“Who called in the anonymous tip the night of my arrest?” Wyatt asked.
“Mitzi,” Paul said. “Heather convinced her to do it, but it’s eaten her up ever since. Even though you could have easily bought your way out of it. You chose to be a stubborn ass. Just like that stupid Heather.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
“Give yourself up, Conrad!” Marco shouted again. “You might be able to get a plea bargain if you give up some of the other crooked deputies.”
“No way in hell!” A barrage of gunfire followed.
I ducked down even though the house stood between me and the bullets. I considered running toward it. Would it be safer close to the house or here in the trees?
I held my breath as I waited to hear from Marco and Wyatt.
Nothing.
The sirens grew louder, and I inched my way closer to the creek, but the silence was overwhelming, and every step seemed to give me away.
“Wyatt?” Max shouted from in front of the house.
Max was here? Had he come with Marco?
Wyatt didn’t answer.
Another round of gunfire came from the trees, closer this time.
Had Paul shot Wyatt? I tried not to panic.
One thing was certain, I didn’t want to just sit in the trees and get shot. After the next exchange of gunfire, I made a run for the back of the house, then worked my way toward the front, stumbling on a few rocks scattered next to the house. I could see Max outside the Explorer on the passenger side, but Marco was out of view.
Max caught sight of me, his startled face illuminated by the dashboard lights. He held up his hand to motion for me to hold still.
The sirens sounded like they were on the other side of the tree line, and I wondered if Paul was going to give himself up or if they’d have to kill him.
I made my way to the edge and peered around to see Marco standing between his Explorer and Wyatt’s truck, his service gun at his side.
Suddenly, Paul broke out from the trees, charging straight for Wyatt’s truck and letting out a yell that sounded like a battle cry. He held his handgun aloft, with his arm straight out, but he hadn’t fired a single shot. Was he out of bullets?
“Shoot me!” Paul shouted as he slowed down, firing a shot and hitting Wyatt’s truck.
“No,” Marco called out. “I’m not lettin’ you off that easy.”
Paul stalked toward the front of the truck, his gun still raised. “I’ll kill you, Roland!”
My breath caught.
“Marco,” Max said in a low warning.
“I’m not killing him.”
I didn’t want to kill him either, but I wasn’t about to let him hurt Marco. While I didn’t have a weapon, there were river rocks scattered on the ground around me. I picked up a hefty stone and hurled it at him, but I only managed to brush his arm.
He came to a halt, shifting his attention to me, and I scooted back around the corner and picked up two more rocks, ready to hurl them.
“Stop where you are, Conrad!” Marco shouted, but Paul ignored him, walking past the front of Wyatt’s truck.
“Shoot him, Marco!” Max shouted.
Paul turned his gun toward Max and pulled the trigger. Another gunshot followed from Marco, but Paul remained standing.
Several deputy cars rounded the corner at the lane and streamed into the clearing, their headlights partially blinding. Paul turned and pointed the gun at Marco. Suddenly, Wyatt was behind me, and he threw his own rock, hitting Paul dead center in the back.
Two gunshots went off, and Paul fell to his knees, but Marco remained standing as the deputies flooded out of their cars and surrounded us with drawn weapons.
Paul was still on his knees, his gun pointed under his chin. “Stay back! I’ll do it!”
“You coward,” Marco sneered. “You need to be held accountable for what you’ve done.”
“No, Roland, that’s something you would do, which is why you’ll never win at anything. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and you’re nothing but a sheep.”
The shot rang out and Wyatt jerked me to his chest, burying my face into his shirt as the deputies crowded around Paul, issuing orders to try to keep him alive until an ambulance arrived, but I’d seen his wound before Wyatt could pull my gaze away. I knew he wasn’t recovering from that.
Then I remembered he’d fired at Max and Marco. I pulled loose and ran to Max first, grabbing his upper arms and searching him from head to toe, looking for any signs of injury.
“I’m fine, Carly. He missed.”
I pulled him into a hug, holding him tight, even though it aggravated the pain in my ribs. I pulled away and searched the crowd of deputies for Marco.
“He’s okay, Carly,” Max said softly.
“Paul fired at him too.”
“And he missed him, although I’m not sure why. Based on what I’ve recently learned, Paul Conrad was a first-class bastard who shouldn’t have batted an eye at killin’ either one of us.”
He was right, but I had no answer for it.
Marco broke loose from a group of deputies and walked over to me, pulling me into a hug.
“You scared me to death, Marco! I thought he shot you! Multiple times!”
“I’ve already been shot twice, which is enough for me.” He tilted my chin, and his eyes darkened when he saw my bruised face. “I’m gonna have an ambulance take you to the ER.”
“I’m fine. I just want to go home.”
Softness filled his eyes. “I’ll get someone to get a quick statement from you, then have Max take you home.”
“I can take myself. My car’s just down the road.”
“I realize you can do it yourself, but I’d feel better if someone took you. I’d do it myself, but I’m going to be here for a few hours, and I don’t want to keep you waitin’ that long.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “I think I’ll have Wyatt take me. We’ve got some things to discuss.”
A shadow crossed his face. “Then I’ll call
