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“Keira,” he breathes. “We wanted Keira dead.”
I just needed to hear him say it—now I can close this chapter. I squeeze the trigger and the bullet blows a hole in his temple. He jerks to the side and his head flops. Thick blood drips from the hole and his body twitches. Convulsing as the life drains from him.
Diane screams, the sound ripping through the night. Westin has his hands on her thighs, on his knees at her feet. He’s trying to calm her down, but she’s going into shock. I can see the glaze over her streaming eyes.
Thomas's chair hits the ground and I realize he’s not in it.
A knife falls to the kitchen floorboards
Boots clatter down the hall.
The back door slams.
“Fuck,” I snap, rising.
That motherfucker had a knife in his hand. He was playing the role of the cowardly little brother and the entire time he was just biding his time before he could make a run for it.
Jack swears under his breath. “I’ll go after him,” he says.
“No.” I put my hat on and holster my gun beneath my belt. “Westin, take Diane out of here and get her somewhere safe. Jack, you’re with me.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
KEIRA
I almost fall asleep at the kitchen table, but Maddie shakes me awake around midnight and helps me upstairs. I crawl into bed on Gerard’s side and pull his blanket up to my nose. It smells like him, and I can feel the faint indent in the bed where he lies. Big Dog curls up by the fire and Small Dog sneaks into the bed with me. I don’t scold him, I just pull him close. Grateful for his warmth.
It’s almost six-thirty when I wake abruptly and rush to the window to see if I can spot anyone in the yard. Everything is frozen over and snow falls lightly, not yet covering the grass. The world feels strange, like we’re all stuck in a snow globe waiting for someone to shake it.
I know he’s not back. If he’d returned, he’d be in our bed with his arms around me.
Which means…I’m going after him.
The Garrisons took my pride, they took my farm.
But I’ll be damned if they take my Sovereign.
I dress quickly in my warmest clothes, stealing his warm wool socks and gloves from the closet. He has an extra black cowboy hat in there that’s adjustable. I snatch that up too.
My boots sit under the window and on the sill sits the painted mare. Light glinting from the curves of her body, the reins thrown over neck glittering like starlight. My throat feels tight as I snatch her up and push her deep in my pocket.
There’s only one more thing to take. The pistol Gerard hides beneath the bed. He thinks I don’t know it’s there, but I saw the free end of the strap of the holster poking out, one night when he had me facedown, ass up in bed.
I kneel down and feel for it, unhooking the fastening and pulling it free. It’s loaded, the safety is on. I push it into my belt and tug my flannel down over the top to hide it.
I’m at the door when Small Dog lifts his head from the blankets. Big Dog lays on her belly by the fireplace, eyes glittering. They’re waiting for instruction.
“Wait here,” I whisper. “I have to go find Sovereign, but I’ll be back.”
Big Dog whines, but she stays put.
Downstairs, everything is quiet. It’s late for the crew that does the first round of chores. They’re already out in the pastures. Maddie is probably cleaning up breakfast.
I put on my boots in the hallway and slip out. It always smells fresh like pine at Sovereign Mountain, in the morning before the scent of horses and cattle creep in to overtake it. The lake is placid, the edges glittering with thin ice.
The whole world feels like it’s taken a breath and held it.
Maybe it has. This ranch loves Sovereign back.
