Chapter 53 Braedyn
brAEDYN
My brain struggled to compute what I was seeing. The tan sheriff’s department uniform. The ball cap pulled low. The gun that wasn’t a service weapon. Because that was still secured in his gun belt.
“Sheriff Miller?” The words came out in a sort of wheeze, barely audible.
“I didn’t want it to come to this. I didn’t want to have to hurt you. But you won’t fucking stop.”
My breaths came quicker, short pants as if my ribs had tightened so badly around those organs that I couldn’t take a full inhale.
My fingers started tingling, the sensation spreading up my forearms. I needed to breathe. If I didn’t, I’d pass out, and everything would be over.
I forced a pained inhale, my gaze flying back to Aster. She still wasn’t moving. But I didn’t see any blood pooling. The only problem was that I didn’t see her chest moving either.
“What did you do?” I whispered, my focus returning to the man in front of me.
Because more than anything, I needed to know the answer. It didn’t matter that he had a gun aimed at my head. I felt the truth at the tips of my fingers. I was so close to ending the torment I’d felt for the last year.
Miller’s face screwed up. “I didn’t do anything. Now drop the fucking bear spray.”
Anger surged, burning out some of the fear and helping me breathe. “Doesn’t look like you’re doing nothing now.”
“Watch your tone with me, you little bitch. You’ve been sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong for a goddamned year, and it’s time you learned your place.” He closed the distance in three long strides. “Drop the spray and start walking.”
I hesitated for a moment too long, and a shot pierced the air. I dropped to the ground, fear coursing through me.
“The next one goes through your femur. I hear that’s painful.”
I dropped the bear spray. It was no match for a bullet. But I had to think. I’d make him believe he had the upper hand, then make my move. I’d done it to Vincent, and he was younger and stronger.
Miller hoisted me up and shoved me toward the trail, making me stumble as I struggled to stay upright. My mouth went dry, and I shook out my hands, trying to clear the tingling sensation.
“Nova. Where is she?” It was the only question that mattered. The only thing that mattered. That and buying time until Dex arrived. Just five minutes. He would help Aster, and he would find me.
“I don’t know,” Miller ground out, shoving the barrel of the gun into my back.
“You have to.” He had to. I was desperate now. The answers were so close I could almost see them.
“What I know is that you’ve brought more people to this corner of the forest than anyone has in years,” Miller snarled.
Confusion swept through me. He was holding me at gunpoint because he didn’t want me in these woods?
Miller gave me another shove when I slowed. “You know, this is one of the least popular trails up here. Most people go for the waterfall one or the Mount Lupine trail. But no, not you. You had to do Three Creeks Canyon.”
“We didn’t want touristy.” I didn’t know why I was explaining myself to him. But I remembered someone telling me that this trail was beautiful, a little quieter.
A slew of curses spilled from Miller. “Well, that was a dumb fucking idea.”
“Why?”
The sound of the rushing river grew closer. Even though we were tipping into July, the water was still high, showing just how much snow the higher elevations had received last winter.
Miller gripped the back of my tee, giving me a little shake before shoving me forward again. “Because I’m getting paid more than a little money to make sure law enforcement stays the hell out of this forest.”
The confusion was back. I tried to put the pieces together but couldn’t.
“You know what grows great around here?” Miller went on. He didn’t wait for my answer. “Weed. It might be legal now, but there’s a limit to what the state will allow an individual to grow. And not everyone wants to play by those rules.”
My mind swirled. I’d seen something on the news about stuff like this. Organized crime outfits using state or national land for their drug operations, hiding them in plain sight, so to speak.
Nausea swept through me, a truly sick feeling, as I turned to face the man with the gun. “You killed Nova because she stumbled onto your pot operation?”
Pain was there now, fighting for supremacy against the nausea. A human life. A person who made this world better—stolen for money and drugs.
“I told you, I didn’t do a fucking thing,” Miller clipped. “And I’m not about to ask those motherfuckers running the show what they did with her. But if you don’t stop digging, they’re gonna end our arrangement, and the only way they do that is with a bullet to the brain.”
Panic gripped me in the kind of vise that locked my muscles and seized my lungs. “I’ll stop,” I croaked.
It was a lie, and Miller knew it. But I had to try. The image of Owen’s face swirled in my mind. I was his only parent. The only person on this earth he had left. I couldn’t leave him. I wouldn’t.
And Dex. A wave of memories hit me. The way those dark-hazel eyes sparked with gold as he laughed. The quiet way he explained computer skills to my son. The reverent look on his face when he spoke those three little words—the ones that meant everything to me.
“I know you won’t.” Miller shoved me forward. “You never stop. I hoped you would after that delusional ex of yours had all that stuff on his computer, but here you are again. I’m driving by, and there’s your damn car. I can’t risk it. Too much is at stake.”
Panic washed through me. “Dex knows where I am. He’s only a couple of minutes away. If I’m not here, it’ll only bring more attention to the area.”
Miller let out a scoff. “Not when they find your body in the river. They’ll know I was right all along. It’s easy for tourists to fall in and get dead. Or maybe they’ll think you couldn’t take it anymore, missing that friend you call a sister.”
No. No. No. I wouldn’t let that happen.
“I’m sorry, Brae. I didn’t want it to come to this.” Miller lifted his gun. “Step off the trail.”
I saw where we were now. The same spot where Nova had disappeared.
“Depression can get the best of people,” Miller went on.
“And you’ve been through a lot lately. Your ex showing up and attacking you.
Learning that he likely killed your best friend.
All that guilt. It won’t be a surprise when they find you downstream somewhere.
Maybe you couldn’t take any of it anymore. ”
Rage, fast and blazing, blasted through me. “No.”
Miller’s brown eyes flashed. “I can make this easy, or I can make this real fuckin’ hard. I’ve got good aim. A little graze to the head, and the ME will just think the injuries were from getting bashed against the rocks.”
“I’m not making this easy on you.” I wasn’t taking it lying down either. I’d done that too many times. Letting Vincent walk all over me. Not telling my parents what I really thought of them and their judgmental ways. No more.
Because I’d found my strength along the way. And I’d built it. I’d made a home for Owen and me. I’d kept him safe and happy. I’d made a life I was proud of.
Miller lifted the gun a little higher. “Your choice.”
The sound wasn’t like I’d imagined. There was no rocketing blast. It was more of a pop. Like a balloon squeezed too tightly.
I didn’t have time to brace for pain or try to dive out of the way. But agony didn’t come, and neither did nothingness. Instead, Miller crumpled to the ground, blood spreading on his chest and turning his uniform a sickly shade of red.
My gaze jumped around, trying to see where the shot had come from. Movement caught my eye, and a figure emerged from the trees. All the air left my lungs on a whoosh.
I bent over, trying to catch my breath before finally straightening and taking in my rescuer. Tears of relief sprang to my eyes at the familiar face, the one that had always shown me kindness. “Thank you. I—”
His head cocked to the side slightly, the move so animalistic it halted my words. And then he lifted a gun.
Another shot rang out. The sound was different. Something hit me, like lightning striking me over and over, and I was suddenly on the ground.
The man stepped over me. “I’m sorry, Brae.”
I blinked up at him. “Travis?” I rasped. And then everything went black.