Page 80 of Still Missing You

“But you didn’t,” Dylan says. “And we’ll tell the police that. But you have to put the gun down.”

“I didn’t ask,” she admits, voice cracking. “I didn’t want to know.”

She swallows hard. “I had a life. A family. My children were safe and happy. I told myself whatever Jim was doing wasn’t worth destroying that.”

“Your children were living with a killer.” I can’t keep the disgust from my tone, earning a hard look from Dylan.

“I didn’t know,” she cries. Her gaze flicks toward Matthew. “I thought he was having an affair. I didn’t believe Jim was capable of this.”

Guilt floods her expression, twisting it into something almost unrecognizable.

“If he’d just stayed away,” she whispers tearfully. “Everything would be okay now if he’d never come here.”

I assume she means Matthew and try not to roll my eyes at her blaming him instead of her murderer husband.

The sirens are louder now. Closer.

“There’s no way out of this,” I say carefully, “and definitely not by hurting anyone else.”

She looks at me. Really looks, and I see it then, just how far gone she is.

“There is,” she says softly.

My pulse spikes. “Nancy—”

She moves surprisingly fast, turning and swinging up the gun until it’s locked on me. Everything fractures into sharp pieces. The tremor in her arm. Her finger tightening on the trigger. The wild, desperate look in her eyes.

I’m ready to fire, but before I can, Dylan is suddenly there between us.

“Hunter!” he shouts at the same time her gun goes off. He throws himself between us. The sound is deafening in the enclosed space. For a split second, everything goes silent. Then Dylan jerks, his body twisting as the bullet hits.

“No!” The word tears out of me as he collapses.

I’m moving before he even hits the ground, dropping to my knees beside him, catching him as he falls.

“Dylan! Dylan, look at me.”

My hands press against his side automatically, searching for the wound. Blood. Too much blood. It soaks through my fingers, hot and slick, spreading fast across his shirt.

“Hey,” Dylan breathes. His voice is weak, strained, but he’s alive.

“Stay with me,” I say, my voice shaking, and despite everything, I try to steady it. Around me, chaos erupts as Linc takes down Nancy and wrestles away her gun, but I barely notice. All my attention is on Dylan.

“I’m here,” he murmurs.

“Don’t you dare...” My voice catches. “Don’t you dare leave me. Hey,” I say, softer this time. “Look at me.”

His eyes find mine. They’re still clear and focused. He’s still with me.

“You okay?” he asks, checking on me.

A broken laugh escapes me. “You just got shot.”

“Yeah,” he breathes. “Not ideal.”

My chest aches so hard it feels like it might crack open. “Why did you do that?” I demand, my voice rough. My hands won’t stop shaking.

He gives a small, pained smile. “Seemed like the thing to do. I can’t lose you again.”