God, he loved her, and he would do anything to protect her. He opened the drawer to his desk and found the knife he kept there. His sweet wife thought he kept it around because he was learning to whittle. The only reason she thought that was because she’d likely never seen a knife that was meant exclusively for killing. He didn’t have time to go for the guns he kept stashed away. The knife would be quieter, and if he needed a gun, then he would take one off a dead cartel guy.
He could make this work. She didn’t have to know.
“Hey, baby, Logan’s here. He says there’s a problem with the plumbing. I’m going to check it out. You knead your bread, okay? I wouldn’t want to ruin it. And I’ll turn up the music. I know you love this aria.” He used his mouse to pump up the volume on the opera that was playing through the cabin. It might mask the sound of gunfire.
Might.
“I could come and help.” She was looking over at him with the most adorable Nell expression. He’d cataloged her expressions over the years. She had twenty different smiles and only two frowns. One of those frowns was on her face now. It was her slightly disgruntled frown.
“No, baby, you stay here. It’s just a little wet work. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” He took her in for a second. She was the light of his life. “I love you, Nell.”
He forced himself to go outside and prayed he could pull this off.
An hour later he’d taken a shower and changed into some of Logan’s clothes, tossing his own in the trash because they’d gotten covered in blood. Luckily his clothes were interchangeable, and Nell rarely noticed what he was wearing so long as it was sustainable and organic.
He forced himself to move across the grass, feeling almost like he was outside his body, like he was a robot moving only because he had the programming that forced the action.
Like he used to feel every single day of his life.
Seth was going to live. Georgia had been spared the worst of it. Seth had taken the pain for her, and he’d even had a smile on his face at the end because he’d known he’d gone through the fire and come out of it with everything he could have wanted.
Henry feared his fire was about to begin.
Henry, I respect a man’s privacy. You know I do, but if something’s heading into my town, I need to know.
Thirty minutes ago, Nate had asked him about the possibility of the cartel returning to look for Henry as they’d stood in Seth’s living room surrounded by dead bodies.
Hell, sheriff. Hell is coming to Bliss, and I invited it in.
It had been explained to him that the man who’d shown up hadn’t been sure Henry was in town. He hadn’t reported back to his boss, and wouldn’t because everyone was dead. Still, he had to figure that at some point the cartel would catch on to where he was.
Should he leave?
Nell rushed out onto the porch, only stopping when she saw him walking up. She put a hand over her mouth and then ran to him, throwing herself into his arms. “What happened? I got a call from Laura. She said there was trouble at Seth’s.”
He wrapped his arms around her. God, he couldn’t leave this woman. “It was okay. Logan took care of it. I’m sorry. I didn’t take my phone with me and I had to help with the cleanup. I had to change. I got…I got some blood on my clothes.” At least he didn’t have to lie about that. “Seth is all right.”
Nell’s face turned up and there were tears in her eyes. “They were coming after Seth because of all that money he has. I’ve told him it would be better to donate it.”
Nate was giving him some time, but the sheriff wouldn’t keep quiet forever. For now Nate was allowing the idea that they weren’t sure why the cartel had shown up. They were going on the theory that they were after Seth for either money or data. Seth Stark was a tech billionaire. He was a good target for any one criminal organization that wanted money or tech. It was a believable story.
But the truth would have to come out. He’d begged Nate to give him until after the wedding. By then they should truly be past the most dangerous time in her pregnancy, and Nell had been so looking forward to the wedding. He wanted a few more weeks before he had to tell his wife everything she knew about him was a lie.
“You’re all right?” Nell clutched him close.
He kissed her forehead. “I’m fine now.”
He held his wife close because he was on borrowed time. He needed to figure a way out of the trap he was in and fast.
“You’re sure you’re all right?” Nell asked, her gaze filled with uncertainty.
“I’m fine. Just a little shaken up,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get you back inside. Are you feeling okay? No cramps?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. What happened? How close did you get?”
He kissed her again. He wasn’t sure what he would do if she lost the baby. He wasn’t sure he could survive that because she would blame him, and she would be right to.
How had he ever thought he could get away with it? How had he thought his past wouldn’t find him again? After all the blood on his hands, why had he thought he could be clean again?
“Too close,” he said, holding
