No! Please…please don’t shoot him!” I beg. “I love him.”
“I know,” the man replies as he walks toward me. “That’s the only reason he’s still alive.”
Barrett
Halfway to the motel is where I found the abandoned four-wheeler. My cell phone light flashes over the back tires, which are both flat, but I don’t stop to examine the scene. No, I run faster because nobody is around, which means RJ and Lyla are now on foot, with that fucker no doubt catching up to them.
I don’t have to go much farther before I hear voices.
“No! Please…please don’t shoot him!”
Lyla’s pleading means he caught up to them, and she’s begging him to not kill RJ.
My heart wants me to run faster, but my head warns me to slow down, to tread lightly so he won’t hear me coming. I need to settle my heartbeat and steady my hand. I turn off my flashlight to slip out my gun, but I must have been too noisy as I approached.
When I finally spot them, the muzzle of his gun is pointing toward the ground while his left arm is wrapped tightly around Lyla’s neck.
“Stay back, or I’ll blow his head off!” he warns.
It’s too dark to tell, but it must be RJ on the ground, unmoving either because of the fucker aiming his gun at him or because he’s unconscious.
“You’re surrounded,” I warn him. “Let her go, and I’ll tell you which direction will get you out of here alive.” It’s a lie, of course, one I hope he’ll buy.
“No! She’s coming with me.”
When he starts to lift his arm, I know exactly what he’s going to do – point the muzzle at Lyla’s head instead of at RJ. I don’t think; I just aim, knowing this is the best shot I’ll get of his hand before he points that gun again.
I blow out a breath and lift my arms to pull the trigger.
The first bullet goes through his hand, just at the wrist junction, causing him to drop the gun and let go of Lyla.
“Run!” I yell to her over the ringing in my ears. As soon as she’s out of the way, I pull the trigger two more times. One shot to the head, one to his chest, putting him down for good.
My panting breath is all I can hear after that.
But a few seconds later, I hear Lyla scream what sounds like my name before she runs to me.
I wrap my arm around her back but keep the gun in my right hand while I watch to make sure Calvin Dockery doesn’t get up again.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I ask her as she buries her face against my chest. I can’t hear her sniffles, but I can feel her shoulders shaking.
“I’m…I’m okay. But I thought…”
“You’re safe,” I promise her.
Colt’s the first one to catch up to us. “What…the…fuck?” it sounds like he asks through his gasps when he comes to a stop, his upper body hunched over from the run.
“Check on RJ!” I tell him since I don’t want to take my eyes off the son of a bitch or let go of Lyla.
Colt staggers over and drops to his knees, reaching his fingers to place them on his neck. “He’s okay. Pulse is strong. He’s breathing,” Colt says. He shines his phone’s light on him and adds, “Head’s bleeding, though. Pretty bad.”
“I think he…he maybe got hit in the back of the head with something,” Lyla explains. “It wasn’t a bullet.”
“Ambulance…on the way…to the motel,” Remy says when he and Isaac finally join us. “Called while I was coughing up a lung. Let’s get him up,” he tells Colt. Together, they lift RJ while Isaac goes to check for a pulse on Calvin’s neck. When he sits back on his ass and looks at Lyla in relief, I know the man is dead, and our nightmare is finally over.
The ringing in my ear dies down enough that I hear RJ mutter, “Fuck off. I’m sleepin’, asshole.”
“He’s awake, thank fuck,” Colt tells us.
“RJ, man, your head’s fucked-up. We’re taking you to get it looked at,” Remy explains as they walk him toward the lights of the motel in the distance.
“What the fuck happened?” a gruff voice asks. Must be Hugo.
“You told me to ‘stay put no matter what,’ but we heard gunshots,” Jordan adds.
“It’s under control,” Remy tells him. “Help us get RJ to the parking lot. An ambulance is on the way.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Lyla
Tears are still streaming down my face half an hour later when I’m sitting in a hotel room, shivering with a blanket around me, Bear’s arms holding me tightly.
I’m relieved that RJ is okay. I’m so glad that he and my father didn’t get hurt, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over seeing a man die right in front of me. Wanting him to die because he was after me was unexpected too.
God, I was so scared when I heard the gunshots and the four-wheeler stopped. At first, I thought RJ had been shot in the back. But then he pulled me off, and we started running.
When RJ went down, I knew it was over. There was no one else around. He had me and wasn’t planning to ever let go.
I should’ve known that Bear could run fast enough to catch up to us. Thank god his shooting was so accurate, picking the perfect time to get him to drop the gun and me.
Bear kisses the top of my head and says, “I’m sorry this is taking so long. We had to call the police…”
“I know. It’s okay,” I assure him.
We’ve all given our statements to at least three cops, everyone leaving out the fact that we were setting up a trap for the dead man.
I heard one of the deputies mention to my father and Thane the deceased had a long criminal record and had spent decades in prison. He was a bad man, so I shouldn’t feel guilty that I’m glad he died and no one else did.
RJ’s already had his head stitched up at the hospital. They did a CT scan and an MRI to confirm he’s got a concussion, but the doctors don’t think he’ll have any long-term effects.
My dad and Remy are still recovering from their run through the woods, which was difficult for them since both have smoked cigarettes for years.
“Are you sure you’ve never seen the man before except for when Thane Montgomery was shot?”
“Yes,” I lie to the young female detective.
“And you don’t know of any reason why he would’ve been after you?”
“I wish I knew,” I say honestly.
“We’ve already answered all these questions several times before,” Bear jumps in and tells her. “I need to get Lyla home. She’s been through enough tonight.”