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We finished collecting everything we had brought and began heading back, holding hands. I carried the rifle in my free hand. In his, Colt carried the grocery bag of cans, the box that still had a few bullets inside, and all the shells the rifle had ejected each time we’d fired a round.
“I’m counting that as the date you owed me,” he said to me.
It took me a moment to understand what he was talking about. Then I remembered it was from a bet we’d placed while running the track at school. “I’ll count the snow as the ice cream you promised to take me to get.”
“Or we can eat some ice cream when we get back to the cabin.”
“That’s right! I forgot we picked some up yester—”
My words were cut off by the distant echo of gunshots.
Colt and I froze. Then another shot went off and it sounded like they were coming from the cabin. We both took off running. I clutched my rifle in both of my hands. There were four rounds loaded in it and I didn’t want to risk dropping it.
We ran as fast as we could, but we were a good distance away from the cabin. As we were about to come out of a cluster of trees into a large, snowy clearing, we both spotted Knox running and about sixty feet behind him was Sheriff McAllister.
The sheriff stopped running and aimed his gun at the sky before pulling the trigger. Colt and I stopped in our tracks. I quickly brought my rifle up and aimed it at the sheriff. Staring at them through the scope, I saw Knox stop running and slowly turn to face the sheriff.
Sheriff McAllister had his pistol aimed at Knox, which made my heart try to lodge itself in my throat.
“Where is she?” I barely heard the sheriff yell.
Knox didn’t answer and that seemed to piss the sheriff off. I read what the sheriff intended to do, and I saw him curl his finger over the trigger of his gun. I could not hesitate this time.
Don’t miss,I told myself as I aimed for the sheriff’s neck and pulled the trigger.
The sheriff’s hand went to his throat before he fell back into the snow. Knox turned in our direction as I lowered the barrel of the rifle. When I started to walk toward them, so did Colt. As we made our way over, I pulled back the bolt on the rifle to allow another bullet to enter the chamber before sliding the bolt forward and locking it back into place.
I eyed Knox from head to toe, making sure he wasn’t hurt. He looked fine. “Was there anyone else with him?” I asked in a voice that sounded cold and detached even to my own ears.
“He came with two others,” Knox said as he stared at me. “They’re dead.”
“Are Keelan and Creed okay?” Colt asked.
Knox nodded.
That satisfied me enough to walk away and head over to the sheriff. He was still alive, bleeding out into the snow, struggling to breathe. His eyes locked on me as I approached.
“Please,” he gasped out as he put a trembling hand into his pants pocket. He pulled out a cell phone and held it out to me. “Save—” He coughed. Blood and saliva shot out of his mouth and rolled down his cheek. “Save Cassy.”
I debated whether or not I wanted to tell him that she was more than likely dead. But if I did, this moment would haunt me even more than it already would. I took the phone from him. “I’ll try,” I forced myself to say. It was all the kindness I could offer him in his last moments. It was probably more than he would have offered me.
I held my tears back until I saw the life leave his eyes—the life I’d taken.
Cheese and fucking rice!
I walked away on unsteady legs, and I gasped in cold air.
“Shiloh?” Knox said at the same time Colt said, “Babe?”
I just kept walking aimlessly, tears rolling down my cheeks. My knees buckled, I stumbled, and I was going down.
Arms caught me from behind before I hit the ground. “You did what you had to.” Knox’s deep voice filled my ear and tried to soothe me. He held me tight as I cried. “It’s all right. You had to.”
I knew that and I wouldn’t take it back even if I could, but that didn’t mean it felt any less terrible. A soul-broken sob barreled out of me. Colt took my rifle from my hand and set it on the ground before putting himself in front of me and wrapping his arms around me and Knox. They held me until I stopped crying.
* * *
While the three of us walked back to the cabin, Knox told us what had happened. He, Creed, and Keelan had just finished up their workout in the basement and as they’d headed toward the front of the cabin, Creed had thrown snowballs at Knox and Keelan, which had started a battle. To avoid getting hit, Creed had run inside the cabin. Knox said it had been a cowardly move, but it had saved them.
