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Chapter Forty-Five
Jackson
I’d called out to Lena to ask her what she’d like to eat, and when she didn’t answer, I went looking for her. It didn’t take long to realize she was nowhere inside the house, and I’d searched every room. I ran outside and saw the car door open, the bouquet of roses scattered on the ground. I quickly scanned the front yard before I ran up the stairs to the cottage. I didn’t think she was up there, but I hoped. When I reached the top step, I saw Lena and some guy, who I realized must be her son of a bitch ex, heading into the woods. He had his hand gripped over her mouth. I started to yell, but when I saw the gun stuck into her back, I swallowed the urge to shout out for fear he would shoot her.
I ran down the stairs, heading toward the kitchen where my gun was locked in the safe. “Rufus, stay,” I demanded, but I think Rufus figured out what was happening, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t listen to me and took off toward the woods.
I went to grab the key from the drawer to unlock the safe, but it was gone.
“Fuck.”
I ran out toward the woods. I didn’t see Lena and Troy anywhere, but Rufus charged ahead, and I was grateful that he hadn’t stayed when I told him to. I called out to Rufus to wait, but he continued at full speed. I was surprised, considering he was always so lazy, but I couldn’t stop him. Rufus had fallen in love with Lena, just like I did, and he was determined to save her.
I didn’t know what I was going to do when I caught up to them. The guy had a gun. Probably my gun, and I had nothing but my hands. I’d have to sneak up on him, but Rufus had his own agenda, and it wasn’t about being sneaky. I lost track of him when he turned toward the left, and his barking became a consistent howl before turning into a growl, and two shots rang out. The sound echoed through the trees, and my heart leaped into my throat. My God, had he shot Lena? Or did he shoot Rufus? Or both?
I ran as fast as I could, and when I caught sight of the guy standing in a small clearing, I stopped and tiptoed to the edge, crouched down, and peered through the bushes. Oh no, Lena’s body lay to his right, one of the roses clutched in her hand, and Troy stood over my dog’s limp body, blood oozing from his side, making his dark mange look wet. I needed a plan. Since he had a gun, I figured my best approach would be from behind. He was a big guy. I couldn’t tell how tall he was, maybe my height, but he clearly had twenty pounds on me. I didn’t know if I could take him, but I had to try. He stood with his back to me, the gun in his right hand pointed at the ground.
“Fucking dog! Whose dog is this, Lena?” He kicked dirt at Rufus.
She didn’t respond. I didn’t know if she was alive or not. “Please, God, please let her be alive. Let them both stay alive.”
Blood dripped from the guy’s left forearm, and I realized Rufus must have bitten him.
“Fucking dog!” he yelled again, and this time, kicked Rufus in the gut. Rufus whimpered, unable to defend himself anymore, and rage took over every cautious bone in my body as I jumped up and ran toward the guy, wrapping my arms around his body and shoving him to the ground.
I didn’t know if he still held the gun or not, but I turned him over and slugged him in the jaw. The guy hit back and caught me in the cheek as he shoved me off him. We scrambled to our feet, but I was a bit quicker and slammed another set of knuckles into his face.
With the gun nowhere in sight, I gained my courage and charged him, taking us both to the ground again. We wrestled in the dirt until I managed to get on top, and I hit him in the jaw again with my right hand, then again with my left. I kept hitting him and hitting him until Lena shouted, “That’s enough!” but I didn’t pay any attention. “Jackson! That’s enough. He’s out cold. Stop! You’re gonna kill him.” Lena’s hands were on my shoulders, urging me off him.
I stopped hitting him and got up, and Lena embraced me. Her cheeks soaked from tears. Horror washed over her face when she saw Rufus. “Rufus!” We hurried to my dog and knelt beside him.
His breathing was shallow, but he was still alive. “Sorry, boy, I’m so sorry. We’ll get you fixed up.”
“So brave.” Lena stroked Rufus’ head as he looked up at her. His eyes turned glassy and then closed.
“Let’s get out of here.” But I only got Rufus up about an inch off the ground when Troy’s fist pounded into the side of my head, knocking me backward with Rufus on top of me. I managed to place my dog back on the ground without dropping him. Troy charged at me, pinning me to the ground, punching me again in the jaw. Then his fist jammed into my left eye, his legs straddled my torso, and the twenty pounds I estimated felt like fifty as his hands went around my throat.
“She belongs to me,” he growled through clenched teeth and continued choking me. I tried to pry his fingers from my neck, but with all his weight and his advantaged position over me, I couldn’t budge them. I used every ounce of strength I had to pry his hands from my throat. Somewhere deep down inside of me, I saw this guy punching Lena over and over again if I didn’t get free of him. I don’t know where the strength came from, but I fisted my right hand, forcing it up and connecting with Troy’s mouth. He loosened his grip around my throat, and I shoved him off me. I rolled over, coughing and sputtering, trying to catch my breath.
Before I had a chance to stand up, Troy was on me again. This time, he had a huge rock in this hand, ready to pound into my head. “She’s my wife!” he shouted, spitting blood into my face.
“Not anymore!” Lena shouted, and he glanced at her. “I hate you, Troy Harrington.”
Once again, the forest filled with the deadly sound of gunfire.
The bullet hit Troy smack dab in the middle of his chest. Blood trickled out and dripped onto my face, adding to the muck he’d already spat at me as his body stopped moving above mine. Maybe two or three seconds later, he collapsed on top of me, his blood soaking my shirt.
Lena stood shaking, and Brodie ran into the small clearing and over to her. “He was choking him. And then he was going to hit him in the head with a rock. He was going to kill Jackson. I had to. I had to shoot him.”
“I know,” my brother soothed, taking the gun from her hands. “I know. It’s over now, Lena. It’s all over.”
I managed to get on my knees as she ran to me, wrapping her arms around me, almost making me tumble backward again. “I love you, Jackson.” Her beautiful words a jumble of sobs into my neck. “I love you so much.”
I held her, rocking back and forth.
“Sorry I didn’t get here any sooner,” Brodie said. “When I got home from the bar, it wasn’t until I heard the gunshots that I realized something was wrong. I ran out here as fast as I could. Just in time to see …” He didn’t say what he saw, but we both knew what he saw.
