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The men both pointed their pistols at Nolan’s head, and Naomi stepped in from the porch. Madeline’s heart raced out of control. There was no way those men wouldn’t kill Nolan instantly with both of their pistols pointed at his head and at short range.
“Greetings, King Nolan.” Naomi smiled wickedly, then checked over her shoulder. “We’ve only got a minute. You left your men in the dust, but they’ll catch up. You’ll be dead and we’ll be gone before they can interfere. Then I’ll pick off all your children one by one. You took everything from me. You need to know before you die that I will return the favor.”
Two vehicles raced into the neighborhood, both moving much too quickly to be one of her neighbors. Naomi turned to look and cursed. Her men’s gazes swung out the open door as well.
“Get down,” Madeline begged Nolan, pulling on his shoulder.
He ducked and pushed her back out of the way. Car doors opened and slammed.
Madeline aimed the pepper spray she’d worked out of her pocket over Nolan’s shoulder and pressed the button.
“Get inside,” Naomi barked at her men, shoving them from behind. The men coughed and sputtered as the spray hit them.
Naomi ducked away from the stream, hiding behind the two large men.
Madeline closed her eyes and held her breath, holding the button down. She had to distract these people from hurting Nolan.
Nolan wrapped his arms around her and dropped to the floor, covering her with his body. The pepper spray flew from her hand. Nolan coughed and wheezed, and Madeline’s eyes watered as the mist from the spray enveloped them.
Shots rang out, and she screamed. Nolan flattened on top of her as several loud thuds echoed around them.
Was Nolan hit? No! He’d come for her, and now he’d been killed because of her. She’d done exactly what that monster demanded this morning and gotten him alone, away from his protection. What had she done? She couldn’t live without him. If she’d had any reservations about loving him and his family with all of her heart, they disappeared in the reality that she may have just lost him.
Footsteps pounded up the sidewalk.
“Nolan!” Madeline screamed. She blinked open watery eyes and tried to determine if he’d been killed.
He rolled off her with a groan and a cough.
Her heart skipped a beat. He was alive!
“Nolan?”
“I’ll kill him!” a female voice shrieked before dissolving into a coughing fit.
Naomi Rindlesbacher pointed a gun at Nolan. Moisture streamed from her red eyes, and she blinked furiously. Her men were both on the floor, blood oozing from wounds, not moving.
Nolan scrambled to his knees, tugging Madeline behind him. “Put the gun down, Naomi. It’s finished.”
“No!” she screamed.
Madeline could see men outside the open door, lining the sidewalk and creeping up to the porch. Was that Jensen and Ray? Could they stop this crazy woman from killing Nolan?
“If you shoot me, they’ll kill you,” Nolan said, his voice level and reasonable, as if talking to a toddler. “Put the gun down and you’ll live.”
“I have nothing left to live for,” she shrieked, coughing again. “You threw William off a cliff.” The gun shook her in hand. “Chief Jensen shot Treven in cold blood.” More coughs wracked her body. “Andyourson, Chad,” she gasped out, glaring at Madeline, “he murdered Roger and Ramone, my last hope to rule on the throne with me. I’m alone. I’ve been hiding, miserable, for eighteen months. All I have left is revenge. I might not be able to kill your children like you’ve killed my son, but I’ll kill you.”
Her mouth hardened into a determined line, and the gun in her hand steadied.
Madeline prayed desperately for a miracle.
“I killed your son,” a male voice hollered from outside. The man was unafraid, unrepentant, and brave—Chief Jensen. “I shot Treven multiple times, and I have no regrets. It’s me you want to kill.”
“Jensen,” Nolan breathed.
Naomi whipped around.
Multiple guns fired, and Naomi slammed onto Madeline’s hardwood floor. Nolan covered Madeline with his body again. She shuddered and clung to him, coughing to clear her lungs and blinking quickly to clear her vision. The aftereffects of the pepper spray were settling, but the aftereffects of the violence she’d been a part of this morning and tonight had her shaking.
