“What are you going to do when you can see me? Aren’t I just business too? And we both know what you do for a job. You kill people and innocent horses. You killed Suzanne, you killed Diego, and you’re going to kill us.” Reagan pleaded with her eyes for Ryan, DeAndre, and the man to move quicker.
“Business is business, and business is doing well. So yeah, a couple of people and a couple of horses die here and there.”
“You’re not going to pull this off, Mick. How are you going to explain us dead in the woods and only you alive?” Reagan shouted out her question.
“Someone was after us and we ran for our lives. We were separated. I even got shot,” Mick said, his voice full of fear. It was actually convincing. No wonder he could bilk smart women out of their money.
“I tried to play nice with you, Reagan, but no more questions. I’m done playing. Come out or I’ll shoot Carter in three seconds.” Mick’s voice had dropped to a deadly dangerous tone. Her time was up. She only hoped she could pull the move off.
Reagan turned sideways so her left shoulder was against the tree trunk and leaned the rifle against the tree out of Mick’s sight. “Okay, I’m coming out. Don’t shoot.”
“Where’s my rifle?”
“Back in the stream. I slipped right after I tried to shoot, and it tumbled into the stream. I wasn’t expecting the kickback,” Reagan lied.
“You didn’t seem to have a problem shooting me. Let me see your hands,” Mick ordered, and Reagan stuck them out and took a slow, small step away from the tree.
Reagan turned and faced Mick, making sure her left hand was still within reach of the hidden rifle. She looked down at Carter who was begging her with his eyes to save herself and then back at Mick’s arm with the gun in it. Mick slowly stepped out from behind his tree with a smirk on his face. He thought he was the victor. If neither she nor her rescuers could get a clear shot, he still might be. Even if she shot him, Mick could shoot Carter, and it would be no victory for her.
“If it matters, I wasn’t aiming for you,” Reagan said with a shrug. “I was aiming for the tree next to you. I wanted to scare you, but when I fired, the gun slammed into my shoulder and pulled to the side. Can I at least kiss my fiancé one last time?”
Mick snorted. “You should have let Carter take the shot, but your stupidity is my gain. I’ll give you one last moment to say goodbye to each other. Look on the positive side, this is a beautiful graveyard to be buried in.”
“Carter, I’m scared. Kiss me one last time.” Reagan didn’t need to fake the tears coming to her eyes as Mick began to slowly stalk down the embankment. Carter took a tentative step forward and when Mick didn’t stop him, he raced the remaining few feet to wrap Reagan in his arms. For that one moment her body relaxed, her mind cleared, and the warmth and love from Carter’s embrace gave her the courage to do what she must.
Reagan felt his breath hitch when he looked behind her. “How close are they?” she whispered.
“They’re lying on the ground four feet away,” Carter spoke directly in her ear.
“We’re going to kiss and then we’re going to go down on our knees as close to the this tree as possible. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Carter kissed her as if it were their last kiss and Reagan hoped it wouldn’t be. The kiss reached into Reagan’s soul with love and loss.
“Enough,” Mick ordered. He stood eight feet away at the base of the embankment on the other side of the stream. He took a slow step forward into the shallow water, marching menacingly, slowly toward them.
Carter reached for Reagan’s hand as he turned to face Mick with her. She squeezed his hand, hardly feeling it as she went down on her knees in the soft mossy mud at the top of the embankment. As she went down, she moved closer to the tree. The gun was right there. She needed a distraction. Reagan pulled her hand from Carter’s and hoped by kneeling they wouldn’t be blocking Ryan and DeAndre’s line of fire. Or her own. The gun was right there . . .
“I’m sorry you won’t have a life together.” Mick grinned and raised his gun. “But you’ll be together in death. Isn’t that romantic?”
If Reagan was going to die anyway, then she might as well die taking a chance. She lifted her arms out from her sides, her palms facing Mick . . . and her rifle. Her fingers brushed the rifle leaning up against the tree. Mick placed his finger on the trigger. Reagan’s fingers closed around her rifle. She felt the cool steel pressing into her hand as she yanked it toward her. Mick’s lips thinned in surprise as he turned the pistol from Carter toward her. He was going to shoot her and Reagan hadn’t been able to get her own rifle lined up yet. But then a forty-five-pound rust-colored dog with a glittering pink collar and a mouthful of pearly white teeth leapt from the top of the embankment onto Mick’s back. Shots were fired, Robyn yelped, and Gemma let loose a blood-curdling scream.
25
Carter watched in horror as Sydney’s sweet and wiggly dog leapt through the air. The sun glinted off her sparkling pink collar as she sank her teeth into Mick’s muscular shoulder. The force of the impact of Robyn’s hit from behind sent Mick stumbling forward as he fired off a wild shot.
Mick slammed Robyn back against a tree trunk near the water’s edge. The brave dog yelped as she was forced to let go of Mick’s shoulder. Carter went to grab Reagan, but he stopped himself as she fired. Now that Robyn was clear of Mick, Reagan had taken the shot. The bullet slammed into Mick’s shooting shoulder, matching the shot on the opposite arm Reagan had made during their dash through the woods.
Then chaos erupted.
Mick tried to raise his gun but struggled with the injured shoulder. Robyn leapt and sank her teeth into his forearm. She shook her head like she did when Carter played tug-of-war with her. Mick howled in pain and dropped the gun. A man Carter didn’t know ran past them with Ryan Parker, guns aimed at Mick. DeAndre grabbed both Carter and Reagan by the collars of their shirts and dragged them backward. But it wasn’t the shriek from Gemma Davies that silenced the people pouring into the woods from all directions. It was the roar of pure rage from Ahmed as he broke free of the woods to see Mick hitting Robyn on the head as he tried to dislodge her from his arm.
“Laat los,” Ahmed commanded to Robyn in Dutch. Robyn immediately let go and dropped into the shallow water’s edge. Ahmed, however, did not stop. He leapt from the top of the embankment, landing hard on Mick’s back, which drove Mick face first into the shallow water.
Gemma shoved DeAndre aside as she practically tackled her daughter with a bear hug. Carter was smiling until his own mother fell to the ground next to him and wrapped him in her arms. Both mothers were crying, but neither Carter nor Reagan could offer them comfort at this time because the rest of their family and friends had just burst through the trees behind Ahmed.
Nash, Matt, Annie, Cade, Porter, and Parker sprinted out of the woods from all directions while Cy, Miles, and Will appeared at the top of the embankment, taking in the scene around them. All had their guns raised and ready to defend.
Cy’s eyes searched until they landed on Gemma and Reagan. The relief was evident as his shoulders relaxed. He was sprinting toward them when Ahmed flipped Mick over.
“You hit my dog,” Ahmed growled out between clenched teeth before slamming his fist into Mick’s face. “No one hurts my Spawn.”
Robyn, meanwhile, sat next to Ahmed, her short tail smacking the water as she happily wagged it and watched Ahmed punch Mick over and over again.
“Okay, enough or I’ll have to arrest you too.”
“Who is that?” Carter asked as he stood with his mother clinging to him.
Kenna wiped tears from her face as she looked to where Carter was pointing to the man in jeans and black T-shirt. “That’s Deputy Luke Tanner of the Moonshine Hollow Sheriff’s Department.”
“Diplomatic immunity,” Ahmed snarled but reluctantly let go of Mick after one last punch.
“Don’t bullshit me,” Luke said, narrowing his eyes.
“Diplomatic immunity,” everyone from Keeneston called out as Luke looked back to Ahmed.