Protective Lawman (Warrior Peak Sanctuary), page 14
She lifted her head and looked at her body. No fresh wounds, other than the ones she’d gotten from the crash. And no bullet holes, either. She slowly sat upright. Outside, through the ringing in her ears, she heard chaos. Shouting, banging, crashing, the low, heavy sound of punches being landed. What was going on? Had they turned on each other, or…?
She slid to the edge of the van, and her eyes widened when she figured out what was actually happening. They were fighting—but not with each other, with Aaron. Aaron seemed to have already taken Ziegler and the others down, but Benning was still on his feet, holding the gun.
“Back off, Ward!” he barked at him. “If you know what’s good for you—”
But before he could get out another word, Aaron lunged at him, dropping his head and slamming it into Benning’s chest. The force of the impact knocked the gun out of his hands, sending it flying across the ground and into the tall grass. Bailey couldn’t make out what happened after that, but judging by the sounds of their struggle, it wasn’t going Benning’s way.
When she got the nerve to peer around the van, she saw Aaron getting to his feet, wiping away sweat from his brow before he turned his attention back to her.
She felt herself collapse the moment before he reached her. All the emotion, all the fear, facing down death—it all fell away the minute he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, as though he never wanted to let her go.
“You’re okay,” he murmured to her, his voice soft in her ear. She knew they couldn’t stay long. It was only a matter of time before the guys came to, and they needed to be as far from here as possible. But right now, all she wanted to do was press herself into his arms.
“Oh my God,” she gasped, hardly able to think straight. The sound of the gunshot was still ringing in the air around them, and it was at that moment she remembered the gun.
“Aaron, the gun,” she squeaked to him. “You need to get the gun—”
“This gun, you mean?”
Aaron spun around, protecting her with his whole body without thinking. She cowered behind him. She wanted to help, but she feared Benning might take the shot he had missed the first time.
“This little reunion is nice, isn’t it?” he said, sneering at the two of them. Bailey heard such cruelty in his voice, she had no idea how she had been able to miss it before. All of it seemed so obvious to her now, the reality of what they had done, how far they had gone. That they would kill her and Aaron if they got the chance.
“Stay away from her,” Aaron snarled, and Benning cocked the gun. The sound of the click echoed through the air around them, a threat.
“You going to make me?” Benning asked.
Before Bailey had a chance to hold him back, Aaron dived at Benning again, shoving him to the ground and picking up right where he had left off with the fight.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aaron reached for the gun, managing to knock it out of Benning’s hand for a moment. Lee was stirring next to him, coming back from the hit Aaron had dealt him to the back of the head with a rock he’d found on the road. He had to subdue them both, and keep them away from Bailey. He knew one thing for damn sure: He wasn’t going to let them get away with this anymore.
“Damn,” Benning snarled as he rolled out from underneath Aaron and scrambled back toward the weapon.
“Aaron!” Bailey yelled from the van, but Aaron held his hand up.
“You stay right there,” he told her. “I can handle this.”
He gritted his teeth, and repeated the same thing to himself. He could handle this. He just had to keep pushing forward, keep doing what he could to bring this nightmare to an end.
All he could think about was the way Bailey had been trembling in his arms. He didn’t want her to feel that fear for another moment, and he would do anything to end it. She didn’t deserve this, and the only way he could stop these men from hurting her again would be to take them out for good.
Lee was on his feet again, and Aaron rounded on him, pushing him back against the van, next to Bailey. He crashed into it, still woozy from the blow he had taken to his head, and his entire body shuddered with the pain.
But he had a knife, and he reached for it quickly, pulling it out and flashing it at Aaron. Aaron sprang back, and Lee raised the knife, ready to swing down again.
Until Bailey swept his feet out from under him. Lee seemed to have forgotten she was there, and Aaron nodded to her in thanks. Just like old times, he knew he wouldn’t have been able to do it without her by his side.
He turned his attention back to Benning again, his face tightening as he glared at him. Benning had managed to get the gun trained on him again, and Aaron ducked just in time to feel a bullet whizzing over his head. It hit the van with a loud clang, and Bailey let out a yelp of surprise. Aaron turned to make sure she hadn’t been hit, but she was out of the van, her arms wrapped around Lee’s neck as she held him in place and pushed the air out of him to subdue him once more.
She had him covered. Even though she was scared, and injured, she could still fight for herself. He lunged at Benning, who fired off another shot in a panic. There were only so many bullets in that magazine, and it wouldn’t be long before he ran out entirely. And when he did, Aaron would make his move.
He dove into the tall grass for cover, making it so Benning couldn’t see him to fire off another shot. His chest pressed to the ground, his whole body was rigid as he waited to make the next move. He didn’t even know what he was going to do, but he had to do something.
He crawled along the ground as Benning paced around at the edge of the grass, trying to spot him. He probably would have just shot blindly if it hadn’t been for the limited amount of ammo he had right now. He didn’t have the support of the others, and he knew Aaron was well trained in how to handle himself and what he should do in these situations.
Only problem was, so was Benning. They’d likely been through the same training, and Benning was far more practiced when it came to a showdown like this one. Aaron shuffled through the grass, trying to make as little noise as possible, until he reached Benning.
He grabbed his feet and yanked hard, knocking the other man off-balance and sending him crashing to the ground. Benning let out a yell, but there was nothing he could do to fight it. His whole body fell like cement, landing with such a thump the air was knocked out of him.
Aaron used the moment he had before Benning got himself back together to dive for the gun and take it from him, then tossed it as far as he could into the tall grass behind them. He just wanted that thing away from him, away from Bailey. When he had seen Benning pointing it at her, that was the only thing he had been able to focus on.
Once it was gone, he scrambled away from Benning to get to Bailey again. She had Lee passed out at her feet, and she jumped up as soon as she saw him getting close. He threw his arms around her, pulling her in against him, pressing his face into her hair. He needed this. He needed her. He needed them together, no matter what he had to do to make it happen, no matter how hard it might be.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” he told her again. “I’ve got you. We can get you back up to the lodge, get you patched up—”
But before he could say another word, a sound rang out behind them. He stiffened—a gunshot. He could hear it burning in his ears. He should have kept the gun, but he had been in such a rush to get back to Bailey, he couldn’t think about anything else.
And it might have just cost him everything.
“Aaron!” Bailey exclaimed as she pulled back. There was blood on her shirt, staining through, and for a second he thought somehow she had been shot. But then, as she reached out her hand to his torso, he realized that wasn’t what had happened.
It was him who had taken the bullet.
“Aaron, get down,” she pleaded, but he turned to shield her, refusing to let Benning take her down, too. The pain was starting to set in now, radiating through his body. He glanced down and saw the thick, wet rivulets of blood running down his jeans. He could hardly see straight, dark spots clouding his vision, but it didn’t matter—he had to keep her safe. It was the only thing he could think of, regardless of what was happening to him. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
If it was the last thing he did.
Finally, as the spots began to clear, he saw Benning walking toward them, limping slightly as though he was injured. But he had a grin on his face, as he advanced on the two of them.
And this time, Aaron didn’t know if he had any more fight in him. If he could hold him off.
“Aaron,” Bailey begged him, trying to pull him back down by her side, but he didn’t move. He couldn’t. It was as though his feet were rooted to the ground, every bone in his body telling him that the only thing that mattered was Bailey’s safety. Just like he had done all those years ago, he would sacrifice himself to protect her.
“Get out of the way, Ward,” Benning said, sneering at him. “You really want to leave her to die alone? Your shot was meant for her. Move so I can do her, too. That way, you can have your little romantic moment before you both go.”
“Shut up,” Aaron snarled back at him. “You’re not getting past me.” He never wanted to hear Benning talking about what he and Bailey had together. It was just for them.
He would never allow anything between the two of them to be sullied by what these monsters would say about them. Benning would never understand the love Aaron had for Bailey, anyway. Or the love she had for him in return. He was a man who scared women, a man who made them feel as though they weren’t safe. He would never understand sacrificing everything for that person, doing anything to make sure they were protected and cared for.
“You sure?” Benning asked, cocking the gun again. How many bullets were left in there? Aaron eyed the barrel, contemplating his next move. But there was no way, no way he could win this. He was starting to feel woozy and tired from the blood loss. He wasn’t going to make it much longer.
No matter all that had happened, though, Aaron had never imagined a cop would point a gun at him like this. Someone he was supposed to be brothers-in-arms with, no less.
But Benning clearly felt none of that for him. Benning had banded with a team like Ziegler and his cronies, men who would likely turn their backs on him the first chance they got.
That was something Aaron could take away from this, at least. Benning would never be happy. None of them would be. They had to live their lives looking over their shoulders, never able to rest, never able to slow down, never able to stop. Aaron had lived more than half a decade in peace, really finding comfort in himself and the choices he’d made—enough so that when Bailey came back into his life, he had been able to meet her and tell her how he really felt.
Benning pressed the gun against his chest. Then, a voice cut in from beside them.
“Wait. Let me.”
Ziegler was on his feet again, standing there, holding out his hand for the gun. Even through it was clear Benning wanted to be the one to pull the trigger himself, he knew better than to argue with their leader, and he handed the gun over to him, pressing it into his palm.
Ziegler stepped forward and took his place in front of Aaron, grinning widely.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” he spat. “See you, Ward.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bailey didn’t understand how they’d gotten here. They had gone from being in each other’s arms, his voice in her ear promising her she was going to be okay, to this—to this man holding a gun against Aaron’s head, ready to end him for good.
Bailey hid behind him, hanging on to him for dear life, arms wrapped around his waist and face pressed into his back. He would never let her take this bullet for him, that much she knew for sure, but she still didn’t want to let him die without feeling her here with him. She loved him too much for that.
There had to be something she could do. As Ziegler took a breath and steadied up his shot, time slowed, spreading out before her and giving her a moment to gather herself. She had to make her move now, she knew that, but what could she do? She was right behind him. Could she make it out in time? She remembered what she had done to take down Lee, taking him out at the legs, and she knew she was going to have to pull the same thing again.
No time to think. Only time to act. And if she didn’t move now, she and Aaron wouldn’t be alive much longer.
She lunged out from behind Aaron, rolling down to the left, and caught Ziegler’s eye, drawing his attention from Aaron just long enough for her to drive a leg into his, sending him crashing to the ground. He squeezed the trigger, sending a bullet up above their heads, and Bailey rolled out of the way and under the van so it wouldn’t hit her on the way down, crawling quickly to the other side.
A commotion had broken out around her again, and it took her a moment to realize that it wasn’t Ziegler and the others causing it. No, this time, there were people here on their side. Xavier and Cade rushed past her, followed by Lawson, and a few men from the tactical team at the lodge. She scrambled to her feet, only interested in one thing: Aaron.
He had managed to make it to the back of the van, leaving the other highly trained people to take down the corrupt cops who had done this to them. Bailey checked on him, and found his face pale, his eyes distant.
“Here, put some pressure on this,” she told him, linking her hands through his and pressing them into his wound.
And then, she heard Xavier yelling for help. When she turned, she saw Ziegler scrambling toward the gun where he had dropped it on the ground. She sprang up and dived toward it, kicking it out of his reach, and then grabbed it and let off the rest of the shots into the ground. She didn’t want anyone else using this tonight.
She sank to her knees as the guys took down the cops, subduing them one by one until there was no fight left to be had. Xavier came over to her and offered her a hand, helping her up to her feet.
“How did you know?” she asked, and he shrugged.
“When Aaron went looking for you and didn’t come back, I figured something was up,” he remarked. “And then when we heard the gunshots, we knew you must need our help.”
“Thank you,” she whispered softly to him. The words didn’t feel strong enough for how grateful she really was. If it hadn’t been for him, and the rest of the guys from Warrior Peak, she would have lost Aaron, and she knew she would never have been able to live with that.
She made her way back to the van, where Aaron had managed to prop himself up. He looked a little better now—his face wasn’t quite as pale. Maybe the wound hadn’t been as bad as she first thought.
“Bailey,” he breathed, and he wrapped his spare arm around her and pulled her in close, pressing his face into her neck. She sank into him. It was over. It was really over. After everything that had happened, everything that they had been through, it was done. There was no way Ziegler and the rest of them were going to get away after this. They didn’t stand a chance. Whatever they thought they had been capable of, they were wrong.
She could finally relax and just be with Aaron. She knew he was going to need some serious patching up—a bullet wound wasn’t the kind of thing you messed around with—but he was alive. She could feel the slow rise and fall of his breath as Ziegler, Moore, Lee, and Benning were handcuffed and put into trucks, ready to be dropped off at the sheriff’s office when they were done here.
“I thought something had happened to you in the fire,” Aaron murmured to her, and she pulled her head back.
“Nothing happened to me then,” she assured him, but she was certain he’d have more questions. Like why she’d left while everyone else was distracted with the fire. She wished she had a better answer for him than the truth, but she didn’t see any way around it right now.
“I… I was just leaving,” she admitted. “I thought I could go after them myself, I thought I could take them down. I didn’t want to be pushed out of it again. I saw the fire, I let everyone know what was going on, and then I left.”
He tensed.
“But I can see how wrong I was,” she assured him. “They drove me off the road—that’s why I crashed the truck. And if it hadn’t been for you, they would have killed me.”
She inhaled shakily as the reality of that hit her. Yes, they really would have killed her. If it hadn’t been for him throwing himself into the fray the way he had, she would have been dead. The thought chilled her to the bone. She squeezed him tighter.
“And they told me…they told me they came looking for you because of me,” she confessed. “And I’m so sorry for that, Aaron, I never meant for that to happen.”
“Hey, you have nothing to apologize for,” he told her, brushing her tears away. “I know how hard it’s been for you. I know how much you wanted to take them down. And I know you probably could have done it yourself. I just wanted to help you. The only thing that matters to me is that you’re all right.”
She nodded, but she wasn’t sure she totally believed him. Could he really be that quick to forgive her, after everything she’d done? She didn’t know. She wanted to believe it, but she knew she had some explaining to do.
“I didn’t want to go,” she admitted to him. “I never did, Aaron. I just… I didn’t want either of us getting hurt again, not after what happened before. And I thought if I made the decision for you, it wouldn’t be something you had to…something you had to do for yourself, at least this time.”
“That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” he murmured, shaking his head, eyes misty as though he was remembering it at that very moment.
She cupped his face in her hands. “I’m never going to be apart from you again,” she told him fervently, surprising even herself with how sure she was of that fact. She scanned his face, eyes wide, needing him to understand how much she meant it.
“That sounds good to me,” he agreed, and he drew her in for a kiss. Even with the slash in her shoulder, her body filled with pleasure at his touch. Here he was, the man she had wanted for all these years, the man she loved, and there was nothing in the way of them being together. It was finally just…them. Their pasts left far behind for once, a history they never even had to think about again. No matter what happened next, she could hold on to him, and she wanted that more than anything in the world.
