Tears begin to fall down her cheeks as she crawls to me using her good arm for support. She’s muddy, her hair matted with blood. She makes it to where I can reach, so I gently pull her out the rest of the way, still on my knees as I wrap my arms around her.
“Thank You, God. Thank You,” I cry out as I hold her.
Romeo barks and rushes over toward her, tail wagging. “Hey, boy,” she says as she pets him gently with her free hand. “Hey, Riley.” Her voice is barely audible over the sound of the still-raging storm.
“Hey there, Becks,” he replies with a soft smile.
She rests her head back against me, clearly exhausted. “It was Anderson,” she says, trembling. “H-h-he grabbed me from the hospital.”
I shove out of my jacket and wrap it around her, then lift her into my arms. “We know.”
“He was the one who attacked me in the hotel room,” she says. “He was sent to kill me at your house because we got too close.”
Another wave of rage, only dampened by my desire to get her to safety. He’d been there. Right after he attacked her. My guess is he got to my house so fast after the shooting because he’d been the one to pull the trigger.
How did I not see it?
“Not just too close, baby, we figured it all out,” I tell her as we start walking.
She looks up at me, eyes wide. “You did?”
“Yeah, we—” A gunshot echoes through the trees.
Romeo snarls, and Riley drops behind a tree at the same time; I do the same.
Overhead, the storm continues to wage a war on the area around us. After setting Beckett down, I draw my firearm and peer out.
Another gunshot.
I dart back as bark flies off the tree I’m hiding behind.
“You should have stayed out of this, Shawn!” Anderson yells. “Then you would have—” He yells in pain, so I rush to my feet. Both Riley and I descend upon him as Romeo pins him to the ground, strong jaws wrapped around Anderson’s arm.
He lies there, staring up at me, a darkness in his eyes I’d never seen before. Riley kicks his gun away.
I level my firearm on him, my finger on the trigger.
I could squeeze gently and end his life the way he tried to end Beckett’s.
From what I know about Riley, he wouldn’t say a word, either. I’d get away with it. With killing the man who’d been my partner as he lay bleeding on the ground.
But that would only make me a monster, too.
Kneeling down, I remove the cuffs from his belt. “It’s over, Anderson.”
“That’s what you think,” he snarls. “But I’m just the beginning. He’ll send someone else.”
“Who? Thomes?” I question. “Or should I say Captain Seymore?”
His eyes widen.
“Yeah, we know all about it. As I said,it’s over.”I offer Riley a nod, letting him know I’ve got it now.
“Aus,Romeo,” Riley orders.
Romeo releases his arm, but before Anderson can do anything, I flip him onto his belly. “Anderson Redmond, you are under arrest for the murder of Paul Jameson and the kidnapping and attempted murder of Beckett Wallace.” As I state his rights while cuffing him, Beckett comes out from behind the tree, her body shaking.
Even as hard as her expression is while she looks at the man who tried to kill her, there’s a light in her eyes.
