“I signed that piece of paper. I’m a consultant,” he argued.
“That doesn’t cover this sort of thing, and you damn well know it,” Lawson shot back.
Nash clapped him on the shoulder. “Give Law a break. He’s going to have an aneurysm with all the rules he’s already breaking.”
Because I shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t be part of an operation trying to get the woman I loved out of harm’s way. I wasn’t a cop in this town. Law enforcement, sure, but not under Lawson’s jurisdiction. But he hadn’t even suggested I should stay back. He knew it wouldn’t have gotten him anywhere.
Lawson flicked off his lights as he turned onto the road that led to the cabin. When we reached the long drive, he pulled behind some trees and threw the vehicle into park.
We hopped out instantly, closing our doors as quietly as possible. We moved to the back of the SUV, and Holt pulled the hatch open. Lawson handed all of us but Holt vests. We checked our weapons, and Lawson retrieved his long-range rifle.
He glanced at Holt. “Bring them up to speed when they get here.”
Holt jerked his head in a nod. “Don’t do anything stupid and get yourselves shot.”
Nash’s lips twitched. “I’d never do that.”
Holt smacked him upside the head. “You get one more hole in your body, and Maddie’ll kill you herself.”
Nash winced. “You’ve got a point there.”
“Let’s move,” I gritted out. There was no time to waste. We could be too late as it was.
That thought had everything in me constricting. It was hard to walk, to breathe. I didn’t want anything to do with a world without Aspen.
“We stick to the trees, see what we’re dealing with. Then, we go in,” Lawson instructed.
Nash and I both gave quick nods and followed Lawson’s lead. It took us less than two minutes before the cabin came into view. But those one hundred and twenty seconds felt like a lifetime.
A navy SUV was parked out front, but everything was quiet—too quiet.
Lawson moved in closer, up to the very edge of the tree line. We circled until we reached the first set of windows. They looked in on a kitchen and through to a—my breath caught.
Aspen.
Tied to a fucking chair.
Her face was black and blue from Oren’s attack, and now she had a split lip. Shock ripped through me as I saw Steven tied to the chair next to her. I could only get a glimpse of Iris. A flash of her blond hair. Her arm. The gun in her hand.
Nash cursed. “Second hostage is shot.”
I hadn’t even noticed the blood blooming on Steven’s shoulder.
“We need to move,” I growled.
“Let me see if I can get a shot from the front,” Lawson said.
“She could see you,” I argued.
Lawson was already moving. “I’ll stay covered.”
We followed the edge of the trees, and Lawson crouched low, getting into position. He let out a slew of curses. “I don’t have it.”
A crack lit the air as though lightning had struck without any hint of a storm.
I didn’t think. I simply moved. Running for the cabin with everything I had.
I hauled open the door. Steven cried out in pain, more blood oozing from his good shoulder.
Iris’s head jerked in my direction. Her eyes went wide. “No! She doesn’t get to be happy. She has to pay!”
Iris raised the gun and pointed it at Aspen.
I didn’t think, I simply dove.
Iris screamed, the sound so loud and deranged that it nearly pierced my eardrums. “No! She has to die!”
She was strong for such a little thing, and I struggled to grab hold of the weapon.
A crack sounded, and the world went sideways.
52
ASPEN
Roan grumbled something under his breath from his spot on the couch next to me.
I shifted, my brow furrowing. “Is your shoulder hurting?” I asked, my voice barely audible above the laughter and chatter in the room.
“No,” he grumbled. “It’s fine.”
“Don’t glare at me. You were shot.”
A muscle in Roan’s jaw flexed. “Grazed.”
“You needed twenty stitches,” I snapped back.
Thankfully, that was all he’d required. My life had stopped the moment the gunshot sounded. It wasn’t until I saw Roan still moving and pulling the weapon from Elsie’s grasp that I’d started to breathe again.
“I’m fine,” he muttered. But he sounded anything but as he scowled at the rest of the people in the room.