Chapter 35 Dead. Alive.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
DEAD. ALIVE.
Jett
Ialmost wipe out on a patch of ice as I run through the wind and snow.
My new truck might be totaled, but it’s nothing compared to Reed’s that’s now unrecognizable in the opposite ditch.
I approach from the side. The windows are tinted so dark, I can barely make out a figure draped across the steering wheel.
I move to the rear and struggle through the ditch.
Snow soaks into my shoes. I was not prepared to hike through a foot of heavy, wet powder to the man who tried to take my future from me.
I’m almost to the driver’s side door where the window is down.
Shit.
He’s not draped over the steering wheel any longer. The side mirror is cracked. I can barely see inside. I press myself to the side of the SUV as I inch along. I’m almost to the driver’s door when the gun pops out the window.
I lunge for it.
I don’t let go, but he doesn’t either.
“Fucker,” Reed growls. “She went public and ruined my life.”
Neither of us let go of the weapon. With a death grip on it in his hand, I reach in with my other and fist him by the back of his collar.
His head slams against the window frame as I yank him out, but that doesn’t stop me. Reed Shaw is not a small man, and I just had an organ transplant, but there’s no way I’ll release him. I pull and yank as Reed fights and struggles.
He grabs my sweatshirt with his free hand, but I use it to my advantage. I turn and twist his hand holding the gun.
He howls in pain and drops the weapon in the snow.
I let gravity do the rest. We land on our sides in the ditch.
I clamor to my feet, grab him by the collar, and pull him to my face. We’re both panting, and I feel it in my gut.
“You will never hurt Lennon again.” I draw my arm back and swing. My fist connects with the side of his face. “You traded her for a debt. Sold her off and abandoned her. How could you do that to your own daughter?”
He puts his good hand to my jaw, and it’s all he can do to hold me at an arm’s length, but he doesn’t utter a word. He presses his thumb under my eye, and I feel his nail break through skin.
“I’ll kill you,” he sputters. “Then I’ll kill her. I should’ve let Andrei do what he wanted with her, but we made a deal. Look where it got me.”
I hit him again, dislodging his hand from my face, but he gets hold of my sweatshirt at the neck. He uses his body weight to pull. I land on top of him in the snow.
I try to get him up, but he rustles through the drifts. I realize it the moment it happens.
The gun.
He found it.
I kick at his arm and twist the bad one. He howls in agony. I grip his wrist again. He has less fight in him, and I might have hurt his arm, but he proves his finger still works.
His face turns red as he struggles trying to aim at me.
He slips and pulls us both to the cold, hard ground with a thud.
And the gun discharges again.
Lennon
“They’re close, just over the ridge. Maybe a minute out. Let me know when you hear sirens.”
I can’t sit in the truck any longer.
I try to push my door open, but it’s pinned shut by the snow. I climb across the console and trip when I fall out the driver’s side door. I finally get a good look at my father’s SUV.
“I hear the sirens. Tell them to hurry. Jett hasn’t come back.”
A shot rings through the frigid air. I scream and start to run.
“Do not approach the car until the police get there,” the dispatcher warns.
“I have to see if he’s okay,” I cry. “Nothing can happen to him. Not because of me.”
I’m almost across the street when two police SUVs come barreling over the hill. I stop to wave them down. They come to a sliding halt but leave the lights on as officers jump from their cars with their guns drawn.
I point to my dad’s SUV. “Jett went to the other side. A gun just went off.”
“Stay back,” one of the officers demands, but there’s no way.
I have to know that he’s okay.
“Dammit,” the officer bites.
They both approach from the rear but come to an abrupt stop and look at each other.
“No,” I utter. “No. No-no!”
One officer presses his radio attached to his vest and calls out so many numbers, I have no clue what they could mean other than something bad. He requests more back up, the chief, and medical support.
I try to run, but my shoes are not made for the snow. I slip and trip as I go.
“Jett!” I call as I round the corner.
One of the officers stops me right as I see it.
My father is on the ground in the blood-soaked snow. It’s a red so dark, it’s crimson.
Jett stands over him and raises his hands to show he’s unarmed. “I tossed the gun over there. We were wrestling for it when it went off. I did not pull that trigger.”
At the sight of him standing and breathing, so full of life, my heart skips a beat. I drop his cell to the snow and follow it to the cold, hard ground and weep in relief.
I hear Jett ask permission to move. “Can I go to her?”
“Yeah, man. Just don’t leave. This is going to be one hell of a report to write.”
My tears turn into sobs when I feel his hands on me and then his arms. He lifts me from the snow and pulls me to his chest.
“The gunshot,” I cry. “I didn’t know what happened. I thought it was you. I don’t know what I would’ve done had it been you.”
He rubs my back with his hands for friction and puts his lips to my ear to soothe me. “It’s over, baby. It’s all over.”
More sirens sound on the horizon. Jett and I turn to watch another SUV barrel toward us before coming to an angled stop to block any oncoming traffic. Dean unfolds from the driver’s seat and surveys the situation. He yanks his ballcap lower over his face and zips his coat up to his neck.
He looks straight at Jett. “You okay?”
Jett lifts his chin. “I’m good. Reed Shaw, not so much. He was still alive the last I checked.”
Dean tips his head back to his police car. “Get in the back of my cruiser so she stays warm. I’ll have someone out to get you both back to the station to take your statements. I need to get this shit taken care of before we lose light.”
Dean disappears to where my father was left bleeding out in the snow. Another siren sounds as an ambulance appears.
I don’t ask another word about my father.
Dead.
Alive.
I don’t care.
Either way, he’ll pay for what he’s done and never be a threat to me or anyone else.
Jett starts to lead me to the cruiser, but I pull his hand to stop him.
He turns to me. Blood seeps from a cut under this eye, and there’s concern laced in his features. “Baby, were you hurt in the crash?”
I shake my head and don’t move. Blowing snow stings my skin, but I can’t wait another second. I repeat what’s circling my mind like a news ticker on repeat. “I thought I lost you.”
He pulls me into his muscled arms and wraps me up. “I’m fine. Let me get you out of the weather before you—”
“I love you.”
His arms tighten around me like a vise. “What did you say?”
I nod and feel the tears leaking from my eyes race down my cold skin.
“I do. I know I’m difficult and come with enough baggage for a trip around the world.
But I thought I lost you. From the time I climbed out of that truck until I saw you breathing with my own eyes, I thought I’d have to live in a world without you in it.
So I can’t wait another moment. I’ve never loved anyone in my life.
The feeling is foreign, and I didn’t recognize it until just now. But I love you, Jett.”
“Fuck.” The word blows visibly through the freezing air.
He lets go of me to frame my face with his warm hands and presses his lips to mine possessively. I taste every greedy and passionate vibe rolling off him, and it feeds the pure affection that’s been building in me with every moment we spend together.
When he breaks our kiss, he tips his forehead to mine, and I’m warmed by his deep, beautiful eyes that I pray our children get someday. “Lennon, I never wanted anyone in my life until I met you. There’s not a moment that the thought of you doesn’t consume me. I love you so fucking much it hurts.”
I laugh and cry at the same time. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You were worth the wait.”
His grip on my face tightens. “And you’re my reward. I’d do it all over again—the Army, the PKD—I’d do it all again to have you.”
I wrap my arms around him and hold on tight.
After everything we’ve been through, I’ve never felt so content.
Love must have a way of doing that to you.