Dean grabbed her around the throat with his free hand and turned around. “Let’s go.”
“What?”
“Let’s go.” He released his grip on her throat, grabbed her arm, and dragged her away from the building.
Liam and the authorities would be busy looking for them in the fiery blaze, and the whole time they’d be somewhere else. She gasped, coughing and stumbling as he dragged her.
Dean marched her across the parking lot and toward the cold-storage factory.
“Why did you do this?” If she could get him to talk, perhaps she could delay him a bit. “You have a family. You’re a good man.”
“You know nothing.” He shoved her forward. “Shut up and walk.”
She stumbled but managed to catch herself before she could fall. The gun jammed into her back.
“If you’re going to kill us, you at least owe me the truth. Why are you doing this, Dean? I trusted you! Cass trusts you!” She clenched her fists.
This man had been family. She’d been there for the birth of his twins. Babysat them. They’d taken her in when her life fell apart.
And then someone had shot up the house when his family was out.
“I don’t owe you anything,” he said.
“Think about Bella.” Could she play on his emotions? “She’s a kid, just like your boys. You wouldn’t hurt them.”
“Iamthinking about her. And the marshal’s kid. They’ve messed everything up, telling the authorities about my Rebels.” He swore under his breath. “Now it’s up to me to handle the situation. Just like Aiden.”
She gasped. Had he been the one to put the bullet in Aiden’s head? If so, he might also be responsible for Dr. Torres’s death. “Why drag me into this?”
“Why me?” he wailed, then dissolved into ugly laughter.
“It doesn’t have to end like this.” Sam stumbled. “This isn’t you.”
“Shows what you know,Sammy.” He grabbed her arm and jerked her upright. “Loose ends always need to be tied up.”
“We can keep your secrets. We won’t tell anyone.” She gasped. “You have no idea what I’ve been keeping from you and the rest of the department. We can go. Let us go and we’ll disappear. You’ll never see us again.”
Could she overpower Dean? She knew he was strong. They all had to be to do their jobs. She’d learned to defend herself, but she’d never tried to go on the offensive. And with a man she’d cared about…
A man she’d thought was good.
If she’d been wrong about Dean, what else was she wrong about?
If she could just keep him out here long enough for the police to arrive, the girls would be okay. He’d be too focused on her to hurt the girls. Except, the police didn’t know where the girls were. What if he was working with someone? Wait, he was. HisRenegade Rebels.He wasn’t running around setting fires alone. He was using the high school kids.
“How could you do this?”
“Keep walking.” He shoved her forward. They neared the cold-storage facility. Broken windows with jagged glass lined the exterior. “Get inside.”
She opened the door and immediately smelled the gasoline. Everything in her tried to retreat.
He held up another lighter. “I’ll start a fire here too, don’t tempt me.”
“You have me walking to my death. Why wouldn’t I try to fight?” She ground her teeth.
“Because believe it or not, I care about you. I don’t want you to suffer. This way will be easier. You’ll just go to sleep and never wake up. No pain. No agony. Just sleep.”
He leaned in suddenly, his breath far too close to her face and a container of gasoline poised over her head. “Or I light you on fire here and now, and the last thing those girls hear is your screams.”
