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“She did.” A tall brunette in a caftan was beside Harlow.“Nicole ran into the woods, and those two men who were coming after herfollowed. I was in my room. I saw the whole thing. I came out and held thiswoman’s hand. I called the police.”
“They’re on their way,” Pops replied. “And I thank you forstaying with her.”
“Is she okay?” Landon asked.
Harlow tried to take a breath but a rattling sound came out.He knew exactly what was happening.
“The bullet nicked her lung. Or maybe it’s lodged there,”Grim explained, finding a latex glove. “We need to be careful when we moveanything.”
“We need to seal the wound. That glove should work,” Popssaid. “Hand it to me and I’ll hold it until the paramedics get here.”
It was exactly what he’d been about to do. The prettiest ofhis fathers was calm and cool under pressure. And knew way more about suckingchest wounds than Grim would have imagined.
“The ambulance is a few minutes out.” Landon was on his feetagain, and there was a gun in his hand. “I’ll make sure no one comes near heruntil then.”
Pops took the glove out of his hand and lifted her shirt,easing it over the wound he found there with a competence that shocked Grim. Hesealed the wound, holding his hand over the glove, and immediately Harlow wasbreathing more easily. “Hey, I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. I’mmore than pretty, son. Now go with Josh and find your girl. Lan and I canhandle this.”
“Her husband is alive,” Harlow said with a grimace, but shesounded far more solid. “I don’t know how but he’s here, and he’s going to killher. The brother-in-law is here, too. Both armed. She ran into the woods.”
Where Dad had been taking her and teaching her to ride andnavigate. Where she could hide. Smart girl. She’d lured them away from Harlow,and he prayed it didn’t cost her.
He heard sirens in the distance.
“Hey!” Josh shouted.
Grim stood and saw what Josh had seen. A tall man dressed inblack pants and a black sweater walked out of the woods, his path about to takehim to the parking lot. The man stopped, obviously caught by surprise. Nicole’sbrother-in-law. He’d seen pictures of the man. For a moment he seemed stuck,utterly unmoving. Then he raised his gun and pointed straight at Josh.
A loud blast cracked through the air as Dad shot the shitout of Ted Holloway. No hesitation. He’d watched the man take aim, and he’ddone what he had to do. Unlike whoever had shot Harlow, Jack Barnes’s aim wastrue. That had been a heart shot, and the man wouldn’t need an ambulance.
The man in all black slumped to the ground.
“Damn it, Dad. We needed him alive,” Josh shouted.
“Am I supposed to let him kill you?” Dad had his cell phoneout. He pointed to the left. “And we do not need that asshole. She’s this way.I told you I know where she is.”
Grim joined them, his heart threatening to thud out of hischest. What did it mean that Ted Holloway had been coming out of the woods?Nicole wasn’t with him. Were they going to find a body?
“I was handling it,” Josh insisted, but then followed theirfather. “Is Harlow okay?”
“Yes, she’s stable. Pops has her. Says he knows a lot aboutgunshot wounds or something. We might need to delve into parental history whenwe get out of this, brother. Also, she says there were two men. I’m pretty surethe one Dad shot is her brother-in-law. Harlow said her husband is here, too.”
“We’ll have a lot of questions since Dad seems to have LoJacked our woman,” Josh said, his voice tense.
“I personally am happy about that, sir.” Grim moved throughthe woods, trying to be as quiet as possible.
“I know how damn dangerous the world can be, and I’m notabout to let it take one of my kids without a fight,” Dad said, his eyes on thescreen again. “Damn it. It’s hard to read. I think we’re going the right way.She’s not moving. She hasn’t for a couple of minutes.”
“Then they might have…” Josh began, and then his jawtightened. “Then she’s hiding and we need to get this guy away from her.”
“She’s close,” Dad whispered. “I think I can hearsomething.”
“Those nights we spent together. They were the best nightsof my life.” A deep voice came from somewhere in the woods to the east. Thefucker sounded like he was talking to a lover. “Laura was a pitiful comparisonto you.”
It turned his gut because he was absolutely certain MicahHolloway wasn’t talking about sex. At least not the consensual kind. He wastalking about torturing the woman he’d promised to protect and love and howmuch he’d enjoyed her pain.
“I’m going to kill him,” Josh vowed quietly.
“If he’s talking, she’s alive,” Grim pointed out. “She isour priority. Dad can kill him. He seems to be good at it. You have to shoveyour anger aside and think only of her safety.”
