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Mallory, not Miles.
Fuck me. She’d set the guy up.
As he got closer, a noose came into view.
Holy fuck.
The woman grabbed the knotted loop and went to place it over Sage’s head. He ran toward them. “Sage!”
Mallory dropped the rope, and she and his girl both glanced at him with equal and opposite reactions. Sage looked ecstatic, thankful, while the other woman appeared beyond distraught, beyond pissed off.
Sage wasted no time, kicking out and knocking her tormentor down, then made a run for it, diving straight into his arms. He’d never felt so relieved.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
They jerked their heads up, and Mallory approached with a shotgun drawn, her hand shaking. Not a good sign. Far from a good sign. A fucking lethal sign.
“Put the gun down,” Alexander said in his calmest, hostage-negotiator voice.
“You spoiled my plans.” She kept coming closer, still pointing that fucking hunting rifle.
“It doesn’t have to end this way. I can get you some help. You haven’t hurt anyone. You have options.” His girl had used the perfect bargaining tactic. Fuck, he loved her.
“You killed someone and got away with it.” Mallory’s acerbic tone was tinged with cutting pain.
“As awful and confronting as it is to comprehend, your husband hurt himself.”
Mallory moved nearer, waving the weapon at them, her finger on the trigger. “You’d determined he had chronic depression. Why didn’t you stop him? His death ruined my life.”
The on-edge woman shook her head and kept the gun pointed in their direction. “Donovan dying… It shouldn’t have happened. That horrible image haunts me day and night. It’s etched into my brain. Then knowing he didn’t want to live, not even for me!”
Her glare slammed onto them, and she stopped a meter away. “And because the coroner ‘confirmed’ he’d killed himself, his life insurance became null and void, and they wouldn’t pay out a cent. Not one cent. See what you’ve done?” She aimed the firearm right at Sage’s heart.
He had to do something and fast. Distract, in order to disarm the unstable woman. “Is that sirens?” Alexander stared over her shoulder, toward the front of the farmhouse.
Mallory whirled around to follow his gaze.
Before he could move, Sage kicked the gun out of the woman’s hand, and it fired. Mallory stumbled and cried out, and he took the off-guard opportunity to tackle her to the ground. He darted his gaze to his girl. She remained upright. No visible signs of blood. She looked fine. Unhurt…physically. Fucking impressive move.
Sage toed the gun out of reach.
His eyes zeroed in on his woman’s. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Okay as I can be.”
Sage looked exhausted and, going by his deployment experience, once the adrenaline pumping into her system dissipated, she’d crash. And he’d be there for her, like he intended to be, eternally.
Except he wasn’t exempt, either. He expected to come down pretty hard, pretty soon. Not yet. Not while still in soldier mode. First he needed to ensure Mallory got taken into custody. Second, he needed Sage safe in his arms.
Mallory screamed and attempted to fight, thrashing and bucking. Alexander gripped her wrists, immobilizing any retaliation, any scratching attempts, and levered her into standing.
He led her to the house and cuffed her to a porch pole by the back door.
Mallory continued to try to break free but…not happening. He stepped away from her, perspiration pouring down his chest and back, pulled his mobile out of his pocket and called the cops, giving them a general overview and the coordinates of where to find them. Now that the threat had gotten sorted and he’d organized the practical stuff, he could revert to civilian mode.
He spun toward Sage, who hovered nearby. She looked wrecked but so fucking beautiful. No matter what Mallory thought, Sage had never been her nemesis—quite the opposite.
In the end, Donovan killing himself had ended two lives, his as well as his wife’s. Not literally, however, his actions definitely had a flow-on effect. She’d most likely be jailed for a long time. If not quantity, she’d at least lose her quality of life.
