Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67843 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 339(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
“Did he tell you that it had been shot in the leg?” I ask.
“He did.” It’s clear as fuck this cow wasn’t even shot. It was gutted like it was being strung up for meat.
“Damn it,” I hiss. “A setup.”
“What?”
“I have to get back,” I stand back and wipe my hands on my bandana.
“What?” he asks.
Shaking my head the entire time, I regret leaving now more than ever. With each step I’m getting further from the cow and closer to John’s ride and they’re both following behind me. “Ava had a bad feeling, and I’m betting she’s right. Someone’s here, and they are after her or me.”
“Angela, we’ll get this taken care of. Thank you.” I wave her off and run to John’s truck and he hurries to catch up, hopping in the passenger seat as I take off driving back toward the ranch. Whipping out my cell phone, I call Ava but she doesn’t answer, so I call Landon. “Where’s Ava?”
“She stepped outside. She said she needed some air and wanted to be alone. She’d been crying.”
“We had a fight. Please go out there and bring her back. It’s not safe. I have a feeling one of my hands let someone onto the property.”
“Are you serious? Shit. I wish I didn’t let her go, but I figured with the security on alert, she’d be safe out front.”
“I am.” I hear him shouting to stay inside. “Carl, Danny, with me,” he barks to his team.
“We need to get Ava back securely inside the house. Possible intruder on the property.” He continues to move without hanging up on me.
“How? None of the sensors were set off?” Danny asks. They take their jobs seriously and they better find my wife before I take it out on them.
“Someone let this person in,” I grumble. David. There’s no one else. He’s the one feeding us lie after lie this morning.
“Damn it.”
“Tobias, we’ll find her.”
“I thought you said she went out front for air. How can you not find her?” I roar. It’s a wrap around porch, but they should have found her by now.
“She’s not out front.” I can hear the wind as they rush around. I pull into my driveway and pop out. My first thought is the barn. I make a mad dash over to it. I’m not feet away when I hear a shot and then another. Oh my fucking God. My knees feel like they’re going to buckle, but I have to protect her or avenge her. One way or another someone is going to pay with their life for this.
“She’s not supposed to be harmed yet. You fucking psycho stalker.” I see David with his gun on some girl I recognize but don’t know. Ava’s on the ground. Then David comes up to her. “Come, you slutty bitch. Your father was going to pay me good, but I’ll see how much you’re worth to Reynolds.”
Ava screams as he pulls her hair to drag her away. I lose what semblance of sanity I had and do the only thing I can think of. I whip out my gun and aim for his chest. My gun goes off, and he falls before he knows what happens. I run toward the scene as David raises his gun toward me. Son of a bitch. The sound of a bullet goes off and into David’s head. My head of security pulled the trigger.
I don’t give a fuck because Ava’s on the ground bleeding. “Baby, Ava. Please talk to me.”
Shit. She doesn’t say anything as I attempt to staunch the bleeding in her leg. She’s not spewing blood, so I have to hope that it hasn’t hit the femoral artery. Danny, Landon’s head of security, was a medic. He comes over and starts talking, but I can’t hear a word he’s saying as he nudges me out of the way, so I move to the other side. I can’t be away from her. My heart is cracking as I stare at my beloved bleeding and pale. “Ava, babe. Please don’t leave me. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone out. You were right.”
“Tobias,” she sobs, tears sliding down the side of her cheek. I lean in and kiss her tears away.
“Please don’t leave me. I’ll never get mad at you again,” I promise.
“Ha. We’re married,” she mutters. Even Danny looks up from his work and cocks his brow. Suddenly the thundering of feet rushing behind spurs me into action. I point my gun that way before looking.
“Calm the fuck down, asshole. I’ve called the ambulance; it’s ten minutes out,” Landon says, shaking his head.
“Sorry, just jumpy.” He nods, understanding completely.
I turn back to my love, fixing her beanie to keep her warm. “Damn it. You scared me,” I whisper to my wife.
“Ava’s going to make it. The wound was a through and through, missing the femoral,” Danny says.