Virginia swung open the driver’s side door and launched herself out.
“Virginia—wait!” Stella cried, but the woman had already ducked around the open back door to get to Jed. Stella swore, dove into the truck and crawled across the front seats, popping out the other side just like Virginia had done moments before. “Stay down—under the seat!” she shouted to Lily, who was still inside the truck.
More shots rang out, ricocheting off the macadam ahead of her. Stella ducked around the open back door, racing to join the older woman in manhandling Jed, a splash of red spreading near his shoulder, in the back seat of the truck. Lily grabbed his arms and pulled him in, staying down behind the seatbacks as best she could. Virginia climbed in after him.
“Lay him on the seat. Put pressure on the wound,” she ordered Virginia, who was already doing both those things. “Lily, get down.” The girl ducked low in the foot well.
Virginia tossed Stella Jed’s phone. “Call for help.”
Stella punched in the first number that came to mind.
“Jed?” Steel’s voice filled her ear. “What’s happening?”
“It’s Stella. I need you. Steel, I need you—”
“Already here.”
A sheriff’s cruiser screeched around the bend and squealed to a stop before it reached Eric’s truck.
“Eric’s got a weapon.”
Steel’s answer was lost in a volley of shots from Eric’s truck. He was shooting at the sheriff’s cruiser now.
“Call an ambulance!” Virginia yelled.
Of course. What was she doing? Stella broke the call with Steel and dialled 9-1-1. She explained the situation as quickly and succinctly as she could to the Silver Falls dispatcher.
“Backup is on its way,” the woman assured her calmly. “So is an ambulance. Sit tight.”
That was easy for her to say, Stella thought bitterly as she hunkered down in her truck. Liz was still with Eric. Maybe she was dead—killed by the man Stella had been dating. He wouldn’t even have known Liz except for her, Stella realized, her throat filling with bile.
How could she have missed all the signs? Why wasn’t she out there fighting for Liz?
How would she look her mother in the eye if she had to report that her stepdaughter—the daughter she’d chosen—was dead?
Stella pocketed the phone. Slid out of the truck again and crouched behind the open door. She could see Eric was focused on Cab and Steel.
“What are you doing?” Virginia half yelped, half hissed at her. “Stella, no!”
But Stella knew it was the only way. She began to walk toward Eric, pistol aimed at his head.
“What the fuck?” Cab exclaimed.
Steel went cold when Stella stepped out of her truck and began to calmly pace toward Eric. She was a dim shape in the low light, staying clear of the headlights from her vehicle and theirs, but he could make out the way she held the pistol steady, her gaze fixed firmly on her target. She might just be able to take him out.
Who knew where Liz was in Eric’s truck, though? A stray round could have unintended consequences, the reason why neither he nor Cab could take the shot.
“Go back,” Cab intoned, although there was no way Stella could hear him. “Come on, go back.”
Steel could not sit still and watch the woman he loved die. He swung open his own door.
“Get the hell back in here,” Cab barked at him, but Steel shook his head. There was no other way. He had to keep Eric’s attention on him.
“I beat you at every single event today, Holden,” he shouted, “and I’m going to beat you again now.”
He ducked behind the door as a volley of shots rang his way. When Steel looked again, Stella was even closer, becoming easier to see in the headlights from the sheriff’s cruiser.
“Missed me,” Steel yelled. “Always were a lousy shot!”
“Jesus,” Cab spat. “Don’t get me killed.” He opened his door, slid out and used it to shield himself like Steel was on the other side of the cruiser.
“It’s working, isn’t it?” Steel hissed back. He popped up and ducked again almost immediately. Eric had honed in on him and was watching for his next opportunity. It was going to be tough to surprise him again.
So when Cab stood and fired a purposefully wild shot into the woods, wide of Eric’s truck—and Stella—Steel was grateful to him. Now Eric swung his way.
And Stella got closer still.
Steel had to admire her determination and the calm, silent way she was advancing toward Eric. She was getting within an acceptable range to shoot him through the passenger window, but Steel had the feeling Stella would err on the side of caution out of a fear of hurting her sister—and that could cost her.
Instead of standing again, Steel knelt and took careful aim. He needed Eric out of the truck, but how could he manage it?
If he could block the man’s windshield, it would help. If Eric couldn’t see, he’d be afraid they were creeping up on him. But how could he manage it?
Steel looked up. The road here wound through a forest, and conifer branches arched over it. Could he…?
Steel dove into the cruiser, grabbed a shotgun from the rack above the seat.
“Cartridges?” he snapped.
Cab tossed him a couple, and Steel racked them up. He lifted the shotgun’s barrel and fired. The tree branch he’d aimed for whipped back and forth as if a gale force wind had blown through, but it didn’t fall—
Not immediately, anyway. After a momentary pause, a drawn out cra-a-a-ck sounded, and the large branch swung down almost gracefully before crashing directly on Eric’s windshield. It hit with enough force Steel heard the safety glass crumpling. Just as he’d planned, almost simultaneously Eric pushed open his door and leaped out, shouting and swearing.
What Steel hadn’t anticipated was that Stella would use the distraction to get even closer to the truck. She must have made some sound.
Eric, who’d been facing Steel and Cab, whipped around, came face to face with her over the hood of his truck, lifted his pistol—
And Steel shot
