“Do you think I’d allow that motherfucker to touch what belongs to me? He faced his death with grace. Grace.”
Tears immediately flooded my eyes, stinging in a way that had nothing to do with the salt content. Viper was dead? That wasn’t possible. “You’re lying.”
“Am I? I guess you’ll never find out.”
I could tell he was ready to break so I had to react. With a giant step, I managed to grab the handle, using all the force I had to swing the metal toward his head.
The brutal clanging sound matched his shocked cry. I lunged for the door but he was too quick for me, grabbing my leg and tackling me to the ground.
Agony tore through every muscle, jarring my bones. I kicked with my other foot, slamming it into his face several times. When he finally let go, I crawled several feet, almost standing up, but was pitched forward again. This time, I couldn’t move so quickly, completely out of breath.
As soon as I tried to reach the shovel, it was kicked away and I was turned over, the bastard jumping on top of me and ripping at my clothes.
“Time to finish what we started,” Mike threw out, his tone completely unrecognizable. “Just for old times’ sake.”
As soon as he shifted to unfasten his belt, I managed to jam my palm under his chin, tossing him back enough that I was able to slam my foot into his groin.
He howled in pain, but managed to jerk me to my feet, issuing a brutal punch just as sirens could be heard in the distance. I tumbled to the ground, the wind completely knocked out of me. Stars floated in front of my eyes and I couldn’t see anything in front of me.
“Fuck. Fuck!” He scrambled to his feet, backing toward the barn door. “I guess we’re going to need to cut our time short. What a shame.”
The hard slam of the doors closing forced me to fight so I could get to my feet. Woozy, I stumbled forward, making it to the door just as I heard a lock of some kind put in place.
“Let me out!”
I backed away, immediately trying to run to the closed back door. He’d already locked it. Fury tore through me and I smashed my hands against the wood. The sirens had to mean the police were headed to my ranch. But what if they weren’t?
Grabbing the shovel, I beat on the doors until I smelled something.
What the hell was that?
Something pungent and oily.
A few seconds later, I took giant steps backward. Smoke was rolling under the barn door.
* * *
Viper
There was no time to waste.
I couldn’t care less that I was going in excess of eighty miles per hour, swerving around one vehicle after another. Let the motherfuckers arrest me.
All I could think about was getting to her.
Grace.
“Grace. Pick up the phone. Come on, honey.”
“Hi, this is Grace. I’m unavailable to come to the phone so please?—”
I ended the call, tossing the phone onto the seat.
With both hands on the steering wheel, I took another sharp curve, doing everything I could to concentrate on the road.
Damn it. Why hadn’t I gone home when my instinct had told me? Why? The fucker had heard about the event. He’d known he might be able to catch her alone.
I smashed my hand on the steering wheel until I finally felt an ache.
